Absolutely the worst movie.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

As we commemorate the 65th golden anniversary of one of the greatest if not the architectural format of the police drama it is evident to see why after all these years why "Dragnet" has stood the test of time. "Dragnet" was directly responsible for the maturation and realistic portrayal of police dramas(that set the tone for other police dramas to follow). In cooperation and support of the Los Angeles Police Department,"Dragnet" set out to do what no other drama has done and it mainly focused on the actual police stories as it follow a strict system of coordinated measures to apprehend criminals and suspects. Jack Webb the show's creator-producer-director-and actor(under his production company Mark VII Limited) was largely responsible for this. And to see why "Dragnet" was such a success that it lasted into a franchise that still to this day phenomenal beyond expectations.The program opened each week with these words from Detective-Sargent Joe Friday: "This is the city. Los Angeles,California. I work here. I carry a badge." Dragnet's hallmark was its appearance of realism that were actual cases that were from the files of the Los Angeles Police Department to the documentary style narration by Joe Friday,to the accuracy and sheer detail of police work(9:15...It was sunny in Los Angeles we were working the day watch out of homicide...the boss is Captain Perry, my partner is Frank Smith. my name's Friday).The origins of "Dragnet" first began on radio for NBC that premiered on June 3,1949 lasting until July 26,1957 for 314 episodes. Then after its success of radio made the transition to television on December 16,1951 where it was one of the biggest television hits in the history of NBC lasting eight seasons and 276 black-and-white episodes until August 23,1959 when Jack Webb abruptly pull the plug on the series during which garnered high ratings. Then after an eight year hiatus "Dragnet" returned to NBC in a new format that lasted three seasons and 98 Technicolor episodes airing from January 12,1967 until April 16,1970. NBC was set to keep Dragnet on for a fifth season until the show's creator-producer Jack Webb pull the plug on the show at the end of its fourth and final season due to other reasons. "Dragnet" also spawned two more versions of the show. On October 24,1989 the syndicated "The New Dragnet" produced 52 episodes lasting until January 21,1991. Even creator and producer Dick Wolf(of "Law and Order") revised a new version titled "L.A. Dragnet" for ABC that lasted a mere season and 22 episodes from May 11, 2003 until May 5, 2004. The success of the television series also spawned two theatrical features. At the height of show's success on TV, Warner Brothers Pictures in 1954 released in theaters "Dragnet",and in 1987 Universal Pictures released in theaters a comedy version of "Dragnet" with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks with a appearance by Harry Morgan(who played Officer Bill Gannon in the revised version of the television series)."Dragnet" had a documentary style approach on how police procedures worked and the detectives that handled the cases since audiences had no idea on how the suspects were captured and brought to justice. Just before the show took its final commercial break,the show's announcer would inform the audience of something that was related to the case. Here is an example: "On July 20th,trial was held in Department 184 Superior Court of the State of California,in and for the county of Los Angeles. In a moment the results of that trial." Then after the break the camera faded in for what was presumably the perpetrator's mug shot consisting of him or her standing uncomfortably against the wall where the results of the trial were announced where the perpetrator's name and fate were superimposed on the screen. Here is an example: "The suspects were found guilty of.....and the sentence was punishable for no more than a maximum of...." which was the case where they are being committed for their crime. The success of Dragnet won five Prime-Time Emmys for Best Mystery Program, Best Outstanding Actor(Jack Webb), Best Supporting Actor, Photography, and Outstanding Direction(Jack Webb) and was Nominated for 12. Dragnet was nominated for 2 Directors Guild Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and in 1953 won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Episode and Outstanding Writing.Even after more than 65 years later "Dragnet" is still one of the more realistic cop dramas ever produced and it is evident to see why it has lasted longer and has other cop shows using its formula. Jack Webb was an architect of the police drama format. A testimony that still holds up to this day. Happy 65th Anniversary "Dragnet".....Jack Webb.....

