Episode 330: The Red Light Bandit

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast. [00:00:27] Speaker B: 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 C: I'm Tim. [00:00:37] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker E: 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 B: Today, I chose an early episode of Dragnet entitled the Red Light Bandit. [00:00:49] Speaker D: In 1948, actor Jack Webb appeared in he walked by Night, a film noir police procedural directed by Alfred L. Werker. While on set, Webb struck up a friendship with the film's technical advisor, police detective Marty Wynn. Webb was fascinated by Wynn's tales of authentic police cases and believed the public would find these stories compelling, too. [00:01:15] Speaker E: Dragnet premiered on NBC Radio June 8, 1949. Although the scripts were ostensibly based on actual cases, Joe Friday was pure fiction. Webb imbued the Los Angeles police sergeant with a stoic charm, delivering his lines in a clipped, matter of fact tone. No matter what the situation, Friday's catchphrase, the facts, ma'am, just the facts, was emblematic of the program's mission to present the unvarnished truth of police work, at least as Jack Webb saw it. [00:01:41] Speaker B: Over the course of the program, Friday had many police partners, but his first was Ben Romero, played by veteran radio actor Barton Yarborough. OTR fans will recognize Yarborough as the voice of Doc Long in I love a Mystery, as well as Clifford Barbour in Carlton E. Morse's long running soap opera one man's Family. [00:02:03] Speaker D: Today's production is based on the real life Red light Bandit, Carol Chessman, who in 1948 was arrested and convicted of a series of crimes similar to what is depicted in Dragnet's version of events, but also dissimilar in significant ways. We'll discuss this in more detail after we've listened to the Red Light Bandit, first broadcast July 14, 1949. [00:02:30] Speaker E: 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. [00:02:50] Speaker C: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed. To protect the innocent. [00:02:58] Speaker F: NBC brings you Dragnet. [00:03:10] Speaker C: You're a detective sergeant. You're assigned to robbery detail. A ruthless fiend roams the streets of your city masquerading as a police officer. For months, helpless citizens have been robbed, beaten senseless, and kidnapped. The criminal is a twisted genius, vicious cunning. Your job is to get him. [00:03:35] Speaker F: 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. [00:04:08] Speaker A: It was Wednesday, June 4. It was warm in Los Angeles. We were working the night watch out of robbery detail. My partner's Ben Romero. The boss is Ed Backstrand, chief of detectives. My name's Friday. I was on my way back from communications, and it was 11:13 p.m. When I got to room 27. A robbery detail. [00:04:28] Speaker C: Oh, hi, Joe. [00:04:29] Speaker A: Hi, Ben. Did you get that message to call home? [00:04:31] Speaker C: Yeah. Bad news. [00:04:33] Speaker A: What's the matter? [00:04:33] Speaker C: That doggone kid of mine checking pox. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Oh, again? [00:04:37] Speaker C: Last year it was a mumps. Year. Before that, the measles. Every time I get set for a vacation, he decides to catch something. [00:04:43] Speaker A: Forget it, Ben. Think what a comfort he's gonna be in your old age. [00:04:46] Speaker C: Go ahead, laugh. You'll find out. [00:04:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:53] Speaker C: How are you, Friday Romero? Fine. What can we do for you? You don't look like you remember me. [00:05:00] Speaker A: Oh, no. Wait a minute. The name's Savage, isn't it, George? [00:05:04] Speaker C: It's Johnny. Sergeant Johnny Savage. Remember now? Oh, sure. Those liquor store robberies out in the Wilshire district. About six, seven years ago, wasn't it? Ten years from now. You ought to remember that. You were at the trial. We testify in court every week. Ten years is a long time. It's longer in the state pen, it's a lot longer. [00:05:22] Speaker A: You cried a little at that trial, didn't you, Savage? You said we beat that confession out of you. [00:05:26] Speaker C: Yeah. That's why I figured I'd drop in. [00:05:28] Speaker A: For a little visit. [00:05:29] Speaker C: I kind of apologize to you fellas. You gave me a square deal. I guess I kind of lost my head. I figured I'd apologize. [00:05:36] Speaker A: Well, that's all right, Savage. When'd you get out? [00:05:38] Speaker C: A couple of weeks ago. I did it the hard way. Served ten flat. I don't own my day. [00:05:44] Speaker A: You find a job yet? [00:05:46] Speaker C: Yeah, Friday I'm working nights. What kind of a job? Laborer in a warehouse, south end of town. Good. You decided to label ten years in prison's a long time. You learn a lot of things. Nights are long, you think a lot, you get things straightened out. [00:06:01] Speaker A: I hope you mean that. [00:06:02] Speaker C: Sure, I mean it. [00:06:02] Speaker A: Friday. [00:06:03] Speaker C: I've got everything straightened out. I know who my friends are, and I know who to watch out for. You sound like maybe you're on the right track. I got a figure to him, arrow like. You two fellas. You caught me red handed and you sent me up for ten years. [00:06:17] Speaker A: Well, you did all right, Savage. Five armed robberies. You got off pretty easy. [00:06:21] Speaker C: You got a break, Savage? Make the best of it. Sure. I'm not kicking. Ten years is a real break. [00:06:27] Speaker A: That's right. [00:06:28] Speaker C: Well, just dropped in for a little visit. Maybe I'll see you fellas sometime. [00:06:35] Speaker A: All right, Savage. Keep your nose clean. [00:06:38] Speaker C: Sure. No heart feelings? [00:06:40] Speaker A: No. [00:06:42] Speaker C: You just took ten years of my life, that's all. [00:06:48] Speaker A: There's no such thing as a man going through prison without changing. And Ben and I have seen him switch in both directions. Some men learn their lesson after they land behind bars. And when they're released, they turn into good citizens. Johnny Savage was sour. We made a mental note to check him out later on. Then we went down to the record bureau and pulled his coming out mug. That's about all we had time for, because about an hour later, we started to get busy. [00:07:11] Speaker C: Hot shot, Joe grabbing on the corner of Selma in Naples, the drugstore 211. And probable attack on the corner of Selma in Naples, 211. What you got, Joe? [00:07:23] Speaker A: Selma, Naples, 211 in attack. Come on. [00:07:35] Speaker C: Here we are, Joe. Both way around the fourth corner? [00:07:38] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, come on. We got the story from the victim, the store owner, Mister Thomas. For the most part, it was the usual rundown of an early morning holdup. There was only one exception. [00:07:51] Speaker C: Oh, I've had young hoodlums try to hold me up before, but there was nothing like this one. How you mean, Mister Thomas? Well, he came in here just before closing. And ordinarily, I'd have kept an eye out because that's the time to look for him. But this fella came to the door and said he was a policeman. So I let him in. He looked like a cop. Budged right up to me and the wife behind the counter and pointed a gun. And she screamed, and he hit her in the face with the butt of the gun. Sergeant. [00:08:13] Speaker D: It was horrible. [00:08:14] Speaker A: That's the way it started and that's the way it kept