The Christmas Caper (25 Dec. 1952)

Braddock and his men investigate several con artists who use phony street corner Santa Clauses to collect money for poor children and distribute it among themselves.

Director:

Erle C. Kenton

Writer:

Arthur E. Orloff (teleplay)

Stars:

Reed Hadley, Lloyd Corrigan, Jackie Coogan

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Reed Hadley	...	Captain John Braddock
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Charles Dooley
Jackie Coogan	...	Pennington (as John L. Coogan)
Alan Dexter	...	Castle
John Phillips	...	Detective Seidel
Willie Best	...	Janitor
Louis Lettieri	...	Grover
Jeri Lou James	...	Anne Marie
Paul Keast	...	Mr. Hastings
Argentina Brunetti	...	Mrs. Scarpita
Frances Drew	...	Young Woman
William Fawcett	...	2nd Santa Claus

Storyline

Anxious to earn extra money to buy Christmas gifts for the children in his tenement building, elderly pensioner Charles Dooley takes a job as a bell-ringing street corner Santa Claus. He is unaware that his "employers" are actually swindlers who keep the funds for themselves, and he does not learn the truth until he goes to collect his pay on Christmas Eve. Desperate to keep from disappointing the children to whom he has promised gifts, he takes the money he has collected and uses it to buy the presents. Captain Braddock and Officer Seidel initially suspect that Dooley may be complicit in the swindle, but they learn the truth when they go to his tenement building to arrest him and find Dooley dressed as Santa Claus and giving much-appreciated gifts to the children and their parents. Captain Braddock realizes that he will be in the unenviable position of arresting "Santa Claus" on Christmas Eve unless he can somehow legitimize Dooley's well-intentioned actions.

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Plot Keywords:

con artist | street corner santa | christmas | santa claus suit | christmas gift

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1952 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Showcase Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Grover: Us kids never get Christmas presents.
Charlie Dooley: Oh, of course you do. You... Uh... Didn't you get anything last year?
Grover: Sure. My mom had my shoes re-soled.
Anne Marie Scarpita: [brightly] I got vitamin pills!

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