Philip Marlowe Week: The King in Yellow

Hey there sports fans and guess what?  Today due to yesterday being a bit crazy we have a two for two Philip Marlowe episodes.  This is my humble way of saying sorry for not going through with a write up on Tuesday.   Well not every assignment is cushy or laced with dignity as Marlowe is given the less than glamorous role of house dick.  No that is not a dirty term as it was most department stores and hotels hired a p.i. to watch their interests and make sure there were no shenanigans or robberies.  So strap on that shoulder rig and keep your black jack handy.  This is The King in Yellow.

Aww pipe down already, Louie Armstrong!!

Philip Marlowe: The best way to admire that spoiler is on the radio.

There are the bail jumpers, the jealous wives and the long lost relatives that come in the door but sometimes work can be a little slow.  Every now and then you got to swallow your pride and act as security.  It pays the bills and the hotel rooms are usually nicer than one’s apartment.  Philip is watching over the Carlton Hotel and it was duller than a night in Salt Lake City.  With a few second story men and some pickpockets roaming the joint, there really wasn’t much to be concerned with.    

Y'know Moonlight Serenade?

With a night hot enough to peel the paint, tempers were flaring just as much when the Windy City’s top horn blower King Leopardi (Michael Billington of The Onedin Line, Edward the King, The Spy Who Loved Me, Spearhead, The Quest and KGB: The Secret War) starts gadding up in the hallways with his trumpet; only this is no Gabriel to play the kids to sleep.   Marlowe and Leopardi have a tussle and Marlowe sends him to bed with a goodnight smack across the chops.

The next morning our chart climber was made number one with a bullet draped in his bed.  Marlowe has to figure out who aced the King but the line of suspects range from a jealous lover to irate managers.  Digging around for clues, Marlowe finds a threatening note that leads him to a cold case of his and a mysterious motorcyclist that trades gunshots with him.   Bodies and clues keep piling up like firewood for the winter but no closer to the reasons behind them; Marlowe chats with dishy dame with a great set of…pipes Kitty Delorme and confirms what a pig Leopardi was and how he tried to nail anyone and anything that wasn’t glued down or set on fire.

 

Hmm weird grocery list. 

Just some fun filled facts for friends.  The Royal Apartments where Marlow goes to see Kitty Delorme (Nancy Wood of The Pirates of Penzance, The Lonely Lady, Scandalous and Supergirl) is the same building and apartment room where Elliot Gould portrayed Philip Marlowe in the 1973 full length feature: The Long Goodbye.   The cycle that our mysterious motorcyclist is romping on is a 1928 Indian 402 which was a souped up version of the Scout with a twin downtube frame and stronger crankshaft than the Ace.