The Lawless Years

The Lawless Years

The Lawless Years is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from April 16 1959, to September 22, 1961. The series is the first of its kind set set during the Roaring 20s, having predated ABC's far more successful The Untouchables by six months. The series stars James Gregory and Robert Karnes.

CrimeDrama

Seasons

1. The Nick Joseph Story

Air Date: 1959-04-16

Detective Ruditsky relates the story of Nick Joseph, a small-time hood from Manhattan's Lower East Side, who rises from petty theft to become an ace contract killer for the syndicate's notorious Murder, Inc.

2. The Immigrant

Air Date: 1959-04-23

An immigrant woman tries to get Ruditsky to set her son on the straight and narrow. It seems as though he's been hanging around with a gang of hoodlums. Ruditsky gives it his best effort but it could be a tough sell.

3. The Jane Cooper Story

Air Date: 1959-04-30

Jane Cooper, recently paroled from prison, proves that she hasn't learned anything when she once again begins hanging around with underworld characters. Only this time it seems as though her mobster boyfriends keep dying off.

4. The Story Of Cutie Jaffe

Air Date: 1959-05-07

Cutie Jaffe, a small-time hood with big time ambitions, begins knocking over some of his brother-in-law's bootlegging trucks. Will Cutie rise in the underworld hierarchy or is he headed for a hard fall?

5. The Dutch Schultz Story

Air Date: 1959-05-14

Dutch Schultz wants to bump off special prosecutor Thomas Dewey who has been after him. The syndicate bigwigs deny him permission to make the hit but the Dutchman proceeds with his plans anyway.

6. The Lion And The Mouse

Air Date: 1959-05-21

Small time racketeer Eddie Safronek plots revenge against the hoods who beat him up and left him for dead.

7. No Fare

Air Date: 1959-05-28

The underworld bribes police detective Harry Kramer in order to get him to withhold information in a case.

8. The Payoff

Air Date: 1959-06-11

After a moll is found murdered, flashbacks tell her story and those of mobsters Tony Sappio and Big Ed Harper, who both loved not wisely but too well.

9. The Marie Walters Story

Air Date: 1959-06-18

The body of a murdered young woman is dragged from the Harlem River and the police ascertain that she was killed because she knew too much regarding the activities of a bootlegging gang. Ruditsky then becomes puzzled when the attorney of the chief suspect insists on going to trial as quickly as possible.

10. The Maxey Gorman Story

Air Date: 1959-06-25

Ex-convict Maxey Gorman gets a Machiavellian character named A.J. to finance his entry into the bootlegging business. The two men become partners but when the dough starts pouring in Maxie looks for a way to rid himself of A. J.

11. The Muddy Kasoff Story

Air Date: 1959-07-02

Muddy Kasoff has been renting automobiles for gangsters to use but he has been secretly tippin the cops. When the hoods discover that Muddy has been informing they have him killed. Ruditsky investigates and discovers that a cigar band might be an important clue.

12. Framed

Air Date: 1959-07-16

When Ruditsky can't be bribed by a waterfront crime gang they attempt to frame him by making it look like he's on the take.

13. Four the Hard Way

Air Date: 1959-07-23

Ruditsky warns visiting high roller Big Ziggy to get out of town but before he can hit the road he get roped into a crooked poker game with three cardsharps.

14. The Tony Morelli Story

Air Date: 1959-07-30

Dick Wilson (2) as Game Boy Miles | Harry Arnie as Benny | Brad Trumbull (2) as O'Neill | Lou Herbert as Titanic Thompson | Jack Kruschen as Laughing Boy | John Vivyan as Big Ziggy

15. The Ray Baker Story

Air Date: 1959-08-06

At a wild gangland party a young girl falls out of a window and is killed. When evidence shows that the girl was pushed, visiting Chicago mobster Ray Baker is arrested and charged with the crime. But Ruditsky has his doubts and thinks that the real culprit might be another mobster.

