The Squeeze

This episode depicts how to conduct and interrogation. The interrogators want the suspect to confess of his own free will. This episode shows how Friday and Gannon get this suspect to confess. They already know that the suspect is guilty and have a substantial amount of evidence to support their finding, but the investigation is not yet complete until the suspect admits his guilt. That;s what it's all about: getting the suspect to take responsibility for his crime. Mocking, berating and shaming the suspect does not work. The suspect couldn't care less what anyone thinks about him. He has no intention of admitting to anything other than he is law abiding citizen who is the police are harassing. If you want to find out how Friday and Gannon get this hard core cynical criminal to confess, wtach the show.

Friday and Gannon have good reason to believe that a mobbed up guy, George Fox, has killed a mob subordinate as part of an extortion plan going wrong. They have the evidence they need, but they just need the suspect to confirm what they think they know. They call the mobster Fox downtown for what turns into an interrogation. In this episode it is not the hot lights and threat of violence that gets the truth out of the mobster, but scientific methods that prove he could be the only one who did it.

This is an interesting episode for several reasons - First, the entire episode occurs in one room at the precinct as police interrogation methods are on display. Second, this LA mobster sounds like he is one of Tony Soprano's crew, not somebody from LA. Finally, the person that Fox is supposed to have killed was being played by a well known supporting player of the 50s through the 70s on TV and in films, Sam Edwards. There are photos shown of him and even a recording with Edwards' voice. So when he didn't appear, at least in a flash back, I was surprised. Why hire a well known supporting player to do a job where no acting is involved? I'm guessing that the initial script called for a flashback and it was cut in the final draft. It's the only thing that makes sense.

Occasionally TV series decided they needed a low-budget epside, and this was one of those for Dragnet. Other series often would use what they call a "clip show", where they have minimal dialogue and scenes filmed for the episodes which refer back to clips from previous episodes. In Dragnet, they just keep the mains sitting in the office with a suspect.

In this episode, they grill a suspected extortionist and murder. Only the three characters appear in the show as Joe Friday reveals more and more evidence to make the man nervous and shake him off of his beginning display of confidence. To me, the evidence they disclose, while proving him a liar, simply wouldn't lead to the eventual confession the narration claimed.