going. Because most of the victims and most people don't realize that as a citizen, they have the right to check on police officers identification when in doubt. After we got the story from Mister Thomas and checked the store in the neighborhood, Ben and I headed back for the office. [00:08:33] Speaker G: Attention all units. At the end of North Baxter Road near Hillcrest. Victim of 211 and slugging cars 7172. Take the call. Code three. [00:08:44] Speaker A: Attention, all four blocks away from the last one. Let's roll on it, huh, Ben? [00:08:47] Speaker C: Right. I'll hit the siren. You get the light. [00:08:52] Speaker A: By the time Ben and I got up to the end of North Baxter, the men from car 71 were already there. The victim was telling his story. His face looked like it had been through a meat grinder. [00:09:01] Speaker C: We're just shifting the car in a second to make the hill. When I hear this siren behind me and I see this red light flashing in the side view mirror. Well, naturally, I pulled over to the curb and I was just reaching for my driver's license when the cop runs up, yanks me out of the car and starts clubbing me in the face with the butt of his gun. Did you get a look at him? Think you can describe him? No, I'm afraid not. He swung me around and kept me staring into that red light on his car. All the time he was beating me. After a while, everything just went black. When I woke up, my wallet was gone. All my money. [00:09:31] Speaker A: 45 minutes later, Ben and I were interviewing the third victim, a young housewife out in the Wilshire district. Same trademark. [00:09:38] Speaker G: I tried to tell him, sergeant. I tried to tell him I didn't have any money, but he wouldn't listen. He kept holding me by the throat, beating me with his fist like he enjoyed it. Beating me. Beating me. [00:09:53] Speaker A: Yeah. All right, all right, misses Jamieson, could you tell us how he got in the house? [00:09:58] Speaker G: He came in the front door and rang the bell. I opened the door, but I left the burglar chain on. He said he was a policeman. So when he demanded, I opened the door all the way, I did. [00:10:12] Speaker C: And you can't describe the man? Force misses Jameson. [00:10:17] Speaker G: He was tall and he had dark hair and big. The doll was like a nightmare. A horrible nightmare. [00:10:33] Speaker C: Tall, dark hair, big hands. Your guess the same as mine, Joe? [00:10:37] Speaker A: Maybe. Let's wait and see. Come on, let's check with the boss. [00:10:43] Speaker C: Hi, Mike. Hi. He's waiting for you in there. [00:10:46] Speaker A: Come on, Ben. [00:10:48] Speaker C: Chief of detectives, always Hanum. Sit down. Yeah, Gifford. All right, you two, let's have it. The guy with the red light. Yes, the guy with the red light posing as a policeman. Why hasn't he been picked up? [00:10:59] Speaker A: You know as much about it as we do, Ed. We got our first call around midnight. He knocked over a drug store out on Selma. He hasn't stopped working since. [00:11:05] Speaker C: Didn't you get any definite lead on him? No description, no license number, nothing. [00:11:08] Speaker A: He's tall, big hands, dark hair. [00:11:10] Speaker C: That's all fine. Either of you got any ideas? Could be anybody. Skipper, with that description, you're sure it wasn't anybody on the force? [00:11:16] Speaker A: We sent all the victims down to personnel. Lowry showed him the mug book of all police officers. Wasn't one of our men. [00:11:22] Speaker C: Works fast. Drug store, motorist, a pedestrian, a housewife out in the Wiltshire district. Went right in the house after her. Four of them right in a row. Five, huh? There's a 20 year old kid in the next room. Came in just before you got here. A couple hours ago, he was sitting in a car with this girl up in Mulholland Drive. This red light. Bandon comes along, slugs him and kidnaps the girl. Kidnap? She still missed? Not a trace. [00:11:43] Speaker A: When did this happen? [00:11:44] Speaker C: A couple of hours ago. They brought the kid over from Georgia street hospital. We can talk to him now. He's had a bad time. Right in here. Okay, Pete, we're going to have to ask you a few more questions. Oh, yeah, okay. It feels a little better now. This is Sergeant Friday and Sergeant Romero. [00:12:03] Speaker A: Hi, Pete. [00:12:04] Speaker C: Hi. [00:12:04] Speaker A: Can you tell us what time the trouble started? [00:12:07] Speaker C: Oh, about 1015, 1030. Sally and I were sitting in the car talking about where we were going on our honeymoon. We're gonna be married next month. And then this car pulls up behind us and starts flashing a red spotlight on us. And a guy runs over and pulls open the door. [00:12:25] Speaker A: He said he was a cop. [00:12:26] Speaker C: Did you get a good look at his car, Pete? I think it was a black sedan. [00:12:30] Speaker A: Did you get a look at the man, Pete? [00:12:31] Speaker C: No. No, I didn't. It was pretty dark, and he kept me staring into that red spotlight. It all happened so fast. Then he started slugging me and I went down. [00:12:42] Speaker A: What happened then? [00:12:43] Speaker C: Well, the next thing I knew, Sally was screaming. He had one hand on her throat and he had her backed up against the side of the car. He was beating her with the other hand. Some kind of a short billy club. I got up and I started for him and he slugged me again. When I came to, Sally was gone. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Anybody check the area up there, Ed? [00:13:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Davis and Griffin didn't find the thing. Oh, sergeant, you gotta find her. You got to. I wouldn't know what to tell her folks. I wouldn't know what to say. [00:13:09] Speaker A: That's all right. [00:13:10] Speaker C: Pete will find her. [00:13:11] Speaker A: You take it easy. [00:13:12] Speaker C: Got a hotshot ed up in Summit Road near Westmore. A woman, unconscious. Ambulance follow up, possible dead body. All right, Hannon, look after Pete here. Friday, Romero, let's go. Have a head. Romero, to the right. Okay. Skiff. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Yeah. There's the ambulance and the cruiser car. [00:13:32] Speaker C: You're a lonely looking spot, all right, come on. [00:13:39] Speaker A: Hiya, doc. What'd you find? [00:13:40] Speaker C: Hiya, fellas. Right over here. Just gonna take her in. Where'd you find her? Over there by the side of the road. Somebody driving by. I saw her. They called us. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Any identification? [00:13:52] Speaker C: This bracelet on her wrist. Hmm. To my dearest Sally and Pete. December 25, 1947. That's a girl, all right. What are the chances, doll? I wouldn't bet on them. Pretty bad shape. Well, have you seen enough? Yeah. Friday, Romero, call the crime lab and check the area for footprints and tire tracks. I'll ride back in the ambulance with a girl. If she regains consciousness, I want to talk to her. All right. Okay, Ed, I'll meet you in the office by 830. We're working straight through till we get this guy. Sit to office giver. [00:14:39] Speaker A: What time you got, Ben? [00:14:41] Speaker C: Seven minutes to four. Long night. [00:14:44] Speaker A: That car up there ahead, let's take a look at it, huh? [00:14:47] Speaker C: Black sedan. Hey, look, he's flashing a red spot on that convertible. [00:14:50] Speaker A: Come on. [00:14:56] Speaker C: He sees us, Joe. He's pulling away. [00:14:57] Speaker A: Get that gas pedal down to the floor. [00:14:59] Speaker C: Already there. He's turning off. Right. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Hit the siren. I'll get the light. We're gaining a little bend. Next corner to the left. [00:15:08] Speaker C: Joe. Where'd he go? [00:15:09] Speaker A: He's a fancy driver. Try the alley up ahead to the left here. [00:15:13] Speaker C: Must have turned up. [00:15:13] Speaker A: That cross trigger gets through the alley and double back on him. [00:15:16] Speaker C: Right. There he is. [00:15:18] Speaker A: Ben, look out. [00:15:18] Speaker C: Watch it. Watch it. He's gonna ram us. [00:15:28] Speaker A: We got hit just in front of the rear bumper. Our car was forced into the curbing, and it turned over. It was real lucky he kept right on going. But this time Ben and I were sharing the luck. All we got out of it was a couple of nasty cracks in the head and a few bruises. But it was enough to keep us in a hospital under observation for a day. By this time, Ed Backstrand was fuming. So were the newspapers. During the day we spent in the hospital, a red light bandit went on a real blitz. We pulled six more jobs, one liquor store, two residential holdups, and three car robberies. Five of the six victims were slugged and beaten. Davis and Griffin had taken over for Ben and me, and by the time we got back on the job, they'd build up a lead for us. [00:16:03] Speaker C: We've been working with Wilkerson up in auto theft, Joe. He's used four stolen cars already. We got the makes and numbers on each one of them. How about the dark sedan he was driving when he rammed us? The boys picked it up this morning out on sepulvedam. We're checking it for prince now. [00:16:15] Speaker A: Oh, that's fine, Dave. You got any description on the guy yet? [00:16:18] Speaker C: No. Like that, Joe. He works too fast. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Nothing at all. [00:16:21] Speaker C: Same as you had. Tall, black hair, big hands, loves to use them. Friday, Romero, got a minute? Okay, skipper. Check you later. Hyundai. Sure thing, boys. Sit down. How do you feel? [00:16:35] Speaker A: Pretty fair, Ed. [00:16:35] Speaker C: Little stiff here and there. All right. Did Davis fill you in up to date? Okay. I just called the doctor who's handling Sally Wilder, Pete's girlfriend, you remember? Oh, yeah. She's been in pretty bad shape since we found her up there on Summit Road this morning she took a turn for the better. She's conscious, and her doctor thinks she might be able to talk to us a little bit. [00:16:52] Speaker A: Good. When? [00:16:53] Speaker C: About an hour. I cleared it with the doctor and with our family. You'll only be able to stay a couple of minutes and make the most of them, that's all. [00:16:59] Speaker A: All right, Ed. We'll check with you later. [00:17:03] Speaker C: Say, Joe, Ben. Here's some mail came for you fellas while you were gone. Oh, thank you, Mike. We're going over to the county hospital. We ought to be back in a couple hours. Okay. Say, there's been a couple of phone calls, too. [00:17:13] Speaker A: Yeah? Anything important? [00:17:14] Speaker C: I don't think so. The guy just called to say hello. Said his name was Johnny Savage. Just call to say hello. I presume you men are aware of the girl's critical condition? [00:17:26] Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. Doctor Froman. [00:17:28] Speaker C: We saw her before she was taken here at the hospital. Ah, yes. You understand, of course, that you'll be able to see her for only a few minutes. And please try your best not to excite her, huh? [00:17:36] Speaker A: Right, doctor. [00:17:42] Speaker C: Sally isn't able to talk bad mouth and face injuries, so your questions will have to be answered simply yes or no, and nod of the head. [00:17:50] Speaker A: Okay, we got you. We only have a few questions, and we want to know if she can identify the man who beat her from these pictures we've got here. [00:17:55] Speaker C: All right, sergeant. This way, please. [00:17:56] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:18:02] Speaker C: Sally. Sally, these gentlemen are from the police department. They'd like to ask you a few questions. No need to be nervous or afraid. Just simply nod your head yes or no. That's fine. All right, sergeant. [00:18:18] Speaker A: Sally, did you see the man who attacked you? [00:18:22] Speaker C: Yes, she says yes. [00:18:23] Speaker A: Did you get a good look at his face? You did. All right, Sally, now you can answer these three together, just yes or no. Was he tall? Did he have dark hair? Did he have large hands? He did. [00:18:35] Speaker C: Ben, you got Jim. [00:18:36] Speaker A: Hand me the folder. [00:18:38] Speaker C: Here you are. [00:18:39] Speaker A: Thanks. There's just one more thing, Sally. I'm gonna show you some pictures. Now, take all the time you want before you make up your mind about each one. If you recognize any one of these men as the person who attacks you, just nod your head. All right? All right. It's fine. Good. Here's the first one. No. All right, here's the next one. No. How about this one? No. All right, here's another. Do you recognize him? This was the man. Are you sure, Sally? Thank you. That's all. Let's go. [00:19:12] Speaker C: Did you find what you wanted, sergeant? [00:19:14] Speaker A: Yes, doctor, we did. Here. It's this one. [00:19:18] Speaker C: Hmm. Nice looking chap. Who is he, sergeant? [00:19:21] Speaker A: His name's Savage, Doctor Froman. Johnny Savage. When we got back to the office, we checked in with Ed Backstrand. In five minutes, an all points bulletin and a full description of the suspect was broadcast to every radio car, every motorcycle officer, to every sheriff and law enforcement agency in Los Angeles and southern California. By nightfall, a manhunt was on. More than a dozen extra patrol units were called in for duty that night. And when they pulled out of the police garage, the name, the picture, and the full description of Johnny Savage was in the possession of every officer. The same for the patrolman. Whether they walked a beat downtown or out in the residential areas, the picture of Johnny Savage went with them. Everything was done that could. On the second night of the manhunt, far out on the edge of town, Johnny Savage, the red light bandit, got his 12th victim, a 63 year old storekeeper. [00:20:07] Speaker G: Attention all units. 939 Markham street, near Clark. 211 and slugging code three. Ambulance dispatched. All units, 939 Markham street. [00:20:25] Speaker C: Here it is, Skipper. Tie him. What'd you get? Wilkerson lifted the prints off that black sedan at Ram Joe and me. [00:20:32] Speaker A: Yeah, they belong to Johnny Savage. Yeah. [00:20:34] Speaker C: Good. That storekeeper last night, he's a savage, all right. Victim identified him from his mug. All right, we got enough in this Savage guy to put him a nice for life. All we have to do now is to get him. [00:20:43] Speaker A: Now, look, the way we figure it, Ed, this red light bandit is using stolen cars with coal plates. So there's no way of tracking down the cars at regular commercial garages. He's got to be renting private garages someplace around town. [00:20:53] Speaker C: All right, let's get the neighborhood patrolman on the job. Advertise it all over town. It's a city ordinance, isn't it? People who rent private garages are bound by law to register the car and license number with the police. Start a campaign if you want, but find those cars. [00:21:06] Speaker A: Right. [00:21:06] Speaker C: Wait a minute. Hello back. Strand. Yeah, when? I