Dragnet (1954)

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

Director:

Jack Webb

Writer:

Richard L. Breen (screenplay)

Stars:

Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, Richard Boone

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Saturday, April 9: A known bookie named Miller Starkie has been "cut in half" by a sawed-off, double-barrel shotgun. Working out of Intelligence Division, Sgt. Joe Friday and Off. Frank Smith piece together what little evidence they have, interview acquaintances, intimidate witnesses, interrogate suspects to the point of harassment, utilize a Minifon and a wiretap, and testify before the Grand Jury in a tireless effort to catch and convict Starkie's killers.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | grand jury | murder | murder mystery | fifth amendment | 

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Taglines:

This was the hottest case to hit the department!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1954 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Original Dragnet

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark VII Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Assistant Director Oren Haglund's name shows on the back of a fight ticket as O.H. Haglund.

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Goofs

The murder scene is an open lot bounded by Loma Vista, 3rd, Wentworth and Rachel. These are actual streets in the LA area but do not intersect or form a block.

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Quotes

Max Troy: Now you listen to me, cop, I pay your salary!
Sgt. Joe Friday: All right, sit down, I'm gonna earn it!

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Connections

Spoofed in Tree Cornered Tweety (1956)

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Soundtracks

"Foggy Night in San Francisco"
Music by Herman S. Saunders (as Herman Saunders)
Lyrics by Sidney Miller

User Reviews

Hard-hitting crime drama bearing little relation to TV series

"Dragnet" was the first theatrical feature to be based on a successful television series. Too bad its script bears little relation to the elements of that show.

In the 1952-59 series, viewers never saw the crime being committed. "Dragnet" was a mystery program; Sgt. Friday and Officer Smith would be called in to solve a crime, then locate and arrest the guilty party/parties. (As Webb put it, "This makes YOU a cop, and you unwind the story.") "Dragnet" (1954) begins with the actual crime, so that we KNOW who's guilty even before the titles appear. The movie is no mystery, merely the depiction of a murder investigation, in toto.

Worse, the Sgt. Friday in this film is not the quiet, dedicated cop of the radio and TV original. The feature marks the beginning of Friday the Supercop, the holier-than-thou sergeant never without a wisecrack for the criminal ("Unless you're growin', sit down!") or a put-down for the recalcitrant citizen ("Mr. Friday, if you was me, would you [testify]?" "Can I wait awhile... before I'm you?").

The film was a huge box office success, the most profitable of Webb's five theatrical productions. It cost a hair over $500,000 to make, and took in nearly six million. It was Warner's second-highest grossing film of 1954, after "The High and the Mighty." And, of course, it opened the door for the TV crossovers that continue to this day. It's just a shame that the "real" Sgt. Friday didn't appear, and an even bigger shame that this 'evil twin' eventually eclipsed the original.