The Curious Case of Eddie Drake

In the 1949, the CBS Television Network ordered up a series entitled The Cases of Eddie Drake for it's prime time schedule. It looked like a no brainer, using long time B movie star Charles McGraw in his typical hard guy cop/Private Eye role. But for some reason, the show just didn't work out and CBS shelved the few shows that were made. After sitting on the shelf for a year or two, Dumont Network TV executive Dick Dreyfuss, who had been the original CBS TV Network film buyer in 1948, licensed the use of the shows for Dumont. In the Dumont universe, this show was a gem....one they could never produce on their own on their limited budgets.

In any event, the TV audience liked Eddie Drake, leaving CBS in a conundrum. The answer could only come from the world of television. They took the same scripts, the same star, and the same studios and, in 1952, remade the show for their syndication department. Goodbye Cases of Eddie Drake, Hello Files of Jeffrey Jones! Really! Both versions can be seen on TVS Crimetime.Com and the Drake version also lives on at the Dumont TV Network.Com. Both are on the TV4U.Com video portal.