Premier Collections: 
Calling All Cars, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.

Click to listen to an audio sample

"Crime does not pay..."

Those four words sum up the raison d'etre for "Calling All Cars," a popular crime drama heard over CBS Pacific Network stations from November 29, 1933 to September 8, 1939. In these dramatizations, the point was driven home time and time again that a life of a crime was a life wasted, period -- and anyone venturing off the straight-and-narrow was fated to meet a sad and sorry end. (I'm certain the show's producers would have even admonished that "the weed of crime bears bitter fruit" had that sentiment not already been expressed by another program of the same era.)

"Calling All Cars" was one of radio's earliest and most durable cop shows, dramatizing true crime exploits and introduced by real-life law enforcement officials from both the Los Angeles area and other police departments in the vicinity. Unlike the later "Gangbusters" which presented their top cop "by proxy" (i.e. as played by a radio actor), "Calling All Cars" offered the real deal -- though, since these were work-a-day police officers and not radio personalities, many of them seemed far more at ease chasing down bad guys than emoting over the airwaves; by way of example, in this collection, witness the poor police officer struggling to deliver his lines at the conclusion of "The Case of the Broken Xylophone". The narrator of the program was Charles Frederick Lindsley, a speech professor and radio announcer whose precise diction and enunciation put the non-professionals to shame; the only other regular heard each week was real-life L.A.P.D. dispatcher Jesse Rosenquist, whose unique voice and name became the show's trademark, contributing to the American lexicon both the program's title and the now time-honored phrase "that is all", ensuring his stay for the show's entire run. Like many radio programs of the period, none of the other actors on the series ever received on-air credit, but sharp-eared radio fans can hear the likes of Elvia Allman, Jackson Beck, Charles Bickford, John Gibson, Richard LeGrand and Hanley Stafford, to name just a few. (A prominent voice on the programs in this Premier Collection is actor Gale Gordon, who plays both dispatcher and narrator in the first installment, "The Laughing Killer.")

Old time radio fans might also notice that "Calling All Cars" acted as sort of a blueprint for a later police procedural series that emphasized the painstaking work and day-to-day detail involved in tracking down the criminal element, that program being none other than the celebrated "Dragnet", which was brought to audiences by actor-producer Jack Webb in June 1949. "Cars" even has a jaunty opening theme reminiscent of the "Dragnet March" - though a few have noticed that it also sounds remarkably like "The Bible Tells Me So" played slightly sideways. Although the series may sound a bit unsophisticated and primitive to modern-day audiences used to realistic television docudramas, it still makes for cracking good entertainment; broadcast historian Elizabeth McLeod, in an entry in Jim Cox's reference book "Radio Crime Fighters," states that "Calling All Cars" is "an excellent example of what a well-produced dramatic show was like in the mid-thirties. Early radio drama tends to get a bad rap from people who've only heard the really cheap syndicated serials of the 1930s, but given a decent budget and a good production team, I think thirties drama stands up quite favorably."

The program's long-time sponsor was Rio Grande Oil Company, and in fact the show itself ran only in those areas where their patented brand of "cracked" gasoline and "Pennsylvania" lube was sold. In their never-ending pursuit of shameless self-promotion, Rio Grande service stations offered a much-in-demand free premium: a monthly periodical entitled "Calling All Cars News," which spotlighted stories that would soon be aired on the program. But because the program was also sent via transcription to Southwestern markets served by Rio Grande but beyond the reach of CBS' West Coast stations, a whopping 299 of the 302 programs that were originally broadcast have more or less survived the ravages of time and are extant today - including these twenty half-hour episodes in this brand new 10 CD Premier Collection, newly restored and remastered by Radio Archives.

