Mr. District Attorney
Tile #11 on the Studio City Walk of Fame
Long before the success of the Law & Order franchise there was Philips H. Lord's popular radio series Mr. District Attorney which aired on NBC and ABC from 1939 to 1953. The long running legal crime radio program inspired feature films from 2 different studios, a highly successful comic book series and a television show. 18 episodes of the radio crime drama is available on Old Time Radio.
In the 1940's Republic Studios and Columbia Pictures released films due to the popularity of Lord's radio series. The first films were produced by Republic Studios and includes Mr. District Attorney (1941), Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941) and Secrets of the Underground (aka "Mr. District Attorney Does His Bit") released in 1942. In 1947 Columbia Pictures released Mr. District Attorney directed by Robert B. Sinclair starring Dennis O'Keefe and Adolphe Menjou.
Tile #11 on the Studio City Walk of Fame commemorates the trio of films released by Republic Studios.
Mr. District Attorney (1941)
Production Company: Republic Studios
CAST: Dennis O'Keefe, Stanley Ridges, Florence Rice and Peter Lorre
Mr. District Attorney, the first in the Republic series, stars Dennis O'Keefe as Assistant DA P. Cadwallader Jones. When the Harvard Law School graduate manages to mess up his first assignment in the D.A.'s office, he is assigned a cold case of the disappearance of a crooked politician (Peter Lorre) who vanished with $100,000 of stolen money. Jones' girlfriend Terry Harker is a newspaper reporter (Florence Rice) helps him solve the case. A memorable line in the film is when asked what the "P" stands for, P. Cadwallader Jones replies ruefully "Prince. But I didn't want to be whistled for."
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941)
Production Company: Republic Studios
CAST: James Ellison, Virginia Gilmore, Franklin Pangborn, Paul Harvey
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case directed by Bernard Vorhaus is the second film released by Republic Studios. Starring James Ellison as P. Cadwallader Jones and Virginia Gilmore as his girlfriend Terry Parker as they track down clues in the murder of a fashion magazine publisher.
Sidney Sheldon wrote the screenplay and went on to win the Academy Award in 1948 for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. Mr. Sheldon was also successful in television having created and wrote many of the episodes for Hart to Hart, I Dream of Jeanie and The Patty Duke Show. But perhaps it is as an author that provided Mr. Sheldon with his greatest fame. His books include Rage of Angels, The Other Side of Midnight, Master of the Game and If Tomorrow Comes and all of these titles were made into television mini-series.
Secrets of the Underground (1942)
Production Company: Republic Studios
CAST: John Hubbard, Virginia Grey, Robin Raymond
In 1942 Republic came out with the third and final film in the series, Secrets of the Underground (aka "Mr. District Attorney Does His Bit") directed by William Morgan. John Hubbard portrayed Assistant DA P. Cadwallader Jones (John Hubbard) and longtime girlfriend Terry Parker (Virginia Grey) uncover a Nazi conspiracy to counterfeit war bonds.
Comic Books
67 issues of the Mr. District Attorney comic books were published by DC Comics from February 1948 to February 1959 and at the time sold for 10 cents. ComicVine has all 67 covers of the classic comic book series.
For more information, please visit the SCIA website Walk of Fame pages.
