The film uses the inverted detective story format. Los Angeles police detective Sergeant Joe Friday hunts down the killer of a mobster, Miller Starkie, focusing on West Coast mafia second-in-command Max Troy (played by Harris). The vendetta between Friday and Troy becomes increasingly bitter and personal as the film proceeds, leading to a brawl at a private card game between Friday, Frank Smith, and several of Troy's henchmen. A policewoman (Robinson) infiltrates Troy's nightclub and is able to obtain vital information on the Starkie killing; Friday then gets additional evidence when an accomplice of Troy is sent out of state and killed, and the man’s wife breaks down and gives the police what they need to convict Troy. The gangster, though, winds up never being prosecuted and dies of natural causes.
Dennis Weaver as Capt. R.H. Lohrman (uncredited) Info via IMDB
Production
In January 1954 not long after the Dragnet completed its hundredth episode, it was announced Jack L. Warner would produce a feature film in color based on the series with series producers Mark VII Limited.[2]Dragnet creator and lead actor Jack Webb directed the film and was given complete creative control by Warner Bros..[2] Much like the TV series, the film used an actual case as the basis for the plot with the case used considered too violent for broadcast television.[2]
