Latest / Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas / Dragnet: The Big Grifter (EP1514)

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Dragnet: The Big Grifter (EP1514) · Great Detectives of Old Time Radio Volume 2|Mystery Audio Dramas

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Welcome to the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio from Boise, Idaho. This
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to receive a physical item. Full details again, Support dot Great Detectives dot
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net. Well, now it's time for today's episode of Dragnet. The original
2:24
aired eight February twenty third, nineteen fifty and the title The Big Grifter.
2:38
The story you're about to hear is true, only the names have been changed
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to protect the innocent Dragnet. You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned Bunco detail.
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An expert confidence man has resumed operations in your city. His criminal record
3:07
dates back thirty five years. He's a master in the art of the gentle
3:10
swindle. Your job stop him. Drag matts the documented drama of an actual
3:25
crime for the next thirty minutes in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department.
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You will travel step by step on the side of the law through an actual
3:34
case from official police files, from beginning to end, from crime to punishment.
3:39
Dragnet is the story of your police force in action. It was Tuesday,
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July twenty eighth, was warm in Los Angeles. We're working a day
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watch at a Bunco detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Thab
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Brown, Chief of Detectives. My name is Friday. I was on the
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way back from the Record Bureau and it was ten forty five am when I
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got to Room thirty eight Bunko. Fugitive detail right here, Captain by bringing
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him in. Now, let's sit down. Thanks, there's the Mama sheet
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on him. Gentlemen, Wallace, I thought he was out of our hair
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for good. So did idols turned up? I heard he was working New
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York. Look at the package in this gay It was like a good sized
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dictionary. Yeah. Checked the date of his first arrest there on June second,
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nineteen thirteen. He's been an out of jail all over the country.
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Muglane County, Oregon, forgery bum checked beef, San Francisco, nineteen fourteen,
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Bezmond, Santa Anna, parole violation, Seattle, Portland, More Czecks
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Reno Building Is, Montana, Fordury, nineteen twenty, Dayton, Ohio,
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Pittsburgh, New York, Grand larceny, Bunco Raps, Las Vegas, Cleveland,
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Chicago. That's only the first page. There's a couple more there.
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Yeah, he's like a novel, just about as long. What's the story
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on Wallace this time? What have we got? He reached a couple of
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used car dealers Saturday, took him for two thousand each. And we can't
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touch him? Why not? How do you work it? Saturday afternoon he
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went to a car lot on the corner of South Third in Washington. He
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bought a nineteen forty eight Lincoln Sedam, showed him his identification, wrote a
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check for fifteen hundred dollars for a down payment, and drove away another bum
5:15
check deal that's a little more than that. About forty five minutes after he
5:18
left, he drove into another used car a lot two blocks away from the
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place where he bought the Lincoln. Yeah, told the salesman there. Then
5:24
he didn't like the car and he wanted to trade it in on another one.
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Salesman offered him nine hundred dollars less than he paid for it. Wallace
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accepted and offered them a personal check to cover the balance, and the salesman
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went for it. Almost Wallace seemed so anxious to get rid of the car.
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The clerk got suspicious, but it was late Saturday and he couldn't call
5:40
a bank on Wallace's check, so he called the place where Wallace bought the
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car. That's right. He found out that the sale was made less than
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an hour before Wallace had given them his personal check for it. Mm and
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then the two used car dealers got on the phone, decided that Wallace was
5:55
pulling a fast hustle, called the cop and had him jail hold that line
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him A we M thanks, yeah? Then what well? In the bank's
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open Monday morning they called about Wallace's account. He had enough money in to
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cover both checks. Wallace got a lawyer and threatened suit against the two car
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dealers. He had both of them cold and set a out of court for
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two thousand apiece. Quick deal. Sounds like a master. He's been drifting
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for thirty five years. Knows the con game. Anyway they want to play
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it, we can't even book him on a bag charge. He's got a
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job, and who's he working for him? Plastic out fit out in Pasadena,
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salesman? Is he registered under fifty two thirty eight? Yes? In
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just a minute, Yeah, all right, send him in, Bill Merril,
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he's got Wallace with him, Ben Wallas, this is Gavin Bryce,
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Captain. I'm very happy to know you. I've read a lot about you.
