"Citizenship Insurance Racket" is episode 234 of the Green Hornet radio series. It originally aired on Thursday, May 5, 1938.
Main Cast[]
- Al Hodge as Britt Reid
- Raymond Muramoto as Kato
- Lee Allman as Lenore Case
- Rollon Parker as the newspaper boy
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Joe Desmond (one-off character)
- Nelson (one-off character)
- Unnamed district attorney (mentioned only)
- Tony Russo (one-off character)
- Police department (unnamed officers)
- Gus (one-off character)
- Chopper (one-off character)
- The Daily Sentinel radio commentator (one-off character)
- Britt Reid
- Kato
- Lenore Case
- Jasper Jenks
- Andrew Melvin (mentioned then deceased, no dialogue)
- Bill Gunnigan (mentioned only)
- Maisie (one-off character)
- Newspaper boy
Locations[]
- New York City
- Joe Desmond's social club (one-off location)
- The Daily Sentinel offices (one-off location)
Misc.[]
- The Daily Sentinel newspaper
- "My Country 'Tis of Thee" (song)
- The Daily Sentinel radio
- The Black Beauty
- Hornet Gun
Synopsis[]
Joe Desmond operates a racket where he and his associate, Nelson, swindle newly arrived immigrants, claiming to fast track their immigration papers for a steep price. In reality, the papers they receive are only a simple life insurance policy. They then provide the immigrants as cheap labor for Andrew Melvin. One of the immigrants, Joe Russo, is picked up by police who are investigating the racket. As a result, Desmond has one of his lackeys, Chopper, gun Russo down. Even though the murder was committed in broad daylight, Desmond uses his connects to gain false alibis for he and his men and silence any potential witnesses.
Following Russo's death, The Daily Sentinel reporter Jasper Jenks takes an interest in the story. Meanwhile, the Sentinel's publisher, Britt Reid vows to use his secret identity as the Green Hornet to bring Desmond and his associates to justice.
Desmond worries that with the additional scrutiny from the Sentinel, Melvin might panic and go to the police. He has Melvin murdered, arranging for it to look like a suicide. The Green Hornet and his crime-fighting partner, Kato, discover the body moments before the police arrive. They take the faux suicide note and gun and flee the scene in the Black Beauty. Hearing the signature sound of the Black Beauty's engine, the police blame the vigilantes for the murder.
Desmond throws a lavish party at his social club for his political allies where they will conspire how to best fix the upcoming election. Back at the Sentinel's offices, Jenks discusses Melvin's murder with secretary Lenore Case. Jenks believes that Melvin's apparent suicide was actually a murder arranged by Desmond and carried out by the Green Hornet. He also announces his intention to attend the party in hopes of acquiring evidence for an expose and bets that the Green Hornet will be in attendance. Lenore hates to believe the Green Hornet would actually be capable of murder. However, Britt encourages Jenks' idea and has it appear in the paper, framing it as police theory. He also asks Jenks to have some plainclothes policemen accompany him to the party.
At the party, Desmond becomes cagey when he recognizes Jenks and the police officers. Shortly after midnight, a lackey notifies him that they found one of the club's windows left open. Nelson is summoned to supposedly meet with Desmond, but is intercepted by the Green Hornet. The vigilante causes him to believe that he and Desmond are working together. He explains that they plan to kill Nelson and pin Melvin's murder on him due to the police department's continued suspicion. Melvin screams for help and the Hornet uses his Hornet Gun to gas him. For whatever reason, the gas doesn't knock Nelson out as would be expected. Instead, he flees the Hornet and goes straight to Jenks and the officers. He immediately confesses that Desmond had Melvin and Russo murdered and is the head of the insurance racket. As evidence, he cites the gun on Desmond's person as the same weapon used to kill Melvin.
Jenks is elated to have a big scoop and a newspaper boy is heard shouting out headlines related to the story. Meanwhile, Britt tells Kato of his satisfaction with how the case turned out and of his confidence that the racket will soon be smashed. Nearly as soon as the words are out of his mouth, he receives a call from Jenks informing him that Desmond has begun confessing to the police. Britt then tells the city editor, Bill Gunnigan to run a headline that "Desmond and his racket are both finished." The newspaper boy then shouts out a new headline, proclaiming that Desmond has confessed to murder and that the Green Hornet is still at large.