The Laughing Killer (#168)
A gas station operator is tossed into the pokey for giving the authorities false information about a robbery. While incarcerated, he taunts and teases his hosts with a variety of tall tales...one of which involves the whereabouts of a missing woman.
Wednesday, February 10, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sustaining
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Desertion Leads to Murder (#172)
Three telephone linemen discover the body of a cab driver near their worksite. The police are called in to investigate, and the trail leads to two Army soldiers who are headed for the Mexican border.
Wednesday, March 10, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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Ransom Ring (#177)
A trailer camp operator overhears a conversation by drunken rowdies and is convinced they're up to no good. He contacts the authorities, who soon deduce that the leader of the gang is the notorious Glen Harmon!
Wednesday, April 14, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Ice House Murder (#180)
A trio of bandits has gone on a spree robbing various ice plants around the city. One of them is recognized by an employee at the Union Ice Company, an icehouse that has already been hit, and the authorities are soon notified.
Wednesday, May 5, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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John Doe Number Seventy One (#181)
A graduate from an aeronautics school is forced to accept a job he hates to please his fiancée's family. Disgusted with his lot in life, he quits not long after and embarks on a quest for "fun" that soon results in his disappearance.
Wednesday, May 12, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Disappearing Scar (#183)
Two hoodlums - described as a "Mutt and Jeff pair" - render a police officer unconscious and leave him handcuffed to a tree along the highway. One of the culprits, while doing a stretch in the clink, manages to switch identities with a drunk in order to execute a daring escape.
Wednesday, May 26, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Bamboo Snake (#186)
The daughter of a Chinese nobleman, freshly graduated from nursing school, is betrothed to a doctor who operates a gunrunning operation. He forces his bride-to-be to smuggle heroin into Mexico City.
Wednesday, June 16, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the Broken Xylophone (#193)
A young musical prodigy can barely contain her excitement about making her musical debut in a vaudeville show. Unfortunately, her dreams are threatened when a pair of safe-cracking goons rob the theater and tear up her precious xylophone.
Wednesday, August 4, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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True Confession (#195)
Patrick McManus is obsessed with money and his wife's property, and is convinced that everyone he knows is angling to obtain both. Since he's the sole beneficiary in his spouse's will, he plots to eliminate her permanently to eradicate any competition.
Wednesday, August 18, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the One-Pound Note (#197)
A pair of crooks cases a bank while hiding out in a bakery wagon. When they carry out their plans, they don't count on trouble from a girl friend who is only too happy to assist the police in their apprehension of both the culprits and their ill-gotten loot.
Wednesday, September 1, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the Bone Button (#200)
A coat button made of bone provides a vital piece of evidence in the trial of a man charged with the hit-and-run death of a truck driver.
Tuesday, September 21, 1937 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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Muerte En Buenaventura (#235)
The discovery that a cabin has been ransacked, complete with bloodstains on the floor, by a deputy and a representative from the D.A.'s office leads authorities to suspect foul play. A witness soon reveals that he sent two men to that very same cabin, and the hunt begins.
Thursday, May 26, 1938 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Turtle-Necked Murderer (#237)
An officer observing a suspect outside a busy shopping area on a street in Long Beach ends up having to chase the man to his hotel room...where he is promptly shot and killed.
Thursday, June 9, 1938 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the Bloodstained Wrench (#273)
A blood-covered body is discovered in a parking lot by a homeless youth and a patrolman. The murdered man has apparently been clubbed to death, and further investigation reveals that he was killed in his truck and then dragged across the lot to the area where he was found.
Friday, February 17, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Unconquerable Mrs. Shuttle (#274)
In Delaware, a doctor is called upon to prescribe an antidote for arsenic for the two daughters and two grandchildren of a prominent U.S. Senator. The poison originated in a box of candy, sent to the Dover address from Stockton, California.
Friday, February 24, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the Hunted Man (#278)
This episode tells the tale of Earl Durand, an individual who highly proficient with firearms and who adopted the life of a mountain man...which culminated in his eventual incarceration and escape from a Wyoming jail.
Friday, March 24, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Case of the Man Who Ran Away (#283)
At the trial of a driver charged with the hit-and-run killing of two boys on a bicycle in Laguna Beach, the evidence needed to convict the man is presented in a series of flashbacks, which demonstrates how the Highway Patrol relies on modern detective methods to solve the crime.
Friday, April 28, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Gospel of Brother Ned (#284)
Two ruthless bandits have embarked on a holdup spree marked by uncompromising violence. One of the men is captured by a tough beat cop, but manages to break free when the patrolman is forced into a gunfight with the man's partner.
Thursday, May 4, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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You Can Cheat an Honest Man (#285)
A parolee from a prison in Walla Walla is advised by his cellmate on how to get some "real dough" once he's out of stir. The ex-con soon learns the nuts and bolts of the horseracing racket, and makes fast friends with a milquetoast businessman by posing as a wealthy gambler/sportsman.
Thursday, May 11, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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The Bloodstained Car (#287)
An Indio sheriff is asked by one of his constituents to help repossess a car, which was purchased by a man who has been reported missing. When the car is located, a cursory examination reveals bloodstains on the floorboards.
Thursday, May 25, 1939 - 30:00 - CBS Pacific Network, sponsored by Rio Grande Oil
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