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Yeah, sat to Friday. How are you? We would like to
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talk to you. Wallace sadan Oh, thanks, walm out today a spider.
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No, what is it? I can help you, gentlemen with always
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glad to cooperate, and you don't have to give us a build up,
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Wallace, We're not buying you know me better than that, Sergeant. No
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point in making this visit an unpleasant one. Cordiality, that's a secret.
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My mother used to tell me that. She used to say, mister,
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you're not here to get the keys to the city hall. You're here for
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investigation. I'm here out of courtesy. Captain. My lawyer informed me I
7:21
didn't have to come. I don't believe in making enemies, that's all we
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gut. That's not trying. You've done pretty well, haven't you. How
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long do you plan to stay here in town? Los Angeles is my home,
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it's my place of business. That's fine with us, Wallace, just
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as long as it's honest. Let me hand you a piece of advice.
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You try comping any more jobs in this town, and we're going to lean
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on you. Understand. I don't think I do understand, Captain. The
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incident with the used car dealers. I hope that isn't what upset you.
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You guessed it, and it better be the last keep er you try around
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here. For a long time, I had every right to take action against
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those car dealers. False arrest. They humiliated me. They damaged my reputation.
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Here's your reputation, Wallace, thirty five five years of it, ten
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jail terms, largely buncle forgery. Have you ever heard of rehabilitation? Sergeant?
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Oh yeah, I did my time. I don't owe them a day.
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I got an honest job. I've been off the grift for years now,
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and take a hint wall to stay off. You'll do better, that's
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all, Wallace. Just remember the next time we tag you, you're gonna
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fall hard. You got it straight, Captain. I've been square since I
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got to town. I'm not switching? Is that hit? That's all?
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Well, that wasn't so bad. Would you, gentlemen, care to have
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some lunch with me at the club Justice Name? Oh thanks, sure,
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I can't persuade you. Club's just up the street. Find some other time,
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Wallace, goodbye, well, goodbye, sergeant, goodbye to you.
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Yeah. Well, we gave him the word. I don't know how much
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good it's gonna do. What do you? Thanksgiver two things about drifters.
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They never retire and they never change watch them. For the next four months,
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Charles Wallace was kept under surveillance from his daily actions. There was nothing
9:01
to indicate that he'd returned to his former profession of confidence. Man from experience,
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we knew it was too good to be true. For a man who
9:09
had work the con game from every conceivable angle for as long as Wallace had,
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chances of his going straight amounted to less than one in a thousand.
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Just as a dope addict as a slave to drugs, the full fledged con
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man or grifter is obsessed with the idea of swindling for a living. He
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loves his work and he takes pride in it just as much as a doctor,
9:28
A lawyer or any legitimate professional man. He has a life and a
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code of ethics all his own, even as his own language. The grifters
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victims are wealthy, middle class, and poor, and many more than the
9:39
average citizen imagines. Wednesday, December first, one pm. Ben and I
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had lunch and checked back in at the office. Food's getting better at the
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cafeteria. Don't you just think beef stew is pretty good? You've got an
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extra coade hanging in your locker. Oh yeah, yeah, here you are,
9:56
Thanks, Hi, Connor, Joe. Do you see this report the
10:01
post office details sent over? I mean that lonely hearts an No, this
10:03
is a different one, real twist. How do you mean, Harry?
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I mean look, huh here Barney Grant. That's the name he uses anyway.
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A couple of weeks ago he planted a small one ad in the newspapers
10:13
around town. Been cleaning up ever since. How'd he working here? Take
10:16
a look at the add he was running. Remember tomorrow is the last day
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to send your dollar the box five six' five Main Post Office, Los
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Angeles? Was that all? That's all it took the last couple of days,
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been getting about forty letters a day from people in the city with a
10:33
dollar in each one. AD doesn't promise a thing, Just send your dollar.
