Last week I wrote about the
realism of Dragnet, the pioneering police procedural of the fifties and
sixties. This week I would like to highlight its famous Christmas show where
Sgt. Joe Friday and partner Frank Smith try to recover a statue of the Baby
Jesus taken from the crèche of a church on Christmas Eve.
The You Tube video is of good
quality and takes just a little more than 25 minutes to view since the
commercials have been omitted. The acting is superb, with especially good
performances by two young boys. The camerawork and music are also first rate. To
my mind it ranks right up there with the best Christmas shows of all time.
The credits indicate that the show
was filmed in the Old Mission Plaza Church in Los Angeles, the dedication of
which coincided with the founding of Los Angeles on September 4, 1781.
The episode was produced in 1953
when I was only 14 years old. I must have watched it then, and have never
forgotten it. Today, it calls to mind a time and place long gone by. Looking back I’d like to think that it
had a profound effect in my own life. If you watch the episode, stay tuned for
the surprising and moving ending. Here is the link to Dragnet: The Big Little Jesus, or just click on the box below. ###
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