The 1966 made-for-television movie Dragnet (also sometimes referred to as Dragnet 1966, to distinguish it from the 1954 feature film Dragnet) has an unusual history, starting with the fact that it took three years for it to be seen by anyone other than NBC and Universal Pictures executives. Producer/director Jack Webb had conceived it as a full-length film and pilot episode in one, to revive his series Dragnet, which had gone off the air at the end of the 1950s. The movie was more than good enough to do that -- NBC executives ordered up Dragnet as a mid-season replacement for early 1967, and it ran for three years. But the movie itself was considered too intense to be shown on television in 1966 -- indeed, it was one of several Universal films (Don Siegel's The Killers was another) originally intended for television but deemed to violent and intense for the home medium. Unlike The Killers, however, which ultimately ran in theaters, Dragnet was simply put on the shelf until 1969, by which time, in the wake of widely-publicized instances such as the Richard Speck case, it was believed (correctly) that the home-viewing public could comfortably absorb a picture like this as entertainment. Webb's direction is mostly spot-on, with only a few lapses where the momentary humor -- a relief in a story as grim as this -- seems forced and contrived, or the acting (especially by Virginia Gregg) overly arch.
The particulars behind the primary case depicted in the movie are fascinating. The central kidnapping/murder is a retelling of the Harvey Glatman case, which dated from the late 1950s in Los Angeles, and was solved by LAPD detective Pierce Brooks, who is referred to in one scene here (and was technical advisor on this film, and depicted in episodes of the subsequent series). In real-life, Brooks originated the FBI's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program at Quantico, Virginia, and is frequently credited with starting the modern procedure of identifying serial killers through linking characteristics in their crimes. Glatman was apprehended through the careful backtracking of the process by which he established contact with his victims, through advertisements and photo model agencies. Most of the details of the case follow the actual crime closely, and some of Glatman's actual statements to the police, along the significance of his toolbox, were used in the script. What's more, Webb's depiction of Glatman's crimes (which includes the killer's photos of the victims), and Vic Perrin's portrayal of Donald Negler, the dramatic "stand-in" for Glatman, are still disturbing to look at 40+ years on.
