Original subtitles

[ Frida y Nam? ting] This is the ciz‘y— [as Ange/es, California,

This is Wi/shire Boulevard.

Forty years ago, these were bean fields.

Now they call it the Miracle Mile.

This is MacArthur Park. /t’s on Wilshire Boulevard

For 90 cents, you can rent a boat for a half an hour

A lot of old people live around the park. Most of them draw pensions.

You can live pretty good in L os Ange/es on a pension, if you ’re careful

When you’re old sometimes you need good medical facilities.

The city has them.

Once in a while somebody tries to take what little the old ha ve away fl’om them.

That’s when / go to work. / car/ya badge.

/t was Monday, December5. /t was overcast in L os Ange/es. The papersaid it might rain.

We were working the day watch out of Frauds Division, Bunco Section.

The boss is Captain Lambert. My partner’s Bill Gannon.

My name is Friday

A team of expert confidence men had moved into the city and set up a widespread operation.

They were c/e ver and successful Their victims were men and women over 70.

Their take was beginning to reach the five—figure mark.

We had to tryandstop ’em.

[Man Narrating] The story you are about to see is true.

The names have been changed to protect the innocent

Joe, uh, you eat out once in a while, don‘t you?

You know I do. Most ofthe time.

Mm—hmm. Now, uh, what‘s the most expensive item on any menu?

— Oh, I don‘t know. Why? — You never see this on the menu over across the street at Willie‘s.

— About all they serve is sandwiches. — That‘sjust the point.

Wait‘II I get my Swiss Mondaines with maybe a few Indian Mondaines thrown in.

— And I got an idea what to cross ‘em with. — What are you talking about?

A fortune,Joe. A fortune right here in my hand.

What is it?

—Squab. — Huh?

— Squab. That‘s a baby pigeon,Joe. — I‘ve heard.

— I doubt Carl and me can raise enough to supply the demand. —CarI?

— Wife‘s cousin. Carl Sawyer. — Oh. Yeah.

Carl quit hisjob, put everything he had into it, doingjust great.

— Then he got a bad break. — Is that right?

One ofhis kids left the pen door open. Best breeding stock, all of‘em— Pfft! Flew the coop.

It doesn‘t sound like much ofa business to me, not ifthey all might fly away.

That‘sjust it,Joe. A person can profit by other people‘s mistakes.

— Makes you think, and you come up with a better way ofdoing things. — Yeah.

I don‘t know why somebody hasn‘t thought ofit before, and it‘ll work.

— What‘s that? — Simplest thing in the world,Joe, ifyou don‘t want ‘em to fly away.

— What is? — Like I said, cross—breed ‘em.

— With what? — Homing pigeons.

Friday. Gannon.

Here‘s one forya. What is it, Skipper?

— Couple ofSeattIe tourists. — Huh?

— Those phony bank examiners they had working up there? —“Had“?

They‘ve moved. Looks like we‘ve got ‘em. Woman by the name of Burnside phoned in the complaint.

Seems she turned her life savings over to a man who identified himself as a state bank examiner.

— How much did she give him? — Six thousand dollars.

Said he needed her money to help catch a thie ving tel/er at her neighborhood bank Yea h ?

Bank examiner told her the money would be returned to her within a week.

/t’s been overa week, so she called us.

This the address? Yeah. Better take a run out there right away

— You‘re gonna have a little explaining to do. — How‘s that?

— About her money. — Yeah?

The man told hera policeman would bring it back to her.

[Friday Narra ting] Bill and / had been there before.

/t was an old apartment house, most/y pensioners.

The y get a check every 30 days fl’om Social Security or Welfare.

No thing very big just enough to keep them going fl’om month to month.

But I know they were real bank examiners.

Mr. Gleason, I could tell how important he was over the phone.

And Mr. Montgomery had a bank examiner’s badge.

He marked each bill. Real clever. Tiny marks you and I would never notice.

Why did he say he was marking the bills?

Well, so that they could put the money back in the bank,

and then whatever tel/ersto/e any of it, the little marks would give them away

/sn ’t that smart? Yes, ma‘am.

