Racket Squad

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

Racket Squad
GenreCrime drama
Anthology
StarringReed Hadley
Narrated byHugh Beaumont (1952–1953)
ComposersHerschel 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 producersHal Roach
Hal Roach, Jr.
ProducersCarroll Case
Hal Roach, Jr.
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time23–26 minutes
Production companiesShowcase Productions, Inc.
Rabco Productions[1]
Release
Original networkCBS
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseJune 7, 1951 (1951-06-07) –
September 28, 1953 (1953-09-28)

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.

Production history

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]

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

Plot summary

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]

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
Main article: List of Racket Squad episodes

Quotes
  • R-r-r-r-racket Squad!
  • Captain Braddock: (prologue, to the camera) What you are about to see is a real-life story, taken from the files of the police racket and bunco squads, business protective associations and similar sources around the country. It is intended to expose the confidence game – the carefully worked-out frauds by which confidence men take more money each year from the American public than all the bank robbers and thugs with their violence.
  • Captain Braddock: (epilogue, to the camera) I'm closing this case now – or rather, the courts will – but there'll be others, because that's the way the world is built. There are people who can slap you on the back with one hand and pick your pocket with the other. And it could happen to you.

Home releases

Alpha Video released various episodes on DVD Worldwide Distribution.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
Racket Squad, Vol. 1 4 2003
Racket Squad, Vol. 2 4 2005
Racket Squad, Vol. 3 4 2005
Racket Squad, Vol. 4 4 2005
Racket Squad, Vol. 5 4 2009
Racket Squad, Vol. 6 4 2009
Racket Squad, Vol. 7 4 2011
Racket Squad Vol. 8 4 2011
Racket Squad Vol. 9 4 2011
Racket Squad Vol. 10 4 2012
Racket Squad Vol. 11 4 2012

Award nominations
Year Award Result Category Recipient
1953Emmy AwardNominatedBest Mystery, Action or Adventure Program–
1955Best Mystery or Intrigue Series–

Notes
  1. Ward, Richard Lewis (1995). A History of the Hal Roach Studios. SIU Press. p. 148. ISBN 0809388065. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  2. 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. http://www.classictvhits.com/tvratings/1951.htm
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