''Dragnet'' is a 1987 American
buddy cop
Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...
parody-slapstick comedy directed and co-written by
Tom Mankiewicz
Thomas Frank Mankiewicz (June 1, 1942 – July 31, 2010) was an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures and television whose credits included ''James Bond'' films and his contributions to ''Superman'' (1978) and the telev ...
in his directorial debut. Starring
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.
Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...
and
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
, the film is based on the radio and television
crime drama of the same name. The screenplay, both a
parody
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
of and
homage to the long-running television series, was written by Aykroyd, Mankiewicz, and
Alan Zweibel. The original music score is by
Ira Newborn.
Aykroyd plays
Joe Friday (nephew of the original series protagonist) while Hanks plays Pep Streebek, his new partner.
Harry Morgan reprises his role from
the 1967–70 television revival and 1966 television film as Bill Gannon, the original Friday's partner, now a captain and Friday and Streebek's boss.
Plot
LAPD
The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
Sergeant Joe Friday's nephew and namesake, whose
anachronistic
An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...
views reflect those of his late uncle, is involuntarily assigned a cocky, streetwise new partner, Pep Streebek. Their contrasting styles clash at first, with Friday disapproving of Streebek's attitude, hairstyle, and wardrobe. However, they start to bond while investigating a series of bizarre thefts. One of the stolen items is the entire print run of ''Bait'', a pornographic magazine published by Jerry Caesar. The Reverend Jonathan Whirley has been leading a moral crusade against Caesar's business.
The trail leads Friday and Streebek to a cult calling itself P.A.G.A.N., an acronym for "People Against Goodness and Normalcy." They focus on member Emil Muzz, who also works as Caesar's limousine driver. Under interrogation, Muzz reveals the time and place of a secret ceremony. Friday and Streebek sneak in, disguised as members, and witness a masked leader using several of the stolen items in a ritual leading up to a virgin sacrifice.
The leader throws the victim, Connie Swail (referred to as "the virgin Connie Swail"), into a pit of water with an anaconda. Friday and Streebek disrupt the ritual, saving Connie and subduing the snake, and report the incident to their boss Captain Bill Gannon. However, when Gannon and Police Commissioner Jane Kirkpatrick (who is running for mayor) visit the site with them the next day, no evidence of the ritual can be found. Kirkpatrick removes Friday and Streebek from the case.
Streebek gets a tip on the whereabouts of a load of chemicals stolen by P.A.G.A.N. that can be used to mass-produce a toxic gas. He and Friday lead a SWAT team to raid the location, which proves to be an ordinary milk factory; the chemicals and gas-making equipment are actually hidden next door. With no further leads to follow, Streebek tags along on a birthday dinner at the
Brown Derby for Friday and his grandmother, and Connie soon joins them at Friday's invitation.
During dinner, Connie sees Whirley, Gannon and Kirkpatrick at another table. She identifies Whirley as the P.A.G.A.N. leader; she came face to face with him and removed his mask while fleeing the ritual. Friday attempts to arrest Whirley, but the corrupt Kirkpatrick, whose mayoral campaign is being secretly bankrolled by Whirley and Caesar, overrules him and relieves him of duty (all crimes of the P.A.G.A.N. cult had been part of Kirkpatrick's campaign, as an elevated crime rate would discredit the current mayor). Gannon reluctantly suspends Friday from duty and orders Streebek to stay away from Whirley.
As Friday takes Connie home, Muzz captures them and takes them to the
Griffith Observatory, where Whirley reveals to them his plan to kill Caesar at a reunion party for the models of ''Bait''. He has his men take Connie to his private jet and prepares to kill Friday, but Streebek arrives just in time, having forced Muzz to reveal Friday's whereabouts at gunpoint. Streebek infiltrates Caesar's mansion and disrupts the P.A.G.A.N. plans to release the gas made from the stolen chemicals, just before Whirley sets fire to the stolen magazines to cover his escape. Gannon arrives with SWAT teams and Friday crashes the estate gates with an armored vehicle. Streebek personally arrests Muzz while Friday is thanked for stopping the gas attack by a grateful Caesar. Gannon reinstates Friday and returns his badge so he can pursue Whirley.
At the airport, Whirley meets Kirkpatrick and then abandons her and takes off with Connie as his hostage. The following morning, Friday catches up to him in a police jet and forces him to land. Whirley is convicted on multiple charges and received "43 consecutive 99-year sentences" (despite being eligible for parole in seven years) in the Men's Correctional Institute in Chino. Kirkpatrick's fate is never given, though the exposure of her criminal activity means the end of her career. Friday continues his partnership with Streebek and begins dating Connie, who is no longer called "the virgin" by Friday.
Cast
*
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer.
Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...
as Detective Sergeant
Joe Friday
**
Jack Webb
John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...
as the original Det. Sgt. Joe Friday and the uncle and namesake of Aykroyd's Friday, who appears in a photo on his old LAPD work desk, which the current Friday also uses.