Could you describe this Montgomery?

Well, he wore glasses, just like yours.

I don‘t wear glasses, ma‘am.

Oh.

Well, my eyes aren‘t what you‘d call real good.

Yes, ma‘am.

Uh, do you think you can get my money back?

Well, we can‘t offer much hope, ma‘am. We‘ll certainly do our best.

Well, it‘s not so much for me,

but for my granddaughter, Lillian.

— How‘s that? — I‘ve always wanted them to have a house...

with a yard for the youngsters.

— Yes, ma‘am. — I always thought...

when I was gone, the money would be enough for a good down—payment on a house...

with a real yard.

— It was going to be a surprise. —Yes, ma‘am.

Sergeant, it isn‘t right for somebody to steal it.

No, ma‘am.

Not when it was going to be yard money.

[Friday Narrating] 7 7:37 am.

We drove over to the Wi/shire Bank where Mrs. Burnside had her account

We talked to the manager, Harry Crofl‘.

He remembered Mrs. Burnside is large withdra wal

72: 7 7 p. m. We drove back to the ofiice.

The bank examinerswind/e was pretty much a new wrinkle in L os Ange/es.

/t was a sophisticated variation of old bunco schemes like the phonystock certificate swind/es.

We put through a request to the Seattle detectives.

We asked for complete intelligence reports—

M 0. ’s, mug shots, anything they might ha ve in their files concerning the phony bank examiners.

Thanks a lot. We sure appreciate that.

Looks like you‘ve got another one. What do you mean?

Either one ofyou remember Flobelle Mirada?

No, can‘t say thatI do. No, waita minute. That name rings a bell.

Old—time movie actress, wasn‘t she? That‘s right.

Lives at the Majestic Hotel. Yeah?

Phony bank examiners. What about ‘em?

They took her for $5,500.

[Friday Narra ting] The Majestic is an old hotel /'ust ofi‘ Hollywood Bou/e vard

Actors first began staying there in the days of the Keystone Cops. /t was fashionable.

Now the ysta y because the rates are right

Besides, the desk always knows what’s being filmed at the studios tomorrow..

and ho w many extras the y’// need

Flobelle Mirada had ne ver really been a star.

She ’d had some good roles in a few minor films in the past,

but she hadn ’t worked for years in pictures.

Thanks, Flobelle. Can‘t promise they‘ll run ‘em, but I‘ll do my best.

Thankyou so much.

— Are you from the A. P.? — No, ma‘am.

Ne ver mind /’m sure you have a wide circulation.

Now, ask me anything you want.

— We‘re police officers, ma‘am. My name‘s Friday. This is Bill Gannon. — How do you do, ma‘am?

Oh.

I guess no one else is coming.

Uh, no one else fiom the press, that is.

Ofcourse, it was very nice ofyou to come, but—

— Oh, you do understand? — Yes, ma‘am.

You see, I‘ve been planning a return to pictures.

Oh, but you don‘t want to know about that.

— You‘re not in the business. — No, ma‘am.

[WeakChuckIe] Well, anyway, this young man phoned—

You can record or take pictures ifyou wish.

We‘ll just take notes. Thankyou, ma‘am.

Uh—huh. just as you prefer.

Anyway, this young man phoned.

A beautiful voice.

/ told him he should be an actor. [Chuck/es]

He seemed very pleased but he said he enjoyed his work as a bank examiner.

Then he told me about these terrible thefts from the bank accounts.

When he asked me to help, how could I refuse?

Besides, the publicity would be good.

— Not that I need it, you understand. — No, ma‘am.

IfI were to help catch the thief, I was sure it would make the front pages.

Exactly how did he want you to help?

I was to withdraw $5,500 from my savings account.

Another bank examiner would come to my roo— uh, suite...

and mark the bills.

Then the examiner would put the moneyback in the bank,

and the police would wait to see which one ofthe tellers was pilfering the accounts.

Afi‘era week the police were to return the money to me.

— When did you withdraw the money? — A week ago yesterday.

When the police didn‘t come yesterday or this morning, I...

realized I‘d been swindled.

Why did you wait all this time before you reported it, ma ’am?

Both bank examiners cautioned me not to say a word. It would alert the thief.

Could you give us a description of the man you turned your money over to?

Oh, sort ofaverage. Polite.

Do you remember what color hair he had?

Sort ofmedium. I don‘t pay much attention to these things.

— Would you recognize him ifyou saw him again? —I think so.

Yes, I think so. I‘m not very good at describing people, butI remember them real well.

Yes, ma‘am.

— The studios will read about this, won‘t they? —Well, I wouldn‘t know, ma‘am.

That‘s up to the press.

I—I guess it was a busy day.

No one came but that photographer and you.

Yes, ma‘am.

About my return to pictures—

— I have to now. — Is that so?

That was all the money I had in the world.

I‘m sorry, ma‘am.

Miss Mirada? Yes, sir?

Would it be too much trouble to askyou foryour autograph? Itwould be a pleasure.

Who do I make this to?

Gannon‘s my name. just your first name.

BiII. To BiII.

Thankyou very much. Thankyou.

I didn‘t know you collected autographs.

I don‘t.

[Friday Narrating] Wednesday, December 7, 9:43 am.

/t was beyond doubt now that the phony bank examiners had a well—organized operation.

Se vera/ bank managers had called to report their depositors had recei ved phone calls. ..

fiom men claiming to be bank examiners.

We checked each one of them out, but they led no where.

Five more victims. Look at this,Joe.

$43,500.

That‘s their take so far.

Couple ofold friends. Seattle sent these.

Coming—out mugs of Frank Thomas and james Fremont Did time for G. T bunco at Walla Walla.

Seattle thinks they worked the bank examiner scam there up until last month and moved on.

— Ever work L.A. before? —Johnson and I busted ‘em eight years ago.

They were working the coin—smack then. Doing pretty good till we nailed ‘em.

Yeah, well, they‘re doing all right now— over 43,000 so far.

At the rate they‘re scoring, they‘ll drop the bank examiner game in a couple more days and move on.

Couple more days, they can open their own bank.

[Friday Narrating] 7 0:34 a. m.

Bill and / drove out to the apartment house where Mrs. Mary Burnside lived

We sho wed her the mug shots of the two suspects— Frank Thomas and james Fremont

Now, just take your time, Mrs. Burnside.

— Sergeant? — Yes, ma‘am?

I‘ve got to tell you the truth. What‘s that?

These pictures— Yes, ma‘am?

I can‘t see them.

They all look the same.

Thankyou, ma‘am.

[Sighs]

[Friday Narrating] 7 7:75 am.

Bill and / returned to the office and went upstairs to the Scientific /n vest/gation Division.

We spoke to Lieutenant john Bigham, commander of the photo section.

We had an idea, and we hoped it would work

You figured all your victims have bad eyesight? Most ofthem are old. Maybe it‘ll help.

How ‘bout eyeglasses? Well, the Burnside woman, for instance.

— The other witnesses too. They‘re pretty well up in theiryears. — I don‘t know why not.

It‘s never been done before, but it might work.

About, uh, this size? Say, 8—by—I 0?

That should do it,John. You‘ll blow up a dozen or so strange ones to work with ‘em?

Yeah. Rotten shame, isn‘t it?

— Couple of punks working all these old parties for their last dime. —Sure is.

Average bunco schemes, I really can‘t work up too much sympathy for the victims.

— They figure they can turn a quick buck, get something for nothing. — Yeah.

But these crumbs, making the old—timers believe they’re helping to catch a thief

You get us those blowups,John, and maybe they will.

[Friday Narra ting] 3:37 p. m. Lieutenant Bigham rushed the enlarged mug shots through.

The bank examiners were busy too.

Three more victims had reported losses since morning

Their total take up to now stood at $49, 700.

The latest victim was Fred Gregory. He was 82 years old

He reported losing $800

/t was the smallest loss so far.

His landlord said we ’d find him on a bench by the lake at MacArthur Park

He ’d be the one wearing a green cap.