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People send him. They picked the guy up, Harry. He called
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for the last batch of letters two days ago, probably pulled out. Postal
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inspectors checked the address he gave when he applied for the box. They never
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heard him there, Barney Graham. That sound familiar to you, Ben Little,
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Yeah, maybe R and I has a package on ran Captain Ben,
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You and Connan want to check that name through R and I. I'll be
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in listen. Yeah, okay, Well Friday close it all. Yeah,
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sure, This is mister Sawyer. He's with the Western Central Railroad. Sergeant
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Friday, Sergeant HALLI it's about Wallace. Friday, mister Sawyer has a complaint
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against him. We've got the crime report, Gentleman Wallace. Yeah, you
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want to fill him in, mister Sawyer, Well, Sergeant, I'm employed
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as a standards engineer for the Western Central Railroad. Wallace first approached me about
11:26
a month ago. He said he was an inventor and he was working on
11:28
plans of a new type of air brake for use on railroad cars. He
11:33
said he'd conceive the idea, but that he needed more time and money to
11:35
perfect his invention. He told me I'd share in half of the profits you
11:39
got from his idea. It sounded more than fair. How much money did
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you give him? All I had in my savings account three thousand. I
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talked it over with the wife, and the idea looked real good on paper.
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Yeah. I didn't expect to make too much money for myself out of
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this, but I thought of that if I could get a hold of this
11:54
breaking system, it would certainly help the company out. M h. He
11:56
took your money and you haven't heard from him since. Well. I presented
12:00
the plans to the chief specifications engineer in our Eastern office. Yeah, I
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got an answer yesterday airmail. Our New York office has been working for two
12:07
years on exactly the same set of break plans. How do you get a
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hold of them from the patent bureau in Washington? The company has a patent
12:13
pending on a new device. It's all legal in there. Yes. Yes,
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he simply got the information from him, drew up an exact copy,
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and submitted them to me. He sold you an invention that your company already
12:22
owned. Yes, sir, and I'm out three thousand dollars. You know
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where Wallace might be now we've checked the boarding house where he was staying.
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He left there last night, no forwarding address, nothing, We've got on
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all our points bulletined on him. Do everything we can. Well, thank
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you, Captain Sergeant Friday, you have my card. If there's anything I
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can do to help, please call all right, mister Sawyer, goodbye.
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As a line, Well you're looking for Joe. Let's see what's that right
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now? On that phony ad? The post office detail reported this morning.
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Checked the name Barney Grant through the crime index. That's the naming the guy.
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You. Yeah, this is the package and gentlemen, thanks right as
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any. His list goes for three pages. Read him again, Charles French,
13:05
Watered Grant, Charles Grant, Barney Grants tract. Gentleman Wallace, Barney
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Grant, same guy. We got out a local broadcast and APV and a
13:16
radiogram on Charles gentleman Wallace. For a full month there wasn't a sign of
13:22
him. Then we received a communication from the Denver, Colorado Police Department.
13:26
Wallace had cast worthless checks in that city in the amount of two five hundred
13:30
dollars. And then he'd skipped down, but before he left Denver he managed
13:33
another deal. He sold thirty cartons of electric razors, which one did not
13:37
belong to him, two had been stolen from another con man and resold in.
13:41
Three the raisers didn't work in the first place. The mechanisms had been
13:46
taken out and replaced with lead weights. Another sixty days passed before we got
13:50
the next report on Wallace from Cleveland, Ohio, by means of forged papers
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too well versed assistance to ropers in a fast line of talk. Wallace had
14:00
sold a Cleveland hardware concerned a shipment of tenpenny nails, much below the market
14:05
price. He collected twelve hundred dollars as partial payment for the shipment, but
14:07
it was never delivered. Eight am, Monday, March third, Ben and
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I checked in for work after a weekend off and found a message in the
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book to report the chief, Detective stad Brown. Chief you wanted to see
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you come in? Yes, sir, gentlemen, Wallace is back in.
