This is Monday Matinee on the Mutual Audio Network.Come on, let's all go to the lobby.Because people are staring at us listening to these shows while we're in the theater.
The following audio drama is rated PG for parental guidance.
Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true.Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.You're a detective sergeant.You've been off duty two hours.You receive an emergency call from the chief of detectives.
An entire block in the heart of your city is threatened with complete destruction.Your job?Report at once.
Dragnet.The documented drama of an actual crime.Investigated and solved by the men who unrelentingly stand watch on the security of your home, your family, and your life.
For the next 30 minutes, in cooperation with the Los Angeles Police Department, you will travel step-by-step on the side of the law through an actual case from official police files.
From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Dragnet is the story of your police force in action.
It was Tuesday, November 15th.It was raining in Los Angeles. We were off-duty reporting in on an emergency call.My partner's Ben Romero.The boss is Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives.My name's Friday.It was 8.32 a.m.
when I walked in the Spring Street entrance of the City Hall.
Yeah, that's right.Take my elevator, Sergeant.It's the only one in service.All right.
Welcome to Reimagined Radio. program about radio storytelling.With each episode, we explore how dialogue, sound effects, and music can combine to promote storytelling and engage your listening imagination.
We also like to include the stories behind the story, the history, the connections. trivia, and we always strive to answer the questions, so what?And why is this important?
This episode is no different, and here to tell you about it is John Barber, producer and host.
Hello, everyone.For this episode of Reimagined Radio, we spotlight Dragnet, the real-life police procedural conceived, produced by, and starring Jack Webb as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday.
Broadcast on the NBC radio network 1949 to 1957, Dragnet chronicled actual Los Angeles Police Department cases with step-by-step details and realism.
For the next hour, we'll sample from Webb's earlier radio programs to hear him developing his Dragnet character and underplayed acting style.We'll also listen to The City Hall Bombing, an episode of Dragnet.
Together, these listening experiences showcase Webb as a great radio storyteller. While listening, please visit our website, reimaginedradio.fm.
There, on the Dragnet archival webpage, you'll find more information and a copy of our script, which you may like to follow as you listen.Thanks for joining us, and enjoy listening as Reimagined Radio presents Dragnet.
Jack Webb, born 1920 in Santa Monica, California, grew up in Los Angeles.His mother and grandmother, Webb's only family, encouraged his early interest in art, movies, and reading.
His earliest experience with radio work was at Belmont High School as an announcer for the school radio station, BHS. In 1945, out of the military and back in Los Angeles, Webb looked for jobs in radio.
An audition he recorded in Los Angeles was sent to ABC affiliate station KGO in San Francisco.Management liked what they heard and Webb was offered a job. Webb's earliest radio recordings are from One Out of Seven, broadcast February to March 1946.
The introduction laid out the premise for each episode.
24 hours make a day, seven days make one week.And from these past seven days, the editors here in our San Francisco newsroom have chosen the one story which they have judged most worthy of retelling.This is One Out of Seven.
Episodes expanded on chosen news stories with dramatizations.Webb then, 26, voiced all the parts.
The dramatizations allowed Webb to present prejudice, intolerance, and hate, not as vague topics, but rather as driving forces in the lives of real people, both aggressors and targets of aggression.
Here is a sample from Brotherhood Week, episode four, broadcast February 27, 1946.
Down through the rain, down through the wet glistening street he came, his head bared, his frayed coat collar pulled tightly around his neck, a wide, ugly cut on his forehead, still bleeding, a monstrous bruise covering the side of his face,
And strangely, I noticed he walked straight up, his head high.
It came up that he stood beside me at the bus stop, and after a while he said, Tonight, like every Wednesday night, we have our meeting down in the hall on the west side of the city, you know?Yeah, I know where that hall is.
And on Wednesdays, the people who are of my race, well, we all meet together to learn about our new country, to study the language, and to try to be better Americans.Uh-huh.But tonight, we have some visitors.
They are a group of men, and they say, we cannot stay here because this town is for people of their race only.We say, we will not go.And then there is a big fight. The men wreck our club room, they smash our furniture, and they fight with us.
They tell us in loud voices, get out, stay out!But we fight back because we know the laws.The laws say these men are wrong.Ah, well now, I must cross the street to the church.Would you like to come with me?
I do not pray, you know, but I like to stand there in the church and say these things.It makes me feel better inside here after what has happened tonight. Well, I crossed the street with him and I went into the church.
We sat down in one of the pews far back in one of the dark corners of the church.A few candles flickered uncertainly above the altar.And after a long moment, he turned to me and he said, I do not hate these men who do such things.
I am not bitter against them.Only I have so much pity for them.For is it not true?They are like frightened little children. Afraid, running around, looking for an enemy to fight.Anybody.But they do not see the real enemy.
Oh, they hate us.Yes, they hate us.But really, they do not know why.They see only the difference of color or language. and they become angry because we are not as they.Oh, it is so sad.And that is why I have so much pity for them.
So blind, they are so blind.The sun is there waiting for them, shining warm and full over everybody, but their eyes are still closed and all they can see is the darkness.
We just listened to samples from Brotherhood Week, an episode of one out of seven.Only seven episodes were produced.This is one of four that survive.The short series was one of Jack Webb's earliest radio acting roles.
For more information and to listen to the entire episode, visit the episode page at our website, reimaginedradio.fm. In April 1946, Webb began a new radio series at KGO called The Jack Webb Show.
An unknown number of episodes were produced and distributed over the ABC West Coast network.Two are known to survive.Episodes featured comedy skits, quips, and bad puns, along with great jazz and blues music in its weekly episodes.
