Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series that aired from 1951 to 1953.
35-461: The format was a narrated anthology drama , as each individual episode featured various ordinary citizens getting ensnared in a different confidence scheme . Episodes were introduced and narrated by Reed Hadley as "Captain John Braddock", a fictional detective working for a police department in a large, unnamed American city. Braddock served as the series' host and narrator. The show dramatized
70-501: A collection of poetry, later retitled anthology – see Greek Anthology . Anthologiai were collections of small Greek poems and epigrams, because in Greek culture the flower symbolized the finer sentiments that only poetry can express. Many popular old-time radio programs were anthology series. On some series, such as Inner Sanctum Mysteries , the only constant was the host, who introduced and concluded each dramatic presentation. One of
105-759: A cost of $ 25,000 per episode, which was cheap for the time. Racket Squad finished at #30 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1951-1952 season. Showcase Productions ( Hal Roach Jr. and Carroll Case) produced the series, with James Flood as director. The writers were George C. Brown and Ed Seabrook. Three episodes were combined and released as a feature film Mobs, Inc. in 1956. The show featured several guest stars who would achieve starring roles in future film and television roles: After Racket Squad , Reed Hadley starred from March 1954 to June 1955 in another crime drama on CBS, The Public Defender . Alpha Video released various episodes on DVD Worldwide Distribution . In
140-796: A different story and a different set of characters in each different episode , season , segment, or short . These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse , employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One , began on radio and then expanded to television. The word comes from Ancient Greek ἀνθολογία ( anthología , "flower-gathering"), from ἀνθολογέω ( anthologéō , "I gather flowers"), from ἄνθος ( ánthos , "flower") + λέγω ( légō , "I gather, pick up, collect"), coined by Meleager of Gadara circa 60 BCE, originally as Στέφανος ( στέφανος ( stéphanos , "garland")) to describe
175-413: A mockingly sardonic voice. A spooky melodramatic organ score (played by Lew White) punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreeeeaams, hmmmmm?" His tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the standard for many such horror narrators to follow, such as Maurice Tarplin (on The Mysterious Traveler ). When Johnson left
210-554: A new type of anthology format in the U.S. Each season, rather than each episode, is a standalone story. Several actors have appeared in the various seasons, but playing different roles—in an echo of the Four Star Playhouse format. The success of American Horror Story has spawned other season-long anthologies such as American Crime Story and True Detective . Anthology film series are rare compared to their TV and radio counterparts. There have been several attempts within
245-456: A review of an episode from the second season, the trade publication Variety said that Racket Squad "adds up to fair entertainment" and noted that some members of the audience might benefit from warnings presented in the show. The review added that the episode's dramatic component "was competently played". Anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio , television , film , or video game series that presents
280-512: A weekly program from the second season until the end of its run in 1956. Ida Lupino was brought on board as the de facto fourth star, though unlike Powell, Boyer, and Niven, she owned no stock in the company. American television networks would sometimes run summer anthology series which consisted of unsold television pilots . Beginning in 1971, the long-run Masterpiece Theatre drama anthology series brought British productions to American television. In 2011, American Horror Story debuted
315-436: A year with each film featuring Chaney and Gale Sondergaard in the lead roles. Sondergaard was dropped from the lead role shortly before the filming of Calling Dr. Death . The films in the series are Calling Dr. Death (1943), Weird Woman (1944), Dead Man's Eyes (1944), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Strange Confession (1945) and Pillow of Death (1945). From retrospective reviews, Kim Newman described
350-462: Is a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952. It was created by producer Himan Brown and was based on the imprint given to the mystery novels of Simon & Schuster . In all, 526 episodes were broadcast. In 1930, the first title was published in Simon & Schuster's "Inner Sanctum" mystery series: I Am Jonathan Scrivener by Claude Houghton . Although
385-533: Is slowly opened. Organ begins to play. Raymond: Good evening, friends of the Inner Sanctum . This is Raymond, your host. I'm glad you came tonight, because we have a very special guest of horror with us. I'd like you to meet the late Johnny Gravestone, the most celebrated member of the Inner Sanctum Ghost Society. He's the best haunter of them all. Johnny's the tall figure in the white sheet wearing