16. The Story of Lucky Silva

Air Date: 1959-08-13

ucky Silva is a small-time hood who by a combination of circumstance, ambition, and drive rises quickly to a position of prominence in New York's Mafia.

17. The Morrison Story

Air Date: 1959-08-20

A judge is murdered right before a state crime commission is scheduled to take a look into his activities.

18. The Poison Ivy Story

Air Date: 1959-08-27

Ruditsky is temporarily assigned to duty in a Brooklyn precinct and must get the goods on a gang of hooligans who are pulling off a series of drug store robberies.

19. The Prantera Story

Air Date: 1959-09-03

1. The Al Brown Story

Air Date: 1959-10-01

When a young hoodlum named Al Brown destroys a blind man's shop it puts Ruditsky on his trail. But it will be under another name in another city that Brown becomes notorious.

2. The Big Greeny Story

Air Date: 1959-10-08

When the trail of a murdered garment factor owner leads back to the notorious Lepke Buchalter he sends the htman responsible, Big Greeny, to stay in Los Angeles under the auspices of the equally notorious Bugsy Siegal.

3. The Art Harris Story

Air Date: 1959-10-15

Ruditsky goes after Art Harris, a racketeer who's muscled his way into the political scene in order to protect his organized crime interests.

4. The Billy Boy 'Rockabye' Creel Story

Air Date: 1959-11-05

Mob boss Bobo Konig puts a bounty of $50,000 on psychotic gunman Billy Boy Creel who immediately goes underground. Ruditsky then tries to find Billy Boy before Konig's killers do.

5. The Big Man

Air Date: 1959-11-12

Gangster Louis Otto was once a childhood friend of Ruditsky's. Now he's wanted for the murder of an underling.

6. The Joe Angelo Story

Air Date: 1959-11-19

A former union trucker who now owns a candy store is pressured by the Mob to leave New York City because he knows too much about their past labor racketeering activities. When he refuses to leave the city, the Mob bumps him off. The man's crippled son is the only witness to his father's killing.

7. The Billy Grimes Story

Air Date: 1959-12-03

Shortly after busting up a numbers racket, Ruditsky finds himself the target of a person or persons unknown.

8. The Sonny Rosen Story

Air Date: 1959-12-17

The Mob kidnaps the son of a millionaire and holds him for a ransom of $100,000. Or did they?

9. The Pantera Story

Air Date:

1. The Jack 'Legs' Diamond Story

Air Date: 1961-05-12

2. The Sonny Rosen Story II

Air Date: 1961-05-19

3. Louy K: Part 1

Air Date: 1961-05-26

4. Louy K: Part 2 Sing Sing

Air Date: 1961-06-02

5. Louy K: Part 3 Birth of the Organization

Air Date: 1961-06-09

6. Louy K: Part 4 Heydays of the Organization

Air Date: 1961-06-16

7. Louy K: Part 5 the Disintegration

Air Date: 1961-06-23

8. The Miles Miller Story

Air Date: 1961-06-30

9. The Kid Dropper Story

Air Date: 1961-07-07

10. Ginny

Air Date: 1961-07-14

11. Little Augie

Air Date: 1961-07-21

12. The Mad Dog Coll Story (1)

Air Date: 1961-07-28

13. The Mad Dog Coll Story (2)

Air Date: 1961-08-04

14. Blood Brothers

Air Date: 1961-08-11

15. The Vincent Gordia Story

Air Date: 1961-08-18

16. Artie Moon

Air Date: 1961-08-25

17. Triple Cross

Air Date: 1961-09-01

18. The Jonathan Wills Story

Air Date: 1961-09-08

19. Romeo and Rose

Air Date: 1961-09-15

20. Ike, the Novelty King

Air Date: 1961-09-22

Select an episode to start watching

Rating

7.0/10

Release Date

1959-04-16

Episodes

48 (3 seasons)

Status

Ended

Cast

Production Companies

Jack Chertok Television Productions

California National Productions

NBC

NBC