This is an enjoyable film, well shot and edited. The pace is brisk, and therefore holds your interest. Richard Baseheart's performance particularly stands out - while we never know Roy's motivations, we see some behaviors displayed suggesting something deeper that may trouble him.
It is fun also to see here Jack Webb as the weapons expert. According to some, it is during the filming here that he came upon the ideas for what would become 'Dragnet'. You can certainly see the similarities in the narrations and the opening title card.
Great choice of setting for finale - watch for it! Enjoy!

An enjoyable film, but the true story about "Roy" is more interesting than this fictionalized account. This film is loosely based on the real life Erwin Mathias Walker, who did not die in a shoot out with the police; he spent some years in prison, was paroled in the 1970s, and died in 2008. How do I know this? Erwin Walker was my cousin. The film contains certain details that are very close to the facts of the real life case, but also many differences, and above all, leaves out Roy/Erwin's motivation for his actions. He was a deeply troubled, and complex person.

It was very good. The acting was superb.

...you will know why at the end.
A good murder mystery? YES.
Film Noir...NO
Cimematoghraphy and screenplay make the mark, as does the acting., though somewhat predictable.
Mr. Drucker and Joe Friday(refernece 1960s TV characters) was a pleasant surprise.
Overall a watchable film.

Solid five stars. Good acting, good sets, direction, and the story is compelling. Solid performances and a touch of humor here and there to put a smile on your face during a tough police drama. Highly recommended watch, it will keep your interest. Even a few twists and turns along the way.

A surprisingly good movie. never lost interest and a straight forward story line.

During production, Jack Webb hung out with the police technical advisor. They discussed making a tv series centered around a police detective, which eventually became Dragnet.

I liked the movie, but would have been more interesting if they gave more background on Roy.

I agree with Deichbrand_1. It is a good movie to watch but the characters lack depth. I would guess that it stood on all of the advanced detective work at that time.

Worth a download.

(Contains a bit of spoilers!!!)

First of all, the movie is good to watch, but maybe too short for the complexity of the story. Some aspects come to the mind:
- what are the motives for Roy? Why does he need the money?
- what does he do besides stealing stuff? When did everything start and why did it escalate to this strange situation?

The plot does not hold together and the focus of the story is way too heavy on the police. For the viewer it is simply impossible to get behind it all and to understand the intentions of the persons. In the introduction, there is this vague reference to a 'real' crime, but the film does not live up to aspect. A lot of characters remain shallow and are unable to thoroughly fascinate.

Therefore, while the film is actually good and fun to watch, the moment you think about it, you will discover holes in the plot of the size of a planet. Do not expect too much ...

made this film a pleasure to watch. Kudos

Weary & hungover

mojitos.....................u know

This is a good flick, one of Jack Webb's earlier forays into the cop world. I realized I had seen it previously when the antagonist's name was revealed: Roy. I think the film might have been on TCM.

Anyway, solid flick. Basehart gives a bravuro performance, and Webb gives a preview of Sgt. Friday's no-nonsense approach to policing. The sewer scenes are reminiscent of "The Third Man." It's a shame that they never ventured a guess as to what the antagonist's motivations were.

Note the editorial slip-up when Webb's character analyzes the spent cartridge casings and observes the same striations on three casings - indicating that the casings were ejected from the same gun. The stamped codes on the back of each casing are in the identical orientation relative to the striations (i.e., between the "M"s - a practical impossibility unless all of the cartridges had been loaded into the magazine and rotated so that all of the stamped codes would be in the same relative positions.