by Hal Erickson
synopsis
In the first episode of Dragnet's fourth season, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) search for a pornographer who has been distributing "dirty" books and pictures to a local high school. After interrogating a student (Martin Milner) who'd been found with several lewd books in his possession, and a naïve young girl (Carolyn Jones) who'd been gulled into posing for nude photos, the detectives conclude that the man responsible for all the filth is Charles Hopkins (Ralph Moody), a has-been movie producer. In a bravura closing sequence, the elderly Hopkins "relives" one of his silent masterpieces on a deserted backlot. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of February 21, 1952.
