George Sawava Movies
- 1953
Working out of Homicide, Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are dispatched to an old rail yard, where a dazed young man (Sam Edwards) has been found hiding in an abandoned freight car, holding the body of a middle-aged woman in his arms. Though there are no signs of violence, it appears that the dead woman was a heavy drinker. Refusing to talk at first, the young man finally identifies himself as Gordon Miller, and claims that he killed the woman. It turns out that Gordon is an aspiring pianist and that the woman was his music teacher--but that's not the end of the story by a long shot. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of July 10, 1952. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) are summoned to a church by a Reverend Small (Lawrence Ryle), who reports that one of his parishioners, Dorothy Wilson (Joyce McCluskey) has been receiving anonymous letters and phone calls, branding her a "sinner" and threatening dire consequences. Curiously, though both Small and Dorothy have gotten similar poiosn-pen letters signed variously by "Sister in the Lord" and "D.R. Griswold", only Dorothy has been getting the crank phone calls. The detectives suspect that the obviously neurotic Dorothy is sending the letters to herself--but then the woman is found unconscious in the choir room, bound and gagged! This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of November 2, 1950. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Leonard Gray (Paul Richards) contacts Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) to report the murder of his wife Hazel. In a somewhat garbled statement, Gray insists that Hazel was killed while both he and his best friend Earl Anderson (Kenneth Tobey) were drunk--and that he's worried that Anderson will accuse him of the murder. As it turns out, both Gray and Anderson had motive and opportunity...and both have very weak alibis. This episode was adapted from the Dragnet radio broadcast of April 5, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Friday (Jack Webb) again teams up with Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips) to investigate the seemingly unmotivated murder of a pretty young secretary. It takes some doing, but the two cops manage to follow the clues to a religious fanatic who has a morbid obsession with the month of September. This episode is based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of September 27, 1951. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The Narrow Margin is generally considered a "model" B picture; some film buffs go farther than that, labelling this 1952 RKO suspenser as the best low-budget studio production ever made. Nail-hard detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to protect gangster's widow Mrs. Neall (Marie Windsor) as she rides the train from Chicago to LA, en route to testifying at a grand jury. There's no love lost between the ill-tempered Neall and Brown, especially since Brown's partner (Don Beddoe) was killed by mobsters while shielding Neall from harm. On the train, Brown makes the acquaintance of a likeable woman (Jacqueline White) and her playful young son. He also comes in contact with a rather secretive fat man (Paul Maxey), who may well be a mob assassin. Not long before the train pulls into California, Brown is approached by small-time crook (Peter Brocco), who offers the detective a great deal of money if he'll permit Neall to be silenced. Brown appears to be tempted, but this is only a smokescreen to throw the crooks off the trail. The Narrow Margin was remade (and unnecessarily padded and attenuated) in 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, (more)
