The Lineup

I grew up on San Francisco Beat. It was a family event each week. It was the precursor to Streets of San Francisco, Dirty Harry, and Ironside. Besides Perry Mason (back in the day)it was the only compelling crime series on at the time. Shot in B&W it and mono it delivered fast passed gritty episodes on a weekly basis.

With local location shots as a SF native it delighted all who watched it. Although predictable story lines lead to obvious conclusion given the era the scenes along with the plot kept the audience captivated.

As the original San Francisco crime show it paved the way for the next generation of S.F. police dramas such as the aforementioned Raymond Burr series Ironside, The Streets of San Francisco with Karl Malden an Michael Douglas and Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry Series.

As a testimony to how well this movie/series was cast, many of the actors went on to perform in some of the later Crime Drama series on television. Warner Anderson as the hard driving Lt. Ben Guthrie delivered grounded performances as he did throughout his extensive career.

Marshall Reed as Inspector Fred Asher went on to roles in Dragnet, and Adam 12.

Does anyone know where I can get it on DVD?

April, 2009

What I remember most about THE LINEUP is the final roll of credits. You'd see a slow dramatic panorama of San Francisco at that time, mid 1950's, as the theme song pounded over the view. At that time Coit Tower was the tallest point in the skyline. Then you'd hear the voice over express thanks to San Francisco Chief of Police, think it was Tom Cahill at that time--but I also recall that it may have been Patrick Duffy in the earlier days of the series.

My father had a jewelry store on Columbus Ave. in North Beach and the shop flashed by once in a scene from an episode.

Yes, the '49 Ford coming up the street in the opening sequence with Tom Tully driving and Warner Anderson looking out. And that theme song again.

I just watched a part of an episode on You Tube from 1958. But nothing comes up if you type in the series title: But you will get it by typing in "1957 Dodge and 1957 Plymouth." It features Richard Jeckel, Jr., as a kid; and a very young Eli Walach. Good chase scene that shows the Embarcadero under construction; Sutros near Playland; and shots of the bridge.

Dennis Caracciolo April, 2009

I remember seeing this show on Friday nights. What I remember best is that they were not kids shows but were still very enjoyable for the whole family. They were very tight half hour shows, in other words, it went by very quick. I wish these shows would be on some cable channel that would show programs of the fifties like this one.

I remember watching it when I was a kid. This show was the basis for all the later partner police stories such as Streets of San Francisco and others. I like Tom Tully and Warner Anderson together - kinda like Joe Friday and Frank Smith from Dragnet. This show provided a later rematch for these two actors - they worked together in the 1943 movie "Destination Tokyo" where Warner Anderson was an Officer and Tom Tully was the enlisted man. They kept this relationship in The Line-Up - the scariest part was in the opening credit when all of a sudden you see the car come up over the top of the hill and make a quick left turn - used to scare me to death. Looked like a 1949-1951 ford. I would like to see this show in reruns sometime.

This series is a nostalgic monument to Old San Francisco;i.e., before the development of high rise buildings. One can hear the old fog horns and feel the dampness as Inspector Grebb and the Lt. walk about in Top Coats and Fedoras. They also frequently use the old Police Call Boxes(dedicated phone lines on the street), painted blue of course. After all, portable two-way radios were still less than reliable. The series also makes use of the old Hall of Justice building on Kearney Street. This elaborate old building was torn down to make way for a new hotel. It is a very different city depicted in this series than was shown in "The Streets of San Francisco" or the Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood movies.