*
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
as Detective Pep Streebek
*
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...
as the Reverend Jonathan Whirley
*
Harry Morgan as Captain Bill Gannon, one of the original Friday's old partners
*
Alexandra Paul as "the Virgin" Connie Swail
*
Jack O'Halloran as Emil Muzz
*
Elizabeth Ashley as Commissioner Jane Kirkpatrick
*
Dabney Coleman as Jerry Caesar
*
Kathleen Freeman as Enid Borden
*
Bruce Gray
Bruce Gray (September 7, 1936 – December 13, 2017) was a Canadian actor, known for multiple roles in films and television shows for over five decades.
Early years
Gray was born in Puerto Rico and lived in Toronto after 1949. He graduated fro ...
as Mayor Peter Parvin
*
Lenka Peterson as Granny Grace Mundy
* Julia Jennings as Sylvia Wiss
*
Fred Asparagus as Tito Provencal
*
Kimberly Foster as Officer Betsy Blees
* D. D. Howard as Officer Robyn Gilbert
*
Peter Leeds as Roy Grest
*
Meg Wyllie as Mrs. Delilah Gannon
*
Dona Speir as Baitmate
*
Nina Arvesen as Lady Motor Cop
*
Casey Sander as Phoney CHP #1
*
Peter Aykroyd as Phoney CHP #2
Production
The script for ''Dragnet'' was written by Dan Aykroyd and Alan Zweibel, who had worked together during Aykroyd's tenure on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''. Aykroyd had in fact starred as Friday in a ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' parody of ''Dragnet'' in 1976.
Tom Mankiewicz
Thomas Frank Mankiewicz (June 1, 1942 – July 31, 2010) was an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures and television whose credits included ''James Bond'' films and his contributions to ''Superman'' (1978) and the telev ...
, best known for his work on ''
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'' and the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
series, had a deal at Universal and was brought in to work on the film script with them.
Ted Kotcheff
William Theodore Kotcheff (; April 7, 1931 – April 10, 2025) was a CanadianUS Director Ted Kotcheff Granted Bulgarian Citizenship. Bulgarian Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on Friday granted citizenship to Ted Kotcheff, a US director bor ...
was originally attached to direct but did not like the draft the three writers had come up with, so
Frank Price
Frank Price (born May 17, 1930) is an American retired television writer and film studio executive. He held a number of executive positions including head of Universal TV; president, and later chairman and CEO, of Columbia Pictures; and presid ...
at Universal suggested Mankiewicz himself direct.
Albert Brooks
Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...
was offered the role of Pep Streebek, but he turned it down. Aykroyd originally wanted
Jim Belushi to play Streebek, but Belushi was unavailable and Tom Hanks was cast instead.
British electronic group
Art of Noise
Art of Noise (also the Art of Noise) were a British avant-garde synth-rock group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and ...
produced an update of the series' original
theme music
Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
for the title credits.
They set the ''Dragnet'' theme against an electronic
breakbeat and added soundbites from the film, such as Friday's trademark lines "This is the city", "Just the facts, ma'am", and "I carry a badge.", timed to the music.
The soundtrack includes an original song called "
City of Crime", a rock/hip-hop hybrid collaboration performed by Aykroyd and Hanks with bassist/vocalist
Glenn Hughes and guitarist
Pat Thrall. The track is played over the film's closing credits and had a promotional music video that featured Aykroyd and Hanks and was choreographed by
Paula Abdul.
[ The high-energy theme song, "Just the Facts", was performed by ]Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...
and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...
.
Reception
The film received favorable reviews from Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' who co-hosted a movie review television series alongside colleague Roger Ebert.
Siskel started writing for the '' ...
and Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
on their program '' Siskel and Ebert and the Movies''. Siskel praised Aykroyd's performance in particular, going so far as to say he deserved an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
nomination. Ebert extended this praise to the ensemble cast, although he lamented the lack of stylized camera shots from the original television show and criticized the use of contemporary pop music. Siskel concluded that "they didn't have enough confidence in the material that they had to try and hook kids in with some disco thing."
In his written review, Ebert gave the movie three out of four stars, concluding that "it is great for an hour, good for about 25 minutes and then heads doggedly for the Standard 1980s High Tech Hollywood Ending, which means an expensive chase scene and a shootout." He also added that he felt the film would have been more effective in black and white.
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Box office
''Dragnet'' performed well at the box office, grossing $57.4 million domestically with an additional $9.3 million internationally, for a total of $66.7 million worldwide.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragnet (1987 film)
1987 films
1987 comedy films
1987 directorial debut films
1980s American films
1980s crime comedy films
1980s English-language films
1980s parody films
1980s police comedy films
American buddy cop films
American crime comedy films
American parody films
American police detective films
Dragnet (franchise)
Films based on television series
Films based on radio series
Films directed by Tom Mankiewicz
Films produced by Robert K. Weiss
Films scored by Ira Newborn
Films about cults
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Dan Aykroyd
Films with screenplays by Tom Mankiewicz
Films with screenplays by Alan Zweibel
Universal Pictures films
Films produced by Bernie Brillstein
English-language crime comedy films