Reed Hadley

Evelyn Venable plays the wife of a small-time crook who takes the fall for a payroll robbery and goes on the run, hiding out as a cook on a truck farm where Craig Reynolds's earnest farmer slowly falls for her — while her husband's gang closes in. A Crescent Pictures production released through Monogram, it is a compact poverty-row crime melodrama built on the era's favorite engine: a decent woman on the wrong side of the law through no fault of her own. Director William Nigh keeps it moving at the pace Monogram audiences expected. It entered the public domain after its copyright was never renewed.

Crime · Drama

From her hotel window, Janet Stewart witnesses Dr. Richard Cross (Vincent Price) murder his wife — and the sight leaves her in a catatonic state. Worse, she's committed to Cross's own sanitarium, where the doctor must decide whether to cure her or make sure she never recovers. Shock was Vincent Price's first real stab at a psychological thriller, and he plays the charming, increasingly desperate psychiatrist with silky menace. Made at 20th Century Fox on a B-picture budget, it's in the public domain.

Noir · Thriller · Drama

Public Defender is an American crime drama television series that aired in syndication from 1953 to 1955, starring Reed Hadley as Bart Matthews, a public defender who fights for the rights of the underprivileged accused. Unlike many crime shows of the era that focused on police work, Public Defender was notable for focusing on the legal defense side of the justice system, exploring the constitutional rights of the accused and the challenges of providing legal counsel to those who cannot afford it. Produced by Hal Roach Studios, the series was one of the first courtroom dramas on television. Several episodes are in the public domain.

Crime · Drama

Racket Squad is an American crime drama television series that aired from 1951 to 1953, starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock. Each episode dramatizes a different confidence trick, swindle, or racket, showing step-by-step how the con artists operate and how the police bring them to justice. Braddock narrates the cases and occasionally appears on-screen to address the audience directly, warning viewers about the schemes described. The series was produced by Ziv Television Programs and ran for 98 episodes across three seasons. Its realistic, almost documentary-like approach to depicting fraud made it a precursor to later police procedural shows. Many episodes are in the public domain because their copyrights were never renewed.

Crime · Drama

Zorro's Fighting Legion is a 1939 Republic Pictures serial in twelve chapters, directed by William Witney and John English and starring Reed Hadley as Don Diego Vega, the masked swordsman Zorro. The serial pits Zorro against the mysterious Don Del Oro, a masked villain disguised as a Yaqui Indian god who plots to seize the gold of the Sierra and declare himself emperor of Mexico. Zorro assembles a fighting legion of loyal men to track down Don Del Oro and unmask him. Widely regarded as one of the finest serials ever made, it features some of the best action sequences of the chapterplay era. The serial is in the public domain.

Western · Action · Serial