Episode 286: Little Jake

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Podcast welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:36] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:36] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:43] Speaker C: This week I chose an episode of Pete Kelly's Blues entitled Little Jake. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Pete Kelly's Blues ran on NBC for 13 episodes in the summer of 1951. Set in the roaring 20s, the program told the story of jazz cornetist Peter Pete Kelly, who walked the mean streets of Prohibition era Kansas City. His band, Pete Kelly's Big 7, worked at 417 Cherry Street, a speakeasy run by George Lupo, a character who was frequently name checked but never heard. The speakeasy setting allowed the program to blend upbeat music and downbeat stories to create something akin to a weekly hard boiled jazz showcase. [00:01:23] Speaker B: Pete Kelly's Blues was created by Jack Webb and Richard L. Breen. The the two had worked together previously on Pat and Novak for Hire, arguably one of radio's most hard boiled programs. Many of the defining traits of Pat and Novak for Hire were repurposed for Pete Kelly's rapid fire dialogue, bold simile choices, and a hero who regularly gets punched, sapped and shot at. Another holdover from the earlier series was actor Tudor Owens, who played Pete Kelly's perpetually drunk pal Barney Rickett, who was indistinguishable from Pat Novak's perpetually drunk pal Jock O. Madigan, also played by Tudor Owens. [00:01:56] Speaker C: In other ways, though, Pete Kelly's Blues stands in stark contrast to Pat Novak for Hire. Kelly's world is much more grounded, populated with tragic characters whose bad choices are made worse by bad luck. The historical setting and period accurate music lend an additional authenticity lacking in the over the top San Francisco noir of Pat Novak for Hire. [00:02:20] Speaker A: Jack Webb hired cornetist Dick Cather to play Pete Kelly's musical stand in, and at the time Cathart was a session musician for Bing Crosby, known for his distinctive Dixieland sound. Together, Webb and Cathcart assembled a combo that would become Pete Kelly's Big Seven, including Matty Matlock on clarinet, Mo Schneider on trombone, piano player Ray Sherman, bass player Marty Korb, guitarist Bill Newman and drummer nick Fatool. [00:02:46] Speaker B: In 1955, four years after the radio series ended, Webb transformed P. Kelly's Blues into a feature film. Webb both directed and starred, playing opposite Janet Leigh as Pete Kelly's on again, off again love interest. The Film also starred Edmund O'Brien, Lee Marvin, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald as torch singer Maggie Jackson, one of the only supporting characters from the radio series to appear in the film. [00:03:08] Speaker C: The film in turn inspired two albums, a soundtrack and an instrumental album entitled Pete Kelly Lets His Hair Down. But wait, there's more. In 1959, Webb adapted Pete Kelly's Blues for television. The series starred William Reynolds in the, with Dick Cathcart once again providing cornette. Like the radio series, the small screen version only lasted 13 episodes. [00:03:32] Speaker A: And now let's listen to Little Jake from Pete Kelly's blues. First broadcast July 25, 1951. [00:03:40] Speaker B: It's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:03:51] Speaker D: This one's about Pete Kelly. It's about the world he goes around in. It's about the big music and the big trouble and the big twenties. So when they ask you, tell them this one's about the blues. Pete Kelly's Blues. Pete Kelly's Blues. Starring Jack Webb. With story by Jim Moser and music by Dick Cathcart. My name's Pete Kelly. I play cornet. You'll find us at 417 Cherry Street, Kansas City. It's a standard speakeasy. We got 35 cases of cut whiskey and a seven piece band. We start every night at 10 and we play till 6 in the morning. It's not much, but the contract runs out in June, 1924. After that, there's a place in South Chicago that may take us. In the meantime, we're working here on Cherry Street. The lease is made out to George Lupo. His brother gave it to him after the funeral. The kind of music we play started out as a backroom exercise in a little swamp stop called Myrtle Grove. LaRocca took his Dixieland band, Horizon Webbers, in New York. We got as far as Kansas City. It's no place to get off a train unless you're a Saca male. Because around here everybody works at the same job, staying alive. Half a buck buys a pair of socks, a spaghetti dinner or a down payment on murder. The last night, everything turned sour. About midnight, the town was down on its hands and knees trying to crawl through one of those Kansas City hot spells that blast by every third day. It was heat and headaches all the way. Our drummer, Nick, was dragging the beat and I went bad. 12 bars in on the Memphis blues. I figured we better Cut the set short. So we started to fight our way through one chorus of Roses of Picardy. That's when the kid came in and stood to the band stand. He was tall enough to see over a quart of milk with a face the size of a minute and just about as young. All right, let's get off for a while. Who's your friend, Pete? I don't know, but he must be tone dead. Mr. Kelly. Mr. Kelly? Yeah, son, I heard you say you sound good. We've been better. What's on your mind? Father Cronin sent me to see you. You doing a little missionary work? Oh, no, sir, nothing like that. I'm an alder boy over there. Father calls me Little Jake. He sure got you working the late shift. I've been trying to get a hold of you all day. Father wants a favor. Well, make it a small one. I'm all out of the big ones. He just wanted to know if you could come by St. Timothy's and see him. He said tomorrow morning, right after the 9:00. Okay. Tell him he keeps terrible hours. I'll be there. Thanks, Mr. Kelly. Kelly. Yeah, that's right. Tell the kid goodbye. He knows his way out. Should I go, Mr. Kelly? Be the kid. Yes, sir. Goodbye, Mr. Kelly. Yeah, goodbye. Jake. You got someplace private we'd like to talk. This is my office. Now, listen hard, bright eyes. There's enough gun in this coat to blow you right through the wall. I'll take your word for it. We coming in nice and you get funny mouth. Now, you got someplace we can talk? I can't leave. I gotta do a number. Do it. We'll be right here. About 10ft from your stomach. Yeah. All right, let's go. You look sick, Pete. What's the matter? I feel fine too. Sorry. Now, everybody ready? Let's go. All right, you proved it. Now let's go. Yeah. Keep them going, Red. How many should we do, Pete, if this works out, about 10 minutes worth. Let's go. The alley will do. We need a favor, Kelly. Yeah. There's a run on them tonight. Give me the envelope, Dick. Yeah. You got an inside coat pocket, Kelly. Come on, come on. Either throw or pass the dice. Hold him, Dex. Pull him up, Dex. Come on. Now, this is how. Here's an envelope. It goes in your inside coat pocket and it stays there until 6:00 tomorrow night. You don't open it, you don't mess with it. What happens at 6:00? You'll be the first to know. Well, I stood there in the alley and watched him walk away. Inside, Lupo was blowing up a storm. Something about paying for a seven piece band and only having sex. Well, it wasn't worth trying to get back on the stand. I got a cab and went up to my room. I tried to get to sleep. It was no good. I got up. I was sick to my stomach. After that