UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Isbel
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
dougdoepke
This colorized 90 minutes of "Just the facts M'am", can't disguise that it's really an over-long 30 minute episode. Unlike the series, the movie starts off with a bloody bang, but in the process drains the plot of much needed suspense. Instead, we're left with 85 minutes of erratic police interviews, gleeful harassment of a known felon, and one very unnecessary, but carefully choreographed brawl that does add action but also points up the street-fighter inadequacies of the rail-thin Webb and the paunchy Ben Alexander. (Some of the frames appear set up for 3-D, so be prepared to duck.) The film's climax comes across as ironic but unfortunately Webb can't resist rubbing our nose in it.Don't get me wrong-- I was and still am a fan of the series, which occasionally produced some pretty powerful melodramas involving ordinary people and their day-to-day travails. During those Mc Carthyite years, even a glimpse of social realism was hard to come by in series TV, (it might aid commie propaganda). Webb's tersely delivered lines and tight close-ups often worked brilliantly in the half-hour format to bring out otherwise submerged dramatic values. However, stretched over 90 minutes, Webb's exaggerated style becomes pretty tiresome, as does his endless parade of smart-alecky toppers.That same year, 1954, Lucy and Desi spun off from their own wildly successful series to make a movie, The Long, Long Trailer. By most accounts, it is clearly superior to their series. I'm afraid the opposite is true here. Except for nostalgia buffs and curiosity seekers, there's only one reason I can think of to catch up with this 50's artifact. The gorgeous Ann Robinson as the policewoman should be enough to induce even the most hardened cop-hater into joining the force. I should be getting my badge any day now.
edwagreen
Jack Webb and Ben Alexander, the two television icons of "Dragnet," made this 1954 film. As an inducement to get people to see it, the film was colorized. The television show was black and white.The story centers on a runner who is rubbed out at the beginning. Unlike the television show, the killers are shown at the beginning so there is no guessing game. More action was needed. This film was made as if it were for television.There are two very good supporting performances by Virginia Gregg, as the widow of the murder victim. Her scene of utter despair and drunkeness was memorable. When it showed her on one foot, your heart could give out. Also noteworthy was Georgia Ellis' portrayal of the murderer's wife, hard-boiled and abusive to police, she soon changes her ways when her husband is knocked off.We have the usual elements of police harassment, but this time it's more than justified, a witness who is scared off, thereby making the case harder to get to the guilty.When the head of the mob falls victim to cancer at the end, we can all say, "He deserved it."Speaking of the latter dread disease, the film is marred in a way by Joe Friday's (Webb's) chronic smoking. The latter probably led to his early demise from a coronary some years ago.
muvphreek
Every time I see this movie, I find something else about it that makes me like it all the more. Whether its the cars, the attitudes, the clothes or just the story itself. I liked the cast from the very first time and recognized most of them from the TV series. Seeing again, now, was like getting visit from some old friends. It departed from the TV show in that you saw the crime committed up front and there was no epilogue of the outcome. But otherwise, it was classic Joe Friday. Just the facts. Not a lot of superfluous rhetoric or endless scenes of police tailing bad guys. Lots of voice over with details like time of day, location, etc. Simple interrogation from Friday with smart-mouth answers from the bad guys and the snappy, emotional responses from Joe. It kind of gets you, right where you live, you know? Don't miss this one. You won't be sorry.
Evan J. Chase
The early radio and TV episodes of Dragnet were brilliantly written and dramatized. It was only natural to bring it to the big screen. Unfortunately, the screenplay did not compliment Jack Webb's track record.The viewer really can't sympathize with anyone in the story. Criminals brutally kill another criminal. I originally saw this movie as a child in 1954 and still remember how scared I was watching the opening scene before the main credits. Instead of the fascinating narration and lively characters of the radio and TV show, we have mostly downright depressing and tragic characters in this story, lots of frustration for the police, and not an overall satisfying story. I wish it could have been better---thankfully we have all the radio and early TV Dragnets extant!Cast-wise, Jack brought virtually all of his radio and tv cast members to the big screen here, and am I imagining things, or was that early Our Gang member Mickey Daniels in a 10-second role as an outraged attendent in the card club right after the fistfight?
