Academy Award Theatre

Radio Anthology Series (1946) ACADEMY AWARD THEATRE was a 1946 American radio anthology series that presented 30-minute adaptations of popular, and sometimes even Academy Award-winning films, often with the same cast. The show of most interest to visitors to this site will be the broadcast of The Maltese Falcon, complete with Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, … Continue reading Academy Award Theatre

Sara

Created by -- The short-lived 1950 radio program Sara's Private Capers was a bit of an oddity -- it was a spinoff from The Adventures of Sam Spade radio show starring Howard Duff, then at the peak of its popularity. Sara Berner starred as SARA, a devoted fan of the show who worked as a … Continue reading Sara

Charlie Wild

"He's a man's man, but the ladies, too, go for Charlie Wild, Private Eye. Follow him into adventure." -- TV promo CHARLIE WILD was a P.I. with a rather unique back story to his creation. He was basically called in -- QUICKLY! -- as a sub for Dashiell Hammett's SAM SPADE. After years of success, … Continue reading Charlie Wild

Sam Spade, Junior

Created by Don M. Mankiewicz and Gordon Cotler With a heavy debt to Dashiell Hammett Why is everyone after George Segal's bird? --tagline for the film InĀ The Black Bird (1975, Columbia), an occasionally entertaining tribute/spoof of the classic John-Huston directed, Bogie-starring gumshoe classic flick from 1941, The Maltese FalconĀ (based, of course, on Dashiell Hammett's equally … Continue reading Sam Spade, Junior

Ted Shane (Sam Spade)

Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) "Honey, it blows!" TED SHANE was the name given to Sam Spade's character in Satan Met a Lady (Warner Bros., 1936), the second film version of the Hammett classic, The Maltese Falcon. Generally considered not as good as the first, which starred Richard Cortez, and not even in the same … Continue reading Ted Shane (Sam Spade)

Sam Spade

Created by Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) ā€œWhen a man’s partner is killed, he’s supposed to do something about it. It doesn’t make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you’re supposed to do something about it. And it happens we’re in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets … Continue reading Sam Spade

Feature Books

Some of the Most Collectible P.I. Comics of All! Ā  FEATURE BOOKS was started by the David McKay Publishing Company in 1937, and distributed by King Features Syndicate. It was the first comic book company to devote complete issues to single characters. At first they mostly reprinted the popular newspaper strips of the time, such … Continue reading Feature Books