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M Squad

  • TV Series
  • 1957–1960
  • Not Rated
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
365
YOUR RATING
Lee Marvin in M Squad (1957)
M-Squad
Play trailer0:43
1 Video
8 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller

The hard-hitting adventures of tough Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, a member of the Chicago Police Department's M Squad, an elite crime-fighting unit.The hard-hitting adventures of tough Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, a member of the Chicago Police Department's M Squad, an elite crime-fighting unit.The hard-hitting adventures of tough Lieutenant Frank Ballinger, a member of the Chicago Police Department's M Squad, an elite crime-fighting unit.

  • Stars
    • Lee Marvin
    • Paul Newlan
    • Gail Kobe
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    365
    YOUR RATING
    • Stars
      • Lee Marvin
      • Paul Newlan
      • Gail Kobe
    • 14User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Episodes117

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated

    Videos1

    M-Squad
    Trailer 0:43
    Watch M-Squad

    Photos8

    M Squad (1957)
    M Squad (1957)
    Tom Laughlin and Stuart Randall in M Squad (1957)
    Lee Marvin and Stuart Randall in M Squad (1957)
    Burt Reynolds and Stuart Randall in M Squad (1957)
    Lee Marvin and Janice Rule in M Squad (1957)
    Lee Marvin in M Squad (1957)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Lee Marvin
    Lee Marvin
    • Detective Lt. Frank Ballinger…
    Paul Newlan
    Paul Newlan
    • Police Capt. Grey
    Gail Kobe
    Gail Kobe
    • Anne Weldon…
    Morris Ankrum
    Morris Ankrum
    • Police Capt. Dean…
    Claire Carleton
    Claire Carleton
    • Dolly Mundy…
    William Phipps
    William Phipps
    • Al 'Bugsy' Page…
    Paula Raymond
    Paula Raymond
    • Judith Rollins…
    Whitney Blake
    Whitney Blake
    • Jo Bennett…
    Grant Richards
    Grant Richards
    • Eddie Pagano…
    Ruta Lee
    Ruta Lee
    • Connie Meston…
    Herbert Ellis
    • Det. Bailey…
    John Goddard
    John Goddard
    • Charles Logan…
    Ann Morrison
    • Mother…
    John Beradino
    John Beradino
    • Detective D'amico…
    DeForest Kelley
    DeForest Kelley
    • Police Sgt. Miller…
    Jeanne Bates
    Jeanne Bates
    • Audrey Cranston…
    Maggie McCarter
    • Adele…
    Theodore Newton
    Theodore Newton
    • Garden…
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      An episode featuring a Chicago cop taking a bribe led to Mayor Richard J. Daley banning any television show or film from doing any shooting in Chicago at all. That ban was later broken with the filming of The Blues Brothers (1980).
    • Quotes

      Lt. Frank Ballinger: [spoken in voiceover near beginning of each episode, as he tells audience about a recently committed crime] My name is Frank Ballinger, detective-lieutenant, M Squad, a special detail of the Chicago police.

    • Connections
      Featured in Discovering Film: Lee Marvin (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      M Squad
      (theme 1957-1958)

      Written by Stanley Wilson

    User reviews14

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    They Don't Make 'Em Like This Any More
    Straight out of the James M. Cain hard boiled school of crime fiction (minus the sex, of course) this was TV by men for men. Each episode began and ended with a pithy remark or two by the hero/narrator Detective-Leut. Frank Ballinger about "my town"--Chicago, that is.

    Oddly, this fifty-plus year old series can still provide insights and observations that seem fresh, about police work, about human nature in general. The tough, minimalist dialog contains lines that make you want to write them down for future use.

    Lee Marvin is perfect. He was only mid-thirties when this series was shot but looks somewhat older, or anyway more mature, with his lived-in face and prematurely white hair. Marvin personifies toughness but he's no Steve McQueen. That is, he can handle a line of dialog articulately, use his voice like a woodwind, yet lose none of his manliness.

    The only aspect of the character of Lieut. Ballinger that is a bit unrealistic is his almost monkish attitude toward women--imposed on the character due to the prevailing broadcast standards of the time. In this series women are mostly trouble, or else the grieving widow of a police officer or the wife of a criminal, astonishingly naive about what her man really does.

    Without all the technical advances of today's television production, this show accomplished more with just tight writing, solid acting and straightforward directing.
    helpful•7
    0
    • kayaker36
    • Jul 4, 2010

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 20, 1957 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Dezernat 'M'
    • Filming locations
      • Chicago, Illinois, USA
    • Production companies
      • Latimer Productions
      • Revue Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      30 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 4:3

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