Pat Novak for Hire
Encyclopedia
Pat Novak, for Hire is an old-time radio
detective drama
series which aired from 1946-1947 as a West Coast regional (produced at KGO in San Francisco) program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC
. The regional version originally starred Jack Webb
in the title role, with scripts by his roommate Richard L. Breen
. When Webb and Breen moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to work on an extremely similar nationwide series, Johnny Modero: Pier 23, for the Mutual
network, Webb was replaced by Ben Morris
and Breen by other writers. In the later network version, Jack Webb
resumed the Novak role, and Breen his duties as scriptwriter. The series is popular among fans for its fast-paced, hard-boiled dialogue and action and witty one-liners.
waterfront and depicts the city as a dark, rough place where the main goal is survival. Pat Novak is not a detective by trade. He owns a boat shop on Pier 19 where he rents out boats and does odd jobs to make money.
Each episode of the program, particularly the Jack Webb episodes, follows the same basic formula; a foghorn
sounds and Novak's footsteps are heard walking down the pier. He then pauses and begins with the line "Sure, I'm Pat Novak . . . for hire". The foghorn repeats and leads to the intro theme, during which Pat gives a monologue
about the waterfront and his job renting boats. Jack Webb narrates the story as well as acts in it, as the titular character. Playing the cynic, he throws off lines such as "...about as smart as teaching a cooking class to a group of cannibals". He then introduces the trouble in which he finds himself this week.
Typically, a person unknown to Pat asks him to do an unusual or risky job. Pat reluctantly accepts and finds himself in hot water in the form of an unexplained dead body. Police Inspector Hellman (played by Raymond Burr
) arrives on the scene and pins the murder on Novak. With only circumstantial evidence
to go on, Hellman promises to haul Novak in the next day for the crime. The rapid, staccato dialogue between Webb & Burr is typical of harboiled fiction and is often humorous. Pat uses the time to try to solve the case. He usually employs the help of his friend Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owen) - a drunken ex-doctor typically found at some disreputable tavern or bar - to help him solve the case. As Pat asks for his help, Jocko launches a long-winded philosophical diatribe, full of witty and funny remarks, until Novak cuts him off.
Jocko and Pat unravel the case and Hellman makes the arrest. Finally, we hear the foghorn and Novak's footsteps on the pier again before Novak spells out the details of the case for us. At the end, Novak informs us that "Hellman asked only one question", which Pat answers with a clever retort. The dialogue is rife with similes found in pulp fiction
. Example: 'The neighborhood was run down - the kind of place where the For Rent signs look like ransom notes.'
Old-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
detective drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
series which aired from 1946-1947 as a West Coast regional (produced at KGO in San Francisco) program and in 1949 as a nationwide program for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. The regional version originally starred Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
in the title role, with scripts by his roommate Richard L. Breen
Richard L. Breen
Richard L. Breen was a Hollywood screenwriter and director. He began as a freelance radio writer. After a stint in the US Navy during World War II, he began writing for films and worked alone and in collaboration with such distinguished writers as Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.He won an Oscar...
. When Webb and Breen moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to work on an extremely similar nationwide series, Johnny Modero: Pier 23, for the Mutual
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
network, Webb was replaced by Ben Morris
Ben Morris
- Nick Name and The Normals:In 2000, Kent James began performing as "Nick Name", an out, proud, and sometimes confrontational punk rock singer with his back-up band "The Normals". "The Normals" were Ben , Ralf Balzer , and Ralf's sister Sandra Balzer . In 2001, Nick Name and The Normals recorded...
and Breen by other writers. In the later network version, Jack Webb
Jack Webb
John Randolph "Jack" Webb , also known by the pseudonym John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet...
resumed the Novak role, and Breen his duties as scriptwriter. The series is popular among fans for its fast-paced, hard-boiled dialogue and action and witty one-liners.
Synopsis
Pat Novak, for Hire is set on the San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
waterfront and depicts the city as a dark, rough place where the main goal is survival. Pat Novak is not a detective by trade. He owns a boat shop on Pier 19 where he rents out boats and does odd jobs to make money.
