Racket Squad

Last updated
Racket Squad
Genre Crime drama
Anthology
Starring Reed Hadley
Narrated by Hugh Beaumont (19521953)
Composers Herschel Burke Gilbert
Leon Klatzkin
Alexander Laszlo
Herbert Taylor
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes98 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers Hal Roach
Hal Roach, Jr.
ProducersCarroll Case
Hal Roach, Jr.
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time2326 minutes
Production companiesShowcase Productions, Inc.
Rabco Productions [1]
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseJune 7, 1951 (1951-06-07) 
September 28, 1953 (1953-09-28)

Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series that aired from 1951 to 1953.

Contents

The format was a narrated anthology drama, as each individual episode featured various ordinary citizens getting ensnared in a different confidence scheme. Episodes were introduced and narrated by Reed Hadley as "Captain John Braddock", a fictional detective working for a police department in a large, unnamed American city. Braddock served as the series' host and narrator.

Synopsis

The show dramatized the methods and machinations of con men and bunko artists. At episode's end, Captain Braddock gave viewers advice on how to avoid becoming the victim of the confidence game illustrated in the episode. Plots were based on actual case files from United States police departments, business organizations and other agencies.

In the original episodes, Braddock addressed the victim in the second person, addressing the victim directly. In later episodes he narrated in the more conventional third person. Shooting was rapid, with 44 pages of script shot in two days. [2]

Production

The show originally was produced for the syndication market in 1950, was picked up by CBS in 1951, and ran on the network through 1953. [2] The series was filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris. The shows were produced at a cost of $25,000 per episode, which was cheap for the time. [2] Racket Squad finished at #30 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1951-1952 season. [3]

Showcase Productions (Hal Roach Jr. and Carroll Case) produced the series, with James Flood as director. The writers were George C. Brown and Ed Seabrook. [4]

Three episodes were combined and released as a feature film Mobs, Inc. in 1956.[ citation needed ]

Guest stars

The show featured several guest stars who would achieve starring roles in future film and television roles:

After Racket Squad, Reed Hadley starred from March 1954 to June 1955 in another crime drama on CBS, The Public Defender .

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 13June 7, 1951 (1951-06-07)August 30, 1951 (1951-08-30)
2 50September 6, 1951 (1951-09-06)August 28, 1952 (1952-08-28)
3 35September 4, 1952 (1952-09-04)September 7, 1953 (1953-09-07)

Release

Alpha Video released various episodes on DVD Worldwide Distribution.

DVD NameEp #Release Date
Racket Squad, Vol. 142003
Racket Squad, Vol. 242005
Racket Squad, Vol. 342005
Racket Squad, Vol. 442005
Racket Squad, Vol. 542009
Racket Squad, Vol. 642009
Racket Squad, Vol. 742011
Racket Squad Vol. 842011
Racket Squad Vol. 942011
Racket Squad Vol. 1042012
Racket Squad Vol. 1142012

Reception

YearAwardResultCategoryRecipient
1953 Emmy Award NominatedBest Mystery, Action or Adventure Program[ citation needed ]
1955Best Mystery or Intrigue Series[ citation needed ]

Critical response

In a review of an episode from the second season, the trade publication Variety said that Racket Squad "adds up to fair entertainment" and noted that some members of the audience might benefit from warnings presented in the show. [4] The review added that the episode's dramatic component "was competently played". [4]

Notes

  1. Ward, Richard Lewis (1995). A History of the Hal Roach Studios. SIU Press. p. 148. ISBN   0809388065 . Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Stempel, Tom (July 1996). Storytellers to the Nation: A History of American Television Writing. Syracuse University Press. p. 24. ISBN   978-0815603689 . Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  3. https://classictvguide.com/tvratings/1951.htm
  4. 1 2 3 "Racket Squad". Variety. July 2, 1952. p. 24. Retrieved April 1, 2024.

Related Research Articles

<i>Adventures of Superman</i> (TV series) US 1950s television series

Adventures of Superman is an American superhero television series based on comic book characters and concepts that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938. The show was the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California on RKO-Pathé stages and the RKO Forty Acres back lot. Cereal manufacturer Kellogg's sponsored the show. The first and last airdates of the show, which was produced for first-run syndication rather than for a network, are disputed, but they are generally accepted as September 19, 1952, and April 28, 1958. The show's first two seasons were filmed in black-and-white; seasons three to six were filmed in color.

