Crime Drama (1944 - 55)

The FBI in Peace and War--Drama! Thrills! Action!

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a well deserved reputation for always "getting their man". This reputation was built on the hard work of the Bureau's brave field agents, as well as the bureaucratic acumen of long term Director, J. Edgar Hoover.

Being on good terms with the entertainment industry didn't hurt either.

The Bureau participated to a greater or lesser extend in several projects that had their name attached to it, on the radio these included This is Your FBI and I Was A Communist For the FBI. Sometimes the participation was at the level of reviewing scripts and stories in order to protect the Bureau's reputation. In other instances the project was used as a publicity vehicle for the Bureau.

There were other programs that did not have the support of the Bureau, but the G-Men still manage to be treated as heroes. One of these was The FBI in War and Peace. In fact, the series took time at the end of each episode to disclaim any Bureau endorsement or participation, while claiming that the stories were based on actual cases.

The FBI in Peace and War was contemporary with old time radio's Dragnet, but took a different approach to realism. Unlike other Detective and Cop shows, The FBI in War And Peace usually dealt with "lesser" crimes than murder, such as robbery, graft, and interstate car theft. The big difference came in how the story was told. The narrative was told mostly from the point of view of the criminals. This makes the program less of a "Whodunit" and closer to the "Howdyduit" school of crime story.

Veteran character actor William Blaine regularly played Field Agent Sheppard, whom we follow as he tracks down the bad guys, but most of the action revolves around the crooks being crooks and setting them selves up for the fall.

The FBI in Peace and War didn't pack the emotional punch of the gritty reality of Dragnet, but is is still solid entertainment. Both shows have basically the same message

See also: Federal Agent, This Is Your FBI and True Adventures of Junior G-Men.