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Pat Novak, For Hire |
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Pat
Novak, For Hire was the legendary Jack
Webb's first significant radio
crime drama. It was also the vanguard of radio's hard-edge, hard-boiled as to
be high camp in its own time. The show was rich with hilarious pessimism,
rippling with ridiculous metaphors. "The street was as deserted as a warm
bottle of beer. The car started up down the street and the old man couldn't
have made it with a pocketful of aces. I caught a glimpse of the license
plate in a dull, surprised way, the way you grab a feather out of an angel's
wing." Legendary
writer Richard Breen wrote the
kind of dialog that Webb delivered better than anyone else: sassy, brassy and
full of pent-up anger Novak
operated out of "Pier 19", a small office where: "I rent boats and tell a few white lies,
if the price is right" Someone
would usually hire Novak, if it wasn't a beautiful dame then the job would
doubtless lead to said woman. Someone would get murdered, Novak would become
a patsy and he'd get beaten up at least once by the thugs and again for good
measure by his old enemy Police
Inspector Hellman. His drunken (and
outrageous) pal Jocko Madigan
would be enlisted to help with the legwork and all would end in glorious
violence. The closing line was always the same: "Well, Hellman
asked only one question-"
and this would lead to Novak's wrap-up. The listener was told who had done
what, to whom, and occasionally why and how. Initially
a West Coast run on ABC beginning in 1946, this very successful show was
jolted by the departure of both Webb and Breen for Hollywood & the movies
in the Spring of 1948. Unfortunately, although writer Gil Doud (of Sam Spade & The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen) was then brought in and Ben Morris replaced Webb, the magic was gone. Meanwhile
Webb and Breen (now in Hollywood) decided to recreate Novak for a national
audience, but since Pat Novak was still on the air (with Morris & Doud),
they named the show Johnny Madero: Pier 23. It
wasn't until February 1949 that Webb and Breen combined for a new series of Pat
Novak, For Hire - and to resounding
nationwide acclaim. This great new series was even better than the first time
round. The organ was replaced by a full orchestra and the sound effects
really delivered the listener to exactly where Webb and Breen wanted them to
be. Now,
to what has survived and is "listenable" today: Whilst
only one episode of the Webb/ Breen initial (West Coast) Pat Novak, For
Hire series is in existence, four
episodes from the Morris/Doud combination have survived. Unfortunately
only two out of the twenty Johnny Madero: Pier 23 episodes have survived, but the good news is that
18 of the 20 (superior) Webb/ Breen second series of Pat Novak, For Hire are in existence. Why
were there only 20 episodes of the second series ever made? Webb had decided
to move on to Dragnet (what
else), initially on radio then into TV (twice) and a film (available on DVD
from the Individual Adventure, Drama & Film Noir Titles section of this website) Worthy
of mention is the part of Hellman
in the Webb/Breen second series of Pat Novak, For Hire. Its played by none other than Raymond Burr (of TV's Perry Mason & Ironside)! Want
to check out an episode? - why not "taste & try"? This
episode can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click
on any link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to
that effect). The file is on an average about 25Mb - download time will
depend on your (broadband) speed PNFH_1949-03-06
Fleet Lady.mp3 The
MP3 Disc is really built around the 2nd (Hollywood) series of Pat Novak, For
Hire as follows: A. Jack
Webb Episodes (Second Series) -
the 18 surviving episodes out of a total of 20 (Nos 1 & 16 have been
lost) 1.
PNFH_1949-02-20 Jack
of Clubs.mp3 2.
PNFH_1949-02-27 Marcia
Halpern.mp3 3.
PNFH_1949-03-06 Fleet
Lady.mp3 4.
PNFH_1949-03-13 Rubin
Callaway's Pictures.mp3 5.
PNFH_1949-03-20 Rory
Malone.mp3 6.
PNFH_1949-03-27 Joe
Candono - Blackmail Pictures.mp3 7.
PNFH_1949-04-02 Father
Lahey - Joe Feldman.mp3 8.
PNFH_1949-04-09 Sam
Tolliver.mp3 9.
PNFH_1949-04-16 Go
Away Dixie Gillian.mp3 10.
PNFH_1949-04-23 Rita
Malloy.mp3 11.
PNFH_1949-04-30 Wendy
Morris.mp3 12.
PNFH_1949-05-07 Shirt
Mix-Up at the Laundry.mp3 13.
PNFH_1949-05-14
Geranium Plant.mp3 14.
PNFH_1949-05-21 Give
Envelope to John St. John.mp3 15.
PNFH_1949-06-04 Agnes
Bolton.mp3 16.
PNFH_1949-06-11 George
Lampson.mp3 17.
PNFH_1949-06-18 The
Only Way to Make Friends is to Die.mp3 18.
PNFH_1949-06-25 Little
Jake Siegel.mp3 B. Johnny Madero: Pier 23 - the only two episodes in existence 1.
JMPTT_1947-06-19 Find
Pete Sutro.mp3 2.
JMPTT_1947-06-26 Fatal
Auction.mp3 C.
Jack Webb
Episodes (First Series) - the only
surviving episode of the series. 1. PN_1946-11-24 Dixie Gilian.mp3 D.
Ben Morris
Episodes - the only 4 surviving
episodes in which Ben Morris played Pat Novak 1.
PN_1947-08-03 Johnny Brown Gambling Ring.mp3 2.
PN_1947-08-10 Mysterious Set of Books.mp3 3.
PN_1947-11-23 Lidia Reynolds Case.mp3 4.
PN_1947-11-30 Death in Herald Square.mp3 |