Racket Squad
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.
Director
Production
Distributor
Season 1
The Salted Mine
Capt. Braddock investigates a con in which swindlers salt an abandoned mine with gold samples to trick an old friend into investing. The racketeers
The Case of the Dancing Lady
A smooth-talking promoter convinces a young woman that she has been chosen for a glittering career as a professional dancer, demanding upfront fees
The Case of the Matchmaker
A fraudulent matchmaking service promises lonely men introductions to eligible women in exchange for hefty membership fees, but the matches are
Desperate Money
A loan shark racket targets desperate families in financial trouble, offering quick cash at exorbitant interest rates and then using threats
Accidentally on Purpose
Con artists stage fake accidents in which an accomplice is apparently injured by a careless driver, then demand a cash settlement to avoid
The Sure Thing
A racing tipster sells inside information on horse races, guaranteeing a sure thing to anyone willing to pay for his tips. The tips are worthless
Pick a Number
A carnival-style numbers racket lures ordinary people into placing small daily bets on a lottery, promising big payouts that never come. Braddock
Blessed Expense
A fake charity racket collects donations for a non-existent religious cause, using emotional appeals and forged documents to separate the
The Case of the Hearse Chasers
Ambulance-chasing lawyers and corrupt morticians team up to exploit grieving families, inflating funeral costs and filing bogus injury
Take a Little, Leave a Little
A warehouse theft ring operates by skimming small amounts of inventory from each shipment, keeping the losses low enough to avoid detection.
Details
- Years
- 1951–1953
- Seasons
- 3
- Episodes
- 10
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Rating
- 7.2/10
- Status
- Public Domain Mark 1.0
- Studio
- Ziv Television Programs
- Director
- George Blair