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John. Where'd you get that? God the name of Patterson? So all
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right, Agan, how Patterson brought to the integration room? Is that mouse
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Patterson's given? Yeah? Small time drifter he was running with Wallace has led
14:45
us a month ago back in Pittsburgh, when was Pattison picked up last night
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at a big hotel out in Allywood, was working a fast deal. You
14:50
think he came to town with wall I know he did one of Conlin's the
14:54
performance spotted Wallace and Patterson last night. We nabbed Patterson. Wallace slipped away
14:58
figured but it had been operating in the city for about two weeks. Any
15:03
idea what his angle is this time? I think so? Take look this
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obituary notices. Looked the newspaper out of these times. Con artist takes a
15:13
dead man's name from the obituary list, finds out a little bit about him,
15:16
and writes him a letter. He writes a dead man a letter.
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There's a sample we had reported to us. Read it. William Radford,
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two thirty three South Brook Way, Hollywood. Their bill. I heard you
15:28
were sick, and I didn't want to bother you at this time, but
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believe me, I'm desperate. I don't mean to hound you about the four
15:35
hundred dollars you're borrowed from me, but we are having sickness in our family
15:39
and I do need the cash. Wait a minute. Well, this writes
15:43
a letter like this to a man knowing he's dead, and the family opens
15:46
it and reason and they figure it's some unpaid debt that they didn't know about
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which the deceased old. That's right, and the con man collects. Yeah,
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let has been showing up right in the middle of funeral arrangements. The
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family's breathed pretty strictly caught off guard. They don't suspect anybody to be the
16:00
ruthless, so they pay off that they think is a legitimate debt. That's
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it's a new load, and they scoot. Yeah, Ron speaking, all
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right, I think I got Patterson the interrogation room to questions and find out
16:11
everything you can. Right, you through talking to Patterson, you can start
16:15
checking on these names. Well, it's this. It's a list of all
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the names that appeared in the obituary column in today's paper. Long list.
16:22
Don on the Meiberger checking half. You and Ramera take the rest. All
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right, got to those families before Wallace does. They went down the hall
16:30
of the interrogation room and questioned Patterson for an hour and a half. He
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denied that even knew Wallace. They refused to tell us anything we had Patterson
16:40
returned to his cell in the county jail, and Ben and I started to
16:41
check with the relatives of the deceased who appeared in the daily obituary list.
16:45
Adams, Connolly, Craig Denburgh, don Zetti, Edmund's Power. None of
16:51
them would received letters claiming payment of secret debts owed by the deceased. Well,
16:56
there are more pleasant jobs and bothering families with an investigation in middle of
17:00
their sorrow. It wasn't easy, but it was necessary. The eighth name
17:03
on the obituary list was Foreman Carl j. He was survived by his wife
17:07
Jean. She lived at fifty eight twenty one Santiago Street out in the valley.
17:12
We're sorry to imprude at a time like this, misforman. We know
17:15
how you must feel, but it's an important matter, that's all right.
17:18
Sergeant Carl was sick for so long. Probably better this way. What did
17:23
you want to know since your husband passed away? If you received any letters
17:29
asking for payments on a debt that he might have owed to somebody, it's
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funny you should ask, You say, have I got it yesterday? Yesterday?
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Do you know the man who wrote the letter? No, I didn't.
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I took it for granted that it was someone called you in the army,
17:41
someone he borrowed from him. How much money was it? He said,
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your husband knowed him four hundred dollars. There's a letter over the mindle.
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I'll get it for you. Fine. Here it is thank you,
17:52
signs his name Howard Michaels. Has this man contacted you since? Why he
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has? He called me last night and said that he just heard about Carl.
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He apologized for writing a letter, said he had some medical bills of
18:04
his own to pay. I went to the bank this morning and got the
18:07
money for him. Is there anything wrong? And he's supposed to come here
18:11
and get the money he already has about two hours ago. He seemed to
18:15
be a very good friend of Carl's. Ben you got that mug? Shut
18:18
on? Yeah? Yeah, here I don't understand, Sergeant. Is this
18:23
the man who picked up the money this morning? Yes, that's mister Michaels.
18:29
Don't you think he was Carl's friend? I don't think so, miss
18:32
Foreman, But no one would do that. Who could be that low?
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You're looking at his picture, miss Foreman. His name's Wallace. You are
18:49
listening to Dragnet for the step by step solution to an actual police case.
