''Highway Dragnet'' is a 1954 American film noir

B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

crime film directed by

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

from a story by U.S. Andersen and

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. The film stars

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

and

Wanda Hendrix Dixie Wanda Hendrix (November 3, 1928 – February 1, 1981) was an American film and television actress. Early life Hendrix's father was a logging foreman, and she was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She was performing in a school play in Ja ...

. It was the first feature film on which

worked - he co-wrote the original story with U.S. Andersen and worked as an associate producer.

Plot

Jim Henry, former Korean War Marine sergeant recently discharged, is in Las Vegas to visit Paul, an old buddy from the war. While in a casino, Jim is drawn to, and ends up in an altercation with, former fashion model Terry Smith ( Mary Beth Hughes); they end up in each other's arms. The next morning, while hitching a ride, Las Vegas police pick up Jim and take him to an apartment where Lt. Joe White Eagle (

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...

) reveals Terry's dead body, strangled. The Lt. thinks Jim is a murderer but he claims his friend Paul can back up his alibi; Paul cannot, however, because he is a secret army agent who is functioning under a different name and is not accessible. Panicking, Jim grabs an officer's service revolver, holds the police at bay and escapes in one of their patrol cars, shooting out the tires on another. Driving down Highway 91, Jim turns off the road and abandons the police car; he changes his clothes and walks back to where he has spotted two women trying to start their broken down car. They are top magazine photographer Mrs. H. G. Cummings (

) and her model Susan Willis (

). After Jim fixes their car, the ladies offer him a ride; however, before they can continue, Mrs. Cummings' small dog runs into the road and is killed by a passing car. When they reach the

Apple Valley Inn The Apple Valley Inn was a hotel and restaurant established in Apple Valley, California, to help developer Newton T. Bass attract wealthy land buyers to the southern California desert town. Bass and partner Bernard "Bud" Westlund owned Apple Valle ...

for a photographic assignment, Mrs. Cummings and Susan invite Jim to stay with them. After their abandoned patrol car is found, the police set up roadblocks to catch Jim. At the inn, when she finds a newspaper with a report of the murder, which includes Jim's photo, Susan wants to call the police, but Mrs. Cummings stops her. She tells Susan that Terry Smith was the woman with whom her husband had an affair. He killed himself and Cummings is sure the police will suspect her of the woman's murder. Jim is later recognized; knowing the police have been alerted, he takes Mrs. Cummings and Susan hostage, steals a car and crashes through a roadblock. With Lt. White Eagle and other units in pursuit, Jim drives across the desert but the car becomes stuck in sand. Mrs. Cummings grabs his gun and is about to shoot Jim when Susan wrestles the weapon away from her. Susan now believes he may be innocent. Later, after reaching his partially flooded house at the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf ...

, Jim tells Susan that he has to reach Paul in order to confirm his innocence. The next morning Jim tells Mrs. Cummings and Susan to leave, but Susan decides to stay as she has fallen in love with him. In his house, Jim finds a note from Paul stating that he had to leave on another secret assignment. Suddenly, Lt. White Eagle appears and sets about arresting Jim. White Eagle orders Susan to place Jim's gun on the sink. Mrs. Cummings quietly enters, picks up the gun and shoots White Eagle; in order to cover her guilt, Cummings is about to shoot Jim and Susan when the gun malfunctions. Cummings runs away, pursued by Jim, but she falls, into a mix of water and sand she fears is quicksand. She begs Jim to rescue her, but he makes her confess to strangling her husband's girlfriend with her dog's leash. Other police officers on the scene overhear her confession. Lt. White Eagle, who is not too seriously wounded, forestalls charges against Jim, noting that their principal witness is Susan and "a wife can't testify against her husband". Jim and Susan walk off together, arm in arm.

Cast

as James Henry *

as Mrs. H.G. Cummings *

as Susan Wilton *

as Lt. Joe White Eagle * Mary Beth Hughes as Terry Smith *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Sally * Harry Harvey as Mr. Carson * Tom Hubbard as Sgt. Ben Barnett * Frank Jenks as Marine in Civvies *

Murray Alper Murray Alper (January 11, 1904 – November 16, 1984) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, films, and Broadway productions. Biography Born in New York City in 1904, Alper worked on Broadway from 1927 to 1940 in a nu ...

as Ice Cream Truck Driver *

Zon Murray Zon Murray (April 13, 1910 – February 2, 1979) was an American actor. Filmography He appeared in the films: ''The El Paso Kid'', '' Ghost of Hidden Valley'', '' Song of the Sierras'', '' Jack Armstrong'', '' Rainbow Over the Rockies'', ''West ...

as Trooper in Cafe * House Peters Jr. as Steve *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Elderly Border Inspection Officer *

Charles Anthony Hughes Charles Anthony Hughes (March 21, 1890 – July 11, 1967) was an actor in American films and television. He appeared in several Three Stooges films. Partial filmography *''The Crimson Flash'' (1927) as Dale (as Tony Hughes) *''Mark of the Frog' ...

as Chubby Border Inspection Officer (as Tony Hughes) * Bill Hale as Harry * Fred Gabourie as Trooper Al * Johnny Duncan as a Marine

Production

Corman said the story was based on a trip he had taken to the

. "The Salton Sea is overflowing its banks in the desert, and I saw all these old houses that were deserted," he said. "The first floors were flooded, and I thought it would be a great climax to a picture — some sort of chase across the desert and a shoot-out in the flooded house. So, I started with the climax of the film and worked back to create my story." While working at the Dick Hyland Agency, Roger Corman sold his first screen story called ''The House in the Sea'' to Allied Artists for $3,500. Allied Artists changed the title to the more commercial exploitative title, ''Highway Dragnet'', after the success of the television series '' Dragnet''. Quitting his job, and joining the production as an unpaid worker, Corman ended up getting credits as a screenwriter and associate producer.Corman and Jerome 1990, p. 18. Portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California. "Coachella Valley feature film production 1920–2011."
''Filming in Palm Springs'' (archived). Retrieved: September 25, 2017. The film was shot over ten days.

Reception

''The New York Times'' called the film a "second rate 'whodunnit'".O. A. G. "Palace shows 'Highway Dragnet'." ''The New York Times'', February 10, 1954, p. 8. Recalling that ''Highway Dragnet'' "did all right", its success encouraged Corman to devote his career to work in cinema. He used the money from the sale to help finance his first movie as producer, '' Monster from the Ocean Floor''.

References

Bibliography

* Corman, Roger and Jim Jerome. ''How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never lost a Dime''. London: Lars Müller Publishers, 1990. . * Ray, Fred Olen. ''The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1991. .

External links

* * * *
Entry at imcdb.org

information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Highway Dragnet 1954 films 1954 crime drama films American black-and-white films Film noir Films directed by Nathan Juran Films shot in California Films set in California American crime drama films Allied Artists films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films