The Lawless Years
The Lawless Years | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime drama |
Directed by | Allen H. Miner James Neilson |
Starring | James Gregory Robert Karnes John Vivyan |
Theme music composer | Raoul Kraushaar William Loose |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 47 |
Production | |
Producer | Jack Chertok |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 25 mins. |
Production companies | Jack Chertok Television Productions California National Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | April 16, 1959 September 22, 1961 | –
The Lawless Years is an American
Premise
The series depicts the activities of real-life police detective Barney Ruditsky as he fights organized crime in New York City.[2] Its original title was Ruditsky.[3]
The show has "a certain claim to authenticity . . . in its meticulous attention to period detail" and in depicting actual cases on which Ruditsky worked.[2] Unlike other police dramas of its time, The Lawless Years focuses more on character studies than on action.[4]
Cast
Main
- James Gregory as Barney Ruditsky[1]
- Robert Karnes as Max[1]
- John Dennis as Dutch Schultz
- Norman Alden as Lulu
- Brad Trumbull as Brody
- Louis Buchalter
- Stanley Adams as Gurrah
- Carol Eve Rossen as Anna
- Paul Richards as Louis 'Louy' Kassoff
- Robert Ellenstein as Legs Diamond
- Henry Corden as Wavey Gordon
- Robert Sampson as Mad Dog Coll
Guest stars
- Tige Andrews
- Clegg Hoyt
- Martin Landau
- Ruta Lee
- Vic Morrow
- Warren Oates
- Burt Reynolds
- Harry Dean Stanton
- Nita Talbot
Episodes
Season 1: Spring/Summer 1959
Nº | Ep | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "The Nick Joseph Story ( pilot )" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger | April 16, 1959 |
2 | 2 | "The Immigrant" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger | April 23, 1959 |
3 | 3 | "The Jane Cooper Story" | Allen H. Miner | Peggy O'Shea & Lou Shaw | April 30, 1959 |
4 | 4 | "The Cutie Jaffe Story" | Allen H. Miner | Allen H. Miner Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | May 7, 1959 |
5 | 5 | "The Dutch Schultz Story" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | May 14, 1959 |
6 | 6 | "The Lion and the Mouse" | Allen H. Miner | Allen H. Miner & Arthur E. Orloff | May 21, 1959 |
7 | 7 | "No Fare" | Allen H. Miner | John Meredyth Lucas | May 28, 1959 |
8 | 8 | "The Payoff" | Allen H. Miner | John Meredyth Lucas Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | June 11, 1959 |
9 | 9 | "The Marie Walters Story" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger | June 18, 1959 |
10 | 10 | "The Maxie Gorman Story" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger | June 25, 1959 |
11 | 11 | "The Muddy Kasoff Story" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger | July 2, 1959 |
12 | 12 | "Framed" | Allen H. Miner | Allen H. Miner Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | July 16, 1959 |
13 | 13 | "Four the Hard Way" | Allen H. Miner | Allen H. Miner | July 23, 1959 |
14 | 14 | "The Tony Morelli Story" | Allen H. Miner | Peggy O'Shea & Lou Shaw | July 30, 1959 |
15 | 15 | "The Ray Baker Story" | Allen H. Miner | Charles Larson | August 6, 1959 |
16 | 16 | "Lucky Silva" | Allen H. Miner | John Meredyth Lucas & Allen H. Miner Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | August 13, 1959 |
17 | 17 | "The Morrison Story" | Allen H. Miner | Jo Eisinger Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | August 20, 1959 |
18 | 18 | "The Poison Ivy Story" | Allen H. Miner | Allen H. Miner Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | August 27, 1959 |
19 | 19 | "The Prantera Story" | Allen H. Miner | Charles Larson Based on the Memoirs of: Barney Ruditsky | September 3, 1959 |
Season 2: Fall 1959
Nº | Ep | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
20 | 1 | "The Al Brown Story" | October 1, 1959 |
21 | 2 | "The Big Greeny Story" | October 8, 1959 |
22 | 3 | "The Art Harris Story" | October 15, 1959 |
23 | 4 | "The Billy Boy 'Rockabye' Creel Story" | November 5, 1959 |
24 | 5 | "The Big Man" | November 12, 1959 |
25 | 6 | "The Joe Angelo Story" | November 19, 1959 |
