Best movie ever!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Those looking for elements of the Red Scare in this movie may be overlooking an aspect of life in the 1950's that was closer to the everyday lives of Los Angelinos: that the LAPD was one of the most corrupt departments in the country, and Webb was polishing apples for police chief William Parker by presenting his cops as honest dispensers of justice. We may accept Friday's "bumper-to-bumper" harassment of a suspect because he "knows" he's guilty, but at the same time, the cops were doing this and much worse to ordinary citizens, especially blacks and Latinos. Webb stops short of lighting his Chesterfields with a copy of the Bill of Rights, but clearly he, like the PD, saw it as a list of amusing suggestions. Ironically, Joe Friday has a testy exchange with a member of a grand jury about the ethics of wire tapping. When the jury member suggests that once criminals know their phones are being tapped, they'll just conduct their business on street corners. Friday's reply, "And we'll have a cop on every one of 'em!" came as Parker was pulling beat officers off the street and having them work from patrol cars. (Of course, Parker supported Webb when "Dragnet" did stories about the dangers of guns in the hands of children, much to the consternation of the NRA, but that's a topic for the listing of the TV show. Anyway, people can be more complex than we think them)

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.

It's nice to be among my fellow Dragnet fans. There is an important point to be made about the fifties and that is that it was an age of excess. It was big brass, big dance number, and big build up to every stupid little deal to the point that it was obnoxious and oppressive, especially to a kid. The landmarks in pop culture of the era were things that stood in opposition to that and provided blessed relief with a sense of brevity and minimalism. In westerns it was the emotionally and geographically beak landscape of Kansas in Gunsmoke. In comedy there was a show called The Honeymooners with a set that consisted of a table, one or two chairs, and a door that Ed Norton kept bursting through. In jazz it was the three, four, and five piece combos as opposed to big band. In popular music, it was Elvis with lead, rhythm, bass, and drums. (Actually not even drums at first). But the Daddy of them all was Dragnet. Terse is not the word. It's minimalism was blatantly self conscious to the point of absurdity. The public was stunned. It had the effect of being stripped of all nonsense so that you thought you were seeing the real thing. You weren't but you sure thought you were. When Joe Friday came on with his tired monotone and said "This.......is the city........it has churches........it has schools........it has parks.......", we thought it was so cool we could hardly stand it. But the biggest quote was "just the facts, ma'am". We used to repeat that all over the playground. Every time somebody was going too far it was "hey there, just the facts". And that's why the movie is a failure. That incredibly stylish brevity can't be stretched out. It has to be a half hour, otherwise it just looks like they're going around in circles. However the movie is still very enjoyable and a worthy addition to your collection (or mine anyway). The reason for that is that the movie has plenty of this other thing that the TV show was famous for which a vast array of delightfully god awful two bit loser punk criminals. Dragnet never dealt with Mr. Big, it was always these awful little two bit people, con men, purse snatchers, etc. There was even one incredible child molester episode (The Big Crime Sept 9, 1954). Jack Webb could really get the creepy feel going with these characters. I don't know if it's my imagination but does LA have a creepier underworld than other cities? Maybe the authors and screenwriters have made it seem so. But I recently read a biographical sketch of Barbara Graham (I Want To Live) and I honestly wish I hadn't, it was too creepy. So anyway in the movie you lose the terseness but keep the criminals. As for the color, of course it's not Dragnet but it's still fun if only for the sake of contrast. So check it out. Tell them Groucho sent you.

Contains Spoilers With the success of his television series, Jack Webb extended the working territory of Sgt. Joe Friday into widescreen color cinema with the first Dragnet motion picture, scripted by Richard Breen from an actual LAPD case file - complete with realistically detailed rap sheets on the perpetrators involved.Miller Starkey, White Male American, aged 44 - in LAPD lingo WMA 44, with an LA prison number of 106484; bookmaker, gambler, procurer, with no known legitimate occupation, and debt collector for Vegas bookies. Upon hearing George Fenneman's announcement of the truth of the story with name alteration to protect the innocent, we witness the actual commission of the crime in a field near Loma Vista, Third, Wentworth, and Rachel Avenues, as Starkey is gunned down in cold blood by hit-man Chester Davitt and West Coast mafia second-in-command Max Edward Troy (Stacy Harris). This dramatic device was comparatively unused in film at the time, predating by nearly two decades the formula made standard by one of Joe Friday's fellow LAPD detective lieutenants, a man named Columbo.Starkey's record is such that suspects in his killing are fairly easy to identify. The department rounds up Starkey's mob associates, and Friday and Frank Smith have the task of interrogating Max Troy, who despite four hours of often bitter questioning, refuses to admit to anything.Joe and Frank are given 36 hours to find evidence against Troy and his pals or they will have to walk. Despite a heated argument with Deputy DA Adolph "Alex" Alexander (Vic Perrin), the suspects have to be let go when the 36 hours elapses. Friday and Smith, though, continue the investigation, assigning Policewoman Grace Downey (Ann Robinson) to infiltrate a swanky nightclub at which Troy and his pals hang out (and which is covertly co-owned by Troy), and eventually finding Starkey's "work book," a diary of names and addresses of gambling debtors.From their sources the two officers learn that Starkey was badly beaten up and also that gambling debtors visited by Starkey were revisited by other enforcers who never got paid. From Grace Downey they also learn that Troy borrowed the nightclub bartender's car and that there is a package in the glove box that must be disposed of.Eventually Chester Davitt, Troy, and two others are arrested and taken before the grand jury, but the grand jury votes not to indict, which angers LAPD Intelligence chief James E. Hamilton (Richard Boone) enough that Friday and Smith are assigned a bumper-to-bumper tail - which humiliates Troy and leads to a brawl with several toughs.Grace Downey then comes up with a major clue, and wiretap recordings of the nightclub lead Chester Davitt's wife, who has furiously refused to cooperate with police, to suddenly change her mind and finger Troy and her husband, all of which gives the DA's office ample evidence to send Troy and company to the gas chamber. But Max Troy pulls one final fast one on the police ensuring he will never be arrested.