The Lawless Years

The series depicts the activities of real-life police detective Barney Ruditsky as he fights organized crime in New York City. The show has "a certain claim to authenticity . . . in its meticulous attention to period detail" and in depicting actual cases on which Ruditsky worked. Unlike other police dramas of its time, The Lawless Years focuses more on character studies than on action. ==Cast==

Main • James Gregory as Barney Ruditsky • Robert Karnes as Max • John Dennis as Dutch Schultz • Norman Alden as Lulu • Brad Trumbull as Brody • John Vivyan as Louis Buchalter • Stanley Adams as Gurrah • Carol Eve Rossen as Anna • Paul Richards as Louis 'Louy' Kassoff • Robert Ellenstein as Legs Diamond • Henry Corden as Wavey Gordon • Robert Sampson as Mad Dog Coll • James Griffith as Jonathan Willis Guest stars ==Episodes==

Season 1: Spring/Summer 1959 Season 2: Fall 1959 Season 3: Spring/Summer 1961 == Production ==

Jack Chertok was the producer. The series was broadcast initially from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursdays. In July 1959 it moved to 8:30-9 p.m. ET on Thursdays, and in October 1959 it moved to 10:30-11 p.m. ET on Thursdays. When it returned in May 1961, it was on from 9 to 9:30 p.m. ET on Fridays. ==Seeking sponsors==

Episodes' content made finding a sponsor difficult. The series began with no sponsor because the premiere episode had one gangster killing another criminal "by plunging an ice pick into a vital spot." Before that development, the trade publication Variety reported that Philip Morris was the "hottest prospect" to take on the series to advertise its Parliament and Marlboro cigarette brands. Variety added that cigarette company P. Lorillard was also "in there pitching for the story" as a potential co-sponsor with Whitehall Pharmacal. A week after that article appeared, Variety reported that NBC was offering sponsorship of The Lawless Years for a "special introductory price". The $25,000-per-episode rate was "approximately $20,000 below the actual production cost of each episode." ==Critical response==

Critic John Crosby praised the look of the program: "the series is beautifully filmed and the settings and costumes and all the outer trimmings are marvelously authentic . . . they comprise a large part of the charm of The Lawless Years." He added that the show's plots were secondary in importance to the 1920s-era settings. Newspaper journalist Hal Humphrey wrote, "The opening chapters in Ruditsky's hoodlum-infested underworld made gripping drama." ==References==