Dragnet (TV Series) The Big Lease (1953) User Reviews

Where's Mr. Dillon?!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 26 December 2013]

A woman back East has contacted the Los Angeles Police. Her brother, Mr. Dillon, has been missing for a couple months and no one has heard from him. Friday and Smith investigate and follow the few leads they have--to a tenant in Dillon's apartment building, a bank officer and a friend. All admitted that Dillon was very depressed following his wife's death--but they were not in agreement as to whether or not Dillon might have killed himself. Eventually, the police come up with an interesting inconsistencies---such as Dillon's wife charging items at a local department store AFTER her death!! This led to the re-questioning of one of the witnesses and soon the case becomes a lot more complicated and sad.

I think the reason I really liked this particular episode is the character of Lucille Banner. She was an incredibly chilling character--a real sociopath. See this one and see what I mean. Well worth your time.

First Interview was First Suspect and was the Murderer

[biorngm · 8/10 · 5 April 2018]

Review - The Big Lease Aired 5-14-53 Friday, Smith are working out of Homicide Division which ought to tip the viewer the story is not going to be pretty, but what homicides are. First there is a letter from a woman back East about her brother she has not heard from for some time, and she is naturally worried. The investigation begins interviewing the woman in LA renting the man's house. Little do we know this same woman is the murderer of the missing person.

Through a series of interviews, tracing all the leads where the man was reportedly to be, Friday, Smith methodically piece together the clues leading to the final arrest and conviction of the person they talked in the Captain's office at the onset of the program. They did not know she was a suspect, but the story she gave of holding rent checks until the owner of the house returned from an extended vacation was a tip off. Hold checks until I get back? What the banker can't handle the transactions while the man is away? Something is rotten to begin the story and where is a copy of the original lease between the missing man and the mystery lady renting his house? Then she tells Friday, Smith she sublet the house to somebody.

A copy of the original lease would tell if a sub-lease was permissible. Charges on a credit card from a dead person's wife, two weeks after he was reported missing, again something is not right. It is one crime to use the credit card unlawfully, but quite another to shoot the missing man, bury him with the murder weapon in a greenhouse compost box! A well-acted episode with enough twists to keep one guessing until the gardener talks about the eccentricities of our suspect.

Well-done early episode of a great tv show

[ronnybee2112 · 8/10 · 10 September 2022]

In this episode we are treated to a very-young (but already hard-boiled) Jack Webb as Joe Friday in this earlier episode of Dragnet. A recently-widowed landlord/owner of a large house has been reported missing by his out of state sister after she has no luck getting ahold of him over the the course of several weeks worth of phone calls. Dear reader,you are under no obligation to read any further. Apparently I am required to write 600 characters,which seems rather arbitrary and silly,in my opinion. I am done with my review,so please feel free to leave at any time. Hopefully,the word requirement will be met soon and I can move on.

(I just checked,not yet.) If there were a 600 character LIMIT,I would run-out of room 1/3 of the way through a 'clever' review.