I went to sleep. The next morning I made a pass at some breakfast and tried to look through the sports page. Harry Heilman got 4 for 5 against the Red Sox, but that's all. I read. That envelope had me. People have been taken out in alleys before and they've been worked over. Usually to get something away from them, not to. No matter how I tried to put it together, it wouldn't come out. Thin or fat, it wouldn't slice. I had the envelope and I had to wait till 6:00. Well, I gave up on the coffee and I started over to see Father Cronin. It was a little after 9:30 when I started up the steps of St. Timothy's I figured mass was almost over, so I hung around in the vestibule for a couple of minutes trying to look like a part time bell ringer. Hi, Mr. Kelly. Hello, Jake. Father's back in the sacristy, Mr. Kelly. He sent for me to show you the way. They move it? No, Sis. All right, Jake, show me the way. This way, Mr. Kelly. Down this aisle. Well, I guess I was too busy trying to act like I knew my way around to pay much attention to a fat, chunky little guy wearing a brown Borsalino hat. He stood up in a back pew a couple of aisles over. The church was empty except for the three of us. Little Jake found out about it just before I did. Mr. Kelly, that man back there. All right, mister, I'll take that envelope. Jake, get down. Mr. Kelly, look out. Look out. Well, in Kansas City you learn early to look for trouble any place, anytime. But this is the first time it caught up with me in the middle of a church. The last three shots were a waste of money. Jake went down like young wheat in a hailstorm. When I grabbed for him, I hit my head in the base of a marble pillar. I lost the edge right there. By the time I hit the street, he was gone. I guess I covered every alley and street in the neighborhood, but it was like trying to wash a pail of dirty water. I don't know how much later it was when I stopped for a minute in an empty doorway and tried to remember what I was chasing a Lesiren was crying off somewhere in the distance. And I started back for the church. The coroner's wagon was just pulling away as I got there. I didn't see Father Cronin around. So I went back to the rectory and rang the bell. He came to the door in his shirt slings. He stood there for a minute just looking at me. Then he motioned me inside. In here. Sit down. The kid, Father. Little Jake. He's dead. You want a blow by blow? I know, Father. I was there. Sure you were there. You're always there. I should have known better than to call you. I should have known it meant trouble. Wait a minute, Father. This wasn't my party. I called you here today to ask you a favor, Pete. Yeah, I know. You don't know. It's too late now. We were going to have an altar boys picnic tomorrow at Washington Park. I wanted you to play a little music for us. We won't be going now, Pete. We got a funeral instead. Yeah? What do you want me to say? Don't say anything, Pete. If you've got any private fights, that's your business. But don't bring your beefs into the church. I never saw the guy before, Father. Don't kid me. He didn't come in here to shoot Little Jake. Now look, I know this is hard to understand. You bet it's hard to understand. We've been over it before. But you ran with the same pack. You hung onto the same friends. You had it all figured out. Well, you figured this one, Pete. There's a nine year old boy on his way to the morgue. He took a gangster's bullet that you earned. Now you go ahead, figure it. I got this envelope. I don't want an explanation. Take your excuses and peddle them where you need them for the bootleggers and the gunmen. Take them to your crowd. This envelope, Father. They shoved it in my pocket. I was out in the alley behind the club. Two guys, they worked me over. I didn't think they'd try anything like this. Neither did Little Jake. It's all right, Father. I told you I was sorry. Go on home. Why don't you stop cutting at me and say a prayer for that kid? I would, but I'm too busy praying for people like you. Well, and couldn't blame him. How do you explain away a dead kid lying in front of an alder rail? All I could offer was a 2 cent envelope in my coat pocket and a wild night in an alley. I started to walk back to My room. I tried to paste up some kind of an answer, but I got nothing. I was halfway home when the last breeze left town and went someplace to cool off. My clothes were soaking wet and I decided to take a cab the rest of the way. I reached in my pocket and all I had was 23 cents. So I kept walking. Sunday morning's the same in any town. Empty streets and everybody home trading the comic section and living off a Saturday night. You could live here all your life. And on Sunday morning you just got in town. It was about noon when I got to my hotel. I went up to the second floor and unlocked my door. They were sitting on the bed. Their coats were off and they'd hung them on the back of a chair. The same two boys who'd given me the envelope last night. Got a real hot room here, Kelly. You ought to move off this court. Yeah, Next time I'll get twin beds. Is everything all right with that envelope? It made a murder, mister. You take it. Put it back in your parlor. Now get this, both of you. There's a lot of something wrong here. I've had my turn. You find yourself another fall guy. There's a lot of inside coat pockets in this town. Look for a new one. We like yours, and that's where it's going to stay. Now, you don't listen good. Me and Dex put it out last night and you didn't pick up on it. We got you on board and we'll tell you when to get off. 6:00. Boy, how long do you think this jag will last? Look, I'm cashing in. I've had enough. What are you doing this morning? Trying to pray your way out? A priest wanted a favor. I got it. L. Yeah, J. Now he's busy. Come through five. Sure. Come on up, Benny. He went for it, huh? On his way up. We're going to stay a while, Kelly. Well, there's only three chairs. I'll make it easy for you. Very important, Mr. No, he's your friend. I'm checking out. First time you've been right? Well, it happened so fast, I didn't even see his arm move. My knees buckled and I pitched forward. I don't know how long I laid there, but when I opened my eyes, the afternoon sun was almost gone. What was left of it was bleeding through a rip in the blind well. I could hear somebody breathing hard like a fat man on a hot day. And when I rolled over, I saw him. A tough Prohibition agent by the name of Cage the Weather. Didn't make any difference to Cage. He always looked that way. His collar was wilted and it looked like Arrow's first try. His necktie was pulled down and the knot was twisted. The heat had worked him over so that the front of his shirt was splotchy and damp. Reminded you of a first Raiders map of the world. He was sitting in a chair with his arms draped over the back and his head resting on his hands. He was smoking a Milo Violet, but it didn't help that much. His mouth was wound around a toothy grin and he looked like a mountain lion who had just eaten her young. You can get up now, Kelly. You made your point. Yeah, sure. How long you been here? Long enough to fill out your book and slip. You're going to jail, mister. What for? Sleeping on the floor for the dead guy on the bed. Who is he? I don't know. How'd he get there? Put him there after you shot him. Now get your hat. Look, Prohibition your racket. Dead bodies are out of your line. Not when I find him in your room. Now let's go downtown. We'll both