Let's listen to samples from Major League Baseball, Episode 5, broadcast April 17, 1946.
This week, the Major League Baseball season opened.In keeping with this, the American Broadcasting Company brings you the first foul ball of the season.It's the Jack Webb Show, in its fifth consecutive strikeout.Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
How are all our listeners out there?
Here's the news, thousands of you want to hear.
Folks, he's talking about the results of our ginger peachy contest announced last week.Remember, we told you to write a letter on the subject, how to get the Jack Webb show off the air.Didn't work, did it?
Well, John, clean your glasses and read the winning letter.Here it is, Jack, in part it says, I read from the letter, quote chapter one entitled, The Process of Air Fumigation, for how to get the Jack Webb show off the air.
The solution is to have each person in the country take deeper and more breaths, and it won't be long until all the air is used up, and then there will be no air for Webb to be on. Signed Betty Ford, Pyramid Court, Sparks, Nevada.
Congratulations, Miss Ford.Nora has the prize, and here it is.
Oh, my, my, look at that thing, a king-size egg.Isn't that beautiful?What is that, John?
It's a genuine ostrich egg, laid fresh this morning from the California Ostrich Farm in Southern California.Yes, friends, this is a Hollywood egg.
Yes, sir, this ostrich egg has been autographed by all members of the cast, including John Galbraith, who makes his usual eggs.And it has been lacquered and placed on a solid wooden base.
And all this, with our best wishes, will be shipped air express to the winner of this week's contest, Betty Ford, Sparks, Nevada.And this is Jack Webb.Give us another chance next Wednesday night at 9.30, will ya?Good night, gang!See you then!
When ABC Network asked KGO to provide a half-hour Sunday program for some of the Pacific Coast stations, Webb and writer Richard Breen introduced radio listeners to Pat Novak for hire.This was Webb's first role as a detective.
On advice from Breen, Webb let the dialogue do the work and played Novak with an understated matter-of-fact style.Voiced by Webb, Pat Novak was a streetwise and cynical Philip Marlowe on steroids and speed.
Listeners heard a detective series that radio historian John Dunning called, quote, a series so hard-boiled it became high camp, unquote.
As example, let's listen to the first scene from Dixie Gillian, episode 9 of Pat Novak for Hire, broadcast November 24, 1946.Setting up the scene, Webb, as Pat Novak, introduces himself.
Oh, I rent boats and do anything else that makes us sound like money.It works out all right if your mother doesn't mind you coming home for Christmas in a box.I found that out Wednesday night about nine o'clock.
I closed the shop early and I came home to read.Well, it wasn't a bad book if you ever wanted to start a forest fire.
was one of those historical things, and the girl in it was just getting her second wind and her third man when the door to my apartment opened and the place began to get crowded.From where I sat, the crowd looked good.
She sauntered in, moving slowly from side to side like 118 pounds of warm smoke.Her voice was all right, too.It reminded you of a furnace full of marshmallows.
Yeah, thanks for knocking.
I don't think you mind my coming in without warning.
No.I get the cabbage smell from next door the same way.What's on your mind?
My name is Lee Underwood.I'll give you $300 to do something for me.It'll only take an hour.
That's too much dough unless it's murder.And if it is murder, it's not enough dough.
If it were murder, I'd do it myself.Mr. Novak, I want you to frighten someone for me.It's a man named Dixie Gillian.You'll find him in an office down on Folsom Street, at this address.I promise nothing will happen to you.
He'll be in this office until 11 tonight. I want you to go in and see him.Tell him you're from Adrian.And that he's to get out of town by tomorrow noon.Don't let him know who hired you.Just tell him Adrian said to leave.
Yeah.You better go home.For 300 bucks I won't buy a tissue paper plot.Now tell me more or say goodbye.
There's not much more I can tell you.Except there won't be any trouble.Do you want the 300, Mr. Novak?
Yeah, it's gonna be a long winter.Put it on the table.
Good.And you'll need this, too.
No, you keep it.I don't want a gun.
It's empty.Don't worry.See?No shells.It's perfectly safe.
Now, look.I've got a nasty disposition.You can rent that for 300 bucks, but if you want more, find a gunslinger or an off-duty copper.
I don't want you to be a gunslinger.That's why I want you to use this gun.I know it's empty.If you use it on Dixie, he'll scare fast.It's just a way to save some breath.
Yeah. If anything goes wrong, I'll be around looking for you.From there on, it won't be nice.I'll dirty you up like a locker room towel.
Relax, Patsy.You'll never learn to fall in love that way.
With Breen's writing and Webb's acting, Pat Novak for Hire was very popular with West Coast listeners.But after 26 weeks, Breen quit and moved to Hollywood, lured by a screenplay writing job.
Within an hour, Webb also quit and returned to Los Angeles.Pat Novak for Hire continued, but didn't sustain the level of Webb's performance.More about this shortly. In Hollywood, the mutual broadcasting system sensed an opportunity.
They hired Webb and Breen to create a new radio show, Johnny Madero Pier 23, as a continuation of their Pat Novak for Hire.Reunited, Webb and Breen continued the wisecracking tough guy role they had cultivated earlier.20 episodes were produced.
Two are known to survive. In this one, Fatal Auction, episode 10, broadcast June 26, 1947, Webb, as Johnny Madero, begins his story at an auction where he meets a woman.
About three o'clock I started down Post Street when I spotted a new auction house.