see. Yeah, thanks. [00:21:15] Speaker A: What is it, Ed? [00:21:16] Speaker C: It was the hospital about the girl, Sally. Sally Wilder. What about her? She died five minutes ago. [00:21:26] Speaker A: That night everybody went back on the job as usual. The cruiser cars, the patrolmen, the motorcycle officers and about a dozen decoy cars. Armed police women riding alone in cars or parked in lonely spots with a police officer escort. Our car, 80K, was still in the garage for repairs. So they assigned us another one and we started to make the rounds. Everything was usual, except one thing. We weren't tracking down just a thief anymore. Or a sadist who liked to beat people's faces in. We were out to get a murderer. It was a perfect night for the suspect. Dark, no moon. I gave Ben two to one odds and I put up $5 that we'd get savage. That night I lost the $5. We cruised until seven the next morning, but there wasn't even a nibble. We had breakfast at the Federal cafe, a little restaurant down the street from the city hall. It was about 815 when we got back to the office. We were pretty tired. [00:22:17] Speaker C: Robert, detail. Romero. I would like to speak to Sergeant Friday. Just a minute. For you, Jim. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Okay, thanks. Friday talking. [00:22:24] Speaker C: Sergeant Friday, I want to talk to you. [00:22:26] Speaker A: Well, I'm listening, go ahead. [00:22:27] Speaker C: I mean, I want to talk to you in person as soon as possible. [00:22:30] Speaker A: Can't you tell me over the phone? What is it? [00:22:32] Speaker C: I cannot tell you over the phone. It is very important. Can you come now? [00:22:36] Speaker A: Well, now, look, mister, I'm awful sorry, but we're very busy down here. [00:22:38] Speaker C: 550 for Ramona Avenue. Can you come now? [00:22:41] Speaker A: What's this all about? Who is this speaking? [00:22:43] Speaker C: My name is Carl Savage. My son's name is John. Here it is, Joe. Neat looking little play. Yeah. Yeah. [00:23:09] Speaker A: I'm Sergeant Friday. You Mister Savage? Yeah. [00:23:11] Speaker C: Come in. [00:23:12] Speaker A: Okay. This is my partner, Sergeant Romero. [00:23:14] Speaker C: How do you do? I will be brief, gentlemen. I am the father of John Savage. I wish for you to catch him. I will help you. I noticed the name on the mailbox outside. Mister Savage changed your name lately. I changed my name ten years ago when John first got into trouble. My own name. I had to change the shame always from him. My son, shame Mister Savage, has your. [00:23:36] Speaker A: Son been home since he got out of prison? [00:23:37] Speaker C: Yeah, many times. To ask for money. I would not give him any. So he struck me. Last night I read in the newspaper, the little girl he beat up, she is dead. Then I make up my mind. [00:23:52] Speaker A: Do you know where your son is now, Mister Savage? [00:23:54] Speaker C: Not now, no. But our garage has a car in there. It is not his. I know. Also in the garage I find mini license plates. I find spotlights with red glass lens. But you don't have any idea where we could find him? No. But he will come back. He always comes back for money. [00:24:09] Speaker A: We're going to station an officer here in the house, Mister Savage. [00:24:12] Speaker C: Anything you want, if it will catch him. He's bad, sergeant. Like something poison or all through, he's bad. See a sewing basket over here? Mister Savage, your wife lived here with you ten days ago. Before this starts, I bury Gertrude. My wife. His mother, sergeant. For ten years she is sick. But for ten years she stays alive to see him from prison. Ten days ago she died. He did not even come to the funeral. [00:24:46] Speaker A: Did your son have any idea that you might call us? [00:24:48] Speaker C: No. No, I don't think so. But when you catch him, give me a gun. With my own two hands, I will kill him. Johnny Savage. [00:25:03] Speaker A: Before we left, we called Ed Backstrand and we brought him up to date. He sent three detectives out to relieve us. Davis, Griffin and Marsh. We told them to keep an eye on the house and the stolen car in the garage. That night after dinner, Ed Backstrand, Ben and I went out and relieved them. We parked the cruiser car in the garage next door and then we took up our posts. Carl Savage had a light supper and then he went to bed about nine. The three of us sat at the front windows in the darkened house and we waited. Ben kept his eye on the garage. Outside. Across the city, the manhunt continued as usual. 3 hours went by. The waiting got monotonous, frantic. [00:25:39] Speaker C: Romero, look at life, will you? Oh yes. Caper. I'm sorry. [00:25:44] Speaker A: That clock's enough to put anybody to sleep. [00:25:46] Speaker C: What time you got? 12:23 a.m.. Thanks. [00:25:52] Speaker A: The clock kept ticking. We were tired. We took turns keeping each other awake. At ten minutes past two, I looked at my watch and then I settled back and tried to find some kind of a comfortable position. They started so faintly. It was just like the ticking of the clock. Same rhythm. And then they came closer. And the sounds got out of rhythm. Back. Strand's head came up with a snap. [00:26:13] Speaker C: Friday Romero. You hear that? [00:26:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:15] Speaker C: Ed, get up to the window. Watch the curtains. You see anything? Yeah. [00:26:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:20] Speaker C: Somebody's coming. Savage? Can't tell. Wait a minute. He's slowing down. He's going up the driveway to the garage. He's going inside. [00:26:34] Speaker A: That's him. Come on. Watch it. He spotted us. Went over that fence into the yard. [00:26:44] Speaker C: There he is. Friday. You hit him, Joe. Maybe he's going for the street. [00:26:50] Speaker A: He sent it for that car, Ed. That sedan up on the corner there. [00:26:52] Speaker C: Yeah. Romero, go back and get the car. All right. Steven here must have parked up the block before he came around. Where's Romero? [00:27:03] Speaker A: I don't know. Oh, here he comes now. All right, let's go. [00:27:08] Speaker C: Get that radio on, Joe. [00:27:09] Speaker A: It's already on, Ed. [00:27:10] Speaker C: All right, give him a call. Any sign yet? [00:27:12] Speaker A: No, nothing so far. Next turn to the right, Ben. Unit Adk to control four. Adk to control four. [00:27:19] Speaker G: Control four to unit ADk. Go ahead. [00:27:22] Speaker C: Clear. [00:27:22] Speaker A: And keep frequency four open. This is an emergency 80K. [00:27:25] Speaker C: Roger. [00:27:26] Speaker G: Frequency four open and clear. Attention all units on frequency four. Standby. Adk. Go ahead. [00:27:34] Speaker C: There it is, Friday, up ahead, dark blue sedan. [00:27:36] Speaker A: Control four, we are in pursuit of the possible red light bandit. The suspect is driving a dark blue 1949 sedan, license number in the 76, one Robert 784. Use caution. Suspect is armed. Code three. [00:27:50] Speaker G: Attention all units. Attention all units. Unit 80K now pursuing possible red light bandit. Suspect is driving a dark blue 1949 sedan, license number in the seven column six, one Robert 784. Use caution. Suspect is armed. Code three. Your location, 80k. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Control four, we are headed east on Wilshire Boulevard, crossing La Brea. [00:28:12] Speaker G: Detention all units. Suspect is headed east on Wilshire Boulevard, crossing La Brea. [00:28:17] Speaker C: Watch it, Romero. Don't lose him. I see him, skipper. [00:28:20] Speaker A: Control four, still pursuing red light bandit, headed east on Wilshire, now crossing Rossmore. [00:28:25] Speaker G: Attention to all units. Suspect is still headed east on Wilshire, now crossing Rossmore. Suspect is armed. Use caution. Called three. [00:28:34] Speaker C: That truck pulling out up ahead, hit the stern, will you? Skip her. Hold on to tight. Squeeze in on Romero. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Out of traffic up ahead. [00:28:43] Speaker C: He's got to slow down. [00:28:44] Speaker A: Control four, suspect headed east on Wilshire, crossing Western Avenue. Closing in. [00:28:50] Speaker C: There he goes. Took a ride down Sherman alley to dead end. Yeah. [00:28:54] Speaker A: Control four, suspect turns south into Sherman alley, closing in on suspect. [00:28:58] Speaker G: Attention all units. Suspect has turned south into Sherman Alley. Suspect is trapped. Converge on Sherman Alley. [00:29:05] Speaker C: There he is, Skipper. Pulling up ahead. He's jumping out. All right, take the mic. What are you. Out of here. [00:29:10] Speaker A: Come on, Ben. [00:29:11] Speaker C: I'll direct the other cars in if you need help, holler. Right, skipper. [00:29:16] Speaker A: All right, which way to go, Ben? [00:29:17] Speaker C: Down between those buildings. Come on. Starting up the back fire escape. [00:29:20] Speaker A: All right, keep in business. All right, Savage, come on down. [00:29:25] Speaker C: He wants to go the rough. [00:29:26] Speaker A: One more chance, savvy? Come on down. [00:29:29] Speaker C: No use, Joe. He's heading up for the road. Come on. [00:29:33] Speaker A: He climbs like a monkey. Come on, let's get him. [00:29:37] Speaker C: Here, I'll give you a hand. Here's the rope. All right, where'd he go? [00:29:40] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:29:40] Speaker C: Let's spread out. [00:29:42] Speaker A: All right, Savvy's, you're through. Throw your gun out. Come out with your hands up. [00:29:46] Speaker C: Watch it, Joe. He's running for the edge. He's gonna jump. I'll get him. [00:29:50] Speaker A: All right, guy, back here. [00:29:52] Speaker C: You lousy copper. You dirty, lousy copper, I'll kill you. Out. You're through stabbing your flu. Good, yo. Yeah? [00:30:08] Speaker A: Throw the cups on, will you? [00:30:09] Speaker C: Yeah, you just bet you. Hmm. You want a smoke? [00:30:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I can sure use it. Thanks. [00:30:27] Speaker C: Quiet up here. Yeah. [00:30:31] Speaker A: I was just thinking. [00:30:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:34] Speaker A: Carl Savage, this guy's father. [00:30:37] Speaker C: Mm hmm. What about him? [00:30:40] Speaker A: Nothing. What would you do, Ben, if your son was a murderer? [00:30:52] Speaker C: The story you have just heard is true. Only the names were changed to protect the innocent. [00:30:59] Speaker F: John Savage was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree. He was executed in the lethal gas chamber at the state penitentiary. You have just heard the 6th in a new series of authentic cases from official files. Technical advice for Dragnet is furnished by the Los Angeles Police Department. [00:31:23] Speaker C: Tonight's program is dedicated to patrol officer Robert Steele of the Montana State highway patrol, who, on the morning of November 2, 1947, gave his life so that yours might be more secure. [00:31:53] Speaker F: Dragnet came to you from Los Angeles. This is NBC, the national broadcasting Company. [00:32:14] Speaker B: That was the red light bandit from Dragnet, here on the mysterious old radio listening society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:32:23] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:32:23] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:32:25] Speaker B: That was my pick. I chose that. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm going to get it right out of the way. I love so much about this episode. There are so many things that fill me with just great joy, and that's a terrible thing to say about such a horrific and difficult story as this was. But starting with the fact that I just love Barton Yarborough so much, I. The other. What are they called? [00:32:58] Speaker D: Partners. [00:32:58] Speaker B: Yeah. The other partners that he had during the run of the show were great. They were fine. They were all good actors. It was great. It's fine, but nobody beats Yarborough. I could make a list, just go right down the line of everything I love about this episode. But more interesting to me than pontificating about my love of it is I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of it. I'm so curious to see if you were as taken by it as I was or not. So hit me. [00:33:34] Speaker D: I will tell you in the most subjective way possible. It lacks the things I love about Dragnet, which is, I suspect, why you love it. [00:33:47] Speaker B: I know exactly which. It doesn't have the minutiae of the mundane. It goes, goes, goes, goes, goes. [00:33:53] Speaker D: The mundane is pretty straightforward police procedure. [00:33:57] Speaker B: Correct. The only mundane in it is mundane. It's not the right word because it makes it sound terrible. We. I love those moments. Just so you know, in Dragnet, you know, like four minutes of making coffee. We've discussed this before. I love that this does not have it. The only thing it has is a quick discussion at the top with Romero about his kid being sick. Right. And him saying, oh, you know, maybe. [00:34:23] Speaker E: He'Ll take care of you with a highly infectious child. [00:34:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:26] Speaker B: You know, he'll take care of you someday. The reason, though, that I think that works. So, first of all, there's a lot to do in the story that there isn't a lot of time for that if you want to cover the red light Bandit. But also, I really loved how they tied it in at the end. We talk about him being a father. Then the father turns him in the ending with, what would you do if it was your kid? I like the string, the through string of that. I just want to be clear. I like that part of dragnet. And this doesn't have it. It doesn't mean it's why I liked it. [00:35:00] Speaker D: You loved it for the car chase. [00:35:02] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Car chasing. [00:35:04] Speaker D: Incredibly well done. [00:35:05] Speaker B: Yes, it is two of them. There's two of them. Two great car chase scenes. And that's hard to do on radio, everybody. And I could see all of it. [00:35:15] Speaker E: There's sort of three major sections of this story, I think, and each of those sections is awesome. And the last two go together really well. And the first one, I don't think, doesn't serve the second two that as well. [00:35:29] Speaker D: Are you talking about the introduction of Johnny Savage early on? Yes. That is my one big critique. I think it's a great scene. [00:35:37] Speaker E: That doesn't help the rest of the story. [00:35:39] Speaker D: I think it would be an amazing scene if they moved it to the center, if they had received their call, interviewed these victims of this person who'd been attacking, they were stumped. And this ex con comes and visits and taunts them, and they suddenly have that aha. Moment. Maybe it's him and the second half is suspecting him, but maybe not being able to prove it. And then you still get the call. The problem being it makes them look like idiots. [00:36:11] Speaker