We sho wed him the book of enlarged mug shots.

There. There he is.

Montgomery, he called himself. He took my money.

You‘ re s u re? Positive.

That‘s Montgomery. But he seemed like such a nice man.

He had a badge.

He said the police would bring it back to me in a week

— And you don‘t have it, do you? — No, sir, we don‘t.

— The money‘s gone, isn‘t it? — I‘m afraid so, sir.

I sure don‘t want to be in ajar.

Beg pardon?

Ifyou haven‘t any money when you die, the city has to take you. They cremate you.

— The ashes they put in one ofthosejars. — Yes, sir.

The $800, that was my burial money.

[Friday Narrating] 4:75pm.

Mrs. Mary Burnside was sho wn the book of enlarged mug shots.

She identified FrankA/bert Thomas as the man who had taken her money

5:07 p. m. We showed the book of mug shots to Flobelle Mirada.

She also identified FrankA/bert Thomas...

as the man who posed as a bank examiner and took hersa vings.

Bill and / returned to the office. We filled Captain Lambert in. 535 p. m.

I‘m afraid ofit.

None ofthe victims can eyeball Fremont, and the ones who made Thomas are shaky, to say the least.

That‘s the way we figured too.

We‘ve gotta watch one ofthese things go down. Yeah.

All right. Put ‘em on ajob.

[Friday Narra ting] Thursday, December 8, 9:48 a. m.

/t was decided that the best way to make a strong case against the phony bank examiners...

was to put them on a job,

to catch them in the process of an actual s wind/e.

To accomplish this, we had to contact a potential victim...

who might work with us before turning over any money to them.

So far, victims had only been calling us after they’d been bi/ked

Under the direction of Chief of Detecti ves Tom Reddin,

a warning was sent out to all ne wspapers, radio and television stations,

cautioning everyone to be on the lookout for the bank examiners.

[Friday Narrating] Monday, December 72.

The press had given the phony bank examinerstory full co verage,

but we still hadn ’t gotten the break we needed

We knew it wou/dn ’t be long before the bank examiners would be moving on to a new city...

and a newset of victims.

9:38am. [ Rings]

[Clicks Line Button] Bunco. Gannon.

Yes, ma‘am, I see.

Mrs. Pauline Gray,

1210 Primrose Avenue,

Apartment 6.

Thankyou. We‘ll be right over.

No, ma ’am. Please don ’t do anything till we get there.

You got anything? Bank examiners called this Mrs. Gray just a few minutes ago.

— She‘d read the papers, so she stalled. — Yeah?

They‘re gonna call her back in 30 minutes.

[Friday Narra ting] /t took us 72 minutes to drive over to the Primrose A venue address...

that Mrs. Gray had given us.

This is whatI told him.

I said, “I am expecting a very important long—distance call,

and can you call me back?“

I‘ve heard about this caper before. I read a lot ofdetective magazines.

Yes, ma‘am.

These boys havejust put a little twist to that old Mexican charity switch. That‘s it, isn‘t it?

No, ma‘am. All right, here‘s what we‘d like you to do.

— The cover? — I beg your pardon.

You know, the cover—up. The blind The coverstory.

Yes, ma‘am, that‘s the idea.

When this man calls back, he‘s gonna askyou to draw some money out ofthe bank from your account.

You tell him you’ll do it Right, Sergeant. Will comply.

Tell him your son is visiting you today, your son that lives in Arcadia.

— Tell him your son will make the withdrawal foryou. — Neat and tidy.

— Why don’t /go to the bank myself? — Well, say your arthritis is bothering you.

Good deal. Don‘t worry, Officers.

— We‘ll pull it offA—okay. — Yes, ma‘am.

— You know, this is something I‘ve always wanted to see. — What‘s that?

— Especially these two hoods. — Ma‘am?

I‘ve always wanted to be in on a pinch.

[Friday Narra ting] Two hours went by, and no call fiom the bank examiners.

Mrs. Gray appeared to be calm and collected

While we waited she read passages aloud fiom the latest month/y detective magazines.

72:79pm.

7:47 pm.

