Decoy

A couple of years ago, I was able to get a set of 5 DVDs that contained 20 of the 39 episodes of Decoy, and it was great to watch them again after so long. Back when Decoy aired in 1957-58, I was 12 and 13 years old and had something of a crush on Beverly Garland. Recently, I found an advertisement--for the first time--for a DVD set with all 39 episodes. And the price was hard to beat as well. Naturally, I ordered the set and have been enjoying watching them all over again.

The picture quality is excellent, but at times the sound is a little muffled; however, all in all, it is great viewing. For anyone who enjoys the genre of Dragnet, Police Woman, etc., this is a great series that ran, sadly, for only one season. Yet, I consider it to be a classic.

Back in 1957, women were seen as homemakers, school teachers, nurses, sales clerks, and those roller skating waitresses at a "drive-in" diner. If they were a bit more down on their luck, they might be prostitutes, exotic dancers or bar waitresses on the seedier side of town.

But there was another role for particular women who could handle it, who were strong enough, brave enough and ready enough to step into it. And that's where this show tells its story.

At the beginning of each episode of "Decoy," there was a block of text that read as follows:

Presented as a tribute to the Bureau of Policewomen Police Department, City of New York.

This was the first time in television history that a woman was the lead character in a police-based action-adventure series, and the show was popular, though it wasn't available on a network, so it had a bit less reach. "Decoy" was telecast nationally, just not necessarily at the same time in every city and admittedly wasn't available everywhere, because of the limitations of syndication.

The decoy of "Decoy" is Detective Casey Jones, played by Beverly Garland, who goes undercover into the world of third shifters, nightclubs, and other sordid or common jobs that women might have to eke out a living at the time. She plays the roles in order to investigate cases of theft, drug trafficking, arson, racketeering, even murder.

As was the custom at this time, we never see or hear anything about the lead character's personal life, except what leaks out in her brief discussions with her colleagues, nearly all of whom are male. It's strictly police work and lots of it, with Casey needed to become proficient in all sorts of skills to find her way into the lives of the criminals and take them down. Conversely, Casey didn't have a partner, per se, and worked at night usually, so there really wasn't any time for blithe discussions about hobbies and relationships. That was important because it kept Casey a rock solid, no-nonsense character.

It was a tour-de-force role for Ms. Garland, who weekly got to do various things, singing, dancing, emoting, and fighting for her life as she was asked to step into the roles required of various jobs every week. She often had to play innocent, dumb, weak and vulnerable, though audiences knew that Casey was none of those things, which is another element that added quality to her portrayal.

New York played a part because the seamy underbelly of The City is always there and the need to stop crime when and where it happens is a regular element that, like NYC itself, constantly changed and grew. Current footage around town was included in each episode, which gave the series value as a Time Capsule for what NYC looked like at that moment, with the Times Square area being prominently featured, both in plots and in the program's opening titles.

"Decoy" wasn't canceled; it was ended because the producers ran out of cash to keep it going. This was well before a program like this could earn the kind of bucks that today's syndicated shows get. And it took nearly twenty years before Angie Dickinson took the titular role of "Police Woman" and a network finally picked up the concept of a woman undercover cop doing the job.

In a way, it's sad that more people don't know about this series and its groundbreaking star, who eventually played the part of Fred MacMurray's wife on the long running sitcom "My Three Sons" and played Amanda's mom on the comedy/drama "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," two roles that fell into the "typical" category for women to play on television.

The good thing is that "Decoy" is essentially in the Public Domain, so nearly all of the episodes are available to view on YouTube, and with a thirty minute run time (about 24 minutes without commercials), they are brief to watch and mostly pretty entertaining. Not a lot of lag time when you're setting up an episode, getting the baddies to fall into the trap and hauling them down to Central Booking.

This is presented as a tribute to a great, somewhat forgotten actress, Beverly Garland, who deserves to be remembered for her versatility, her balance and her convincing portrayal of a police officer at a time when only the guys were doing the tough stuff.

The original DRAGNET TV series ran from 1951 to 1959 until star Jack Webb decided to cancel it after 8 seasons despite continued high ratings. It became the template for every cop show that followed including a second DRAGNET from 1968-1971. Among the many police programs that followed in its wake was DECOY which featured a policewoman as its main character. That made it the flip side to DRAGNET. It featured Bevely Garland as policewoman Patricia "Casey" Jones and lasted for one season (39 episodes) in 1957-58. In many of those (25 of 39), Casey went undercover to try and catch the criminals thus the series title, DECOY. There were several other differences between the two shows besides having a female undercover officer.

To start with, DRAGNET was a West Coast produced show centering around Los Angeles (it was actually shot at Walt Disney Studios) with very little location shooting whereas DECOY was centered in New York City with lots of location shooting. Interior shots were done in the old Biograph Studios where D. W Griffith once worked. DRAGNET's performers were mostly from the movie industry while those in New York came from television and the NY stage. Jack Webb was already well known in Hollywood and, in addition to being the creator-star, he was also the head of production. DECOY's head of production was Stuart Rosenberg, an unknown TV director who would go on to a successful Hollywood career (COOL HAND LUKE, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR).

