''The Cases of Eddie Drake'' is an American crime drama series which initially was shown in syndication in 1951, before airing on the DuMont Television Network during 1952. It was a crime drama originally filmed for CBS Television by Imppro, a small outfit in 1948. The TV series was adapted from the radio series ''
The Cases of Mr. Ace ''The Cases of Mr Ace'' is a 1947 ABC radio crime drama starring George Raft. It was an unofficial spinoff from his film '' Mr. Ace'' (1946) although it was very different from that film.
Episodes were 30 minutes long.
Raft played Eddie Ace, own ...
'' (1945-1947) starring George Raft, with both series written by Jason James.
Don Haggerty
Don Haggerty (July 3, 1914 – August 19, 1988) was an American actor of film and television.
Early life and education
Before he began appearing in films in 1947, Haggerty was a Brown University athlete and served in the United States Army ...
played the lead in the new series.
Synopsis
The series stars
Don Haggerty
Don Haggerty (July 3, 1914 – August 19, 1988) was an American actor of film and television.
Early life and education
Before he began appearing in films in 1947, Haggerty was a Brown University athlete and served in the United States Army ...
as Eddie Drake, a typically flippant, wisecracking private eye from New York, and (in the original nine episodes)
Patricia Morison
Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...
as psychiatrist Dr. Karen Gayle. Gayle is writing a book on criminal psychology, and in each episode Drake stops by her office to recount his latest case to her, while the two flirt heavily. Each episode is told in flashback, narrated by Drake to Gayle.
After Morison leaves the show following episode nine, Lynne Roberts portrays criminologist Dr. Joan Wright in the final four episodes, fulfilling essentially the same function as Gayle. Starting partway through the series, Drake drives a 3-wheeled 1948 Davis D-2 Divan car (which he calls "Dave"). The show also features
Theodore von Eltz
Theodore von Eltz (November 5, 1893 – October 6, 1964) was an American film actor, appearing in more than 200 films between 1915 and 1957. He was the father of actress Lori March.
Von Eltz was a Yale University professor's son. After 12 ...
in the regular role of Lt. Walsh, Drake's police contact.
A slightly similar detective series, '' The Files of Jeffrey Jones'', also starring Don Haggerty, was produced by Lindsley Parsons in 1954.
Production background
After nine episodes were filmed in late 1948, co-star
Patricia Morison
Eileen Patricia Augusta Fraser Morison (March 19, 1915 – May 20, 2018) was an American stage, television and film actress of the Golden Age of Hollywood and mezzo-soprano singer. She made her feature film debut in 1939 after several years on ...
was offered the lead in the Broadway musical ''
Kiss Me, Kate
''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-stag ...
'', and left the show. Sources differ as to what exactly happened directly thereafter; Lynne Roberts was definitely cast in the replacement role of Dr. Joan Wright and filmed four more episodes, but precisely when these episodes were filmed is a matter of debate. However, they were completed by no later than 1951. This is known because while show was never seen on CBS, 13 episodes of ''Eddie Drake'' were offered in syndication by 1951, where it aired in Chicago and possibly other markets. By 1952, DuMont bought the series and gave it a network airing. Some sources indicate that DuMont had filmed the four additional episodes to round out the series to the standard 13-episode season. However, the 13 episode package was offered in 1951, before DuMont's involvement, and it would be extremely unusual for the cash-strapped DuMont Network to commit to filming new episodes using the expensive film process that the series used.
The final episode aired on DuMont on May 29, 1952.McNeil, Alex (1980). ''Total Television'' (4th ed.). New York: Penguin Books. .
The program was filmed at Republic Studios.
Episode status
The episode "Shoot the Works" (aired April 10, 1952) is available online. The episode "Sleep Well, Angel" (May 1, 1952) is in the collection of the
Paley Center for Media
The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...
Between February 1954 and February 1956, four feature films edited from the ''Eddie Drake'' series were released by Butchers Film Service and Jack Phillips Film Distribution to smaller cinemas in the UK:
*''The Brass Key''
*''Eddie Drake Investigates''
*''Pattern for Murder''
*''Murder Ad Lib''
See also
*
List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they orig ...
*
List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recove ...
Bibliography
*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
, 2004)
*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Ballantine Books, 1964)