Radio
Legends:
Dragnet, Volume 1
Liner notes written by Elizabeth McLeod
A
precedent-shattering radio landmark that became a national institution -- its
influence is with us yet. And now Radio Archives is proud to take you back
to the very beginning, with an exciting collection of broadcasts from the very
first season of Jack Webb's police procedural classic "Dragnet."
Police procedurals go back long before "Dragnet's" 1949 premiere -- with an
especially strong heritage in Los Angeles. Private Investigator Nick Harris
presented dramatizations drawn from his own true-life case files as far back as
the 1920s, and the Los Angeles Police Department itself collaborated closely
with Don Lee Network producer William N. Robson for the long-running 1930's
series "Calling All Cars." But these formats fell from favor by the 1940s, with
the advent of the "hard boiled dick" genre of crime programs. An ordinary
policeman just doing his job had little chance against the legions of
smart-mouthed gumshoes parading across the ether during the postwar years.
But inevitably, that genre collapsed under the weight of its own clichés -- and
when "Dragnet" premiered in 1949 it was a breath of fresh air. No wisecracks, no
impossibly exaggerated characterizations, no too-purple-for-belief dialogue,
just a dedicated law enforcement officer, determined to do his job as completely
and as thoroughly as possible. Joe Friday is one of radio's great Everyman
figures -- just another workaday guy in a cheap suit, trudging thru his daily
routine -- but in Webb's hands, the characterization takes on a fascinating edge
of realism. The deliberately-low-key direction and the stylized flat-voiced
delivery of the supporting cast adds to this downbeat, it's-really-happening
style, giving "Dragnet" a feeling and a mood unlike that of any other radio
program of its era.
Programs included in this Radio Legends collection are from first six months' of
the program's run, beginning with the second broadcast of the series. Although
Walter Schumann's famous theme music doesn't appear until Episode 3, the
essential feel of the series is there from the very beginning of the run: the
quiet byplay between Friday and his partner Ben Romero (expertly played by radio
veteran Barton Yarborough), the meticulous documentation of the unfolding case,
and the careful pacing of each episode as it builds slowly but steadily to a
climax. The supporting players are drawn from the ranks of top radio talent,
including such performers as Frank Lovejoy, Parley Baer, Hans Conried, and
Raymond Burr, and the production values -- layering sound upon sound -- are of
astonishing proficiency.
It's a collection that shows you just how powerful, just how creative, and just
how fascinating American radio drama could be when it found itself in the hands
and mind of a master.
Here's the complete content of this Radio Legends collection, ten audio compact
discs containing twenty original NBC network episodes, complete and just as
originally broadcast in 1949:
Homicide (#2)
Friday, June 10, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
The Werewolf (#3)
Friday, June 17, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Homicide (#4)
Friday, June 24, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Helen Corday (#5)
Thursday, July 7, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Red Light Bandit (#6)
Thursday, July 14, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
City Hall Bombing (#7)
Thursday, July 21, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Big Missing (#8)
Thursday, July 28, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Benny Trounsel (#9)
Thursday, August 4, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Homicide (#10)
Thursday, August 11, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Sixteen Jewel Thieves (#11)
Thursday, August 18, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Police Academy-Mario Koski (#12)
Thursday, August 25, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Myra - The Redhead (#13)
Thursday, September 1, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Eric Kelby (#14)
Saturday, September 3, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Sullivan Kidnapping-The Wolf (#15)
Saturday, September 10, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
James Vickers (#16)
Saturday, September 17, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Brick-Bat Slayer (#17)
Saturday, September 24, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Tom Laval (#18)
Saturday, October 1, 1949 - NBC, sustaining
Mother-In-Law Murder (#26)
Thursday, November 24, 1949 - NBC
Sponsored by Fatima Cigarettes & Grainger Pipe Tobacco
Spring Street Gang (#27)
Thursday, December 1, 1949 - NBC
Sponsored by Fatima Cigarettes & Grainger Pipe Tobacco
Jade Thumb Rings (#28)
Thursday, December 8, 1949 - NBC
Sponsored by Fatima Cigarettes & Velvet Pipe Tobacco
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