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Clip description
In a dramatised scenario, a woman has her bags snatched by two thieves. A witness to the event comes to her aid and reports the incident to the local police station. Inside, a man receives the call by telephone and relays the message by morse radio to the patrol car stationed in a suburban street. Morse code is heard on the soundtrack. An officer inside the police patrol car receives the signal from police headquarters via an earpiece. He transcribes the message which is also read out. The car drives off in pursuit of the culprits and a chase ensues, with the thieves now driving through St Kilda. The clip ends with the police car driving down a tree-lined street.
Curator’s notes
This clip is the main sequence of this four-minute dramatisation of a crime foiled by police using radio technology. In the moments after the conclusion of this clip, the police catch up with the thieves and arrest the two culprits. For audiences watching this film in cinemas in the 1930s, it was probably the first time they had seen and heard morse radio communication in action.
