Dragnet (1954)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jack Webb

Writer:

Richard L. Breen (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 September 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

This was the hottest case to hit the department!

Plot:

Two homicide detectives investigate the brutal shotgun murder of a crime syndicate member.

Plot Keywords:

Grand Jury | Murder | Detective | Fifth Amendment | Based On TV Series

Cast

Jack Webb	...	Sgt. Joe Friday
Ben Alexander	...	Officer Frank Smith
Richard Boone	...	Capt .James E. Hamilton
Ann Robinson	...	Officer Grace Downey
Stacy Harris	...	Max Edward Troy
Virginia Gregg	...	Mrs. Ethel Starkie
Vic Perrin	...	Adolph Alexander, Asst. Chief Deputy D.A. (as Victor Perrin)
Georgia Ellis	...	Belle Davitt
James Griffith	...	Jesse Quinn
Dick Cathcart	...	Roy Cleaver
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Lee Reinhard
Willard Sage	...	Chester Davitt
Olan Soule	...	Ray Pinker, Forensic Chemist
Dennis Weaver	...	Police Captain R.A. Lohrman
Monte Masters	...	Fabian Gerard

Also Known As:

The Original Dragnet (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #17096, General Audience) | West Germany:12 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mark VII Ltd.

Trivia:

Veteran Western sidekick Dub "Cannonball" Taylor appears briefly as Miller Starkie, the murder victim.

Quotes:

[an eyewitness is afraid to testify]
Jesse Quinn: Mr. Friday, I'd like to ask you a question. If you was me, would you do it?
Sgt. Joe Friday: Can I wait awhile?
Jesse Quinn: Huh?
Sgt. Joe Friday: Before I'm you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Soundtrack:

Theme From Dragnet (Danger Ahead)

Chrome

Check out the Chrome on the shiny 1950's automobiles. Look carefully and you will see the clear plastic air-conditioning tubes inside the rear window of the Cadillac. Wood furniture (not fiberboard), non-filter cigarettes by the ton, neon signs, 8-miles per gallon autos. This is authentic 1950's retro (and wastefulness) at its best.

Expensive color film and fine film editing. First-class musical scoring is seamlessly blended into the movie.

"Dragnet" is a meticulously planned movie project. Looks like every scene was thought out well in advance of the actual production. Webb must have been a very hard-working movie craftsman.

Stylistically, Webb's brisk handling of actors and clipped, monotonous dialog is not appealing to my tastes, but directing style is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. His style is OK for television shows but less so in a full-length movie. However, this is a good crime movie and Webb at least gives it a kind of watchable uniqueness.

Modern TV's "Law and Order" breaks no new ground. This "Dragnet" movie has the cops and detectives, then the District Attorney, then some sort of judicial hearing, etc. And of course "Law and Order" doesn't have those big chrome dinosaurs.