tell Homicide. We'll find the details later. Gage, you couldn't find yourself in a mirror. I didn't have anything to do with this and you know it. I've been out for the last three hours. This happened after they slugged. Save it for the jury. All I know is I got a phone tip to check room 205. I come up here and I find you and a dead guy. That's all I need. You can dress it up fancy and make it look cute, but it still comes out murder. There's enough liquor in this town to float it away. And you're wasting your time with a killing. It's none of your business. You're my business, big shot. Somebody put two pounds of lead in Benny's chest and you're my pick. Benny who? Benny Davis. He worked for Mike Quinn. You look pale. Yeah, I'm just beginning to feel the squeeze. Mike Quinlan on one side and those two trigger men that you let walk out of here on the other. You got it? And I'll be turning a handle. Now, before you start worrying about your picture in the paper, you better turn up the two guys that were here with me. That part of the same dream? They gave me an envelope to hold for him. The price on it's going up for the minute. A nine year old kid died for it. And this guy here on the bed. That's a good story. Do you write him down or Just make him up. Look, you got nothing on me and I haven't got much time. I'm leaving you. That's all right. I call downtown the minute you hit the street. They'll pick you up. In the meantime, you better come up with more than you got. They don't hang you in this state on a hunch. I'm going to check this room over. I'll find all we need. You couldn't find your head with both hands. Goodbye, Cage. All right, you got till midnight, big shot, and then I'll be around. I'll have it all set up. All we'll need is time to run the extra well. I could have used a cold shower, but with Cage there, I didn't have the room to dry off. I went down the hall and headed down the back stairs. I figured even if Cage was right about calling downtown I might have an edge if I move fast enough. The sun was on the downgrade, but it didn't make any difference. It'd done a good job all day and the heat was boiling up out of the ground. If I was going to come out at all, I had to have some help. So I started to look for the only honest guy I know. An ex bootlegger by the name of Barney Ricketts. The only bootlegger in the country that went broke in 1922. He drank himself out of business. I phoned eight different places and tried four. Nobody'd seen him. I was about ready to give up when I finally found him sitting in the middle of a bourbon fog in a little Spanish joint somewhere on the edge of the East Bottom. He was sitting at a back table, trying his best to make time with a plaster bust of Queen Isabella. Ah, PT Me boy, you're just in time. I'm not quite certain, but I think the young lady here has a friend. I gotta talk to you. Barney. If you're any good at all with Spanish, now is the time. I was positive she'd loosen up on this second bottle of wine. But no, she's utterly uncharitable. And I think she's a picture of a perfect boy. Yeah, all right, Barney. To a member of the old Castilian school there can be no excuse for the conduct she's exhibiting. Why, do you know I was even good enough to buy her three rounds of Portuguese brandy. Imported, mind you. But what do I get for my pains? Not even a civil thank you. Sitting here in the most gentlemanly fashion, sipping this delicate nectar and trying vainly to keep the party going. But does she help? No. I've talked to her about politics, medicine, literature, keeps. Byron, Shelley, Faith Baldwin. I've even talked about the weather. Barney, she's a statue. Oh, a simple oversight, PT it could happen to anyone. Now, look, I'm in trouble. Of course you're in trouble. You'll always be in trouble because you're a child of adversity, a son of scorn. The face spit in your eye and you try to retaliate, but the wind's always blowing in the wrong direction. You're a lost leaf in the mortal storm, Petey. You're a pebble shaking a tiny fist at the mountain. You'd like to fight for some strange, fantastic cause, wouldn't you? But you can't find anybody your size. Men are too small and the gods are too big. P.T. you're lost. You walk through now. Yes? What kind of trouble? A pair of bum murder wraps. Somebody slugged me in my room and I woke up with a dead guy. Dubious honor. You mentioned two murders. One of them was an Oller boy over at St. Timothy's the other guy worked for Mike Quinlan. The same Quinlan that controls most of the Canadian import here in town? Yeah, that's him. Time short. Let's finish the brandy. Two guys started all this at the club last night. Names are Lud and Decks. Mean anything to you? This law sound better with more brandy? You picked two of Quinlan's first string blood. Sandel and Dexport are both killers. Look, they gave me an envelope to hang on to. Now nose around, see if you can find out what it all means. The dead guy up in my room, his name's Benny Davis. See if you can find out where he fits in, will you? It'd be a lot simpler if you just joined Quinlan's gang. Benny Davis holds a cart in the same organization. Well, how about Lud and Dex? Any bad blood between them and David? If there is, it doesn't show they're closer than unborn peas. You sure about that, Barney? Police blot. It can't be that wrong. Benny's sister will tell you the same thing. Where do I find her? Chelsea Apartments. Beautiful girl, Petey. When you're my age, she'll disturb your memories. All right, now get going, will you? See how close you can get to Quinlan's headquarters. Find out what you can about Lud and Dex and Benny Davis. Maybe Quinlan's got him on a special job or something. Find out what it is, will you? You'll find me in a temporary economic slump, P.T. i'll need car fare. Yeah. Well, that makes two of us. I'm broke. You'll have to do it on foot. Oh, well, I have friends here and my credit's unlimited. Hurry up, will you, Barney? One moment, Alfonso, would you loan me a dollar and a half? Come on, let's go. He's only bluffing. He won't shoot. Well, Barney headed down toward Bail street from Mike Quinlan's place. And I started across town for the North End and the Chelsea Apartments. I couldn't begin to work it out. If Dex and Ludd were such good friends with Benny Davis, why did they kill him? And if they didn't do it, who planted his body in my room? And why? Well, I was running way late and there wasn't much time to catch up. I finally found the Chelsea Apartments on the corner of Stocker and Bales with an old three story wooden frame. I checked the mailbox and Louise Davis was down for apartment 17. Well, inside the hallway was dark and a couple of gas jets were smoking up the ceiling. There was a potted palm by the foot of the stairs and it looked like it was growing out of old gum wrappers and cigar butts. Apartment 17 was at the rear of the first floor. She answered the door and you could tell right away Barney was right. She was pretty and she had enough smile to last you for years. Yes. You Louise Davis? That's right. I can do better for you. You're Pete Kelly. I've heard you play. Yeah, well, so far you're batting a thousand. Can I come in? Yeah, sure. You didn't bring your band, so it must be a social call. I'll make this short. It's about Benny. What about him? That's what I want to know. He's got a couple of friends. I got to know about him. Benny isn't that popular. You mean Lud and Dex? They'll do. They got trouble and they're cutting