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#1732855585150420-497: The Golden Age of Television of the 1950s with series such as The United States Steel Hour and The Philco Television Playhouse . Dick Powell came up with an idea for an anthology series, Four Star Playhouse , with a rotation of established stars every week, four stars in all. The stars would own the studio and the program, as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had done successfully with Desilu studio. Powell had intended for
455-505: The Inner Sanctum radio program premiered, the name licensed by Simon & Schuster on condition that at the end of each broadcast the announcer would promote the latest book title published in the series. The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler . The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as "Your host, Raymond" in
490-405: The "Tea Lady"), whose blithesome pitches for Lipton Tea contrasted sharply with the macabre themes of the stories. She primly chided the host for his trademark dark humor and creepy manner. The program's familiar and famed audio trademark was the eerie creaking door which opened and closed the broadcasts. Himan Brown got the idea from a door in the basement that "squeaked like Hell." The door sound
525-462: The 1970s, with his CBS Radio Mystery Theater series, Himan Brown recycled both the creaking door opening and, to a lesser extent, the manner of Raymond. The hosts were E. G. Marshall and during the final season, Tammy Grimes . When the series was rebroadcast during the late 1990s, Brown himself rerecorded the host segments and mimicked Raymond's "Pleasant dreeeeaaams, hmmmmm?" for the familiar closing. Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder satirized
560-527: The blue ribbon. He's haunted everything from a palace to a telephone booth. And uh, if you're very nice to him, he'll be glad to consider giving your house the once-over. Who knows? He might even haunt you! Ha-ha-ha-ha! (Commercial) Raymond: Well, we're about to begin our story. Oh, I forgot to warn you about the Trembliens. They're those pesky, invisible cousins of the gremlins. They uh, sidle up to [ sic ] you, give quick little shoves, and give
595-610: The earliest such programs was The Collier Hour , broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932. As radio's first major dramatic anthology, it adapted stories and serials from Collier's Weekly in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post . Airing on the Wednesday prior to each week's distribution of the magazine, the program soon moved to Sundays in order to avoid spoilers with dramatizations of stories simultaneously appearing in
630-459: The exception of Pillow of Death , each film is prefaced with a sequence featuring the bobbing head of actor David Hoffman staring out of a crystal ball, giving warnings to the audience about how each audience member is capable of murder. Lon Chaney Jr. was hopeful for the series, craving diversity in his roles after Universal had placed him in various monster roles in their horror films. Pivar planned to produce two Inner Sanctum mystery films
665-448: The false impression that you're trembling. If you're being troubled by a Tremblien, just grab him by his invisible little horns and stick him into the nearest pin cushion. In June 1943, Universal purchased the screen rights to the series from Simon and Schuster , Inc. The Inner Sanctum Mysteries feature a "stream of consciousness" voiceover which Edward Dein stated he incorporated into his script at Lon Chaney Jr. 's insistence. With
700-432: The film series as "straddling whodunnit and horror" and that "the films vary in quality but mostly deliver as strange entertainment." Newman found that Weird Woman was the standout film in the Inner Sanctum series, being the sole entry in the series to have supernatural elements. The authors of the book Universal Horrors declared the series "feeble melodramas with little to recommend them beyond their camp qualities and
735-547: The horror genre to have a franchise with an anthology format, such as with the Halloween franchise where the third film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch , was meant to be the beginning of a series of anthology horror films, but due to negative reception that plan was shelved. Anthology video games have been very rare since the 1980s. Inner Sanctum Mysteries Inner Sanctum Mystery , also known as Inner Sanctum ,
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#1732855585150770-411: The imprint "Inner Sanctum" also included serious drama (published with blue covers) and romance (published with red covers), for the most part it was associated with mysteries (published in green covers). Lee Wright was the editor of the series, and over the years she introduced such authors as Craig Rice , Gypsy Rose Lee , Patrick Quentin , Thomas Sterling and Anthony Boucher . On January 7, 1941,
805-495: The magazine. Radio anthology series provided for science fiction , horror , suspense, and mystery genres (all produced in the US, unless noted): The final episode of Suspense was broadcast on September 30, 1962, a date that has traditionally been seen as marking the end of the old-time radio era. However, genre series produced since 1962 include: In the history of television, live anthology dramas were especially popular during