I purchased a couple of episodes of the classic B & W version of "Dragnet" in a "Everything for a Buck" sort of store, not long ago. In one collection, the transfer from film to DVD was great. However, the other set, from a different company, left a good deal to be desired. The film quality was low, and to add insult to injury, they had edited music from the score, as well. I would wager that it was the signature, "Dahhh-da-DUM-DUM" that we all know "Dragnet" by.Still was a great watch, however, and the stories are interesting. Just having the audio quality change, and small bits of dialoge get clipped by inserting a piano playing a couple of notes, is somewhat irritating.

Dragnet, Mulholland Falls and L.A. Confidential I've done some reading over the years about Dragnet. Jack Webb was making a movie called "He Walked by Night" in 1948 when the technical advisor, LAPD detective Marty Wynn, expressed exasperation that Hollywood never depicted police work as it actually was. the cops were always hard boiled tough guys, crooked or buffoons. Webb, after thinking about it, asked to accompany Wynn and his partner, Vance Brasher on their nightly rounds and became fascinated by police procedure and the way the real policemen talked. He suggested the radio series that became "Dragnet". The LAPD was enthusiastic because they found the way they were constantly being depicted as distasteful. Webb's police went by the book, spoke "like doctors would to patients". He also eschewed violence except in rare instances, usually showing it after it had taken place and depicting it as the human tragedy it actually was. Webb closely co-operated with the LAPD, using their files for stories and filling his shows with praise for Chief William Parker, who had been hired in 1950 to clean up and give a new image to the department. The Watts riots were the first chink in this image. Many analysts blamed them on Parker and his department, which was said to enforce racist unofficial rules about which part of town blacks could be in. In recent years, two films have been released which seem to further undercut the image of the LAPD that Webb created, Mulholland Falls, (1996) and L.A. Confidential, (1997). Mulholland Falls introduces us to the "Hat Squad", which is said to be non-fictional. Nick Nolte and his gang report directly to Chief Parker, (who is played briefly but perfectly by Bruce Dern, judging from newsreel clips I saw on his biography). He hired them to rid the city of mobsters and other criminals and to stay above politics. Nobody, but nobody is allowed to operate in L.A., not even the FBI, without going through Parker. The Hat Squad makes their own rules to do their job, including throwing a would-be mobster, (played by CSI"s William Peterson), off a cliff on Mulholland Drive they have given the title name. In L.A. Confidential, the Hat Squad and Chief Parker do not make an appearance, although I wonder if James Cromwell's Capt. Smith is somehow supposed to represent him. We are introduced here to Jack Vincennes, who is a technical advisor on a show obviously intended to represent Dragnet, the star of which is a total phony. Russell Crowe's Bud White would look good in a hat and Guy Pearce's Ed Exley seems to have watched too many episodes of Dragnet.These two films suggest that Dragnet was a phony, too, a public relations gimmick to make the seedy LAPD look good. Recent events have also not helped the image of the department, suggesting that planting evidence to help along prosecution and prejudice against African Americans is a long-standing condition. Maybe those melodramas of the 40's had it right about the LAPD. But books about Jack Webb tell about him doing such extensive research into not only the methods of the department but also the details of a cop's life. I suspect that even Chief Parker could not have protected the Hat Squad once they attacked and brutally beat up an FBI agent, as Nick Nolte does. And are we to believe that Mickey Cohen was brought to justice so the LAPD could take over his rackets? Was there ever an Alamo-like shoot out between good cops and bad cops? Was it that bad? Or is Hollywood simply reclaiming the territory won by Jack Webb in Dragnet?There are people who know. But I am not one of them.

I'm most familiar with the Harry Morgan period but all versions I've seen of the TV and radio originals are really good. Post-sixties angst is absent from the stories and characterizations, as in Perry Mason and perhaps a few others. Actually, "Ozzie and Harriet" from a different angle gives the same picture of a time with a bit less self-doubt.