A: Right? [00:36:12] Speaker D: That's my only problem. [00:36:13] Speaker E: In the real world, there is hundreds, thousands of people that if they were asked, like, well, who do you think this might be? Like, we're surrounded by criminals. But narratively, because you only meet the one, you can't help but think, like, how about the one you just talked. [00:36:29] Speaker D: To, the one you chose to name. [00:36:31] Speaker B: Savage, who is literally a savage. Yeah, I gonna disagree with you that that was part of their day, and that happened. And it turns out that he had come in to taunt them or to just see them and in a certain way go, I'm about to make your life hell for what you did to me. As listeners, we don't know the rest of their day. They could have very well have seen that and forgotten about. It's too obvious to us as a listener. But I think as a story, I think it's a cool idea that he comes in and gives him that subtle heads up, I'm going to ruin your life. I'm going to try to bring you down here. [00:37:16] Speaker D: I agree with Tim. It's a great scene. I'm not questioning the scene. I'm questioning the placement of it or else covering it somehow. Having Joe or Ben Romero going, could this be savage? How many people hate us personally for putting them behind bars or having them dismiss it in some way? Even if we, as the listener knew they're wrong, it is him. It would at least help make them not seem like they're missing the obvious. And you're absolutely right. In a police officer's day, they're going to interact with all these people, right? And it's very unlikely that the person they interacted with is the person who did it in the real world. But in a piece of fiction, it's really clearly who it is. [00:38:04] Speaker B: And it doesn't bother me to know that's the guy. To me, the story is revenge on. [00:38:11] Speaker E: The same page, what they're saying, it makes logical sense that they would not just immediately do like, I talked to that guy. Must be that guy, right? But in the narrative, as it's treated, it was a little jarring to like, you didn't even consider him. This person who you just talked to, who was clearly like, I'm really mad at you and I'm going to be a problem for you. [00:38:30] Speaker D: And in all fairness, it stands out because the episode is so well done. [00:38:35] Speaker C: Yes. [00:38:35] Speaker D: So it's one of those things where they shoot themselves in the foot in maybe a one that wasn't as well executed, that would just stand out as a really great scene at the top. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Sure. [00:38:45] Speaker D: So it's that curse of being as well written and produced as it is. [00:38:52] Speaker B: The production value of this. And each scene is so well written and so well produced and so vivid, from the scene of him walking in and telling him to the really, really difficult to listen to performances of the actors describing what they've been through. Then he hit my wife in the head and then he was beating me, and I just had to look into that red light and he forced me to look. I mean, it's vicious and difficult material to the kid who's losing his fiance. And those scenes are so well done to getting hit by him and having to go to the hospital and losing their precious car. And then the scene of interviewing her with just silence. They did that scene. She can't talk. There's just silence until the picture comes up and some actor got a bit of sound. Some actor got $20, you. [00:39:54] Speaker D: Anyway, so I don't want to belittle it because it was really powerful. [00:39:59] Speaker B: Yeah, it was incredibly powerful that they earned their $20, which in today's market is $40,000. I did the math, all of it. Every scene again. And the final car chase scene, which is really well done. I also love about this episode that we truly got. The only time I've heard in any episode of Dragnet, an actual dragnet, the all points bulletin and a manhunt, they called it. Which two things bummed me out. One, they didn't say, we did a dragnet of LA. There it was. You can actually use the title of your show and they called it a manhunt. The second one thing that bothered me so tiny is when the guy comes in, when they're interviewing the young man whose fiance has been abducted, and he says, hey, there's been another beating. We found a girl. We think she's dead. The kid's right there. He comes in and says that, pull him out of the room and say, we found a dead woman, or could be dead. But it was so. Oh, please don't say that in front of him. But that's really tiny thing. [00:41:15] Speaker D: I thought the manipulation was well done because you hear them say they found a woman and you presumed, oh, it's a body. She's dead. And then you're like, oh, but he does live. She lived, and then later, yeah, she died. [00:41:29] Speaker B: But he does. He does say when he walks in, he says, we think she's dead, or she might be dead or something like that. [00:41:35] Speaker E: To finish my earlier thought of the other sort of three sections, and they're all great. The last two sections, the pacing of the whole manhunt is just amazing and fantastic. [00:41:46] Speaker A: And. [00:41:48] Speaker E: Like, that five dollar bet, like, that's. That's great. [00:41:51] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [00:41:52] Speaker E: Like, I lost $5. That's what happened that night. And then you were so invested and so, like, come on, come on, come. [00:42:00] Speaker A: On, come on, come on. [00:42:00] Speaker D: That. [00:42:01] Speaker E: That final car chase is just gripping. [00:42:04] Speaker B: It's so gripping, and it feels in real time. [00:42:07] Speaker E: And to see just in your head, like, Jack Webb is running across a rooftop to tackle this guy. [00:42:12] Speaker B: Yep, yep. In the first car chase scene, great moment where Jack Webb says, oh, he's a fancy driver. Did you hear that? [00:42:19] Speaker D: Because even he's raising his voice in the car a little bit. So he's, like, very excited for Jack Webb, but he's still really low key. [00:42:29] Speaker B: I love that, though. Fancy, fancy driver. [00:42:33] Speaker E: And, of course, just the brutality of that dad of, like, when you catch him. [00:42:36] Speaker C: Give me a gun. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Yeah. I loved his whole journey. In the five minutes we got to meet his dad, we got to learn his entire difficult journey of his decision making process. And enough was enough about this. And again, brutal story of his mom. It's horrifyingly brutal. [00:42:58] Speaker D: I do want to go back to your observation about the way the opening foreshadows or nicely frames with that closing thing of the father of would you turn in your son? Because I do think that's a beautiful loop because it makes you think of the worst killers. The monsters had a parent who took care of them when they had chicken pox and worried over them. And then they get to the point that that father is at. But you also, I think, because of positioning Ben at the top as a worried parent, but also, you know, kind of taking it all for granted, being like, every time we're going to go on vacation, he gets sick. So it has this really mundane quality to it. So I think it also helps you feel okay if you have to stop a moment and really think about the answer to his question, would I turn in my child? [00:43:58] Speaker B: Well, and this guy didn't for a long time. Yeah, he reached a breaking point, and that's, as a parent, that's breaking point