Inside it was packed and up on a wooden stand a bald-headed guy was selling everything but his suspenders. So I sat on her back, and I noticed a girl standing up against the wall.
She was wearing dark green sunglasses, but the rest of her was just about as secret as a plow on the bathroom floor.
Her hair was the color of half-past midnight, and her dress was made of the kind of goods you buy from spiders.After a while, she walked over to me.
Right away, she started to get nervous, and when you look like her, you've got a right to be.
I want you to do me a favor.It won't take long.It'll be a small one.
They're going to auction off a black leather suitcase in a few minutes.It belongs to me.I must have it back.
Can you speak the language?Do your own bidding.
I don't want someone to know I'm here.It's important.I'll pay you $50 to bid for me.
Just start bidding and keep on bidding till you get that suitcase.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, here's a special item of interest.A black leather suitcase.
Madero's thousand dollar bid wins the suitcase.After claiming it, Madero returns to his seat and discovers the woman is gone.
Now we have another rider here.
Sorry, son.I was just going for the empty seat.Yeah, we'll wait for your blockers next time, Pop. Where's the girl, the brunette with the dark glasses?
It's a jail term, son.I don't follow them home anymore.
But she was here a minute ago.You must have seen her leave.No.Think about it.She must have walked right past you.Think about it.
No, son.When you get to be my age, you don't even do that.
When I got back to the office, I started working on the lock with the key.Then I opened it.A shiny-looking saxophone was laid out in three parts. For a thousand bucks you can buy a whole brass section.
So I went through each piece looking for a reason.I couldn't do much more, so I wrapped up the case and put it up in my closet.Then the door opened and if trouble had a face, this was the way it looked in the morning.
He stood there in the middle of the room and his eyes held me like a fly at the end of two needles.
He noticed his eyebrows, they were bushy and thick, and if they got any worse, he'd have to hire a native guide.Hello, are you Madero?That's my story.You got a better one?It's sadder than yours.I'm the guy you left behind at the auction.
Who are you bidding for?Who are you asking for?Myself.I suppose we get real friendly.What's your name?Dunlap.Larry Dunlap.What do you want from me?I know all about the sax, Madero.It belongs to me.Give it to me or I start looking.
The sax is in the closet, on top.Come on.Give me a hand.
Sure. In many episodes, like this one, Madero gets knocked out early in the story.He recovers and solves the case.Johnny Madero Pier 23 aired for one summer, and despite its formulaic structure, was well received.
But West Coast listeners continued to call for the return of Pat Novak for hire.
This prompted ABC to pull the program from KGO in San Francisco and restore it to Webb and Breen as a coast-to-coast program originating in Hollywood during the 1949 season. This is Reimagined Radio.I'm John Barber.
We'll return to Dragnet in just a moment, but first I want to tell you about The Fuse Buck Show, produced by Mark Rose.It's a different kind of radio storytelling.
A carnival of quick-witted and quirky conversation and commentary about current day events and news.Here's a sample.
But Host Guy, how do people who have aphantasia function in this world?Can they be creatives?And what is that funny thing hanging over the mic stand?
But because I'm a, quote, member of this paying tier, I don't want to see an ad for Fran's pickle polishing service.Ooh.Or Handy Panda's barbecued gummy bears.For flavor and energy.No, I don't want to see any ads at all, ever.Are you suing me?
I think I just got sued by a Japanese pocket squirrel.Catch Fusebox, the third Thursday of the month, at 1.30 p.m.here on KXRW 99.1.
This is Reimagined Radio, our episode spotlights Dragnet, the iconic police procedural starring Jack Webb.Learn more at our website, reimaginedradio.fm.
As we've heard in both Pat Novak for Hire and Johnny Madero, Pier 23, Webb played a wisecracking, hard-boiled, understated detective.In Jeff Regan, Private Investigator, Webb further hones his character.
Let's listen to samples from The Guy from Gower Gulch.Episode 19, broadcast November 13, 1948.
My name's Regan.I get ten a day in expenses from a detective bureau run by a guy named Anthony J. Lyon.They call me the Lion's Eye.
Regan, Mr. Lyon, wake up.We got a job.
I got a note from a client.
A hundred bucks is all.Says he'll match it if we run him an errand.
David Crockett.He's 50 years old.
Well, he's a little old for cowboys and Indians, isn't he? When's the wagon train pull out?
Regan, I don't know how I stand for you.Get over there.
He's in a location that can give us a lot of business.
Well, it happened on Monday night, and I found the Lincoln Heights jail looking real tired after a rough weekend.
They were putting fresh creosote on the walls in front of the drunk tank, and the guy at the desk looked like he'd burst his radiator if anybody phoned for another reservation.It was about 1 a.m.
But after a couple of jokes I know about alligators, Sergeant Gonzales hauled out a drawer with some cards in it.Under C, he found it.Full name, David Crockett.Cell 273, solitary.
Gonzales walked me through a couple of quarters and then he opened the cell and let me inside.Davy Crockett was there, awake and standing up.He was about four feet high, skinny, with a head like a sunburned turnip.
He had blue veins roaming all over his nose and a handlebar mustache to hold him up. He looked at me like I was holding the fifth ace.
My name's Regan, International Detective Bureau.
How do I know?Start anything and I'll send up a racket.
No, I work for the lion.You called him.
Maybe yes, maybe no.You got credentials?
Easy, son.Not talking to an amateur.
All right, look, let's start at the beginning, shall we?What are you locked up for?
What'd you do, steal it for your dog?
No. I parked my landlady's car alongside it while I ran an errand.
