Poodle Springs

Saturday Play - Classic Chandler - 8. Poodle Springs

By Raymond Chandler and Robert B. Parker Dramatised by Robin Brooks

Fresh from his honeymoon with heiress Linda Loring, Philip Marlowe has set up shop in the upmarket Californian town of Poodle Springs. But the life of a kept man soon loses its charm, and when he's asked to find a gambler on the run from his debts, Marlowe can't resist. Toby Stephens plays iconic detective Philip Marlowe.

The eighth and final Philip Marlowe novel, Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs was unfinished* at the time of the author's death in 1959. It remained so for another 30 years, until crime writer Robert B. Parker completed the novel to mark the centenary of Chandler's birth.

Cast:

Philip Marlowe . . . . . Toby Stephens
Linda Marlowe . . . . . Lorelei King
Larry Victor . . . . . Stephen Campbell Moore
Muffy Valentine . . . . . Laurel Lefkow
Manny Lipshultz . . . . . Peter Polycarpou
Angel Victor . . . . . Sasha Pick
Bernie Ohls . . . . . Gerard McDermott
Film Director . . . . . James Lailey
Eddie Garcia . . . . . Alun Raglan
Clayton Blackstone . . . . . Sean Baker
Leonard . . . . . Carl Prekopp
Turn Key . . . . . Simon Bubb

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko. Produced by Claire Grove

Available until 3:32PM Sat, 29 Oct 2011 on BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0167qq4/

* - Barely started; Chandler had completed only four short chapters.