Each episode of the program, particularly the Jack Webb episodes, follows the same basic formula; a foghorn
Foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal or fog bell is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards or boats of the presence of other vehicles in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...
sounds and Novak's footsteps are heard walking down the pier. He then pauses and begins with the line "Sure, I'm Pat Novak . . . for hire". The foghorn repeats and leads to the intro theme, during which Pat gives a monologue
Monologue
In theatre, a monologue is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media...
about the waterfront and his job renting boats. Jack Webb narrates the story as well as acts in it, as the titular character. Playing the cynic, he throws off lines such as "...about as smart as teaching a cooking class to a group of cannibals". He then introduces the trouble in which he finds himself this week.
Typically, a person unknown to Pat asks him to do an unusual or risky job. Pat reluctantly accepts and finds himself in hot water in the form of an unexplained dead body. Police Inspector Hellman (played by Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
) arrives on the scene and pins the murder on Novak. With only circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence
Circumstantial evidence is evidence in which an inference is required to connect it to a conclusion of fact, like a fingerprint at the scene of a crime...
to go on, Hellman promises to haul Novak in the next day for the crime. The rapid, staccato dialogue between Webb & Burr is typical of harboiled fiction and is often humorous. Pat uses the time to try to solve the case. He usually employs the help of his friend Jocko Madigan (played by Tudor Owen) - a drunken ex-doctor typically found at some disreputable tavern or bar - to help him solve the case. As Pat asks for his help, Jocko launches a long-winded philosophical diatribe, full of witty and funny remarks, until Novak cuts him off.
Jocko and Pat unravel the case and Hellman makes the arrest. Finally, we hear the foghorn and Novak's footsteps on the pier again before Novak spells out the details of the case for us. At the end, Novak informs us that "Hellman asked only one question", which Pat answers with a clever retort. The dialogue is rife with similes found in pulp fiction
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
. Example: 'The neighborhood was run down - the kind of place where the For Rent signs look like ransom notes.'
Episode guide
- Episodes starring Ben Morris
- Johnny Brown Gambling Ring (08-03-1947)
After Pat loses a lot of money from a previous job gambling in Tahoe, he's hired as a bodyguard on the drive back to San Francisco by an opportunistic bookie. While stopped at a gas station, Pat meets a saucy hitchhiker who later turns up dead in the trunk of the car. - Mysterious Set of Books (08-10-1947)
Pat gets a call from a lonely woman looking for company. When Pat arrives, Hellman answers the door. He's wrapping up a murder investigation in which a bookkeeper is murdered by his landlady. Someone approaches Pat about retrieving papers the bookkeeper was holding for him - for a cool grand. When he arrives, a woman who may be more than she lets on is already there. - The Lydia Reynolds Case (11-23-1947)
Pat picks up a fast woman in a fast car at the horse races. She hires him on as a bodyguard, but when she leaves the car to make a phone call, Pat is carjacked by a thug who seems to know who she is and who he is. - Death in Herald Square (11-30-1947)
Pat gets a call from a man whose door lock is broken and wants Pat to watch his apartment. Hellman shows up looking for a missing book related to a murder case with a $10,000 reward and reveals that the man who hired Pat does not own the apartment.