You don't get jugged for traffic tickets.
There were two cops.Looked like a posse.I don't like injustice.
All right, resisting arrest, is that all?
What more do you want?Told you I'm not a man to be trampled with.
Now what about this errand?
Little package wrapped up in a sweater.They dropped it about three and a half feet to the left of the big air scan.I'll write down the address for you here.All right.When you get the package, check it in at the Union Station.
Save me the stab, you get a hundred.
Save it for bail, you could do this job yourself.
That's what I told you, Sonny.I'd like to be lonesome.
So you had him lock you up on purpose.
No, I just like it here.You want a reference?Check any of the boys in Gala Gulch.
Lanny, you're looking at the greatest jockey since Paul Revere.Eddie Sandz to Eddie Arcaro.I've been them all.Kentucky Downs, 39.
Yeah, sure.Well, a job's a job, Davey, but I got a hot tip where I fit in.
After 24 episodes, Webb left the Jeff Regan Private Investigator series and began working on a new radio show.Webb planned a police procedural based on real cases from Los Angeles Police Department files.
Episodes would feature authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language.
The series name, for example, Dragnet, was a police term for a system of coordinated procedures for apprehending criminal suspects or other wanted persons.
In Webb's plans, episodes would unfold detail after detail as he, playing Detective Sergeant Joe Friday,
and Barton Yarborough as Detective Sergeant Ben Romero, worked painstakingly through the tedious double-checking and careful questioning, developing their case to be strong enough to, perhaps, convince a jury of the suspect's guilt.
Along the way, listeners would know as much as the police detectives. New information was introduced only when it was uncovered and verified, using solid police procedures.The City Hall bombing, episode 6, broadcast July 21, 1949, is a good example.
A man with a bomb threatens to blow up Los Angeles City Hall unless his brother is released from county jail. Detectives Friday and Romero have less than 30 minutes to secure the threat.
This episode sets the tone for the Dragnet series and is great radio storytelling.Let's listen now to samples from the City Hall bombing episode of Dragnet.
Yeah, that's right.Take my elevator, Sergeant.It's the only one in service.All right. I'll run you up to 16.The chief's waiting for you up there.
What's the pitch?Only one elevator in service out of ten?The place looks deserted.What's going on?
Nobody in the building.All the office people have been sent home.Lots of trouble.
Somebody declare a holiday?
No joke, Sergeant.Big trouble.
All right, you convinced me.What is it?
Hi, Joe.Hello, Ben.You made good time.Came as soon as I got the call, Ed.
Sorry to have to bring you back in.You worked last night, didn't you?
Yeah, midnight to eight this morning.
Sorry.Come on.Okay.What is it?Scared for a while or hush, or... Wait till we get inside.In here.
Okay.Number one, let's keep our voices down.Yeah, all right.I'll make it as brief as I can.Every minute counts.What time you got, Friday?Eight thirty-three.All right, here it is.
Fifty-five minutes ago, a man walked into this building with a homemade bomb under his arm. If we don't release his brother from the county jail by 9 o'clock this morning, he says he'll pull the trigger on the bomb and blow up the whole building.
He's kidding, Skipper.Who is the guy?Name's Vernon Carne.Here's his package.He and his brother have been in and out of jail since 1937.Small-time thieves. Yeah.Where's the FBI kickback?We had them once before, both of them.Brother's name is Elwood.
Serving a year for car stripping.And this two-bit thief is sitting here in the city hall with a bomb on his lap?That's right.In the next room.What kind of a bomb is it, Ed?You think he's bluffing?Could be bluffing, but the crime lab says no.
Lee Jones from the lab get a look at it?Been in there twice.One under the box is glass.Says you can't see much without a closer look, but you can't get near the guy.What do you want us to do?
It's a volunteer job.You can take it or leave it. I won't order you to do it.
How you want to handle it?You sure you want a piece of this one, Romero?No, he doesn't, Ed.He's got a family.Get me another single man.We'll give it a try.Wait a minute, Joe.What makes this job so different?
Anytime we kick a door in, we never know what's on the other side.That's what makes it different.This time we do.No, you're not going to cut me out.Not the only time I know what I'm getting into.All right.Chandler's tried.
Hannon, Davis, Watson, they've all tried.This guy Connie knows what he's doing.He's no pushover.But somebody's got to get that bomb away from him.Friday? Romero, it's your baby now.I looked at my watch.It was 8.36.
We left Backstrand and started down the hall.If Carney was gonna make good his threat to blow up the building by 9 o'clock, we had exactly 24 minutes to talk him out of it.
Ben and I figured we'd better look him over first and then work out some kind of a plan.Maybe just talking to him would do it.Vernon Carney was sitting in a straight-back chair against the firewall facing the door.
He was seated between two windows that looked out over the city.Vernon Kearney was middle-aged.He sat erect, holding a black box on his lap.He held his right hand inside one end of the box.Ben and I stood there for a minute and looked at him.
Then we walked in the room.What do you say to a man with a bomb?That's close enough.Cigarette, Kearney?I'm not smoking right now.What are you trying to prove?You know what I want. We're not gonna let your brother out of jail.
You got until 9 o'clock to change your mind.According to that clock on the wall, you got 24 minutes.If we go, you're going with us, Connie.Don't take much of a brain to figure that, copper.What made you think you could get away with it?Haven't yet.
It ain't 9 o'clock.Unless that clock's slow.Haven't checked it against my pocket watch lately.That's the one that's running this show.Have you given any thought to all the innocent people that are gonna go up with that thing of yours there?