19:00
Over the past century, the confidence Man here in the United States has earned
19:04
the dubious title of aristocrat of the underworld. Among small time thieves, cutthroats,
19:10
dope peddlers, pickpockets, and similar small fry He's looked up to and
19:12
respected. The true Cohn Man does not consider himself a crook or a thief
19:18
in the ordinary sense of the word. He's smooth, courteous, fast talking,
19:22
and he lives by his own code of rules. He never uses violence.
19:25
He makes his living by his wits alone. Generally, he's far above
19:27
average intelligence, and he's totally without a conscience. He thinks no more of
19:32
fleecing a day laborer of his wages than he would have fleecing a millionaire.
19:36
Because of their carefully planned operations, only a handful of confidence men are ever
19:40
brought to trial. Monday, March third, six pm, Ben and I
19:45
completed our interviews with the families of the deceased and returned to the office.
19:52
Hi, you too have any luck. Wallace is a guy we found out
19:56
that much who identified him woman out in the valley a missus foreman. Wallace
20:00
pose as an old friend of her husband's, took her for four hundred bucks.
20:03
How about Connin and my Berg. Yeah, don't they get anything.
20:04
I haven't checked in yet. I'm waiting for him. How does missus Foreman
20:07
make a payoff to Wallace through the mails? No, sir, he came
20:10
out and picked up the doing person and then there's no chance of tracing him
20:12
through the post office. Seems like he comes up with a new mo every
20:15
day. We checked out the rest of the families of the deceased on the
20:18
list. Chief gave us no Leeds Don Myers and handwriting checked the letter,
20:22
missus Foreman got the writing matches or the others. It's Wallace all right,
20:26
you know Conlin my Berg with you down the hall and handwriting checking couple letters
20:29
of Myers. Do any good today, Harry? Some found two families got
20:32
phony letters through the mail, same deal, Wallace. Did you pay off
20:34
to him yet? Neither one told him to sit tight and call us if
20:38
the guy should contact him again? Explain the setup. Who are the people,
20:41
Harry, Let's see. One's an old fella, Oscar Dunn lives over
20:47
in Highland Park. Others are pretty wealthy family bel Air. Here it is
20:51
Elizabeth Seacr. She's the wife. Husband's name Burton James Seacr, investment broker,
20:56
died day before yesterday. How much of a debt is he supposed to
20:59
evote? Guy in the letter claims twelve hundred bucks, signed himself William Kilbright.
21:03
The letters mentioned anything about how the payoffs supposed to be me A guy
21:07
wrote in contact him by phone first that make arranges to meet him. Both
21:11
families will call as soon as they hear from now. If he doesn't changes
21:14
him, Oh, we're sat Connin You and my Berg stick with the family
21:17
in Highland Park. Make sure they understand perfectly what the setup is. Waltup
21:19
makes a contact be there. Okay, Cat Joe, you and Ben cover
21:22
the family out in bel Air. Okay, you got the Sea Cors addresser.
21:26
Here's a crime report. It's got all the dope. Good, I'll
21:27
grab it. Bunco fugitive Conlin, Yes, ma'am. When all right,
21:36
thanks, we'll take care of its. Well, let's just call him.
21:38
What's the pitch? Wants to pay his respects. He's going to visit him
21:41
to night seven thirty five pm Monday, March third, Ben and I drove
21:48
out to the bell Air to the Sea Corps place. It was an English
21:52
type mansion with a circular driveway out in front. The wake for mister Seacorr
21:56
was being held in the living room. The butler showed us into the library,
22:00
where Missus Seacor was waiting. She told us everything that had transpired since
22:03
she first received the letter from Wallace following her husband's death. She said Wallace
22:07
had promised to be at her home promptly at nine pm. We waited,
22:11
nine pm, came and went. We told her that if the suspect should
22:15
call to make any concessions, we agree to anything in order to set up
22:18
a meeting with him. At ten minutes past ten, the phone in the
22:22
library rang. Missus Seacorr answered it. I listened in on the extension.