me in. What kind of trouble? Well, I'm not sure. That's why I came to you. I can't help you. They never tell me what they're doing. Well, they gave me an envelope. They told me to hold it till 6 o'clock tonight. You haven't got any problem. You'll know in an hour. Yeah, well, maybe I'm tired. I want to know now. I'll take any lead you got. They found out I told you this, they might not like it. They got some kind of a beef with Quinlan. Does Mike know about it? I wouldn't know. I just heard him talking one night. They're not happy with the money Quinlan gives them. They got any plans? I don't think we got to talk about this. Let me get you a drink, huh? Now, look, this is the last trip around for me, lady. I gotta have everything, you know? You said something about an envelope, didn't you? That's right. You got it right here. If you open it, you'll understand everything. Well, they gave it to me sealed. They want it back the same way. If you want to be around to give it back, you'd better open it. You got a guarantee handy? All I know is the three of them are working on something big. I don't know what it is, but I heard some talk about an envelope. It's your choice. You ask for a lead and you got it. Yeah. We'll hold hands when they cut me down. You got a letter opener? Pete, look out. Well, it all happens back on a Mexican divorce. Louise Davis was dead before the echo left the room. I got to the window, but whoever did the shooting was gone. I grabbed the envelope and on my way out, I took another look at her. There wasn't anything left but the smile. I cut through a couple of backlots and down an alley. I stopped in the doorway and opened the envelope. Inside was a handful of typewritten sheets. Looked like a lot of headache for five pieces of paper. And then the bell rang. Two of them were consignment slips for 8,000 gallons of high grade Canadian whiskey. The other three slips were detailed breakdowns for a convoy of trucks. They showed special truck routes over the Canadian border into the States. To miss the hijackers and the Prohibition agents. They showed a day by day schedule for each truck on a trip down from the border. Well, it's not too tough to hijack a load of booze, but when you got it laid out right down at the time, the place and how many bottles is like money in the bank. I knew right then why the envelope meant so much to Ludden Decks. What I couldn't understand was where they got it, why they gave it to me to hang onto. Well, maybe they were working for Quinlan. But why didn't he have the papers? And why weren't they in his safe? Mike had a big one. Well, the questions were still piling up. It was an outside chance, but I couldn't stand still. So I crossed over to the Kansas side and headed down Boulder Road to Fat Annie's place. Maggie Jackson did two things good. She sang the blues better than the guy who wrote them. And she could pick up an Idle rumor at three miles. Hi, Pete. Maggie, what do you know? I knew you'd be here tonight. You always come in together. Trouble and Pete Kelly. Yeah, I know. I never come around except when I need something. As long as I have it to give. You got it. It's my Quinlan's time in it. Well, that's part of it. I meant it up to my ears. You got an envelope I heard. Yeah. Mike Quinlan and some of his boys have been here about an hour ago. They tore the paper off the walls looking for you and Dex and Ludd. Dex and Ludd? Mike wants all three of you. Yeah. Anything else? No. Bonnie Ricketts call for you. Did he leave a number? He's still waiting on the phone. I took the call. He said you'd end up here, so he just unlocked. Well, I'll get it right now. Yeah, the boss is kind of mad. The phone's been tied up for two hours. All right. Thanks, Maggie. Sure. And good luck, Pete. Hello, Barney. Ah, there you are, petey. That'll be $1.25 for another three minutes. Yes. All right, operator. Alfonso, five more quarters, please. Don't know the quarters. Just a minute, Petey. Alfonso doesn't know the quarters from the house. Yeah, well, hurry up. Thank you. Now, then, Pete. No. No, Alfonso. No more money for the moment. What's going on, Bonnie? Where are you? Fort Madison, Iowa. I'm troubleshooting for you, Pete. What'd you find out? It's a double cross. Mike Quinlan's involved in one of the biggest deals of his career. And Benny Davis, along with Dex and Ludd, stole the consignment papers. Yeah, I know. That's what's in the envelope. You better get them back to Quinlan. I understand he's been tearing up the town for him. What do I do about Dex and Ludd? Yeah, she might easily end up like Benny Davis. Seems Lud and Dex didn't want to split it three ways, so they killed him. You sure about all this? That's why I'm up here in Iowa. I suggest that you join us. No, I'll see you when you get back. It's been a gay, Mad World PD we drove 60 miles an hour all the way up here. Yeah, Alfonso's drunk. He thinks the phone's his slot machine. He's waiting for the payoff. Well, as soon as I hung up the phone, everything fell into place. I had one big worry. To get back to the club and unload those papers before Quinlan caught up with me. Well, almost everything made sense now. Except the killing of Louise Davis, Benny's sister. It was easy to see why they dropped Benny along the way. But why his sister? How did she tie in? Well, on the way back to town, I mulled over a couple of possibilities and I figured maybe I came up with the answer. I started back for town and it was rough all the way. I kept thinking any minute I'd bump into Mike Quillen. And I couldn't be sure that I'd lost Dex and Ludd. It was almost dark by the time I got back to the club. The band was waiting around for the Sunday rehearsal. We ran through one number and then things got cloudy. Now, Kelly. You're early, Dex. Close enough. No, not for me. You said 6:00. Your horn's no match for this gun. Give me the envelope. Six o'clock, Dex. All right. Let's try someday, sweetheart. Hand me that plunger, will you? Reduce. I'll give you the pickup. It's all right. You can pack up. I'll see you at 10. You're gonna give me that envelope or do I blow it out of your pocket? The same way you handle Louise Davis? I don't know what you're talking about. I think you do. You killed her and you killed her brother. You got it all figured out, haven't you, kid? Oren Players, right, Dex? Don't turn around. You got it wrong. L. I don't think so. I never should have let you kill Benny. That should have been the tip off on that kid in the church. And Benny's sister. You had to make the big try. Was for me and you. L. It won't wash. You're going to die, Dex. Pick a spot to lay down. Not in the back. L. You'd give me a better chance than that, would I? Like I said, Dex, pick a spot. Well, that wraps it up, Kelly. You better sit down, Lud. No, this'll do. It won't be a long wait. I don't mind standing. Suit yourself. Six o'clock, Lud. Here's your envelope. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Hello, Pete. Hi, Father. Just gonna stop by. I heard the gunshots. I knew you'd be around. Let me tell you again, Father. I'm sorry about Jake. I don't know what else to say. I'm just sorry. I believe you. We'll have the funeral for little Jake tomorrow. Maybe you want to stop by. Yeah. Some things never figure. A nine year old kid shot down. No reason for it. None in the world. Nine year old kid. It's done, Pete. Don't waste Your pity on little Jake. He's got a big lead on both of us. I don't get you, Father. You and I should die as good as a nine year old. Pete Kelly Flew starring Jack Webb. With story by Jim Moser and music by Dick Cascart. Scoring by Matty Matlock. The music of Pete Kelly's Big Seven consists of Dick Cathcart on cornet, Matty Matlock on clarinet, Nick Fatool on drums, Ray Sherman on piano, George Van Epps on guitar, Judd Denot on bass, Mo Schneider on trombone. The songs of Maggie Jackson were written by Arthur Hamilton. Pete Kelly's Blues is the presentation of the United States Armed Forces Radio Service. [00:33:14] Speaker A: That was little Jake from Pete Kelly's Blues here on the mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast once again. I'm Eric. [00:33:22] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:33:23] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. Wow. [00:33:25] Speaker A: So much wow. There's a lot of wow. And some of it's good, some of it's indifferent, some of it's bad, but there's so much wow. [00:33:33] Speaker B: Different wow. [00:33:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:33:34] Speaker C: Indifferent wow. [00:33:36] Speaker A: Wow. See, he just did it. Wow. Listen, let's start here. I have heard the phrase Pete Kelly's Blues a lot in my life. I've heard that phrase, but never stopped to say or think, what is that again? I just have heard it a lot. And from our opening, I realized, oh, that's because it's been everywhere and everything in a million ways. And so you could say, oh, the movie, and you'd be right. Or the radio show. You'd be right. Or the album or whatever. Like, it's crazy. Oh, it was a big. It's a franchise, a pop culture thing that was going on. What's interesting is that it started with the radio show. Right? And so that alone was fascinating to learn at the top. Oh, that's where I've heard all that. This show. I can't wait till the end of this discussion to find out if I like it or not, because it's so weird and interesting and unique and cool and I love this. [00:34:40] Speaker C: Only you, Eric was like, it's so unique and cool, I'm not sure if I like it. [00:34:46] Speaker B: I'm on the same page. Like, the things that are good about it are so good. Yeah, but it's not all good. [00:34:52] Speaker C: Well, it's weird because I'm curious. I love this up and down, so I'm ready to defend it. I get it not being someone's taste. [00:35:00] Speaker A: The pace of it is both exhilarating and awesome and frustrating and bothersome. It goes a million miles per Hour. I mean, they are talking like I am right now after nine cups of coffee on a Saturday afternoon. That is really fast. To the point where your focus has to be way up. Listening to this. And let's be honest, sometimes when listening to old time radio, I can do a half focus thing, you know, like, oh, yeah, I'm catching on. This requires 100% attention. [00:35:35] Speaker C: That's part of hard boiled literature. Though I think I've mentioned on the podcast before, there are some people who are still not sure what happened in the Big Sleep. Although it is considered one of the greatest pieces of hard boiled literature ever written. [00:35:48] Speaker A: I'm gonna tell you, though, I know that's hard boiled. This is hard boiled on amphetamines. They are moving fast in that dialogue. [00:35:57] Speaker C: Faster than I've ever rat a tat tat. [00:35:59] Speaker A: Holy crap. [00:36:00] Speaker C: One of my favorite scenes in this is William Conrad and Jack Webb giving a master class on how to deliver hard boiled dialogue. They are just flinging it at each other. In that scene where he's playing the cop and he's interrogating Pete Kelly, I could listen to that scene over and over again. The rhythm and the pace and it's just relentless. [00:36:25] Speaker A: I think that particular scene really stood out of, like, can I pause and just breathe? [00:36:30] Speaker B: But even the sort of key moment of little Jake dies, it zips by with such a quick little simile, like, right. What? [00:36:39] Speaker A: Yep, he died. It took me a few sentences after the gunfire and some dialogue to realize, oh, crap, the kid's dead. Right. And again, they do move fast through that. And the sorrow is even hard boiled, you know? Ah, sorry I did that. Okay. Yeah, well, you killed a kid. Get out of here. [00:36:59] Speaker B: See, can't mourn now. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Right? [00:37:02] Speaker C: Wow. [00:37:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:04] Speaker B: I don't say the critique, but it's just like the mood is like, jeez. [00:37:07] Speaker A: And again, hardcore. Not that I don't like that it's. [00:37:11] Speaker C: Hardcore, but I think one of the reasons I like it more than something like Pat Novak for Hire, which has the same pace and the same just brutality to it. There is an undercurrent of real human emotion in here, in that you feel that there is a whole relationship between Pete Kelly and Father Cronin and that this disappointment is profound on top of the profundity of this child's death. [00:37:40] Speaker A: I agree with that. [00:37:41] Speaker C: And so when it comes out so harsh and cold and hard boiled, it feels more like it's something he's hiding behind. It's a false front. [00:37:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:52] Speaker C: Where that's that shallow, hard boiled surface is all there is sometimes to other Hard Boiled stories, which I think is fun in its own way as well. But this is very interesting in that I feel it is more grounded. [00:38:05] Speaker A: I agree with you. I agree with you. [00:38:07] Speaker C: It's grounded. [00:38:08] Speaker A: Absolutely. I agree with you on that. How do you feel? I'm gonna ask Tim. [00:38:12] Speaker D: Okay. [00:38:13] Speaker A: I'm not even gonna look at Joshua. How do you feel about entire songs being played? [00:38:18] Speaker B: I liked it. [00:38:19] Speaker A: Okay. [00:38:20] Speaker C: And they were still truncated versions of the song. [00:38:22] Speaker A: Sure. [00:38:23] Speaker B: I liked the. This is secretly a little bit of a variety show hidden behind a hard. Hard. [00:38:28] Speaker A: It was a little bit of a. [00:38:29] Speaker B: Variety show in the scene. It's all justified. [00:38:33] Speaker A: Yep. [00:38:34] Speaker B: And I like the music, so I agree with you. [00:38:37] Speaker A: At first I was like, okay, what's the point here? Is it the story? Are we just doing this to get some music in? And then I just got more and more in love with the idea. They're just gonna play a song in the middle of this. [00:38:51] Speaker B: The thing I liked so much about this show overall was this atmosphere and this mood and the music contributed to that. [00:38:58] Speaker C: Yes. [00:38:59] Speaker B: It was all a piece. [00:39:00] Speaker C: I agree with both of you that it serves so many multiple functions. A Jack Webb is a loon for jazz, so he just wants the opportunity to get this in here. [00:39:12] Speaker A: He's a loon for jazz. [00:39:16] Speaker C: But it also adds the atmosphere. But then I think, depending on the episode, it's used cleverly within the narrative. Like here, it's bookended the two songs. The first song builds tension because these thugs come in, punch Pete Kelly. But he has to play one more song. We don't even know why they're here or what they're gonna do to him. So he makes them sit there, and while the song is playing, I imagine the whole scene playing out. He's playing and he's sweating a little, and he's still in pain. And those guys are just sitting in the front row glaring at him. So it paints this great tense picture. And then the second song, he's got all the cards in his hand, and so it's a totally different. I'm gonna play this song first kind of quality to it. [00:40:00] Speaker A: So one of the other. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Nice. [00:40:02] Speaker A: One of the other band members says to him after the first one, you look white as a ghost. So they do paint the picture that we see him nervously playing. I am being really nitpicky. But that was an interesting moment where I'm like, where are they exactly? Did they walk up on. It sounded like they walked up on stage, punched him. Like it. They didn't Establish it well enough for me to envision where they were punching him so that no one saw that he had to return to the stage. [00:40:29] Speaker C: Oh, I think people saw and this happens all the time. [00:40:32] Speaker A: Interesting that they're like, yeah, that guy's getting hit again. [00:40:35] Speaker B: And it's a step down to talk to the kid. And the. The next interaction just was right after the kid. [00:40:40] Speaker A: In front of everybody. [00:40:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:40:41] Speaker A: And no one cares. [00:40:42] Speaker B: Right in front of the stage. [00:40:44] Speaker C: I think it's a speakeasy, so I think it's a hole in the wall. [00:40:46] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:47] Speaker C: I don't think Kansas City. Well, there's a reason they go out in the alley. To have a private conversation. [00:40:50] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:51] Speaker C: And to be beat again. [00:40:52] Speaker A: I would just putting it into modern terms. Oh, my God. Is that guy punching that guy? Peter, you okay? I just say you're going to do a song weird. Like, that's. That's my modern take on it. [00:41:05] Speaker C: Oh, I. I think it's what bars you go to take on it. I think we could still go to some bars today where a couple like Taps would be like, eh, they're just old friends. [00:41:16] Speaker A: I'm not going to that bar. No. [00:41:19] Speaker C: So, but on that subject, I think Pete Kelly is in close competition with Johnny Dollar for the number of physical blows he takes per episode because he's punched in the stomach, he's taken out to the alley, he's beaten, he hits his head diving after the gunmen, and then he's beat unconscious, conscious, in his own room a little bit later. That's just in 30 minutes. [00:41:42] Speaker B: If it was the NFL, 50 batting average of people I talk to who die. [00:41:46] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. In this one for sure. [00:41:49] Speaker A: If it was the NFL, he would be literally in concussion protocol. Okay. That's just for me in this room and the few people listening. [00:41:57] Speaker D: Oh, no. [00:41:57] Speaker B: It's topical, unfortunately. [00:41:58] Speaker A: But back to the music really quick. The reason that I bring that up is because what's the show where the guy does the song at the end? Richard Diamond. [00:42:09] Speaker C: Yes. [00:42:10] Speaker A: And we've had it on, and I've made no qualms about it. I really hate that part of that show. And I know some people qualms. I don't like the song that he does at the end of every show. It's not my favorite thing, and I'm not a big fan of that show and whatever. So when they started doing the song, my first reaction, like, oh, God, a song. Can we just get into the action yet? This is what I'm getting at. It didn't take me long to go oh, wait, this is different than just song for song sake. [00:42:37] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:42:38] Speaker A: Like you said, it fits the mood and it fits the storyline. And it was really interesting for me to not get mad you're doing a song instead. I kind of enjoyed it. [00:42:49] Speaker B: But at first moment of when they. You're going back for a second song. [00:42:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:53] Speaker B: All right. [00:42:54] Speaker A: All right. Yep. Lazy writing. No, actually part of the whole thing. So it's interesting. Right? It's not so much scary or suspenseful as it is. It's really stark and sad. [00:43:08] Speaker B: Opinion of humanity. [00:43:09] Speaker A: Yeah, man. When that kid does get killed, when I finally realized it, I'm like, wow. In a church. [00:43:15] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:43:15] Speaker A: Wow. This is stark, man. This is especially for the. What year? [00:43:20] Speaker C: 1951. But it's a period piece, so I think he gets away with it because he's talking about something that is in the past and by the 50s. Kansas City was famous for that corruption during the 20s. [00:43:31] Speaker A: Kansas City Confidential. [00:43:33] Speaker C: So I think he could couch it in a dark time gone by. But that's close enough that it still works with the hard boiled aesthetic too. [00:43:43] Speaker A: So reading the backstory that you put together, so, you know, I listen to one episode I don't have the context of. What's this story? I'm still a little vague on what's going on. He is plays in this band, but he's also involved in nefarious things. Or is he in a gang or is. Why. Or he just lives in a part of town. [00:44:03] Speaker B: He's one of those hard luck guys that people bring their troubles to. [00:44:07] Speaker C: Yeah, he works and lives in a bad area of town, which is all of Kansas city in the 1920s, apparently. But I think it's the circles he moves in. He's dedicated to his music, but where can he perform it regularly and get paid in speakeasies where illegal things are happening and it's run by bootleggers. So he just works with criminals even though he isn't. And so he'll be used often as a pawn or someone else will come to him looking for help and he tries to stay out of their problems but gets sucked in. Or his sense of justice gets tweaked and he tries to help somebody out. [00:44:46] Speaker B: Here's my question of the episode. So they were trying to frame him for this double cross. Is that why they chose him and said, hold onto this. You'll like just keep this evidence on you for about 18 hours? [00:45:00] Speaker C: I felt it was implied that they didn't want to have it on them. They wanted it kept safe. And then, yes, if Something went wrong, it wouldn't be anywhere near them. It would be on this guy. [00:45:13] Speaker A: And they picked him because I think. [00:45:18] Speaker C: There isn't the kind of continuity that we have in television shows today. But to me, having listened to he. [00:45:26] Speaker B: Just seems like this is the kind of guy who might do this. [00:45:29] Speaker C: He's known and he's someone they thought they could intimidate into doing it. [00:45:35] Speaker A: And as you said, he's trying to stay out of trouble mostly. And that's the premise of this. He doesn't want to be part of this. So he's a good bet to keep his mouth shut just to get out of this and move on. [00:45:48] Speaker C: That's what it struck me as. And again, because it's the hard boiled, it's not like a mystery. They don't attempt to solve every little point at the end the way a drawing room mystery would. [00:45:57] Speaker A: Sure. [00:45:58] Speaker C: So, yes, I think it is a little vague, but it's a great setup. [00:46:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that is a great setup. [00:46:03] Speaker B: That is my singer complaint is the setup