is, wow, it would be incredibly difficult to reach and make that choice. It would be really hard. Also, as a parent, it would be really difficult if my dumb kid got chicken pox twice. Cause he says he had chicken pox. And he says again, and I'm like, what do you mean again? He has shingles already. Like, I've never heard of anybody getting chicken pox twice. [00:44:31] Speaker E: I think he corrected with, it was just a number of diseases, you know, chicken pox, cholera, polio. [00:44:35] Speaker D: He's just had it all. Leprosy. [00:44:39] Speaker B: Right. Those childhood maladies. [00:44:44] Speaker E: It did have the nice little bit of public service announcement. Like, for as horrible as is, you do have the right to ask a police officer for his badge. [00:44:53] Speaker C: Yep. [00:44:54] Speaker D: That stood out to me as a rare moment in dragnet where they stop and suggest that the citizens have any rights that supersede the rights of the cops. [00:45:06] Speaker B: I mean, that's true. [00:45:07] Speaker D: On top of everything, this is a good segue. On top of everything we've already said about, just as a piece of drama. [00:45:13] Speaker B: You'Ll be the judge of how good a segue it is. [00:45:15] Speaker C: But go on. [00:45:17] Speaker D: There's so much in here that is interesting to just look at it as a time capsule. I was fascinated by Joe Friday's remarks of, like, you cried a little on the. You said, we beat a confession out of you. And what's interesting is it's. It's unanswered. I think Johnny Savage does say, I came here to apologize, and maybe we're supposed to read that in now. I don't actually think listeners at the time, maybe they did thought that that was true, but it felt like it's left as an ambivalent conclusion to draw. I also don't think that what Friday was saying was that Johnny Savage literally bawled to me. I took it as accusing a cop of roughing you up, like they naturally would somehow unmanned Johnny, like, made him a baby. [00:46:13] Speaker E: I inferred from it that confessed, maybe hoping to get a plea deal out of it. And when he didn't get a, I don't know what order it would go in, but that he took back his confession. [00:46:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:46:26] Speaker B: I'm of a different mind of that whole. I believe the inference was that he lied and said that they beat a confession out of me when they did not beat a confession out of him, which pissed off Friday a lot that he did that, and therefore, in that moment, said, nice crocodile tears on the stand lying. Is that right? That's how I inferred it. Yeah. [00:46:52] Speaker E: Not explicit. [00:46:53] Speaker D: It's not explicit. And that's what I think is so interesting about it because it didn't need to be. Then today, if you wrote that into your story, that's something you have to deal with. You don't drop that line and walk away from it. That's probably the crux of your story, right? And there's a presumption there that the cops are innocent. [00:47:11] Speaker B: Right? [00:47:12] Speaker D: Which I don't think we have today. [00:47:14] Speaker C: No, no. [00:47:15] Speaker D: So I found that fascinating. I also liked how dragnet was very careful when they were talking about the couple that were clearly at Lover's Lane park. [00:47:25] Speaker C: Oh, yes. [00:47:26] Speaker D: They were talking about their honeymoon. They were planning their honeymoon by planning. [00:47:32] Speaker B: Reading the karma Sutra. [00:47:34] Speaker D: This is what I plan to do. [00:47:36] Speaker E: Let's take our pants off and have a chat. [00:47:41] Speaker D: New T shirt. [00:47:46] Speaker B: That should be the name of this podcast. No? Okay. [00:47:52] Speaker D: Are you guys familiar? Because it was a pretty famous case, and dragnet rarely tackles famous cases. In all fairness, the case of the red light Bandit became more famous after this episode was aired. [00:48:04] Speaker B: So in the intro, you wrote that. I meant it was came in my head 900 times this week. Like, I want to look this up because these are all true stories. And I forgot to. I forgot to look up the red light bandits. So what you're about to tell me, first of all, thank you. I forgot to do this. Second, hit me. I can't wait to hear the true story of Carol Chessman. [00:48:26] Speaker D: Yeah. I am not an encyclopedia of knowledge on this. [00:48:29] Speaker B: Well, nevermind, Tim. I have some thoughts. [00:48:33] Speaker D: So there was a real red light bandit. [00:48:36] Speaker E: However, he mostly just stole red lights. [00:48:39] Speaker D: He was a silver age green lantern bad guy. The red light Bandit. No. All humor aside, in addition to these robberies, he raped two of the women at these lovers lane robberies. [00:48:54] Speaker B: Yikes. [00:48:55] Speaker D: I wonder, because this was the year after it happened, if the listeners, even though they couldn't be that explicit at the time, filled that in, in that scene with the young lady who they found. [00:49:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:49:11] Speaker D: So a Carol Chessman was arrested for it. And the entire time he claimed innocence. He also claimed that the confession was beaten out of him. Oh, just like Johnny Savage does. And is dismissed here by the cops. But what is really significant that dragnet changes here is that nobody died in his robberies. And so the controversy being he was sentenced to death under a little Lindbergh law, which post the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Many states adopted these harsher penalties for kidnapping, including, in California, the death penalty. And prosecutors. I guess he dragged this woman far enough away from the car that they actually caught. [00:50:05] Speaker B: Kidnapped like a loophole. [00:50:06] Speaker D: Yeah. And so he kept appealing this, and over years and years and years, he became a kind of celebrity. He wrote a book about his life on death row. They made it into a film. He became very famous. He's what led to the death penalty, being removed in the state of California. [00:50:27] Speaker C: Wow. [00:50:27] Speaker D: He was eventually executed in 1960 because I think the Supreme Court overturned all of those little Lindbergh laws, but they were going forward. They were not retroactive, which was another bit of outrage. [00:50:42] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:42] Speaker D: I think the rapes is described are really brutal. And if he's guilty, I shed no tears, personally. But he was talking from a legal standpoint that at that time, was not a capital offense. [00:50:56] Speaker B: Timeframe. Help me. 1948. The real red light band. That happens because this show airs in 1949. [00:51:03] Speaker D: So all the kerfuffle about the books he wrote and in prison, that was yet to come. However, they knew enough that it was controversial, that they altered the facts so that the actual murder dies. [00:51:19] Speaker B: But not only that, at the end, they say this was resolved. He was put to death when in. [00:51:25] Speaker D: Reality, in 1949, he was sentenced to death. He was on death row, but they. [00:51:28] Speaker B: Say he was executed. The thing is, in this episode, all. [00:51:32] Speaker D: The stuff about these are facts are lies. [00:51:36] Speaker B: Come on. [00:51:37] Speaker D: Names are not changed to protect the innocent. They're changed to protect the cops. In most dragnet, it's just the truth. I mean, it's technically great, protect our. [00:51:45] Speaker B: Lawyers, but I think there's