THE BIG SWITCH and THE BIG GONE DRAGNET
DRAGNET: THE BIG SWITCH and THE BIG GONE
This week on 1001 Radio Crime Solvers, Jack Webb stars as Sergeant Joe Friday alongside Ben Alexander as Frank Smith in two classic Dragnet investigations involving murder, robbery, conflicting evidence, and the painstaking police work required to uncover what really happened.
THE BIG SWITCH
Episode: 275
Original broadcast date: November 23, 1954 [youtube.com], [vintagerad...ovault.com]
Summary
Joe Friday and Frank Smith are working Homicide when a woman contacts police with a terrible report: her husband is dead, and she believes he has been murdered. [youtube.com]
The dead man is identified as George Pilsen, age 57. When Friday and Smith arrive at the home, they find him in his bedroom with a serious head wound. His position suggests to the detectives that there may not have been much of a struggle. His distraught wife is waiting nearby. [vintagerad...ovault.com]
Friday and Smith begin doing what Dragnet does best, assembling the case methodically, examining the scene and questioning those involved rather than jumping to conclusions.
What initially appears straightforward soon demands a much closer examination as the detectives work to determine the truth behind George Pilsen's death.
Cast
The sources I found clearly verify the two principal radio performers:
- Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday [youtube.com]
- Ben Alexander as Frank Smith [vintagerad...ovault.com]
I wasn't able to verify a reliable complete radio supporting-cast list for this particular 1954 broadcast, so I'd rather leave those names off than accidentally give you cast members from the later television version.
THE BIG GONE
Episode: 276
Original broadcast date: November 30, 1954 [ghostofradio.com], [spreaker.com]
Summary
Joe Friday and Frank Smith are assigned to robbery detail when they're called to a Los Angeles flower shop after an attempted holdup.
Two men have been shot, and one is dead. The proprietor reports that he fired repeatedly at the fleeing gunman. But when Friday and Smith arrive to begin their investigation, they encounter a puzzling problem: the alleged robber has seemingly disappeared without a trace. [goldie.fm], [spreaker.com]
Now the detectives must reconstruct the crime and determine exactly what occurred inside the flower shop.
It's an intriguing Dragnet setup because the physical evidence and the account of what happened raise questions that Friday and Smith must resolve through careful, methodical police work.
Cast
- Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday [spreaker.com]
- Ben Alexander as Frank Smith [goldie.fm], [spreaker.com]
Again, I found sources confirming Webb and Alexander, but not a complete trustworthy supporting cast list for the radio version, so I've deliberately avoided mixing in names from the television adaptation.
About Dragnet
Created by and starring Jack Webb, Dragnet brought a documentary-style approach to police drama, following Sergeant Joe Friday and his partners through the often painstaking process of investigating crimes in Los Angeles.
In The Big Switch, Friday and Smith confront a suspicious death inside a seemingly ordinary home. In The Big Gone, a violent robbery at a flower shop leads to a baffling question: where did the gunman go? [youtube.com], [goldie.fm]
Two mysteries, two investigations, and two great examples of classic radio police drama.
Listen now on 1001 Radio Crime Solvers, and if you're enjoying these classic detectives, please follow the show, leave us a review, and share it with a friend.
And discover all of our podcasts from the 1001 Stories Network at bestof1001stories.com.
