Summary: The Cheesecake Caper (Aired November 6, 1949) Spade was a San Francisco detective, one of the most distinctive of the hardboiled school. His jump to radio was wrought by William Spier, who had already carved out a reputation as a master of mystery in his direction of another highly rated CBS thriller, Suspense. Spier was editor, producer, director. A lifelong radio man, he had broken in during the primitive days of 1929 and earned his stripes serving on such pioneering shows as The March of Time. Spier assembled the writing team of Bob Tallman and Ann Lorraine and began putting Spade together. He was impressed by the deep, cynical, tough qualities in Howard Duff's voice. Duff had long experience as an actor, a career that traced back to his high school days in Seattle. THIS EPISODE: November 6, 1949. CBS network origination, AFRS rebroadcast. "The Cheesecake Caper". Sam finds $50 and a photo of a blonde in his sandwich. The three words on the photo say, "Find the girl!" Howard Duff, Lurene Tuttle, Dashiell Hammett (creator). 24:14. Episode Notes From The Radio Gold Index.