My brother's innocent. I want him out of jail.The court says he's guilty.He'll get out when he serves his time.That's where you're wrong, Copper.He gets out at nine o'clock this morning.All right, come on, Carney.Get your hand out of that box.
Put the box on the table.You think I'm bluffing, don't you?I'm gonna let you get within five feet before I make a liar out of you.Okay, Carney.I guess you mean business. You can take three more steps and find out for sure.
Well, if we did let your brother out, we'd just come out and pick him up again, you along with him?If you could find us.Let's get this straight.If we let your brother Elwood out, how do we know you're gonna keep your promise?What promise?
I ain't made any promises.You just get Elwood down here first, and then we'll talk about it.There's only one thing I can't figure, Kearney.Yeah, what's that?If we don't let your brother out, you say you'll pull the trigger on that bomb.
You're gonna kill a lot of innocent people.What are you gonna prove by that? It's 8.37.You've got 23 minutes left.I wish you'd answer that one for me.Why do you want to kill a lot of innocent people?Don't try to con me, copper.
I know they cleared everybody out of this building 45 minutes ago.I know they cleaned out the whole block.They got it roped off.Where'd you get your information?I got a couple of windows here to look out of.
Don't you think it's about time to send somebody over to get Elwood?You know, Connie, we've got a way out of this.We don't have to let your brother out, neither. I've heard that before.
What's to stop us from leaving the building along with the other few officers and let you sit here and touch off Fat Bob?Go ahead.It won't be a long wait without you.Who are you trying to kid?
You'd let me blow up ten million dollars worth of taxpayers' money?I know.You're gonna let Elwood out.You'll wait till the last minute to do it.But you'll let him out. Ed, I'm still not convinced Connie can back up what he says.
Then why didn't you take the box away from him?
We're in a spot, let's face it.
How about an eye for an eye, Skipper?What do you mean?If he pulls the trigger on that machine, he kills us.How about us getting him first?All right, Romero. How you gonna handle it?I'm not the top man on the pistol range, but I could wing him.
And then he hands the box to you?Or maybe he falls and his reflex action pulls the trigger.Okay, I don't wing him.I stop him for keeps.You just can't walk in there and shoot him down.Why not?You do the same thing with armed criminals.
Yeah, but you warn him first.I warn him.Yeah, and after you shoot him, you find out it's a harmless gadget.Couldn't have gone off in a million years.No, no, a gun's not the answer.We can't shoot him until we're positive.
We'll be positive by nine o'clock, and there might not be anybody around to shoot him.We've located Carney's apartment.There's a detail out there checking it now.Pacelli and Morris. Ed, have you got any ideas at all?Anything we could try?
That's why I called you in.None of us have gotten any further than you did just now.There's just one thing I want to know for sure.Yeah, Friday.Is it or isn't it?We all want to know.Either way, we've got to get that box away from him.Backstrand.Yeah.
You did?Yeah?No, stay out there till I call you.All right, here's half the answer.That was Pacelli.They found 28 sticks of dynamite in Carney's apartment.
We knew Carney wasn't kidding now.We could see into the bomb through that glass window in one end.It looked like dynamite inside, and there was dynamite in Carney's room.We didn't know if he had the nerve to pull the trigger.
We didn't know if it would go off when he did.But with only minutes remaining, nobody wanted to take the chance.
From here on in, all of us agreed that Vernon Carney sat in the next room holding in his two hands a force powerful enough to destroy us all.We had to get that box away from him, and to get that box, we had to have a plan. I looked at my watch.
It was 8.40.20 minutes till 9 o'clock.How do we get it away from him?I got an idea.It might work.Let's have it.Carney's sitting against the far wall between two windows.They're both open.Yeah, try.
All right, if we could get a man through one of those windows, we might get Carney from behind.How you gonna get him?Whoever gets through the window could slug him.What do you do then?Somebody grabs the box.
The crime lab can tell us what to do with it.How do we get a man through one of those windows?We're on the 16th floor.Well, there's some kind of a ledge that runs around the building on each story.Wide enough for a man to walk on?
Let's take a look.All right.
Looks pretty narrow, Joe.That's a good 18 inches.Could be done.No, too risky.It's raining out.That ledge is slippery.Strong wind out there, Joe.Tear a man right off the building.Yeah, I guess you're right.Well, there's still a way.
How about a ladder?16-floor skipper.There might be a way.The fire department would know that.I'll get Battalion Chief Erickson.Is Lee Jones in the building?No, he's over in the crime lab.I'll get him up here, too.I don't know, Friday.
Maybe it'll work.It's got to, Ed.All right, now look.It's gonna take a couple of minutes to set this up. We've got to know what Carney's doing every second of that time.Well, how about the dictaphone in there on desk?Good.
Get it on without him seeing you.We'll try.The dictaphone in there is connected to this one in here.This room is 1614.You got that?Yeah.All right, push down key 1614 on that machine in there and leave it down.
Get the receiver off the hook and leave it off.Leave the receiver off?That's right.You know, if it isn't off the hook, we won't be able to hear a thing in here.Right.Come on, Ben.
It is back, friend.Give me Chief Harrison.
Where's my brother?Still in his cell.You coppers are long on thought, but short on time.Yeah, we know.I'm telling you.For your own good, you'd better get Elwood over here.
Carney, I'll bet if we get your brother on the phone here, he'll tell you he doesn't want any part of this.You mean Elwood don't want out?Since when?Sure he wants out, but not your way.He's only got a year to serve.Why don't you leave him alone?