Each DRAGNET episode opened with "The story you are about to see is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent" DECOY's disclaimer came not at the beginning but at the end of the episode and read "This story is based on actual cases. All names and places are fictitious for obvious reasons" Since the series featured a policewoman as its principal character, each episode opened with "Presented as a Tribute to Bureau of Policewomen, Police Department Of New York City". Also each opening featured some different New York locale before the title credit appeared. A celebrated, retired policewoman, Officer Margaret Leonard, on whom the Casey Jones character was based, was credited as the technical advisor for the show.

However the biggest difference between the two series was in the storylines. In DRAGNET, each program was basically "Chase 'Em, Catch 'Em, & Convict 'Em" while DECOY's was "Chase 'Em, Catch Em & And Try To Understand 'Em". Sgt. Joe Friday was just an ordinary, everyday, hardworking cop doing his routine job. Policewoman Casey Jones' job was more exciting. She got to pose as everything from a high class call girl to a fashion model to a nightclub singer as she tried to flush out the chief criminal responsible. Once they were caught, Casey would address the camera and point out how it was the faults in our Society that made these people criminals. DRAGNET closed out with the criminals being tried, convicted, and sentenced.

While Jack Webb was the ideal personification of Joe Friday (as it should be since he created the character), I can't say the same for Beverly Garland as DECOY's "Casey" Jones. Garland was a very capable actress as she proved in a number of 1950s B movies and she could be really tough when she had to be as shown in movies like SWAMP WOMEN and GUNSLINGER (both 1956). Here, however, I found her a little too glamorous to be believable as an undercover cop. It might work for the occasional high class assignment but not for the majority of the down and out characters like a singer in a nightclub or an inmate in a women's prison. I blame the producers and 1950s sensibilities for the glamour. Ida Lupino would have been my choice for the role.

Having said all that, there are 2 things that DECOY has going for it. 1) The New York City locations ca.1957. This show is a rare opportunity to glimpse iconic NYC locations such as Peen Central railway station, the Horn & Hardart automat, The Stork Club, Charlie Parker's Birdland Jazz Club, Colony Records on Times Square, and Sardi's Restaurant. 2) The performers. While there are old pros like Al Lewis, Vincent Gardenia, Albert Dekker, and Frank Silvera, it's the up and coming talent like Colleen Dewhurst, Martin Balsam, Ed Asner, Lois Nettleton, Larry Hagman, Frank Sutton, Suzanne Pleshette, and Peter Falk just starting out on their careers that are really interesting to watch. Almost all of them came from the New York stage and would later make their mark in television.

Although inspired by and modeled on DRAGNET, DECOY explored some controversial subject matter which DRAGNET avoided. These topics included obscene phone calls, heroin addiction, gun running, dysfunctional families, spousal abuse, and mental illness. Unlike DRAGNET which had several episodes in the can when it aired, DECOY's shows were only shot two weeks in advance before they aired. The location shooting used hidden cameras so people wouldn't stop and stare. Ultimately the controversial subject matter of some shows and the lecture-like endings discouraged advertisers and the series ended after only one season for lack of funds. Now thanks to Film Chest Media, all 39 episodes are available on 3 CDs with a lot of bonus materials for a very good price...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Decoy's the first TV police drama to star a woman and casting couldn't have done better than Garland. She's strong and appealing but hardly glamorous, and really good at not over-playing her part though the tension is often there. As Casey Jones she goes undercover in downscale NYC to crack cases. The on-location filming in the city's seediest precincts lends a lot of color plus perspective to even the mildest episodes. Nevertheless, I'll bet the Chamber of Commerce was none to happy about grubby sites not often shown. Anyway, we get perspectives on the Statue of Liberty, crowded city streets, and soaring towers that seemingly entrap her as she walks along. All add color and period interest to the storylines. Of course some episodes are better than others but all offer abundant compensations. I haven't seen every episode, but let me recommend The Red Clown as particularly riveting. A look at the cast lists shows no stars but an abundance of familiar A-grade supporting players, e.g. Simon Oakland, Barbara Barrie. I guess ratings weren't strong enough for a second season (1958). Likely, 50's audiences weren't ready for a female lead in a traditionally male genre. Then again, to my knowledge, Decoy's never been re-run or put into syndication; so to say it's obscure is a mild understatement. Too bad, because the series was clearly ahead of its time, while its abundant human interest has no time limit.

In passing-- I caught up with the complete series in a DVD collection titled "Decoy" from Film Chest Media. I'd recommend the collection because of the detailed notes about locations and historical aspects of the productions that the enclosed booklet provides. For those like me who've never been to NYC, it's something of an interesting tour guide.

Watching this on Amazon Prime. It's a series I hadn't had the opportunity to view on television. Yes, it's dated and some police techniques might seem questionable by today's standards, but it's ahead of its time by focusing on a female police officer and female victims and criminals. Lots of terrific early performances by actors who became well known and respected.