- Johnny Brown Gambling Ring (08-03-1947)
- Episodes starring Jack Webb
- Go Away Dixie Gillian (11-24-1946)
Pat is hired by a woman to frighten a man named Dixie Gillian by telling him a man named Adrian wants him to leave town by morning. (regional broadcast) - Jack of Clubs (02-20-1949)
Pat goes to the bank to deposit $100, only to find that someone else has deposited $1000 in his account. When Pat returns home, a woman is waiting for him. She tells Pat that the $1000 was given to him by someone wanting him to steal a jack of clubs from a passenger on a ship docking that night. She wants Pat to steal the card for her instead. - Marcia Halpern (02-27-1949)
Pat literally runs into a woman with amnesia as he's leaving the coffee shop. As she's trying to tell Pat her story, she dies. Pat must work to uncover her past before her death threatens his future. - Fleet Lady (03-06-1949)
A famous jockey hires Pat to find his missing racehorse, Fleet Lady. At the stables, Pat meets both the seductive owner of the horse as well as a dead body. - Rubin Callaway (03-13-1949)
Pat is hired by a mysterious woman to retrieve the contents of a safe deposit boxSafe deposit boxA safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
, which puts Pat in danger and leads to murder. - Rory Malone (03-20-1949)
A beautiful and mysterious redhead gives Pat $300 to stay away from prize fighter Rory Malone, who he has never met. Later, the boxer's manager also offers Pat $300 to watch Malone that evening, which is when the trouble begins. - Joe Candono Blackmail Pictures (03-27-1949)
Pat is hired by a woman who wants him to meet with notorious gambler Joe Candono to pay off her brother's sizable gambling debt. Pat goes to meet with the woman and her brother to get information on Joe Candono's whereabouts, but runs into a group of thugs instead. Pat is knocked out and wakes up next to a dead body. - Father Lahey (04-02-1949)
A concerned priest hires Pat to pick up a prison escapee once under his care. A small pit stop before bringing the prisoner back to the priest leads to big trouble for Pat. - Sam Tolliver (04-09-1949)
Pat's old friend Sam Tolliver pays him a visit looking for a quick favor. When the deal goes bad, Pat must track down Sam to clear his own name of murder. - Go Away Dixie Gillian (04-16-1949)
Pat is hired by a woman to frighten a man named Dixie Gillian by telling him a man named Adrian wants him to leave town by morning. This is an updated version of the earlier episode of the same name. - Rita Malloy (04-23-1949)
Pat closes up shop early and finds a man with a gun in his apartment. The man knocks Pat out and takes his boat. It shows up later all smashed up with a dead man and a hotel key inside. - Watch Wendy Morris (04-30-1949)
Pat is hired to keep tabs on a woman named Wendy Morris by a man who suspects that her husband who has returned from military duty overseas is an imposter. - Shirt Mix-Up at the Laundry (05-07-1949)
Pat's laundry is mixed up with another customer's. When Pat tracks down the other customer to swap packages, he finds himself mixed up in trouble and murder. - Geranium Plant (05-14-1949)
A woman in a bar hires Pat to pick up a geranium plant at a corner flower shop and deliver it to an address. After Pat makes the pickup, he notices he's being followed by a small man with a cane. Suddenly, a car veers off course and hits Pat. And that's just the beginning of his trouble. - An Envelope for John St. John (05-21-1949)
On his way out of the office, Pat sees an old man crossing the street get hit by a car. The old man gives Pat an envelope full of money and an envelope to deliver to a man named John St. John and dies. - Agnes Bolton (06-04-1949)
Pat is hired to follow a large woman named Agnes Bolton from a bowling alley and steal her green bag. But with many people after the bag, trouble is always around the corner for Pat. - Georgie Lampson (06-11-1949)
Pat's old flame Georgie Lampson hires Pat to take her out in his boat to meet a freighter with an important package. - The Only Way To Make Friends Is To Die (06-18-1949)
Two gunmen are looking for Joe Dineen and they think Pat knows where he is. - Little Jake Siegel (06-25-1949)
A priest asks to meet with Pat. When Pat is at the church, a shot is fired and - believe it or not - trouble ensues.
- Go Away Dixie Gillian (11-24-1946)
Other media
- A Pat Novak for Hire graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
was published in 2005 by Moonstone Books. The plot involves a now-retired Novak coming out of retirement to re-open one of his old cases. - Ohmart, Ben. It's That Time Again. (2002) (Albany: BearManor Media) ISBN 0-9714570-2-6
Further reading
- John DunningJohn Dunning (writer)John Dunning is an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He is known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway.- Life :...
: On the Air. The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 534-535. ISBN 0-19-507678-8