I told El, I told him I'd get him out.He didn't think I could do it.But I'm doing it. I'll make you a bet, Carney.Let us get your brother on the phone.He won't walk out of here with you.All right, get him on the pipe.
The phone's over here.Have to use the dictaphone.Gotta get an okay from the chief.Elwood's still a prisoner.What's the matter with the phone?No operators.You know the building's been cleared.Oh, yeah.That's right.Almost forgot.
Okay, you can use the dictaphone.This Friday, Ed.Carney wants to talk to his brother. Yeah, I know you'll have to send somebody over.Have them put the call on extension... Wait a minute.What's that extension number, Ben?2351, Ed.Right.
It'll take a minute.Yeah.I'd kinda like to talk to Al.Been a couple of months since I seen him.We've always been together, me and Al, most of the time.Joe, let's go in and see if we can't hurry that call.Good idea, boy.Sixteen minutes to nine.
Hey, Cop.Yeah?Forgot to hang up the dictaphone, didn't you?I put the receiver back on the dictaphone.Ben and I had failed to make good on the first step of the plan.When we got outside the door, we briefed Davis and Watson.
They went in to sit with Carney.It would be their job to keep us posted on Carney's movements.The dictaphone was out. We went back into the office next door.
Chief Sam Erickson of the fire department and Lieutenant Lee Jones from the crime lab were already there.We told Backstrand what happened.Would have been a help.We haven't got time to cry over it.Corny's wide awake, Skipper.He doesn't miss a thing.
Backstrand told us the plan, Friday.We camp on a ladder up from the street.Too high, Chief?Best we got is a hundred foot aerial. You figure 12 foot to the story, that'll take you up 96 feet, eight floors.And we've got the latest equipment.
What's the idea you had, Jones?Sam, can you get a hold of a pump here in a hurry?Sure, we got a lot of scaling ladders, but you got nothing up there to hook them on.You figure on dropping down from the floor above?
That's right, and I figure a pump here would do it.Sure it would.You could make it fast to the windowsill up there, but you got a foot and a half ledge in the way.No, what you want is a lifeline.You mean lower a man on a rope, Chief?Yeah, Romero.
That's the quickest and the quietest.Could you rig it so one of my boys could do it?Sure, Ed.What's the risk? None if you work it right.We'll strap on a life belt.Give the man heavy leather gloves.Two of my men will lower him down.
Pick your lightest man.What do you think, Lee?That's it.What do we do with the bomb when we get it?
I figure that box Connie's holding is about a foot square.Here's what I'll do. I'll get you a bucket with a foot and a half mouth.It'll be full of water.
I'll have it right outside the door of that office.When you get that box, place it in the water.We'll get the bucket out of the building as fast as we can.
Once we get the bomb underwater, we're in the clear.
I can't promise you that, but it's the safest way to handle it under the circumstances.All right, that's the procedure.Sam, you take care of your end.Right away.I'll get a detail.He'll give me a hand down on the street.
We'll have a car ready to take the bomb to a safe area to decommission it.Work as fast as you can.Come on, Sam.
It's our baby, Joe.That's right.Which part of it you want, the rope or the bomb?You call it.Fire Chief Erickson says the lightest man on the rope.That's me, Joe.All right, I'll get the bomb out of the building.
Okay, that's the routine, but carry this with you.The man that comes down on that rope has one chance to make good.You slug him and make it count because there's no second try.Yeah.
And Joe, when you grab that box, you got to get it away from Carney before he can squeeze the trigger. Then you gotta get it down into the street.The elevator.You know how to operate it?It's pretty simple, but I'll double-check with the operator.
Better do it right now.Okay.Ed, we better get Connie's brother on the phone for him.He seemed anxious.Might be a pretty good stall.
All right, Romero.That's the outside phone.Get to city jail.
Let me see if I know how to work that thing.
You taking over the elevator?
Well, in a couple of minutes.You wanna check me out?
Nothing to it, Sergeant.Now, here's the control, see?You push this lever right to go up, left to go down.You see this little trigger on the underside of the handle?Yeah.That's the safety lock.Be sure you squeeze it or you can't move the lever.
Let me try it.That's it.Right to go up, left to go down.
Right to go up, left to go down. How do you operate the doors?
Automatic.They work off the control lever.When the control lever is locked in the up or down position, the doors will close.
Now, in case they jam, this red emergency button up here?
Push it.If that doesn't close them, we call the repairman.
You sure now?I've had my orders to get out of the building.I'll just leave the elevator right here and take the stairs down.
Sergeant, just curious.You going to take the bomb down in this car?
You won't have any trouble.We haven't had an elevator failure in 18 months.
The elevator man turned and went down the stairs.Outside of a handful of volunteers and a man with a bomb, the city hall was now cleared.I started down the corridor and met Ben outside the office.
He told me that Lee Jones and Chief Erickson were on their way up in the freight elevator at the rear of the building with the necessary equipment.The two fire department volunteers were with him.
The phone call had been put through to the city jail, and in a moment, Elwood Kearney would be ready at the other end of the line.We went in to tell Kearney.I told him over at the jail to put the call through on extension 2351.Yeah.
When's it coming through?Right now.You got Elwood with you?No.Look, Kearney, we told you we'd get him on the phone for you.The call will be through in a minute.A minute's a long time, cop.You only got 12 of them left.
Elwood's gonna talk you out of this.Oh, sure.Sure, everybody's gonna talk me out of this.First it was them other two cops, the little porky guy and that other monkey.Then you and this Dixie Doughhead here, and now it's Elwood.