22:26
I'm terribly sorry, missus Seacor. I did want to get out to pay
22:30
my last respikes, but I'm afraid that will be impossible. Oh, I'm
22:34
sorry you won't be able to come. I'd like to settle up that debt,
22:38
the money that Burton knowed you. I do hope you understand, Missus
22:41
seaco It's very difficult for me to bring up such a subject at this time
22:47
of your bereavement. But I do have need of the money. You see,
22:51
it's my wife. She's quite ill and will there are medical expenses to
22:56
be made. Oh, I understand. When would you like to come for
23:00
the money? Well? Would tomorrow be all right? My husband's funeral is
23:06
tomorrow? Oh I see. Well where will that be? At the cathedral
23:11
on Sunset Boulevard, a requia mass at St Mary's at nine o'clock. Well,
23:18
since I don't want to bother you personally anymore, I wonder if it
23:22
would be possible for you to leave the cash with the head usher there at
23:26
the church. Well, yes, all right, I think that would be
23:30
the best way. All right, that good night and thank you, Yes,
23:37
good night. I'm sorry, No, that's not easy for you.
23:44
That's all right, sergeant. It's strange, isn't it. One man burns
23:48
out his whole life making money, the next man spends his time trying to
23:52
steal it. What does it all mean? I don't know. We got
23:56
twenty six hundred men down in the county jail. We all think they've got
23:59
the right hand. Tuesday March fourth, nine am in Saint Mary's Cathedral on
24:08
Sunset boulevard. The final rights a requiem high mass was being celebrated for Burton.
24:14
James, Secor, Ben and I were stationed at the rear of the
24:17
church. Conlin and Meberg, together with two other men from Bunco detail covered
24:21
the side exits. An extra detail of men were placed at strategic points around
24:25
the cathedral. The head usher stood a few feet from the main entrance.
24:29
With him, he carried a plane manila envelope filled with pieces of newspaper cut
24:33
to resemble the size of currency, along with a single dollar bill. He
24:37
had instructions to hand over the envelope without questions of the person who asked for
24:41
it. Fifteen minutes past nine, julle Yeah, we'll see that head usher
24:49
all right then, Yeah, I'm got him spotted all right. Pretty good
24:53
sized crowd here. Seacor must have had lots of friends. Nice choir,
25:04
just wonderings, y know, what's it lose? He doesn't show that that's
25:10
possible. He might have gotten suspicious. Cou'd be what time you got now
25:17
it's nine twenty d uniform messager just came in the door. Yeah, he's
25:26
looking around. He's going up to the usher talking to him. That's sand
25:30
rusher gave him the envelope. Nice years leading, let's hold it, give
25:33
him a lead, all right, let's go, let's go, Ben,
25:45
don't lose him. He's getting into that cab. Come on, slide over.
25:49
You got the cab number, Yeah, let's move. Ten thirty am
25:56
then and I trailed the cab to a bus depot in downtown Los Angeles.
25:59
We followed the messenger in and watched him check the manilla envelope and a key
26:02
locker. We waited. At eleven forty five am, another uniform messenger entered
26:07
the bus depot, picked up the envelope, and left. We followed him
26:10
to the Union Railroad station, where he left the envelope at the traveler's aid
26:12
desk. At three pm, the envelope was still there, unclaimed. No
26:18
signs, BOE, what do you think. It's a pretty fancy switch he's
26:22
got worked on. Yeah. What times the next train leave three twenty five
26:26
Coast Limited for San Francisco three twenty one. Now wait a minute, see
26:33
that porter over at the desk and tell them that girl there, I don't
26:36
know that's it. She's giving him the envelope. Come out now. He's
26:45
heading up the ramp down. Let's hustle. You turn up the left.
26:51
Yeah, passenger platform Coast limited. Not much time? Come on, run,
26:56
Come on, Ben, where'd the poor get on? Ex car?
