Dragnet (1987)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Tom Mankiewicz

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (written by) and
Alan Zweibel (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

They're so bad at being bad... but so much worse at being good!

Plot:

The equally-straight-laced and "by the book" nephew of Joe Friday must work with his more laid-back partner to solve a mystery.

Plot Keywords:

Zoo | Police | Police Commissioner | Detective | Strip Club

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 13	7:00 AM	MAX
Sat. July 18	6:30 AM	MAX

Cast

Dan Aykroyd	...	Sgt. Joe Friday
Tom Hanks	...	Pep Streebeck
Christopher Plummer	...	Reverend Jonathan Whirley
Harry Morgan	...	Captain Gannon
Alexandra Paul	...	Connie Swail
Jack O'Halloran	...	Emil Muzz
Elizabeth Ashley	...	Jane Kirkpatrick
Dabney Coleman	...	Jerry Caesar
Kathleen Freeman	...	Enid Borden
Bruce Gray	...	Mayor Parvin
Lenka Peterson	...	Granny Mundy
Julia Jennings	...	Sylvia Wiss
Lisa Aliff	...	April
Joe Altmark	...	Milkman
Nina Arvesen	...	Lady Motor Cop
Fred Asparagus	...	Tito Provencal
Peter Aykroyd	...	Phoney Cop #2
Larry Bilzarian	...	SWAT Trooper
Jim Boeke	...	Nectar Pagan
Sandra Canning	...	Baitmate
William Chalmers	...	Observatory Pagan
Donald Craig	...	Announcer
Karen Criswell	...	Mansion Cellist
Josh Cruze	...	Police Officer
Jennifer Curry	...	Mansion Violinist
Gray Daniels	...	Crewman #1
Gary Lee Davis	...	Leggings Pagan
Susan Deemer	...	Coffee Bar Dancer
Juliana Donald	...	Zookeeper (as Juli Donald)
Sandra Eng	...	TV Reporter
Ava Fabian	...	Baitmate
Kimberly Foster	...	Betsy Blees
Ruben Garfias	...	Tough #2
Sharon Gilchrist	...	Mansion Musician
Chester Grimes	...	Pagan
Bert Hinchman	...	Night Watchman
D.D. Howard	...	Officer Robin Gilbert
Peter Leeds	...	Roy Grest
Margaret Lenzey	...	Baitmate
Lori Leonelli	...	Baitmate
Lisa London	...	1982 Redhead
Kent MacLachlan	...	Young Officer
Christopher Mankiewicz	...	White Coat
Maurice Marsac	...	Maitre d'
Marshall Maurice Mitchell	...	Tough #1
Stuart Quan	...	Tough #3
Ingrid M. Rhoads	...	Baitmate
Casey Sander	...	Phoney Cop #1
Billy Ray Sharkey	...	Drug Pagan
Jimmie F. Skaggs	...	Caterer Pagan
John Walton Smith Jr.	...	Lt. Thumb
Dona Speir	...	Baitmate
Chuck Thornton	...	Mo Sarkus
Bill Wittman	...	Narrator (voice)
Meg Wyllie	...	Mrs. Gannon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Perry	...	Guitar player in opening scene (uncredited)
Shannon Tweed	...	Baitmate (uncredited)
Sydney Urshan	...	Officer Conklin (uncredited)

Directed by
Tom Mankiewicz

Writing credits
Jack Webb		(radio and television series) uncredited
Dan Aykroyd		(written by) and
Alan Zweibel		(written by) and
Tom Mankiewicz		(written by)

Produced by
Bernie Brillstein	....	executive producer
David Permut	....	producer
Robert K. Weiss	....	producer
Don Zepfel	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ira Newborn

Cinematography by
Matthew F. Leonetti		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
William D. Gordean		(as William Gordean)
Richard Halsey

Casting by
David Rubin
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Robert F. Boyle

Art Direction by
Frank Richwood

Set Decoration by
Arthur Jeph Parker

Costume Design by
Taryn De Chellis		(as Taryn DeChellis)

Makeup Department
Christine Lee	....	hair stylist
Jerry O'Dell	....	makeup artist (as Gerald O'Dell)
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist (as Daniel Striepeke)