26 | 7 | "The Billy Grimes Story" | December 3, 1959 |
27 | 8 | "The Sonny Rosen Story" | December 17, 1959 |
Season 3: Spring/Summer 1961
Nº | Ep | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|
28 | 1 | "The Jack 'Legs' Diamond Story" | May 12, 1961 |
29 | 2 | "The Sonny Rosen Story II" | May 19, 1961 |
30 | 3 | "Louy K, part one" | May 26, 1961 |
31 | 4 | "Louy K, part two: 'Sing Sing'" | June 2, 1961 |
32 | 5 | "Louy K, part three: 'Birth of the Organization'" | June 9, 1961 |
33 | 6 | "Louy K, part four: 'Heyday of the Organization'" | June 16, 1961 |
34 | 7 | "Louy K, part five: 'The Disintegration'" | June 23, 1961 |
35 | 8 | "The Miles Miller Story" | June 30, 1961 |
36 | 9 | "The Kid Dropper Story" | July 7, 1961 |
37 | 10 | "Ginny" | July 14, 1961 |
38 | 11 | "Little Augie" | July 21, 1961 |
39 | 12 | "The 'Mad Dog' Coll Story, part one" | July 28, 1961 |
40 | 13 | "The 'Mad Dog' Coll Story, part two" | August 4, 1961 |
41 | 14 | "Blood Brothers" | August 11, 1961 |
42 | 15 | "The Vincent Gorida Story" | August 18, 1961 |
43 | 16 | "Artie Moon" | August 25, 1961 |
44 | 17 | "Triple Cross" | September 1, 1961 |
45 | 18 | "The Jonathan Wills Story" | September 8, 1961 |
46 | 19 | "Romeo and Rose" | September 15, 1961 |
47 | 20 | "Ike, the Novelty King" | September 22, 1961 |
Production
Jack Chertok was the producer.[1] The real Ruditsky served as technical advisor.[2] California National Productions produced the series.[5]
The series was broadcast initially from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursdays. In July 1959 it moved to 8:30-9 p.m. ET on Thursdays, and in October 1959 it moved to 10:30-11 p.m. ET on Thursdays. When it returned in May 1961, it was on from 9 to 9:30 p.m. ET on Fridays.[2]
Seeking sponsors
Episodes' content made finding a sponsor difficult.[4] The series began with no sponsor because the premiere episode had one gangster killing another criminal "by plunging an ice pick into a vital spot."[6] Before that development, the trade publication Variety reported that Philip Morris was the "hottest prospect" to take on the series to advertise its Parliament and Marlboro cigarette brands.[7] Variety added that cigarette company P. Lorillard was also "in there pitching for the story" as a potential co-sponsor with Whitehall Pharmacal.
A week after that article appeared, Variety reported that NBC was offering sponsorship of The Lawless Years for a "special introductory price".[8] The $25,000-per-episode rate was "approximately $20,000 below the actual production cost of each episode."[8] The reduced rate was to be good until the fall season began, at which time the network hoped to increase the per-episode charge to $45,000.[8]
Midas Muffler Company became a sponsor in July 1959, "making its first major buy in network video" as it agreed to sponsor segments of The Lawless Years for July through September.[9]
Critical response
Critic John Crosby praised the look of the program: "the series is beautifully filmed and the settings and costumes and all the outer trimmings are marvelously authentic . . . they comprise a large part of the charm of The Lawless Years."[10] He added that the show's plots were secondary in importance to the 1920s-era settings.[10]
Newspaper journalist Hal Humphrey wrote, "The opening chapters in Ruditsky's hoodlum-infested underworld made gripping drama."[6]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "Prohibition". Variety. March 4, 1959. p. 42. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4766-8996-8. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "Web Sales: Syndication's Syndrome". Variety. March 18, 1959. p. 40. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Philip Morris hot on 'Lawless Years'". Variety. March 4, 1959. p. 17. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ a b c "'Lawless Years' At Bargain Prices". Variety. March 11, 1959. p. 31. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "NBC's $1,000,000 Summer TV Coin Out of Chi Shop". Variety. July 1, 1959. p. 26. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
External links
- The Lawless Years at IMDb