27:03
Jump this way through here at the same border. He's not at the door
27:12
to that compartment handing in the envelope. Let's go. It'slocks knock? Yes,
27:23
what is that conductor? What is all right? Ben? Now,
27:32
look, sergeant, there's no need for any unpleasantness. Certainly we can sit
27:36
down and talk this thing over like intelligent human beings. Grab the luggage that
27:38
you have been all right, let's go, Wallace, Look, will you
27:41
wait a minute please, I'm sure we can come to some agreement. I
27:45
have plenty of money, look right here alone in this envelope, plenty of
27:48
That's only a dollar here. The rest is newspaper. You know. I've
27:52
been taken. Solve a lot of people. Let's go. The story you
28:03
have just heard was true, only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
28:07
On June twenty, third trial was held in Superior Court, Department eighty
28:11
seven, City and County of Los Angeles, State of California. In a
28:15
moment the results of that trial, Charles Gentleman Wallace was tried and convicted on
28:26
four counts of grand theft and sentenced to the state penitentiary for the term prescribed
28:32
by law, with hulls being placed on him by four other states. You
28:38
have just heard Dragnet authentic cases from official fires. Technical advice for Dragnet comes
28:44
from the Office of Chief of Police W. A. Wharton, Los Angeles
28:47
Police Department. Dragnet wishes to thank the editors of True Detective magazine for their
28:52
considerate appraisal of this program. For those of you who may be interested,
28:56
the behind the scenes story of Dragnet appears in the March issue Detective Tomorrow.
29:00
Here the Ronald Colemans in the charming series Hauls of Ivy on NBZ Welcome Back.
29:11
There were a few minute mins in this program where I wondered if this
29:18
was more of a composite than a single man that this whole thing was based
29:23
on. It really felt like that, just with the sheer amount of scams
29:29
going on and the wide variety thereof, though I suppose it could have been
29:33
a single old one. I wonder if they had any idea that they would
29:37
do as many bunko stories as they ended up doing. They did one just
29:41
focusing on the obituary rackets. A little bit of a difference man, when
29:47
they did the Big Betty. The end of the episode, the last eight
29:53
minutes really shows some of the strength of Dragnet in terms of its sound design,
30:00
and really it was just a lot of nice touch it. You really
30:06
felt like you were there. Dragnet at its peak had five sound effects men
30:11
working on it. They really wanted to get it right and they have some
30:15
good effects there. You really feel like you're standing outside that church and the
30:19
train station makes that come alive. The running very well done. Those Golden
30:25
Age programs did a good job with sound effects, but I think Dragnet really
30:30
did the best surpass them all in terms of just making ordinary real life come
30:37
to life over radio. Well, now we turn to listener comments and feedback,
30:41
and we were going to go ahead, and we'll start out with an
30:45
email I received regarding the child killer. High emails in this episode about the
30:51
child killer is so first in some impressively courageous episode. Sexual assault was harder
30:59
to speak then than it is now, and it's not easy now. I'm
31:03
impressed that Jack Webb had the guts to deal with pedophilia, and in later
31:07
episodes, child pornography, pornography in general, juveilnal delinquency that stem from abuse,
31:12
including the use of corporal punishment, something that would have probably barely begun
31:18
to be phased out of the time, and the difficult subject of nature versus
31:22
nurture in general. Does anyone know whether Dragnet actually help people come forward individually
31:29
in any way? Does anyone know whether it helped culturally? And I think
31:37
that the answer to that is it's really tough to say whether one TV show
31:44
or one radio show actually achieve anything. I think Dragnet really was the first
31:53
one to speak to start speaking about some of these issues. You won't really
32:00
see them addressed in the same way. I think there's a certain sensitivity.
32:07
I think there was definitely concern about children and in particular and addressing their needs
32:16
and the type of abuse that was going on. The show certainly didn't go
32:22
to a point of saying that all corporal punishment was abuse, but they really
32:27
did start to call out some of this abusive stuff that had been going on.
32:34
So I think it had a key role. And you know, it's
32:38
tough to tell everything that goes into changing the culture. But an interesting thought,
32:43
she says, there is an unfortunate exception. I apologize for not remembering
32:46
the name of the episode. There is one where a man hits his wife,
32:50
and the wife realizes that she wasn't a good mother and therefore deserving correction,
32:53
and decides not to press charges against the husband. All except for that,
32:59
all I remember except for the plot is that the wife's name was Grace.
