Joe Julian stars in a very good William N. Robson script about a veteran news photographer, Bernie, who loses his son, Bobby, in what the police consider an “accident,” but he knows was a planned killing orchestrated by a mobster. Bernie had been teaching his son the news photography business from the ground up, from working cameras, choosing subjects, and developing films and making prints. Both of them were motorcycle enthusiasts, so when it came to a local motorcycle race, they were pleased to be working together to cover it. Bernie took a picture at the finishing line, and gave his son the “plates” (that was jargon for film at the time because early photo technology used metal or glass plates.). Bernie asked his son to get on his motorcycle and rush the film to the newspaper office for inclusion in the evening edition. The film never got there. Bernie thinks Bobby was run off the road into a fatal crash. Police believe Bobby was speeding. Bernie refuses to accept the police report. He convinces a police sergeant he knows well to go to the scene where they find indications that it was not accidental. The four plates from the race are nowhere to be found, either. Bernie gathers some more information, as well as pictures taken by other photographers. Enlargements of the photos show a mobster, Rocco Mallatesta, in the crowd. The police sergeant has an insight: motorcycle gangs have been forcing local businesses to pay protection money. Mallatesta is believed to be behind the shakedowns. Because one of the pictures at the race showed the secretive Mallatesta, he likely fingered Bobby to be eliminated, and to get the plates. How can Bernie and the sergeant stop the gangs, and find Bobby’s killer?
BSA Motorcycles are mentioned in the story. They were a long time manufacturer in Birmingham, England. The highly respected company is still in business today, about 120 years after its founding.
Like the movie Call Northside 777, and many movies and television shows over the years, Bernie uses a blow-up of a picture taken at a motorcycle race to track down the killer. Much of the plotline would not be applicable with modern digital photography where images are automatically backed up to cloud services shortly after they are shot.
Some of the sound effects leave a lot to be desired. The Hollywood effects library, and the practitioners, handled more complex productions than New York could. This is one of the reasons why Gunsmoke, which was a very demanding show, was not moved to New York. The New York production teams were more focused on crime dramas and soap operas in the late 1950s. That said, some of the hard turns made by cars and car crashes, are not that convincing.
The program was recorded on Tuesday, April 19, 1960. Rehearsal began at 3:00pm and ended at 6:30pm. Recording was done from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.
Two recordings have survived. The network recording is likely a WROW aircheck, has a slightly clipped open, with some parts of the recording having narrow range and the second half also sounding slightly “muddy.” The Armed Forces Radio Service recording (AFRS#783) has cleaner, richer sound, and is the much preferred one of the two. The AFRS recording is only recently available and allows greater appreciation of the Robson script and Joe Julian’s performance.
LISTEN
TO THE PROGRAM or download in FLAC or
mp3
https://archive.org/details/TSP600424
THE CAST
Joseph Julian (Bernie), Jim Boles (Rocco), Nat Polen (Quad), Frank Thomas, Jr. (Red), Bill Lipton (Chuck / Operator), Peter Fernandez (Bobbie), Jack Grimes (Shorty), Alan Manson (Morris / Manager), Sam Raskyn (Hymie), William Redfield (Rider)
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