"Dragnet" ushered in a myriad of nitty gritty police dramas, it seemed every department could boast of it's own show - "Racket Squad", "Federal Men" etc. "Code 3" was a realistic look at police procedure and it was good but not good enough to erase memories of just how innovative "Dragnet" was.
The first thing I noticed about the few episodes I have was just how old Tom Brown looked!!! In the early 30s he was so fresh faced, he even played Gilbert Blyth in 1934's "Anne of Green Gables", twenty years on he was distinctly looking his age. That was in the episode "The Rookie Sheriff" which starred Peter Van Eyck as an older rookie who just can't get used to the free and easy methods of training the American recruits. I also thought - what happened to those patient policemen?? In one scene Van Eyck explodes after a drunk disrespects his uniform and his fellow policemen give him a lecture about America being the land of the free, anyone can say what they want to the police - that's what makes America so great. What happened to those times???
"The Man With Many Faces" dealt with forgery. Whit Bissell plays a kindly accountant who will do anything to see his dying daughter gets the best of care - even if it means resorting to forgery. Sally Blane starred as the nurse. "The Sniper" has Ron Randall doing his best Humphrey Bogart impression as a surly real estate salesman who's career is going nowhere. There is a sniper loose in the county and Randall becomes a copycat trying to target his wife and frighten her into being submissive - the way he feels a wife should be. The last episode I have is "The Benson Case" which is set in a woman's prison and tells the story of Bonnie Benson, a woman with a hair trigger temper who is awaiting trial for beating an elderly man to death (I thought shades of Barbara Graham who would have been news at the time due to Susan Hayward's "I Want to Live") and her relentless efforts to track down a prison officer "plant" in her section. Ann Doran is the only "name" in this episode, she plays the kindly matron, always ready with a wisecrack and a cigarette.
"Code 3" can be found in "Best of TV Detectives" and is well worth a look.
The first thing I noticed about the few episodes I have was just how old Tom Brown looked!!! In the early 30s he was so fresh faced, he even played Gilbert Blyth in 1934's "Anne of Green Gables", twenty years on he was distinctly looking his age. That was in the episode "The Rookie Sheriff" which starred Peter Van Eyck as an older rookie who just can't get used to the free and easy methods of training the American recruits. I also thought - what happened to those patient policemen?? In one scene Van Eyck explodes after a drunk disrespects his uniform and his fellow policemen give him a lecture about America being the land of the free, anyone can say what they want to the police - that's what makes America so great. What happened to those times???
"The Man With Many Faces" dealt with forgery. Whit Bissell plays a kindly accountant who will do anything to see his dying daughter gets the best of care - even if it means resorting to forgery. Sally Blane starred as the nurse. "The Sniper" has Ron Randall doing his best Humphrey Bogart impression as a surly real estate salesman who's career is going nowhere. There is a sniper loose in the county and Randall becomes a copycat trying to target his wife and frighten her into being submissive - the way he feels a wife should be. The last episode I have is "The Benson Case" which is set in a woman's prison and tells the story of Bonnie Benson, a woman with a hair trigger temper who is awaiting trial for beating an elderly man to death (I thought shades of Barbara Graham who would have been news at the time due to Susan Hayward's "I Want to Live") and her relentless efforts to track down a prison officer "plant" in her section. Ann Doran is the only "name" in this episode, she plays the kindly matron, always ready with a wisecrack and a cigarette.
"Code 3" can be found in "Best of TV Detectives" and is well worth a look.