THE 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ #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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.