A man who identified himself as a state bank examiner told Mrs. Gray his name was Gleason.

She handled it well

Gleason asked her to have the money ready in an hour. She told him she would

I see.

Then you‘ll mark my $3,500 and put it back into the bank,

and we‘ll catch that teller who‘s been dipping into the accounts.

That‘s very clever.

Yes.

Oh, I‘m only too happy to help.

All right. Good—bye.

— How‘d I do? —Just fine, Mrs. Gray.

— There‘sjust one thing we didn‘t think of. — Oh? What‘s that?

I don‘t have a son.

You do now, ma‘am.

[Friday Narrating] 2:75 pm.

We called the office and told Captain Lambert we would need $3, 500 in marked bills.

We also asked him to have another team stake out Mrs. Gray’s apartment house to back us up.

2:48 p. m.

Police woman Maijorie A dams delivered the marked bills...

and took Mrs. Gray to an unoccupied apartment in the building

Bill and/ didn ’t have a long wait /t was exactly 3:05 p. m.

[Knocking]

[Knocking Continues]

Special Agent Montgomery, State Banking Commission.

Come right in.

It‘s a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Montgomery.

I‘m Bill Gray. Well, it‘s a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Gray.

— Is your mother here? — Oh, she forgot to tell you.

When the y get to be her age they do forget things.

She knows I always take her to the doctor every Monday.

— But I have some money she told me to give you. — Fine.

— The banking commission surely appreciates your help. — Happy to do it.

— You do have identification from the banking commission. — Yes, ofcourse.

My examiner‘s certificate and my ledger.

Well, that‘s fine.

— Now ifI could have the money? — It‘s all right here.

— But, uh, where‘s Mr. Gleason? — Gleason?

Yes. My mother said she talked to a Mr. Gleason. I‘m to give the money to him.

Oh, ofcourse. Gleason‘s my associate. We work as a team.

I‘m sorry. That‘s what she insisted on. I‘m to turn the money over to Mr. Gleason only.

I see.

All right. I‘ll go get him.

Thinkthey‘re hinky? Well, ifthey are, the boys out front‘ll pick ‘em up.

How‘d I sound? Doyou thinkI sold him? Ifthey both show up, we‘ll know.

Hope we don‘t get this close just to watch it fade. Yeah.

[Knocking]

Mr. Gray, this is Special Agent Gleason. Mr. Gleason.

You‘re Mrs. Gray‘s son. That‘s right.

I sincerely hope your mother isn‘t ill. Oh, nothing like that.

As I told Mr. Montgomery, Monday‘s her regular checkup day.

I see. Bless her heart.

I understand she wanted me to pick up the money in person. I appreciate her confidence.

MayI have it? Yes, sir. Right here. $3,500.

Thankyou. Doyou mind ifI sit here? I have to mark these bills.

Certainly. Thankyou.

That sure is interesting how you people do that.

What do those little marks mean?

Sorry. We can‘t tell you. That‘s classified information.

— Classified? — Top secret.

Oh. I see.

Say, as long as you‘ve got your pen out, I wonder ifyou‘d sign this receipt.

Why, sure.

Mr. Montgomery too?

Monty?

Agent Gleason and I are always cautioning citizens like yourself to be extremely careful in matters like this.

Your mother‘s a very smart woman, Mr. Gray. Thankyou.

Besides, it helps us up in Sacramento.

That so? 0h,yes.

Our chiefagent is a real stickler on money matters like this,

you know, where we‘re utilizing other people‘s funds.

I can understand that.

Mr. Gleason? Yes?

That‘s such a large amount ofmoney.

Mr. Montgomery showed me his identification. I wonder ifI might see yours.

Here‘s my badge. We both carry them.

So do we. You‘re under arrest.

[Narrator] The story you ha ve just seen is true.

The names were changed to protect the innocent

On March 7 4, trial was held in Department 782,

Superior Court of the State of California,

in and for the County of L os Ange/es.

/n a moment, the results of that trial

Both suspects were found guilty on three counts of conspiracy..

and three counts ofgrand thefi‘.