Come off it, will ya, and get my brother over here.That's him.It's your brother, Corny.I'll get him.Stay put, you.Just gonna get the phone.You wanna talk to your brother, don't you?I'll take care of the phone.We'll disconnect you for a while.
Now get it straight, copper. I'm through with your stinkin' rotten lying!I want Elwood here!And I want him now!Bring him here before I blow you all to pieces!What's going on?Who threw that phone out in the hall?I did.
You want me to go out and pick it up?Kearney, that's not gonna get you anyplace.You the big boss around here?Maybe.
I answered you.All right, big boy.I've got a piece of advice for you.Take your rookie cops here and get it through their heads.I mean what I say!I want my brother over here in this room! And you've got just 11 minutes to get it done.
Tell him that, will you, boy?All right, Kearney.It's your show.All right, we got to work fast now. Jones, everything set for you?Got the bucket with the water right here.Car's waiting down on the street.Right.Erickson, your boys ready?
Upstairs, waiting.And we all know what to do.Ed, I gotta have somebody to give me a hand with Carney when he falls.I'll be in there with you, Freddie.Ready to go upstairs, Chief?Anytime.Oh, one thing you ought to know.What's that?
Strong wind coming up.About 20 mile an hour out there right now.That gonna louse us up?No, but it's going to increase the sway.
How you mean?Wind's coming from the south.We'll lower you just to the right of the window.If I figure it correctly, wind'll do the rest.Bigger risk, but we don't control the weather. How are you going to do it, Ben?
As soon as I get in position, I'll reach in through the window on his right.I'll use the belly.Try to catch him on the right side of his head.One good hit should put him away.Let's make it two and be sure, huh?Right.You ready, Chief?Let's go.Ben.
Yeah?Nothing.I'll be careful.You too, huh?What's the time, Freddie?Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes for Romero to get down to that window. Unless the wind gives him trouble.Jones, no use you sticking around.I'll give Friday a hand.
That's my job.We've got to keep you alive to decommission the bomb.Bum joke.See you downstairs.You ready, Ed?
Yeah.That makes us even.Come on. Ed Backstrand and I went into the next room with Vernon Kearney.Our job was to keep him occupied until Ben was lowered to the windowsill from the floor above.
Ben was going to make a try from the window on Kearney's right.Somehow, we had to keep Kearney's attention on us and away from that window.If anything went wrong and Kearney got out of position, the plan would fail.
If Ben was spotted, the plan would fail. If Chief Erickson didn't estimate the force of the wind correctly, the plan would fail.After Ben slugged Carney, my timing had to be perfect.If it wasn't, the plan would fail.I looked at my watch.
It was eight minutes to nine.Carney, anything we can say that'll make you change your mind?I've asked you a hundred times.Now I'm ordering you.You're gonna get to a phone and have somebody send Elwood over here right now.I'm through waiting.
Now move.You ripped out the phone, Carney.
I told you I'm sick of your two-bit stalling.We've got until nine o'clock to make up our mind about this.You had until nine.But you wouldn't do what I told you.Now I'm cutting you short.
You guys have got exactly one minute to get a phone in this room where I can hear you call the jail and have them send Elwood over here.You said nine, Carney.All right, Joe.We'll give him what he wants.
Davis, unlock the connecting door to this office.
Will the cord reach?Yeah.Your brother's a prisoner.He's in our custody and he's under our protection.We can't place his life in jeopardy.Why not leave it up to Al?
Yeah.Ken Willey, this is Backstrand.We want Elwood Kearney over here at City Hall.His brother wants to see him.Explain the situation.If he wants to come, get him over here.
Leave it up to him.Room 1614. You'll have to use the freight elevator.And tell him to hurry.Yeah.Tell him to hurry.That's the only smart thing you've done today.Now, why don't you go next door and figure out another angle?We'll wait for Elwood, too.
You don't think I'd let you get out now, do you?We're all gonna wait right here for my brother.In case he don't show up, you're gonna see me pull the plug. Just sit down.Not so close.Right where you are, sit down.Cloud clock, ain't it?Windy.
Real windy.Maybe I ought to close the windows.Don't want to catch me a cold.I can turn on the heat.Stay put, cop.Hey, what's that?What's going on?It's just the wind.Shut up!There's somebody out there.I can see his feet.You stupid cops!Pull him up!
Get back there, you!Pull him up!
Friday, tell him to pull him up.Aye.
All right, Carney.You win.You bet I win, you dumb coppers.You didn't think I'd miss a trick like that.We'll just close these windows, boys.There's one.Lock it.And here's... Here's your brother, Carney.
I told you.I told you I'd do it, didn't I?That's far enough for the rest of you.
Al, come on over here.You're crazy, Vern.You're crazy.That's what they've been trying to tell me.We're going home, Al.How are you gonna do it?There's a million cops outside.People all over town heard about this.
They're holding the crowd back.They ain't gonna stop us now, Al.You'll never make it, either one of you.I got him this far, didn't I?We'll make it.Vern, you think we could do it?Hey, you.Yeah?You're gonna get a car ready for us, a fast one.
Have it in front of the building. All right, Franny, do what he tells you.Right.Hold it!Yeah.If you ain't back by nine o'clock, the deal still holds.
I told them I'd pull the pin at nine, Al, if they didn't let you out.You ain't fooling, are you, Vern?Will that gadget really blow?Four miles high.You know what that means, Al?Yeah.But they won't let you pull it.We're getting out.All right, copper.
You've got four minutes.Hey, Ben! What happened?He spot me?Yeah, there's no time to explain that.Listen, we gotta work fast.Yeah.We had to bring Connie's brother over from the jail.I don't think he cares if they get out or not.
He just wants to use that bomb and for some crazy reason he's waiting until nine.How much time we got?Let me look.Less than four minutes.How about the ledge?You think you can do it?Strong wind.You'll have to hang on like a fly.I don't know.
I can give it a try.Okay.Same plan.Every second counts. Now, I can't brief Ed.He's in the room with the guy.It's up to you and me.I'll get on the ledge from one of these offices.I hope I'll make it.If you don't, we'll know you tried.Hurry.
Hey, Ben, wait a minute.Yeah?I forgot.The windows.The one on his right.He locked it.You'll have to crawl around to the one on the left.You got it?The car will be ready in two minutes.Out front.Fine. El and I'll just sit here and wait.
Gonna be good being back together, huh, El?
We always were real good together, Vern.Yeah, that's the way brothers ought to be together, all the time.Together.Uh, Vern, I'd feel better with a gun.We don't need no gun, El.We got the bomb.We'll need a gun when we get out, when we get on the road.
Okay.Take your pick.They all got them. Hey, you, give him yours.
I'm not carrying a gun.I left it in the other room.A cop without a gun?Who's kiddin' who?I left it in the other room.Frisk the big boy, Al.He's got one.About time for the car, ain't it?Two minutes to nine.Yeah, this feels like it.Right on his hip.
Hey, Vern, look out!Grab him, Joe, I got him!Get the box!Leave that gun alone!I got him, Ben.I gotta get his hand out of it.Run, Joe, get it in the water, run!In a fast elevator, 16 floors isn't very much.
But I've never shared an elevator with a live bomb. It seemed like minutes between floors.I kept watching the bucket.The bomb was completely underwater.A small stream of bubbles was hissing to the surface.I waited.Main floor.
I picked up the bucket and ran for the street.I missed the first step.I fell forward.The bucket spun out of my hand.I sprawled flat on the sidewalk. I waited for the explosion.It didn't go off Friday.Well, I gave it a good chance, Lee.
Look, at least a dozen sticks of dynamite.Snyder, bring that over here.
Here you are, Lieutenant.Thanks. Here's why it didn't go off.
Had it rigged for a hard trigger pull.
Would have taken a good yank to set this one off.
Yeah.Hi, Joe.Hi, Ben.Clumsy.
The story you have just heard is true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent.
Vernon Carney was examined by five different psychiatrists, appointed by the Superior Court, and was found to be incompetent.He is now confined in the state mental institution for the criminally insane.
Elwood Carney is now serving the balance of his sentence with no time off for good behavior.
That was the City Hall Bombing, Episode 6 of Dragnet, starring Jack Webb.Originally intended as a summer filler, Dragnet became the nation's premium radio show, according to some radio historians.
First broadcast in 1949, Dragnet ended in 1956, after seven years and 318 programs, not counting rebroadcasts. For more information and listening opportunities, visit the Dragnet page at our website, reimaginedradio.fm.This is Reimagined Radio.
I'm John Barber.With each episode, we explore radio storytelling using voice, sound effects, and music.Here are some examples.
Answer me, who is this?Do you realize you're driving me crazy?Who's calling me?What are you doing it for?Now stop it!Stop it!Stop it!Smoke comes out.Black smoke drifting over the city.People in the streets see it now.
People trying to run away from it, but it's no use.They're falling like flies.Then something went wrong with the car.It stole right on the tracks.The train was coming closer. I could hear its bell, its cry, its whistle crying.Still, he stood there.
Now I knew that he was beckoning me.Beckoning me to my death.
Reimagined Radio.Nothing to see, everything to hear.Heard the third Monday of every month at 1 p.m.Sundays at 6 p.m.on KXRW 99.9 FM.
More information and listening opportunities are available at our website, reimaginedradio.fm.Reimagined Radio is also available as podcasts.Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or our website, reimaginedradio.fm.
This episode of Reimagined Radio spotlights Dragnet, the police procedural based on actual police cases starring Jack Webb.The Dragnet radio series is significant for several reasons.
First, it presented a wide range of topics, each using fast-moving plots and realistic details to keep the action moving.The dialogue was understated, sparse, influenced by actual police language and communication protocols.
crafted through earlier radio series.The police work was based on Los Angeles Police Department case files, chronicled step-by-step with actual details and realistic sound effects, sometimes as many as 300 per episode.
The result gave millions of listeners a feel for real police work, the boredom and drudgery, the danger of heroism.Radio historian John Dunning calls Dragnet a pioneering series of unprecedented realism.
Finally, even if you've never listened to a Dragnet radio episode or watched on television, chances are you know the four-note music introduction and Jack Webb's oft-stated phrase, all we want are the facts.
They are forever linked in the public mind of popular culture. This episode of Reimagined Radio was written by John Barber.Sound design, music composition, and post-production by Mark Rose.Graphics by Holly Slocum Design with Sydney Nguyen.
We produce Reimagined Radio with support from KXRW-FM, Vancouver, Washington, and KXRY-FM, Portland, Oregon.This is John Barber, producer and host.Thank you for listening.
This is a production of Reimagined Radio.Our radio broadcasts are heard on local, regional, and international community radio stations.For on-demand streaming, point your browsers to our website, reimaginedradio, all one word, no punctuation, .fm.
Thank you so much for listening, and please join us again for another episode of Reimagined Radio, where we will continue our exploration of radio storytelling.
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