A sailor gets swindled a second time and goes to the detectives to report it. In order to unwind Gannon invites Friday over for a peaceful dinner. It turns out to be not so peaceful when the... Read allA sailor gets swindled a second time and goes to the detectives to report it. In order to unwind Gannon invites Friday over for a peaceful dinner. It turns out to be not so peaceful when the neighbors keep interrupting their peaceful dinner.A sailor gets swindled a second time and goes to the detectives to report it. In order to unwind Gannon invites Friday over for a peaceful dinner. It turns out to be not so peaceful when the neighbors keep interrupting their peaceful dinner.
- Director
- Writers
- Robert C. Dennis
- Jack Webb(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBill Gannon (Harry Morgan) tells Joe Friday (Jack Webb) he paid $8,500.00 for his house in the Eagle Rock neighborhood "twenty years ago", right after the war. Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of about 4.25 square miles amd 30,000 residents northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
- GoofsWhen Friday pulls his gun after spotting the burglar, he holds it close to his body, inadvertently pointing the gun at Gannon. This violates a key gun element of gun safety.
- Quotes
Officer Bill Gannon: Boy, I don't know why you're making a big fuss over this. All a woman has to do is set another place.
Sergeant Joe Friday: And slice the meat a little thinner.
Officer Bill Gannon: [laughs] Don't be silly. Slice the meat a little thinner. That's a new one.
[over the phone to kids]
Officer Bill Gannon: Hi. Who's this?... Yeah... . Well, where to?... Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, have a good time, but don't stay out past 11 o'clock... . I know it's Friday, old boy, but that's check-in time anyway. Let me speak to your mother.
[to Joe]
Officer Bill Gannon: The boys have got something going on at school so we'll have nothing but peace and quiet.
Sergeant Joe Friday: Sounds good.
Officer Bill Gannon: [over the phone to Eileen] Hi... . Yeah, just leaving now... . One of those days, that's all. Look, honey, Joe's coming out for dinner and watch the ball game with me... . Well, you know Joe. He's funny about these things. He wants to make it official... . I know it's silly... . Ok, you tell him that.
[to Joe]
Officer Bill Gannon: She wants to talk to you.
Sergeant Joe Friday: [over the phone to Eileen] Hello, Eileen... . Yes, if it's no trouble... . You're sure?... Well, I... what's that?... Yeah. Well, that makes me feel better... . Yes, we're leaving right now... . Thanks. Goodbye, Eileen.
Officer Bill Gannon: What'd she say?
Sergeant Joe Friday: It's ok.
Officer Bill Gannon: Well, I told you that, Joe. I meant what did she say that made you feel better?
Sergeant Joe Friday: She said she'd slice the meat a little thinner.
The fun begins when, following Gannon's invitation, Friday has him check with his wife Eileen (Randy Stuart) if the sudden intrusion is all right with her. It is, but not without some sharp repartee that signals the most remarkable aspect to "The Big Neighbor": Harry Morgan plays the straight man to Jack Webb, who is consistently hilarious, all the more remarkable because Webb doesn't break character but rather, as Friday and Gannon shed their official personas and display something akin to friendship, Webb reveals a droll, quick-witted side to Friday that must remain suppressed in his professional capacity. (Webb demonstrated a facility for wry comedy early in his radio career with "Pat Novak for Hire," a crime drama that nevertheless sent up film noir convention and cliché with winking glee.)
Arriving at Gannon's home in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, the two detectives try to settle down to dinner and the football game, but the Gannon household is soon beset by visiting neighbors who keep the pair from following the Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers game. (And, yes, NFL games are not played on Friday nights except on "Dragnet.") First up is Marnie Prout (Ann Morgan Guilbert), who wants Bill to arrest her husband for . . . Throwing an egg-timer at her that didn't even hit her. Then Art Bonham (John Nolan) tries to get Bill to fix the parking ticket his wife was issued on their very own street--and don't think that the two dollars it will cost to be resolved won't return to bite somebody later on.
Actual drama does occur when neighbor Ruth Walker (Rhoda Williams) calls to report a man breaking into her home, with Bill and Joe going over to investigate while uniformed backup is on its way--and Gannon, in the most football action either cop will see this evening, delivers a tackle worthy of at least a tryout with the Rams. Okay, maybe not.
But the best delivery has to be the paydirt Morgan and Webb strike by playing Bill and Joe as the LAPD's Bob and Ray, deadpan detectives riffing off each other in smooth, effortless, straight-faced hilarity although Webb cannot completely conceal the sheer delight he's having by getting to let his hair down for a change.
"The Big Neighbor" is indeed atypical "Dragnet" fare, but what amounts to a classic shaggy-dog tale also underscores a key point about "the story you are about to see is real" aspect to "Dragnet." While each of these vignettes most likely did occur, it is also most likely that they did not occur in the same night; "The Big Neighbor" is hardly likely to be verbatim, instead compositing various vignettes into "The Big Shaggy Dog," a thoroughly enjoyable departure from the norm.
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- darryl-tahirali
- Apr 7, 2023
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1