Public Defender

One of my favorite early television shows when we got our first TV in 1953 was "Racket Squad" starring the man with the voice Reed Hadley. The movie copied by Jack Webb when he put together "Dragnet," one of the most popular programs ever on TV, was one in which he had played a major role, "He Walked By Night." The narrator for that film was Reed Hadley. When "Dragnet" premiered Jack Webb rather than Reed Hadley did the narration but Hadley had his own spin off from the same film noir classic. "Racket Squad" dealt with real-life cases of fraud and misrepresentation mainly in the Los Angeles area.

When "Racket Squad" went off the tube, Hadley bounced back with "The Public Defender," similar in many ways to "Racket Squad" but dealing with those attorneys appointed by the state to defend indigents. This time Hadley canvased the entire nation for intriguing cases. A part of each show was to profile one notable public defender.

Whereas Jack Webb went for the jugular with his true stories of murder and mayhem, the Reed Hadley series were usually quieter and less violent, concerned more with how the law actually works to protect the people and the innocent victims of crime. Note that one of the directors listed for the series is the esteemed Budd Boetticher who is noted for those wonderful Randolph Scott westerns of the late 1950's.

Back in the early 50s, Hal Roach Studios brought the show "Racket Busters" to television. It starred Reed Hadley and the cases were all about him apprehending various thieves and bunco artists. After three seasons, the show left the air and a new, almost identical, show from Roach came to the airwaves...and again with Reed Hadley in the lead. The format was just about the same--with the same sort of prologue for each episode. This time, however, Hadley works the other side of the law...at least much of the time.

The shows were odd in that although they claimed they were all true, Hadley's character (or a few guest stars) spent tons of time actually investigating the cases. In reality, most public defenders barely even say hello to their clients....and very few behaved like private detectives and social workers rolled up into one. Still, despite this, the shows were generally enjoyable and well made. However, the shows were much more variable in quality than "Racket Squad"...with quite a few stinkers along with the excellent ones.

If you want to see either series, they are available for free download from archive.org--a site frequently linked to IMDb pages.

I just found the show on Amazon and have watched almost two seasons. If you like old black and white shows like Dragnet you'll probably like "Public Defender". Even my wife, who don't care much for old shows, likes it enough to watch it with me. Like most TV shows it's not realistic but still entertaining. Every episode follows the same template but some will have a surprising ending.