Production Management
Don Zepfel	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Fortmuller	....	second second assistant director
Terry Leonard	....	second unit director
Victoria E. Rhodes	....	second assistant director (as Vicki Rhodes)
Gary Rogers	....	second second assistant director
Willie E. Simmons Jr.	....	second second assistant director (as Willie Simmons)
Carol Smetana	....	first assistant director: second unit
David Sosna	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Carl Aldana	....	production illustrator
Larry Clark Bird	....	property master
Jim Callan	....	stand-by painter
Lynda May Jasper-Vogel	....	mask maker
Peter Lamppu	....	construction foreman
Steve Martin	....	leadman: set dressing
Dennis McCarthy	....	mask maker
Lee Orlikoff	....	leadman: set dressing
John J. Rutchland III	....	construction foreman
John J. Rutchland Jr.	....	construction coordinator (as John J. Rutchland)
Michael Taylor	....	leadman: set dressing
Vinnie Vecchio	....	assistant property master
Ken Zimmerman	....	assistant property master
Jimmy Flores	....	construction foreman (uncredited)
Steven Curtis Husch	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Rick Alexander	....	supervising sound re-recording mixer
James Bolt	....	sound recordist
Willie D. Burton	....	sound mixer (as Willie Burton)
Jeff Clark	....	sound editor
George Fredrick	....	sound editor (as George Frederick)
Robert W. Harris	....	sound technician (as Robert Harris)
Paul Holzborn	....	foley artist
Daniel J. Leahy	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Daniel Leahy)
Marvin E. Lewis	....	boom operator (as Marvin Lewis)
Andy MacDonald	....	sound re-recording mixer
Donald J. Malouf	....	sound editor (as Don Malouf)
James Moriana	....	foley artist (as Jim Moriana)
Colin C. Mouat	....	sound editor (as Colin Mouat)
Joe Parker	....	sound editor
Daniel Payton	....	sound assistant (as Dan Payton)
John Stacy	....	supervising sound editor
Denise Whiting	....	adr editor
Kyle Wright	....	sound editor
Tim Grace	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Jeff Frink	....	special effects
Roger Hansen	....	special effects
Whitey Krumm	....	special effects
David B. Miller	....	designer: snake
Jimmy Thomson	....	special effects (as Jim Thomson)
Cliff Wenger	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Syd Dutton	....	special visual effects: Illusion Arts Inc.
Bill Taylor	....	special visual effects: Illusion Arts Inc.

Stunts
Perry Barndt	....	stunts (as Perry Brandt)
Brad Bovee	....	stunts
Jim Burk	....	stunts
Brian Burrows	....	stunts
Danny Costa	....	stunts
David D. Darling	....	stunts (as David Darling)
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	....	stunts (as Jeffrey Dashnaw)
Vince Deadrick Sr.	....	stunts
Mark De Alessandro	....	stunts (as Mark Dealessandro)
Scott Dockstader	....	stunts
Corey Michael Eubanks	....	stunts (as Corey Eubanks)
Allan Graf	....	stunts
Terry Jackson	....	stunt double: Tom Hanks
Tracy Keehn-Dashnaw	....	stunts (as Tracy Keehn)
Hubie Kerns Jr.	....	stunts
William T. Lane	....	stunts (as William Lane)
Terry Leonard	....	stunt coordinator
Bobby McLaughlin	....	stunts (as Bob McLaughlin)
Jeff Ramsey	....	stunts
Kerry Rossall	....	stunts
Ben Scott	....	stunts
John-Clay Scott	....	stunts
Russell Solberg	....	stunts
Joe Stone	....	stunts
Richard Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mike Amorelli	....	rigging gaffer
Lloyd Barcroft	....	second company grip
Bob Bergdahl	....	camera operator
Michael W. Blymyer	....	lamp operator (as Michael Blymyer)
Pat Blymyer	....	chief lighting technician
Dick Colean	....	camera operator: second unit
Candy Edwards	....	second assistant camera (as Candace Edwards)
Bob Fillis	....	assistant chief lighting technician (as Robert Fillis)
Robert Fiore	....	lamp operator
Antonio V. Garrido	....	dolly grip (as Tony Garrido)
John Hart	....	lamp operator
Joe Kelly	....	grip
T. Sano Kwong	....	second company grip
Robert LaBonge	....	first assistant camera (as Bob La Bonge)
Hal Landaker	....	video playback operator
Brian LeGrady	....	second assistant camera
John J. Linder	....	key grip (as John Linder)
Johnny London Jr.	....	grip (as John London Jr.)
Richard Craig Meinardus	....	first assistant camera (as Dick Meinardus)
Montey Menapace	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Ralph Nelson	....	still photographer
David B. Nowell	....	aerial photographer (as David Nowell)
Michael St. Hilaire	....	camera operator (as Mike St. Hilaire)
Robert C. Thomas	....	director of photography: second unit
Michael D. Weldon	....	first assistant camera (as Mike Weldon)
Joseph T. Terranova	....	set lighting technician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Brian Callahan	....	costumer: men
Dan Moore	....	costume supervisor
Renee Alaina Sacks	....	costumer: women
Janet Henry Gershenfeld	....	costume maker (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Phil Downey	....	color timer
Gregory Gontz	....	assistant editor (as Greg Gontz)
Colleen Halsey	....	assistant editor (as Colleen Kincaid)
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter
Frank E. Jimenez	....	associate editor (as Frank Jimenez)
Jeff Weisend	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Jeff Carson	....	supervising music editor
Alf Clausen	....	composer: additional music (as Alf Clauson)
Alf Clausen	....	orchestrator (as Alf Clauson)
Gary Ladinsky	....	music score engineer
Gary Ladinsky	....	music score mixer
Don Nemitz	....	composer: additional music
Don Nemitz	....	orchestrator
David Newman	....	composer: additional music
David Newman	....	orchestrator
Bruce Robb	....	music engineer
Bruce Robb	....	music mixer
Bruce Robb	....	music recorder (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Dennis Clark	....	transportation captain
Ken Day	....	driver: insert car (as Kenny Day)
Vince del Castillo	....	transportation coordinator (as Vince Del Castillo)
Don McManus	....	transportation captain
Timothy P. Ryan	....	transportation captain (as Tim Ryan)
John Tuell	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Dan Cooke	....	technical advisor (as Lt. Dan Cooke)
Debra Crowningshield	....	production assistant
Robert C. Decker	....	location manager
Ron Filbert	....	auditor
Peter Giuliano	....	location manager: second unit
Rob Harris	....	publicist
Fred Inman	....	police coordinator
Maria Jackson	....	secretary: Mr. Mankiewicz
Katie Jacobs	....	assistant: Mr. Permut
Trish Kinney	....	script supervisor
Clay Lacy	....	aerial coordinator
Mark L. Levine	....	production assistant (as Mark Levine)
Kevin Marcy	....	production associate (as Kevin M. Marcy)
Scott Patterson	....	pilot
Dickson Courtney Silberberg	....	production assistant
Ann Ford Stevens	....	assistant: Mr. Mankeiwicz (as Ann Stevens)
Douy Swofford	....	title designer
Cliff Taylor	....	assistant location manager
Chuck Thornton	....	pilot: T-38
Linda Von	....	secretary: Mr. Weiss
Lisa J. Watters	....	production coordinator
Hope Williams	....	script supervisor: second unit
Jerry Woodside	....	assistant chief rigging technician
Robert 'Bobby Z' Zajonc	....	pilot (as Robert M. Zajonc)