is so great that I wanted more of a payoff of like, what's going to happen at 6:00. [00:46:09] Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with that. [00:46:10] Speaker C: Although the very button on that scene where he just hands the envelope back at 6 o'clock just as the guy collapses is a beautiful hard boiled moment. And you said this is dark. And one of the reasons I chose this particular episode well, first of all, there were only 13 made and only six survive. Oh, of those six, a number of them are fairly poor quality audio wise. So this has one of the best audio qualities. It also, I think, despite the child death, is one of the least bleak that I have heard of those surviving in that it has more comedy because it has Barney the drunk pal, which I just. He made me laugh out loud. [00:46:56] Speaker A: So it's less bleak than the episode of kids going off the cliff in wheelchairs. That one was terrible. That was hard to listen to. [00:47:06] Speaker C: There are a couple really trash half. [00:47:08] Speaker D: An hour of Ah. [00:47:11] Speaker B: I was just getting better. [00:47:13] Speaker C: And what's funny is that Barney's driving the bus when they go over. [00:47:19] Speaker A: Well, what are the. Alfonso, give me a quick synopsis of one of the more bleak ones. Like, if you can. [00:47:26] Speaker C: I guess it's not that it's in a vacuum darker than a child murder, but it doesn't have the moments of levity that I think this does, particularly with his alcoholic pal. And I know, again, this is all in context where it's like your chronic alcoholic pal is a real highlight of. [00:47:49] Speaker A: When he says really throws that line away just after that. Listen to me, listen to me. He keeps talking. Listen to me, listen to me. That's a statue. Oh, boom, bam. We're going on, like, it was really funny. I love that moment. [00:48:04] Speaker C: Made me laugh out loud. And the moment when he's gonna ask Alfonso for some money, and then Pete Kelly says, get out of here. And he goes, oh, he won't really use that gun. And so he retroactively creates that picture that as soon as he had asked for money, Alfonso just pulls a gun and. Yeah, so I find those characters like Jocko and Rembrandt Watson. Oh, yeah. Candy Matson, the erudite drunk, is one of my favorite. [00:48:32] Speaker A: What's his name? Otis from Andy Griffith. [00:48:35] Speaker C: Yeah. I also love, you know, where the keys are. I love his Child of scorn monologue where he just completely psychoanalyzes Pete Kelly and this just long, beautifully delivered monologue. And then Pete's like, you done? [00:48:58] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:48:58] Speaker C: And they just move on. [00:48:59] Speaker A: Right, right. [00:49:00] Speaker C: So I think that, for me, balances out the darkness. Not where, like, I feel really great after listening to this, but aesthetically, I find those tonal swings fascinating in general, but I find it particularly interesting here, is that you have these different stylistic things going on in here, but it is under this one very consistent umbrella of atmosphere where it all gels to me. [00:49:29] Speaker B: It was never a problem listening to it conceptually. It's hard for me to shake Joe Friday off of Jeff Webb. I literally imagine, like, Joe Friday in a jazz band, which I'm sure it could be, but it's a little boggling, hard to describe. [00:49:49] Speaker A: No, I'm with you 100% on that. It's unfortunate for Mr. Webb, but he made that bad. [00:49:55] Speaker B: Yes. And his character is so distinct. Like, no critique of his performing. It's just Joe Friday is so iconic. [00:50:03] Speaker A: Well, and how long did he do it? Like, 30 years of Jack Webb. Like, you know, hey, Gilligan's Gilligan man, Bob Denver. You can't imagine him doing anything else. [00:50:13] Speaker C: Fortunately for me, I thought for a long time that I wouldn't like Dragnet, and so I didn't listen to much Dragnet. And my experience pre Dragnet was with Pat Novak, P. Kelly's Blues. A lot of the tough characters that he plays in some of the early episodes of Escape, he's in a lot of those, too. And so I had a preconceived, hard boiled notion of him. Interesting, interesting. I feel it's much harder to take him seriously in the film because he's such a slight Tiny man. And I say that as a slight tiny man myself, but otherwise, I really love the film. I don't know if you guys have seen it, but it's a lot of fun. But he's this tough guy, and he's in everyone's face, and he's fist fighting, and I just have a hard time buying it. He punches out Lee Marvin, and I'm. [00:51:06] Speaker A: Like, nope, no one punches out Lee Marvin. And my exposure is the TV show. Watch that back to back with Adam 12 and Hogan's Heroes and then Star Trek for many years in the afternoons and syndication. And so, yeah, that's getting him out of that. Jack Webb out of the Joe Friday from the television show, which is slightly different and not as good. I'm being kind. Than the radio show. That the television show is a little goofy. [00:51:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't know why we're talking about. I do know why we're talking about Dragnet, but. [00:51:44] Speaker A: Because, Jack, a lot of Dragnet talk. [00:51:47] Speaker B: But I'm not gonna stop listening to Dragnet. The. The datedness is not as obvious as, like, seeing the suits and the sets and the cars and all that. [00:52:00] Speaker C: That's a good point. Radio is a little more timeless in some ways than without the visuals. Speaking of visuals, though, the last thing I want to point out in here that I really enjoyed was the actual description. And they took a lot of detail to describe William Conrad's cop character as he comes to and describing him as just this rumpled, sweaty, unkept guy. But they had this one period detail where they said he was smoking Milo Violets, which I guess was a. Earlier in the 20th century, a perfumed, dainty cigarette aimed at women. So it was this weird contrast that he appears the way they described him. The sweat that looked like a first grader's drawing of the world or something, described the patterns of sweat on him. But he is smoking basically a little dainty cigarette. [00:52:56] Speaker A: I didn't catch that. Cause they're talking really fast. [00:53:01] Speaker C: I love that. I finally brought an episode where he's like, it gets to the castle too fast. It's like a speed tour of all the castles. [00:53:09] Speaker A: Well, and there's the other thing about this that I do enjoy is the layers of it. Like, okay, this is happening now. We're going here, and we're gonna meet this person. Now we're gonna go here and meet this person. Like, there's like, like 10 settings in this thing, and it just moves, moves, moves. There's a lot going on. It does not slow down. [00:53:27] Speaker C: You have Some things I missed in the first listen that one of the thugs. I think it's Lud. Is Stacy Harris, who is a great radio actor. He was with William Conrad in our. One of our favorites to study in wax. [00:53:39] Speaker A: Oh, right, right. This is why you're in the podcast, because Tim and I don't remember any of that. [00:53:44] Speaker B: I've forgotten it already. [00:53:46] Speaker C: Right here for you. [00:53:47] Speaker A: He was talking about some guy who was in another show. Tim. [00:53:50] Speaker D: Wow. Yeah. [00:53:52] Speaker A: Joshua's smart. [00:53:54] Speaker C: I lied. I have one more thing to say about this