Braddock may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Beaumont</span> American actor (1910–1982)

Eugene Hugh Beaumont was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series Leave It to Beaver, originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detective Michael Shayne in a series of low-budget crime films in 1946 and 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Corby</span> American actress (1911–1999)

Ellen Hansen Corby was an American actress and screenwriter. She played the role of Esther "Grandma" Walton on the CBS television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards. She was also nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for her performance as Aunt Trina in I Remember Mama (1948).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Dobkin</span> American actor, director and screenwriter (1919–2002)

Lawrence Dobkin was an American television director, character actor and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bray</span> American film and television actor (1917–1983)

Robert E. Bray was an American film and television actor known for playing the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series Lassie, He also starred in Stagecoach West and as Mike Hammer in the movie version of Mickey Spillane's novel My Gun Is Quick (1957).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Doucette</span> American actor (1921–1994)

John Arthur Doucette was an American character actor who performed in more than 280 film and television productions between 1941 and 1987. A man of stocky build who possessed a deep, rich voice, he proved equally adept at portraying characters in Shakespearean plays, Westerns, and modern crime dramas. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his villainous roles as a movie and television "tough guy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Reed (actor)</span> American actor (1916–2001)

Walter Reed was an American stage, film and television actor.

<i>The New Adventures of Superman</i> (TV series) 1966-1970 animated television series

The New Adventures of Superman is a series of six-minute animated Superman adventures produced by Filmation that were broadcast Saturday mornings on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 5, 1970. The 68 segments appeared as part of three different programs during that time, packaged with similar shorts featuring The Adventures of Superboy and other DC Comics superheroes.

<i>The Batman/Superman Hour</i> American animated television series

The Batman/Superman Hour is a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969. Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reed Hadley</span> American actor (1911–1974)

Reed Hadley was an American film, television and radio actor.

<i>Superman</i> (TV series) 1988 American animated television series

Superman is a 1988 American animated Saturday morning television series produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises for Warner Bros. Television that aired on CBS from September 17 to December 10, 1988, featuring the DC Comics superhero of the same name. Veteran comic book writer Marv Wolfman was the head story editor, and comic book artist Gil Kane provided character designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pickard (American actor)</span> American actor (1913–1993)

John M. Pickard was an American actor who appeared primarily in television Westerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Crawford (actor)</span> American actor (1920–2010)

John Crawford was an American actor. He appeared in a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone, called "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim", and in several Gunsmoke episodes. He had a key role in the 1975 film Night Moves, a crime thriller starring Gene Hackman. He also played the mayor of San Francisco in 1976's The Enforcer, the third Dirty Harry film featuring Clint Eastwood, as well as the Chief Engineer in Irwin Allen's classic 1972 box-office smash and disaster-film epic The Poseidon Adventure.

<i>Mobs, Inc.</i> 1956 film by William Asher

Mobs, Inc. is a 1956 film directed by William Asher. It stars Reed Hadley and Lisa Howard. It was composed of three episodes from the American television series Racket Squad.

Jackson Clark Gillis was an American radio and television scriptwriter whose career spanned more than 40 years and encompassed a wide range of genres.

Ewing Young Mitchell was an American character actor of film and television best known for his role as Sheriff Mitch Hargrove in 26 episodes between 1956 and 1959 of the aviation adventure series with a western theme, Sky King. He also played Sheriff Powers on another western series, The Adventures of Champion.

Rickey William Kelman is a former actor. He had supporting roles in two single-season sitcoms, The Dennis O'Keefe Show (1959-1960) on CBS and Our Man Higgins (1962-1963) on ABC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Klatzkin</span> American music composer (1914–1992)

Leon Steven Klatzkin (1914–1992) was an American music arranger, composer, and conductor remembered for his long career in the Hollywood motion picture and television industries.

<i>The Public Defender</i> (TV series) American TV legal drama series (1954–1955)

The Public Defender is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from March 11, 1954, to June 23, 1955.