The First Movie Based On a TV Show Isn't What You'd Expect

July 07, 2024

The Big Picture

Dragnet was the first television series to be adapted into a feature-length film, setting the standard for future TV-to-film adaptations.
Dragnet was a huge deal in the mid-20th Century and is considered one of the most important and influential police procedurals in media history.
The Dragnet movie helped keep the original show popular and running until its cancelation in 1959, and paved the way for future adaptations and revivals of the series.

In a world that sees movies being turned into TV shows and popular television series like Psych being turned into films ad nauseam, it's hard to imagine a time in which this just wasn't a common practice. For just over the first half-century of movie history, movies were left to take inspiration from books, plays, and legends, or were simply derived from their own original screenplays. It didn't take long for things to get shaken up after the invention of TV, though. With certain early small-screen shows instantly bursting in popularity, it only made sense for Hollywood to decide to make the jump and capitalize on them at the box office.

But which was the first television series to be adapted into a feature-length film? That would be the classic multimedia franchise turned early 1950s TV hit, Dragnet. This innovative crime chronicle has taken shape in many different mediums. After kicking off on the radio, it found massive success on television. That jump was then translated over to the big screen in 1954, giving the series its biggest scope yet. The film was largely brought to life by the same team that had worked on the show, making it as easy as possible for audiences to make the jump with this feature film. While the Dragnet movie certainly helped keep its greater franchise alive, it more importantly set the standard that just because a story starts on the small screen, doesn't mean that it has to stay there.

Dragnet (1954)

ApprovedFilm NoirCrimeDrama

Two homicide detectives investigate the brutal shotgun murder of a crime syndicate member.

Release Date September 4, 1954 Director Jack Webb Cast Jack Webb , Ben Alexander , Richard Boone , Ann Robinson Runtime 88 minutes

'Dragnet' Was a Huge Franchise Through the 2000s

Dragnet isn't exactly a household name in the 2020s, but back in the mid-20th Century, this franchise was a huge deal! Given that it was one of the first, Dragnet has built itself a legacy as one of the most important and influential police procedurals in media history. While many characters have bobbed and weaved their way into this series' narrative, the greater story largely focuses on Joe Friday (portrayed most often on film, TV, and radio by series creator Jack Webb), who works as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department. Depending on where you drop in with one of the various Dragnet shows, Friday is typically joined by a partner, be it Sgt. Ben Romero (Barton Yarborough), Sgt. Frank Smith (Herb Ellis, Ben Alexander), or Sgt. Ed Jacobs (Barney Phillips).

Whether you're looking at the original 1951 to 1959 show or one of its various revivals, Dragnet has always been about presenting realism in police work. At times, Joe Friday's work in apprehending criminals is exciting, while other times, it can be a bit drab. Whether it's following his desk work or jumping in on the site of a crime, the story of Joe Friday always manages to be gripping.

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Just as it was successful on the radio, Dragnet proved to be an instant hit on TV. Like most shows of its time, each season churned out dozens of episodes per season. So, soon after the series' 100th episode wrapped up production in January 1954, it was announced that a Dragnet feature film would be produced — and in color! Jack Webb, who had created the franchise and acted as Joe Friday for years now, was provided a budget of $800,000, and was granted complete creative control by Warner Bros. Most importantly, the Dragnet feature would be based on a true story like always. The catch is that this real-life story would be a more violent police case than they could recreate for mass audiences to see on television. All of these factors made it so that the Dragnet feature could be bigger than anything that the title had seen yet.

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The series broke societal norms and laid the groundwork for many more shows like it.

Given that this was the first time a TV show had ever made the jump from the small screen to the big leagues of movies, audiences and studios were both getting to see the advantages in real-time through 1954's Dragnet. This release proved that movies can tell longer stories than what you would see on episodic television, showcase all kinds of more explicit content, and typically take on bigger budgets (seeing as studios can gamble budgets with highly successful box office results, as opposed to lower budgets that are compensated by running ads).

The story of the feature-length Dragnet adaptation isn't much different than what you might catch one weeknight at home, just with a little more spice thrown in. Like always, it follows Joe Friday as he investigates a crime, but this time, the case is centered around a murdered mobster. To spice things up for their big screen debut, Friday and his partner, Officer Frank Smith, get a bit more rough around the edges in this movie, particularly in the way that they harass a cleared suspect, and in the way that they can get a bit dirtier in their fights. Other than that, 1954's Dragnet mostly plays out like an 88-minute, colorized episode of the show. It's a good bit of fun for classic crime movie fans, and is especially fun if you're a fan of the original Dragnet series, but it won't blow anyone's mind that isn't into either of those.

'Dragnet' Paved the Way for Future TV-to-Film Adaptations

Dragnet's film adaptation kicked the door down for both the movie and TV industries, essentially making any cross-medium adaptations possible. It wouldn't take long for other TV shows to start being turned into movies, with the 60s and 70s particularly being dominated by these big-screen conversions. Everyone loves the 1966 Batman movie, the many Flintstones features, and recently acclaimed releases like El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, but none of these would have been possible if the Dragnet movie hadn't come to fruition first.

As for its own franchise, the Dragnet movie helped keep the original show popular and running until its cancelation in 1959. Joe Friday would return to the small screen on several occasions though. The series returned in a few revivals, running from 1967 to 1970, then two post-Jack Webb series, one running from 1989 to 1990, and a 2003 to 2004 show titled L.A. Dragnet. Perhaps most famously, there was a mid-80s feature-length sequel parody of sorts starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks in one of his best comedic performances. Fans of the franchise have enjoyed seeing Friday come back over the years, but none would ever be as good as the original '51 to '59 series, or reach the highs of the feature film ever again.

The 1954 Dragnet movie is available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.

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