because I really love this episode. As dark as it is, I did enjoy. And it's rare for this type of noir to have this just hint that perhaps Pete Kelly's relationship with his father Cronin might be able to be patched over despite this horrendous death of a child like that. He comes back around and they. [00:54:20] Speaker A: Oh, you mean with the priest. Yes, you said father. And I'm like, his dad was in it. Now I'm with you, Shukronin. Yeah, no, yeah. [00:54:29] Speaker C: Where he gets to say, I'm sorry. And obviously he's a hard boiled man, so he can't express much more than that. But I feel that it's recognized that that's as much as he can express. Not that it's insincere. [00:54:43] Speaker A: No. And I also get the feeling that it was unsaid. Like before this all was explained to the priest. Like there's a conversation missing where the priest found out, oh, I see what happened. And then, do you know what I mean? Like there was more information. [00:55:00] Speaker C: It was explained to the priest. The priest just wasn't going to lose this opportunity to remind Kelly that this is the result of the people that you choose to live your life with. And that's what made it feel like they had this history. [00:55:13] Speaker B: You didn't do this, but this happened to you of who you are. [00:55:16] Speaker A: Right. [00:55:17] Speaker C: And so perhaps, if anything, I think the priest might have felt bad for being so hard on him. Although I do like the tough guy, hard boiled priest because even when he comes back to get his apology and accept it, he's like, I heard bullets, so I knew you were around. He's still gonna twist the knife a little bit. [00:55:33] Speaker B: My favorite little thing in there. Now that, now that we're talking about it, now that we're sitting around in a podcast talking about this was the intro of his drunky friend character that included, like, I knew one person who was a decent human being, this perpetually drunk guy, the only booze runner who could lose money during prohibition he drank. [00:55:56] Speaker C: Himself out of business. [00:55:58] Speaker B: That just kind of slaps him twice somehow. Like, this is my one reliable friend. [00:56:02] Speaker A: Right. [00:56:03] Speaker C: It does tell you how unreliable everyone else in this city is. [00:56:07] Speaker A: Should we send it to a vote? [00:56:08] Speaker C: Yeah, let's do it. [00:56:10] Speaker B: There's so much I really enjoyed about this. I will say it definitely stands the test of time. It's really unique to other radio shows that I think just in the way that it creates an atmosphere and a tone and that just other radio shows don't do that I know of. I'll stop short of classic because it's very good Hard boiled noir. It took some leaps of logic for me to follow. [00:56:39] Speaker A: Right. So I will agree with everything Tim just said, except add to it. I do believe it's a classic of Hard boiled audio drama. I think in that specific category it's brilliantly done, hard boiled and a million miles per hour. But I think it's unique, it's interesting. I'm really glad I finally got to listen to one of these. I thought it was well done, well produced, well written. Written for sure in the sense of dialogue and why we're doing things and nothing seems superfluous. I would agree with Tim at the end that I wanted a little bit more of a what happens at 6? But then again I'm not upset with the ending either. So I really. That's. [00:57:19] Speaker B: I suppose the implication is that these thugs didn't really have a good plan. [00:57:22] Speaker A: Right. [00:57:23] Speaker C: They turned on each other. [00:57:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:24] Speaker C: Ultimately, like all thugs do. [00:57:27] Speaker A: So yeah, I. Fantastic. And stands the test of Time in the sense of it is a great example of Hard boiled. [00:57:36] Speaker C: I think something that's period like this has a head start on standing the test of time because you're already looking at it through a lens of history past, even when it was first made. So I definitely think it stands the test of time because it is a time capsule from a earlier times perspective, but still a really well preserved time capsule of that aesthetic and historical era. I definitely think it's a classic. Maybe not maybe an auxiliary classic in that it is not like the first thing you would listen to if you're getting into old time radio, you have to listen to this. But yet I think it's really representative of that incredibly innovative and exciting experimental period of the golden age of radio, which is the 1950s that I think all of us on the podcast. But definitely I am becoming more and more appreciative of. I think Jack Webb in particular was really adept at taking something like a genre or structure that has become popular like in the 40s, and then adding to it more than just a fresh coat of paint but doing something that is fundamentally transformative to it. Like Dragnet played on the popularity of true crime like Gangbusters radio shows that were hugely popular. But he added this element of true crime to it. He made it truer than true crime had ever been. And then here he takes his own hard boiled shit dick from Pat Novak for hire that was very popular in the 40s. The Private Eye era was big and adds this whole layer of jazz and history and more profound human emotions in there than in Pat Novak. So yeah, I think it's definitely I just talked myself into classic Jack Webb certainly is and I would recommend. It's fun. It's not a great movie, but it's a good movie. Pete Kelly's Blues Cool. [00:59:43] Speaker A: Tim, tell him stuff. [00:59:45] Speaker B: Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com that is the home of this podcast. You can vote in polls to let us know what you think about these. You can leave comments, you can send us messages. You can visit links to our social media pages. You can link to our threadless store and buy swag. You can also link to our Patreon page. [01:00:03] Speaker C: Yes, go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. We have so many great benefits for those who give us money. We have Zoom Happy hours where we all hang out together and discuss old time radio. We have my mysterious old book club. We have extra podcasts. We have not surplus, not like crap we lie around, but like really good episodes that you can hear if you go to patreon.com themorals and if you. [01:00:38] Speaker A: Want to see us performing live, we do on stage theatrical audio plays monthly. We do classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original work. And you can find out where we're performing and what we're performing every single month by going to ghoulishdelights.com or mysterious old radiolisteningsociety.com and there you will see a link to how to get tickets, see where we are and if you don't or can't come to one of our live stage shows. And again, let me emphasize, it's not us doing the podcast, it's us doing radio theater. [01:01:18] Speaker C: But if you pay us to do the podcast live, we'll come do it. [01:01:21] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll come and do it in your living room if you got enough money. But if you're a Patreon, we film them and it's part of your Patreon package, you get to see those shows. All right, what's coming up next? [01:01:30] Speaker B: Up next is me. I have chosen an episode of Inner Sanctum Mystery called the Devil's Workshop. Until then, I was just getting better.