33:05
Except that huge blemish on Dragons web record, I still say kudos to
33:09
Jack Webb and crew for their guts. Hya and guide dog Pammy, Well,
33:16
thanks so much. I remember the episode you're talking about. It was
33:21
from nineteen fifty four or fifty five, so we still have a few years
33:25
to get to it so that we can hear the concept of it. Though
33:30
I think just from the description may speak more accurately to what often happens with
33:37
women who are abused than any attitude expressed by a web or by the show
33:43
in general. But we'll see just the overall context of it when we get
33:46
to it. Because I don't remember that episode as clearly. It seems like
33:52
the most memorable episodes are those from the most early portion of the program,
33:55
and then We have a comment from Bobby Lee who asked, who plays Joe's
34:00
partner. It sounds like he has a Southern accent. Always love when one
34:05
of our own is on the radio. Well, Bobby Lee, it was
34:09
Barton Yarborough and he came about his Southern accent. Honestly, he was born
34:17
in I hope I'm not mispronouncing the name of the city gold Thwaite, Texas,
34:22
and he was often called on to play Texans or Southerners on a variety
34:29
of guest roles. It's kind of odd to find a Barton Yarborough character that's
34:36
not a Southerner some sort though. They did have one episode of Christopher London,
34:42
episode zero six seven, The Terrible Price of Sugar, where he played
34:50
a character and used the Texas accent, but with a bit of a twist.
34:53
It was a good episode and I won't give away the twist, but
34:58
it's episode zero six zero seven. And if you go to Christopher London,
35:04
and if you go to Great Detectives dot Net, there's a search ball right
35:07
along the top, so you put EP zero six zero seven you can find
35:12
the episode. Same thing goes with any other episode. I give an episode
35:16
number four at any rate. Prior to coming to Dragnet, Barton Yarborough was
35:22
actually known for a couple of big roles over the radio. Both were with
35:28
Carlton Morse, who was associated with One Man's Family, Golden Age of radio's
35:34
most successful and well known soap opera. He had a recurring role on that
35:38
until his death. He also started another Carlton Morse series, playing doc on
35:45
I Love a Mystery, so he was very well known coming into his time
35:50
with Dragnet. All right, well, we have a couple of quick notes
35:53
before we wrap up for today. First of all, speaking of the South,
36:00
coming up tomorrow on video Theater is a bit of a different story.
36:05
It's not necessarily a detective story, but it is definitely a bit of a
36:08
mystery. It's the TV anthology program Climax, which was acted live, and
36:16
we have Academy Award winner Edmund O'Brien former Johnny Dowler as the star and it's
36:22
written by William Faulkner. The story that it was based on anyway, and
36:27
the title is an error in chemistry. That's tomorrow on our video theater.
36:31
And also I went through our stats. I do this every few months and
36:37
I'm pleased to report that the program now has an average audience per episode of
36:45
more than ten thousand unique listeners. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported
36:52
the show over the years. It's a tremendous and I appreciate all you listening
36:57
all across America and around the world. Thank you so much. Well,
37:00
we're not going to tell you that tomorrow or Monday is the last day you
37:07
can send a donation to Adam Graham Pio Box one five nine one three,
37:13
Boise, Idaho eight three seven one five, But Monday is the last day
37:19
to have your check donation postmark to receive the premiums with the listener Support campaign,
37:27
or to donate at support dot Great Detectives dot net. See how I
37:30
was able to tie the plot into the listener support campaign. Among the items
37:36
we do have as a thank you gift at the one hundred dollar level,
37:39
just recently added uh Poirot's Finest Cases from BBC eight full cast audio dramas,
37:47
including the Further On, the Orient Express and the ABC Murders. Full list
37:53
of available items at support dot Great Detectives dot net. But that'll do it
37:58
for now. In the meantime, send your comments to Box thirteen at Great
38:01
Detectives dot net, Follow us on Twitter at Radio Detectives, and become one
38:07
of our friends on Facebook, Facebook dot com, Slash Radiodetectives From Boise,
38:12
Idaho, This is your host, Adam Grahamson and Off