Public Prosecutor (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Public Prosecutor was an American television series produced in 1947–1948, and first shown in 1951.
to save production costs), instead of being performed and broadcast live
. John Howard
starred in the title role of a public prosecutor
, with Anne Gwynne
.
Jerry Fairbanks
Productions filmed the pilot episode in Hollywood in 1947. After the NBC
television network picked up the series, Fairbanks filmed 26 twenty-minute episodes for a planned network premiere in September 1948. But the series was pulled from the network schedule before then when NBC decided it preferred thirty-minute episodes.
Production of the still unseen series was suspended in October 1948 due to high costs and the lack of a national sponsor. Instead, the NBC anthology series Your Show Time
became American television's first filmed dramatic series to be broadcast, in January 1949. The earliest syndicated airings of Public Prosecutor were in February 1951.
The DuMont Television Network
broadcast the series as Crawford Mystery Theatre
(named after its advertising sponsor) September 6–27, 1951 (continuing locally to February 1952), and turned it into a panel show to fill out the program to 30 minutes. Each week three guest panelists watched an episode, which was halted just before the climax. Each panelist then tried to guess the identity of the guilty party.
When Public Prosecutor was syndicated in the 1950s, the episodes had been edited to fit a 15-minute time slot. Film historian Thomas Schatz writes,
.
Broadcast history
Public Prosecutor was the first dramatic series to be shot on film (in this case, 16 mm film16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
to save production costs), instead of being performed and broadcast live
Live television
Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...
. John Howard
John Howard (American actor)
John Howard was an American actor noted for his work in film and television.-Background:Born John R. Cox, Jr. in Cleveland, Ohio, he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of what is now Case Western Reserve University. At college he discovered a love for the theater, and took part in student productions...
starred in the title role of a public prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, with Anne Gwynne
Anne Gwynne
Anne Gwynne was an American film actress of the 1940s. Known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films, the actress-model was also one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II....
.
Jerry Fairbanks
Jerry Fairbanks
Gerald Bertram "Jerry" Fairbanks was a producer and director in the Hollywood motion picture and television industry....
Productions filmed the pilot episode in Hollywood in 1947. After the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television network picked up the series, Fairbanks filmed 26 twenty-minute episodes for a planned network premiere in September 1948. But the series was pulled from the network schedule before then when NBC decided it preferred thirty-minute episodes.
Production of the still unseen series was suspended in October 1948 due to high costs and the lack of a national sponsor. Instead, the NBC anthology series Your Show Time
Your Show Time
Your Show Time is an American anthology drama series that debuted as a midseason replacement on NBC in January 1949. Hosted and narrated by Arthur Shields, the series ran until July 1949. Made by Grant Productions at Hal Roach Studios, it was American television's first dramatic series to be shot...
became American television's first filmed dramatic series to be broadcast, in January 1949. The earliest syndicated airings of Public Prosecutor were in February 1951.
The DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
broadcast the series as Crawford Mystery Theatre
Crawford Mystery Theatre
Crawford Mystery Theatre is an early American television program broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network and also seen in first-run syndication...
(named after its advertising sponsor) September 6–27, 1951 (continuing locally to February 1952), and turned it into a panel show to fill out the program to 30 minutes. Each week three guest panelists watched an episode, which was halted just before the climax. Each panelist then tried to guess the identity of the guilty party.
When Public Prosecutor was syndicated in the 1950s, the episodes had been edited to fit a 15-minute time slot. Film historian Thomas Schatz writes,
- Narrated by Howard, who addresses the camera throughout much of the story, the bare-bones mystery plots are condensed to fit into fifteen-minute segments modeled after the format of radio episodes. The verbal exposition is so insistent that the images begin to seem redundant; the episodes truly resemble radio with pictures. Sets are undecorated. Actors appear distracted, if not anguished, as they try to hit their marks consistently in the first take. In spite of the opportunities for shot selection offered by the Multicam systemMultiple-camera setupThe multiple-camera setup, multiple-camera mode of production, or multicam is a method of filmmaking and video production. Several cameras—either film or professional video cameras—are employed on the set and simultaneously record or broadcast a scene...
, the camera work consists mainly of single-take medium shots or simple over-the-shoulder dialogue sequences.
Episode status
One episode of Public Prosecutor is known to exist in the collection of the Museum of Broadcast CommunicationsMuseum of Broadcast Communications
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
.
See also
- List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
- List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts