Mark_McD
Those looking for elements of the Red Scare in this movie may be overlooking an aspect of life in the 1950's that was closer to the everyday lives of Los Angelinos: that the LAPD was one of the most corrupt departments in the country, and Webb was polishing apples for police chief William Parker by presenting his cops as honest dispensers of justice. We may accept Friday's "bumper-to-bumper" harassment of a suspect because he "knows" he's guilty, but at the same time, the cops were doing this and much worse to ordinary citizens, especially blacks and Latinos. Webb stops short of lighting his Chesterfields with a copy of the Bill of Rights, but clearly he, like the PD, saw it as a list of amusing suggestions. Ironically, Joe Friday has a testy exchange with a member of a grand jury about the ethics of wire tapping. When the jury member suggests that once criminals know their phones are being tapped, they'll just conduct their business on street corners. Friday's reply, "And we'll have a cop on every one of 'em!" came as Parker was pulling beat officers off the street and having them work from patrol cars. (Of course, Parker supported Webb when "Dragnet" did stories about the dangers of guns in the hands of children, much to the consternation of the NRA, but that's a topic for the listing of the TV show. Anyway, people can be more complex than we think them)
muvphreek
Every time I see this movie, I find something else about it that makes me like it all the more. Whether its the cars, the attitudes, the clothes or just the story itself. I liked the cast from the very first time and recognized most of them from the TV series. Seeing again, now, was like getting visit from some old friends. It departed from the TV show in that you saw the crime committed up front and there was no epilogue of the outcome. But otherwise, it was classic Joe Friday. Just the facts. Not a lot of superfluous rhetoric or endless scenes of police tailing bad guys. Lots of voice over with details like time of day, location, etc. Simple interrogation from Friday with smart-mouth answers from the bad guys and the snappy, emotional responses from Joe. It kind of gets you, right where you live, you know? Don't miss this one. You won't be sorry.
ccthemovieman-1
I really enjoyed the Dragnet television shows back in the 1950s with Jack Webb and Ben Alexander and later Harry Morgan. They were very entertaining and fast-moving. I say that because this feature-length film was just too boring to add to my collection. I wouldn't watch it again.Oh, it started off with a bang as a man was murdered in a field, but then the rest of it is mostly detail work which gets pretty boring after 40 minutes! Some of the dialog is good: nice '40s-type film noir stuff. What I missed was the humor of the TV show, in which Webb and his partner, Officer Frank Smith, would interview a number of crackpots and those interviews would be funny. Most of the characters in this movie did not invoke laughs. It needed a bit more action, too, for a crime movie.
Evan J. Chase
The early radio and TV episodes of Dragnet were brilliantly written and dramatized. It was only natural to bring it to the big screen. Unfortunately, the screenplay did not compliment Jack Webb's track record.The viewer really can't sympathize with anyone in the story. Criminals brutally kill another criminal. I originally saw this movie as a child in 1954 and still remember how scared I was watching the opening scene before the main credits. Instead of the fascinating narration and lively characters of the radio and TV show, we have mostly downright depressing and tragic characters in this story, lots of frustration for the police, and not an overall satisfying story. I wish it could have been better---thankfully we have all the radio and early TV Dragnets extant!Cast-wise, Jack brought virtually all of his radio and tv cast members to the big screen here, and am I imagining things, or was that early Our Gang member Mickey Daniels in a 10-second role as an outraged attendent in the card club right after the fistfight?
AD