some opinion of that. It's not so much saying, all right, we're just gonna say he was executed and lie. I think it's. We're gonna say he's executed because that's what we want to happen to this actual guy. Do you get what I'm saying? Like, yeah. Feels like it's opinion. [00:52:00] Speaker E: That is the finality. We want to provide our audience versus. He is currently in jail unless the supreme court overturns this law. [00:52:07] Speaker B: Right. He was pecked to death by pigeons. [00:52:10] Speaker E: Yes. Dun dun dun dun coo. [00:52:17] Speaker B: That is now the ending of each one of our podcasts. [00:52:22] Speaker E: Just a pigeon. Any other Jack Webb haircut? [00:52:27] Speaker B: Any other thoughts? [00:52:28] Speaker E: Just the ku bam. [00:52:29] Speaker C: Oh, God. [00:52:34] Speaker B: Should we vote? Sure. [00:52:35] Speaker D: Yes. [00:52:36] Speaker B: This is a classic piece of radio theater. In my opinion. This show is a classic. It stands at this time. It is one of the best episodes of dragnet I've ever heard. It is compelling, difficult, real horrendous, fulfilling. There is so much about this that I love, and the only thing missing from this is what Joshua said at the top. I would have loved to have a little more of that that mundane that makes dragnets so great that they will take their time. But I will say this, that car chase scene at the end is real time. So I absolutely love it. It's one of my top ten favorite radio dramas I've ever listened to, for sure. [00:53:19] Speaker D: Dragnet is always so weird for me. It is one of those radio programs that is so iconic, so influential, it's so technically innovative that it's hard not to just go to default classic every time you listen to it, even though from our current vantage point, it doesn't always stand the test of time. [00:53:41] Speaker E: Correct. [00:53:43] Speaker D: I do really, for me personally, miss those extended conversations about how to make the most perfect coffee. Long, awkward interviews of witnesses like Friday taking six minutes to have his long distance call connected. [00:54:03] Speaker B: Right. [00:54:04] Speaker D: I mean it. And it feels like I'm saying I like dregnet ironically, but I think that was the genius of it, is to really embrace what a almost documentary style police program would be like. And it is clear from these early episodes that there was a little hesitancy that the writers still like, can we get away with this? [00:54:28] Speaker B: Right? [00:54:28] Speaker D: So I think I'm hesitant myself to call it a classic because it doesn't have everything that is going to make dragnet a classic yet. [00:54:36] Speaker A: Right? [00:54:37] Speaker D: And I do have those narrative structural issues with it, but it is a really great episode of dramatic radio. [00:54:47] Speaker E: I'm going to follow a little bit on the other side of the line from Joshua. I think this is a classic, even though I have small criticisms of the narrative move of having that introduction of Mister Savage as it was, that sort of undercuts the credibility of Friday and Romero, even though I know it's not that way, but it just sort of functions that way narratively. That being said, the pacing of the manhunt and the execution of that final chase is, it's just phenomenal. It's just amazing. And like, for all the great radio that exists out there, there's not much that can compare to it. So I would call it a classic. [00:55:29] Speaker B: Yay me. Tim, tell him stuff. [00:55:32] Speaker E: Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com. If you're just hanging around on the Internet and like, well, I want to go see some stuff, go see ghoulishdlice.com. You'll find other episodes of this podcast there. You can find our podcast wherever you get your podcasts. But if you go to the website, you can vote in polls, you can leave comments, you can send us messages, let us know what you think about these episodes. What do you think you can also link to our social media pages and you can shop at our store and get some swag and you can find a link to our Patreon page. [00:56:01] Speaker D: Yes, go to patreon.com. The morals and please support this podcast. Everything we do, we justify to our wives based on the money we make on Patreon, right? Protect our marriages. Well, I'm gonna be out recording all night, honey. And like, really? Again? Well, you know how much money we make on Patreon. It just doesn't come from nowhere. It comes from hard work. Sit and drink and talk about old. [00:56:35] Speaker E: Time radio down in the old tight radio minds, radio lung. [00:56:40] Speaker D: So please save the podcast, save our marriages. Go to patreon.com themorals. [00:56:47] Speaker B: This is nerd version of ice fishing is what this is. I want to give a quick plug in that we don't normally do when you're at ghoulishdelights.com. Tim's theater company has all sorts of other things other than the mysterious old radio listening society going on, including a really cool show coming up in May that is based on an old time radio show that you got the rights to. [00:57:10] Speaker E: Yes. If you are a member of Patreon, you would already be familiar with the CBC, I believe it was, did an adaptation of a play called Bone House, which is phenomenal. Kendra Fanconi, hopefully I pronounced that right. A playwright and a delightful person who has licensed the play to meets, perform this May. So, yes, get yourself to Minneapolis St. Paul this May and come see Bone house, which I'm pairing with an adaptation of the outsider. [00:57:37] Speaker B: Yeah, that's 2024, by the way, and then the mystery, depending how far into. [00:57:42] Speaker D: The future they may have invented time travel. [00:57:45] Speaker B: Oh, so let's hope not. That seems fraught. [00:57:52] Speaker D: Well, AI will create time travel. [00:57:54] Speaker B: There you go. The mysterious old radio Listening Society also is a theater company that performs audio drama live on stage, classic radio episodes. We do recreations of classic radio and a lot of our own original work, and you can find out what we're performing and where we're performing by going to ghoulishdelights.com. And there you'll see where we are and what we are, how to get tickets if you can't make it. We record them. We film them. If you're a patreon, that's part of your perks. You get to see those online. But if you are a patreon and you can make it come, we love to see you. Plus, everywhere we perform. I don't know why this is, but everywhere perform serves great food, so make it a night. It's true. We've been truly good food. All right, so what are we doing next? [00:58:42] Speaker D: Speaking of performances next, we are going to have an episode that was recorded live at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater with our special guest, Shannon Custer, who regularly performs our radio dramas alongside us. And we can say it's really good because it's already happened. Magic timey wyminess of recording podcasts. [00:59:06] Speaker B: We time travel. [00:59:07] Speaker C: Yep. [00:59:07] Speaker D: We like Billy. Pilgrims have become unstuck in time. [00:59:11] Speaker B: Gonna have to look that up. [00:59:12] Speaker D: Oh, I was hoping that was a literary reference that you would get. It's Kurt Vonnegut. [00:59:16] Speaker B: I like Vonnegut. Well, and so it goes. [00:59:21] Speaker E: Not the lead singer of scratching pumpkins. [00:59:23] Speaker D: So, yes. Tune in next week for our live discussion of the wailing wall from inner sanctum. Until then, coo.