Sgt Joe Friday (Jack Webb) is on vacation, just dropping by the station to check his mail, and is subsequently placed back on duty with three days still left. He is to partner with Bill Gannon (Harry Morgan), set to retire because he failed his physical, working a "missing girls" case, where three beautiful models had been kidnapped and presumed as possibly deceased. This case—the basis for the 60s reprisal of Jack Webb's celebrated cop show "Dragnet"—is as grueling as Friday has worked, the evidence is non-existent, eye witnesses of the man responsible for these abductions often hinder them (such as the insufferable, extremely difficult, practically uncooperative Mrs. Kruger (Virginia Gregg, whose character is a cipher), proprietor of a "lonely hearts club", matching "Adams and Eves" together, whose establishment might have been used by the suspect), and leads often come up either short or entail further difficulties (the man used an alias of "J. Johnson", provides the lonely hearts club with a false address, and didn't provide a phone number). A composite drawing by a police sketch artist (one from a brother of a missing girl, the other probably a dud by Kruger who wants the cops to quit "harassing" her (she's more concerned with the welfare of her business than of female abduction victims)) is the first real assistance Friday and Gannon have at their disposal, as the pursuit of their kidnapper/killer winds up sending them into another completely different case even! The composite drawing is similar to a man named Leborg, from France, who has a child and fits the description, but this might just be coincidence, a coincidence that could actually lead to Friday and Gannon solving a second crime they weren't even assigned to. There's even a third case that might be associated with the one Friday and Gannon are working, but a tattoo with a rose doesn't seem to fit the mold of their suspect. That's the point of this pilot movie: to have Friday and Gannon often on a wild goose chase because the evidence and facts give them little to go on because the psychopath (he has camera equipment, a detail from the brother of the kidnapped sister gives the police) covers his tracks well. Amazing that at their most desperate, Friday can find a break through candy wrappers and a receipt! If you love the Dragnet series (either the 50s or 60s incarnations), I imagine this pilot movie will be right up your alley. Anyone familiar with Law & Order can relate to this series as Webb used many actors/actresses over and over again in other parts throughout the 60s reprisal of his hit 50s show, such as Bobby Troup, Virginia Gregg, and Vic Perrin (particularly memorable as the creep our heroes are out to catch, showcasing his ability to get under the skin at the end). Disturbing photos are revealed (bound and gagged women, pics taken right before the cretin killed them) and the show does provide subtle hints as to the deranged nature of such lurid crimes; that "race against time" attitude to get this scumbag off the streets is applied and we see the tough toll this case has on our detectives. Because this show, as so many we see on our televisions today, is so dedicated to presenting details and procedures in a realistic way, I think Dragnet stands the test of time, touching on themes that continue unto this day. Probably the most memorable scene (other than a depressing scene where a murdered man's son must be told his father's dead, the child hugging a saddened Friday), could be when Friday and Gannon must go to a lonely hearts club gathering to ask clients about J. Johnson...clearly an uncomfortable mission that must be done.
Review of Dragnet 1966
