RUM RUNNERS (a Canadian Broadcasting Company Production) by Dick Judge
Shows: 13 When: Late 1960s, early 1970s
Writer: Norman Creighton Director: Peter Donkin Producer: Alan Yates
Cast Members: William Fulton, Joseph Rutten, Bruce Armstrong, Flora Mont-
gomery, Miriam Bell, E. Ray Pierce, Dan Macdonald, Faith Ward, David Murray,
Edward Rubin, Joan Orenstein, Ron Hastings, Donald Meyers, J. Clyde Douglas
and David Brown.
The Premise: This was a 13 part comedy series written for the domestic CBC
radio network about the adventures of a Revenue Man in Canada's Maritime
Provinces during Prohibition. Inspector John McMulloch's job was to keep the
Maritimers away from liquor and to keep the Rum Runners away from the Mari-
timers. His exploits took him throughout the Atlantic Provinces of Canada in
a weird and wonderful assortment of encounters with the smugglers, headed by
amiable but formidable Cap'n Charlie. This rum running captain was a veritable
devil with both his long suffering crew members and -- the women, which
was one of his weakest points. These weaknesses were used by Inspector McMul-
loch in his many exploits to ensnare Charlie and foil his nefarious plans
to keep the Maritimes wet - and not with salt water, either!
Apart from its humor, the series told much about the people and places of the
Atlantic provinces and much of the lore portrayed in ways that reveal the
customs and characters of this part of Canada.
And now, back to the Roaring Twenties.....
NO. TITLE STORYLINE
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#01 The Case of the Thoreau Entusiast Inspector McMulloch is on the
trail of mysterious Mr. X, big
rum runner who uses devious means
to deliver illicit liquor
#02 The Case of the Digby Chicks The Inspector is after digby
chicks (smoked herring) and
we learn of the value of
fleeced-lined underwear vs.
wool-knit ones
#03 The Case of the Hard Bitten Rum Runner The Temperance ladies add a little
sting to Cap'n Charies supplies,
waving good riddance to the Rum
runners. In the meantime they
save a storekeeper's marriage and
his thoughts of fleeing south to
the "Boston States"
#04 The Case of the New Woman The crew have been to sea for 6
months and the captain is afraid
his crew will desert when they
catch their eye upon the New
Woman of the Jazz Era, the one
with the short skirts and brazen
habits
#05 The Case of the Singing Conch Shell The captain tries to convince his
men that the conch shell used to
blow signals to a shore-accomplice
actually gives off the sounds of a
girl singing improper songs when
not in use
#06 The Case of the Roving Milkman In Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
the captain comes up with a scheme
to distribute his rum in milk
bottles painted white on the out-
side
#07 The Case of the Twelve O'Clock Gun Chicago-style mobsters want to use
a gun that signals twelve o'clock
to sink a Canadian Coast Guard
ship
#08 The Case of the Bashful Organist Fredericton, capital of New
Brunswick, where the captain wants
to hide his local supplies in a
the pipes of a church organ
#09 The Case of Jenny's Well The boys find another place to
hide their liquor, in a non-used
public well
#10 The Case of the Lighthouse Bard An old and mean-spirited light-
house keeper is tricked into
blowing his fog horn on a clear
day to help a rum runner ship
#11 The Case of the Lunenburg Charmer The whirl of spinning wheels and
rum running in Lunenburg where
Granny uses her charms to try to
get a rum runner to change is ways
#12 The Case of the Swoosh Grampy who is 100 finds a keg of
rum that has washed ashore. The
Revenue Man finds out about this
and pours the contents out. But
he then tells the old man about
Swoosh, a secret recipe for get-
ting rum out of the empty keg
#13 The Case of Wedding Champagne There's a new Revenue cutter that
has to be christened - but to
everyone's horror there's no
champagne left except for a would-
be-bride who has a bottle
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Information and the source of this log comes from the author's collection
of OTR material. He can be contacted at dickjudge@juno.com for any
comments.