Radio Recap: Pat Novak, for Hire

Last month I posted a few Radio Recaps about Jack Webb's early efforts in radio, circa 1946. During his early days at ABC's San Francisco station he appeared in programs such as the editorial show One Out of Seven, the comedy program the Jack Webb Show and the dramatic anthology Spotlight Playhouse. But those programs were and are obscure; Webb's biggest pre-Dragnet hit was Pat Novak, for Hire, which began on ABC in August, 1946.

There were 3 phases to Pat Novak, for Hire's years on the radio; the 1st phase was the original run on ABC, from August, 1946 to March, 1947; in the 2nd phase, Ben Morris took over as Pat Novak from March-December, 1947; finally there was the 3rd phase in which Jack Webb returned to the series from February-July 1949. In total there were a little fewer than 100 episodes broadcast but we only have 24 currently; of the 24, just two are from the 1st phase, 4 from the 2nd phase and the other 18 from the 3rd phase.

The 1st phase of Pat Novak, for Hire was apparently very well-received; the fact that the show kept going after Jack Webb left and was popular enough to be revived in 1949 suggests that the 1st phase went down prety well, although it's hard for us to judge today with just the 2 episodes surviving.

Still, if you're familiar with Pat Novak, for Hire, you'll find the 1st phase very familiar, probably due to the presence of writer Richard L. Breen from the start. It features Webb as the titular Pat Novak (often nickname "Patsy" due to his unfortunte tendency to be framed for crimes), who rents boats at the San Francisco waterfront. His job renting boats is seldom important to the plots, although when it does factor in, it's the lead-in to Pat being involved in a crime. Inevitably, someone gets Pat entangled in a complicated criminal plot. The perpertually angry Inspector Helmann gets involved and threatens to throw Pat into prison unless he clears his name. Pat turns to his alcoholic buddy Jocko Madigan (usually played by Tudor Owen), who is more interesting in taunting Pat and making playful banter than solve his problem. By the end, Pat clears his name but nothing else to show for his troubles.

Webb is the anchor to the series in all its forms; Ben Morris did okay during the 2nd phase, but Webb had a unique ability to deliver both tough guy and wise guy dialogue. His monologues in particular had hilarious phrases, unequaled outside of Howard Duff's performance on the Adventures of Sam Spade. One favourite of mine is: "It was pretty dark, so when I bumped into her all I got was a vague outline... She had a good-looking vague outline."

After leaving San Francisco, Webb became a frequent voice on radio. Around 1947 you can hear him as a supporting player on anthology shows such as Suspens, the Whistler and Escape. He also had a recurring role as police officer Lt. LeFevre on the New Adventures of Michael Shayne, a syndicated program. Webb could probably have done well for himself as a radio regular, but he seems to have had higher goals than that - he wanted to write and produce. He reunited with Richard L. Breen to create Johnny Madero, Pier 23 for Mutual, which gave Webb a starring role - but since ABC was still airing Pat Novak, for Hire, that caused some friction between them and Webb (which I mentioned in the linked blog post).

Then in July, 1948, Webb took the lead role on the private eye series Jeff Regan, Investigator for CBS. That series isn't as highly-regarded as Webb's other detective shows but it tided him over for a few more months; Webb left the series at the end of 1948 to return to Pat Novak, for Hire, reunited with Richard L. Breen and Tudor Owen. Joining the cast was Raymond Burr as Inspector Helmann. There's also a recurring female player (possibly Betty Lou Gerson?) who tended to portray a different femme fatale each week (and usually died in Novak's arms by the climax).

Most the enduring reputation held by Pat Novak, for Hire is founded on the programs from the 3rd phase, and it's certainly well-earned. The addition of Burr (who would later join Webb on Dragnet) is extremely welcome. There are plenty of shows with wise guys detectives who frustrate the lead-footed policeman. Helmann is different; he and Novak bantered, but Helmann had limits; when Novak irritated him, he had no problem decking him. The aptly-named Helmann was vicious and brutal, not a clown like, say, Inspector Faraday of Boston Blackie. When Helmann would regularly threaten to use the powers of the police to arrest Novak for a crime he didn't commit, the listener is convinced that Helmann intends to make good on that threat. He's not a pleasant man.

The 1949 Pat Novak, for Hire revival was definitely noticed. At that time, there was no shortage of detective shows on radio so it's all the more remarkable that a small-time show like theirs had people talking. For example, the November 5, 1949 episode of Richard Diamond, Private Detective featured a satire on Pat Novak, for Hire, with what might be the first instance of someone performing their Jack Webb impression for yucks; you can hear that episode on YouTube.

It was during the final months of Pat Novak, for Hire that Webb began appearing on a new NBC program: Dragnet. He'd also later re-team with his pal Richard L. Breen for the series Pete Kelly's Blues; one episode of that series was recycled from Pat Novak, for Hire with only a few changes to the script. Pete Kelly's Blues was certainly the most like Pat Novak, for Hire of all Webb's post-1949 work.

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Pat Novak, for Hire at the Internet Archive. Again, there's not very much surviving, but what we have is a terrific example of radio drama.