840-464: The methods and machinations of con men and bunko artists. At episode's end, Captain Braddock gave viewers advice on how to avoid becoming the victim of the confidence game illustrated in the episode. Plots were based on actual case files from United States police departments, business organizations and other agencies. In the original episodes, Braddock addressed the victim in the second person, addressing
875-586: The morose spectacle of seeing a badly miscast Chaney struggle his way through acting assignments that were painfully beyond his depth." They concluded that the series was "generally regarded by buffs and film historians as a missed cinematic opportunity." The 1954 syndicated television series featured Paul McGrath as the off-camera host/narrator. The TV shows were produced at the Himan Brown Production Center (now Chelsea Studios ) in Manhattan . In
910-483: The opening narration of the program, naming it "The Outer Sanctorum." The opening of an Inner Sanctum episode was used to open one side of The Whole Burbank Catalog , a 1972 compilation album in the Warner/Reprise Loss Leaders series from Warner Bros. Records . The announcer's jokey pun in this case concerned an author friend, specializing in best-sellers, who "tried to bury [him] in one, because all
945-762: The program in the early years included Bela Lugosi , Mary Astor , Helen Hayes , Peter Lorre , Paul Lukas , Claude Rains , Frank Sinatra , and Orson Welles . Most of the lead and supporting players were stalwarts of New York radio. These included Santos Ortega , Larry Haines , Ted Osborne , Luis van Rooten , Stefan Schnabel , Ralph Bell , Mercedes McCambridge , Berry Kroeger , Arnold Moss , Leon Janney , Myron McCormick , and Mason Adams . Players like Richard Widmark , Everett Sloane , Burgess Meredith , Agnes Moorehead , Ken Lynch , and Anne Seymour also found fame or notability in film or television. Of more than 500 programs broadcast, only about 200 remain in circulation. Sound effect: A door with squeaky hinges
980-437: The program to feature himself, Charles Boyer , Joel McCrea , and Rosalind Russell . When Russell and McCrea backed out, David Niven came on board as the third star. The fourth star was initially a guest star. CBS liked the idea, and Four Star Playhouse made its debut in fall of 1952. It ran on alternate weeks only during the first season, alternating with Amos 'n' Andy . It was successful enough to be renewed and became
1015-502: The series in Mad ' s fifth issue (June–July 1953) with "Outer Sanctum!" In the opening panels, host Ramon greets the reader: "Come in, I've been waiting for you! I've been waiting for you to fix my squeaking door!... What?... You say you're not the carpenter?... You have come to hear a story?... Very well!" In the Three Stooges short The Ghost Talks , a creaking door prompts Shemp to parody
1050-545: The series in May 1945 to serve in the Army, he was replaced by Paul McGrath , who did not keep the "Raymond" name and was known only as "Your Host" or "Mr. Host". (Berry Kroeger had substituted earlier for a total of four episodes.) McGrath was a Broadway actor who turned to radio for a regular income. Beginning in 1945, Lipton Tea sponsored the series, pairing first Raymond and then McGrath with cheery commercial spokeswoman Mary Bennett (aka
1085-437: The squeak orally. The stories were effective little chillers, mixing horror and humor in equal doses. Memorable episodes included "Terror by Night" (September 18, 1945) and an adaptation of " The Tell-Tale Heart " (August 3, 1941). The latter starred Boris Karloff , who was heard regularly in the first season, starring in more than 15 episodes and returning sporadically thereafter. Other established film stars who appeared on
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1120-430: The very best sellers (cellars) have corpses in them." A backwards version of the creaking door sound effect led directly into "Get It On" by T. Rex . The popular British 60s radio comedy Round The Horne had occasional sketches that were influenced by the style of the show. Regular cast member Hugh Paddick would introduce the "scary" sketch with the words "Inner Sanctum-um-um-um-um-um..." – pretending to echo! This
1155-509: The victim directly. In later episodes he narrated in the more conventional third person. Shooting was rapid, with 44 pages of script shot in two days. The show originally was produced for the syndication market in 1950, was picked up by CBS in 1951, and ran on the network through 1953. The series was filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City , California, and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris . The shows were produced at
1190-425: Was accompanied by a warbling, quivering, high pitched tone from a Theremin played by an orchestra member. The sketches nearly always ended in confusion as the plots were deliberately circular and convoluted whilst playing up the "spookiness" of the part. The 1946 Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny cartoon Racketeer Rabbit had Bugs enter an abandoned Victorian house (which was actually the gangsters' hideout) that had
1225-403: Was actually made by a rusty desk chair. The program did originally intend to use a door, but on its first use, the door did not creak. Undaunted, Brown grabbed a nearby chair, sat in it and turned, causing a hair-raising squeak. The chair was used from then on as the sound prop. On at least one memorable occasion, a staffer innocently repaired and oiled the chair, thus forcing the sound man to mimic
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