Production Companies

• Applied Action
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1996) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1988) (France) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1988) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Esselte Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Illusion Arts (special visual effects)

Other Companies

• Boyington Film Productions  motion control photography: titles (as Boyington Film Production)
• Cherokee Studios  original music recorded and mixed at
• Cinema Research  title opticals
• City of Los Angeles  special thanks
• Clay Lacy Aviation  provider: Lear jets
• Leonetti Cine Rentals  provider: Ultracam 35 camera and lenses
• Los Angeles Police Department  special thanks
• MCA Records  soundtrack released by
• Michaelson's  catering
• Thornton Corporation  provider: T-38 jet
• Universal Title  opticals

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #28649) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Norway:11 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Applied Action

Trivia:

Dan Aykroyd's character talks about Los Angeles and how could things be permitted in the same city in which they recorded "We are the World". Aykroyd sang with the other performers on "We are the World".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Pep Streebeck is watching television using the Seiko brand "TV Watch". He is clearly not using headphones; but the Seiko "TV Watch" has no external speaker and requires the headphones to hear any audio. He is also not using the television's antenna. Therefore, not only should there be no sound coming from the watch, there should also be no reception either.

Quotes:

Joe Friday: I don't care what undercover rock you crawled out from, there's a dress code for detectives in Robbery-Homicide. Section 3-605. 10. 20. 22. 24. 26. 50. 70. 80. It specifies: clean shirt, short hair, tie, pressed trousers, sports jacket or suit, and leather shoes, preferably with a high shine on them.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of Comedy (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

City of Crime

One Of My Guilty Pleasures

Although Tom Hanks and Christopher Plummer and Dan Ackroyd have certainly done better work than Dragnet, I can't think of a movie where any of them would have had better fun making it. Dragnet is one of the guilty pleasures I have, a film that will never be rated as one of the greatest of all time, but a film that I split a gut laughing at even though I know all the jokes coming.

Dragnet is a satirical version of the famous documentary style police show from the Fifties and the later color version from the sixties. Dan Ackroyd's dead-on impersonation of the no-nonsense monotone Jack Webb that a generation of Americans grew up remembering is excellent. Like Webb he plays it completely straight or maybe I should say straight man.

Because he's got a new partner fresh from undercover narcotics in Tom Hanks. Ackroyd's not quite used to the girl chasing, motorcycle loving partner that he's been assigned to. He's been brought up in the strict traditions of his Uncle Joe and he has a photograph of Jack Webb on his desk. He's even got Harry Morgan as his captain and we well remember that Harry Morgan was Jack Webb's partner in the sixties version of Dragnet.

Anyway the two of them are assigned to investigate an assortment of crimes that a motorcycle gang called the PAGANS are responsible for. I can't explain any more because the plot gets positively surreal from here. All I can say is the laughs never stop.

Look for some good supporting performances in addition to those mentioned from Elizabeth Ashley as the new police commissioner, Alexandra Paul as 'the virgin Connie Swale', Jack O'Halloran as a Pagan member, Kathleen Freeman as a foulmouthed landlady, and Dabney Coleman as a Hugh Hefner type publisher.

But most of all this film belongs to Christopher Plummer in every scene he's in. He plays the whole thing with a twinkle in his eye when he's being the most sanctimonious as the Reverend Jonathan Whirley. I can't think of a film where Plummer is funnier in or one where it looks like he's having such a good time.

The good time is positively infectious. The most hidebound stuffed shirt will love this film as I did.