The Big Little Jesus

I was about 8 years old when this episode was shown,and even now 60 years later,I still remember it.And it stands out even now in my memory .And even though at the time I didn't know who the actors were,I still enjoyed it.and when I purchased the DVD of Dragnet,I found the episode on it and watched it again and enjoyed it even more .And when Dragnet did it in 1966 I watched it again and enjoyed the episode again and it was nice to see that some of the actors who had been in the original were in this one as well.Its one of my favorite episodes of all time.And I hope that more people will see it,so that they to will enjoy it as much as I did

I am very familiar with the remake of this episode. It seems that Jack Webb liked it so much, it was repeated. And, when his second "Dragnet" series came out in the 1960s, he even remade it as "The Christmas Story" for season two. This is one of two Christmas episodes I know of for the original series. As I mentioned above, they repeated these shows each year.

The show begins with a VERY strange phone call. It's from a local priest who's called to say Jesus is missing--or, more correctly, the statue of baby Jesus from his church's manger scene. Friday and Smith investigate but the question they all have to ask is who would steal a cheap statue? It has very little intrinsic value, plus what sort of evil scum-bag would do such a thing? While the case isn't that important when it comes to the value of the item, it is important to the parish and the officers take it very seriously. The ending is a bit of a surprise--and quite adorable.

Technically speaking, this is not among the best episodes. It's very schmaltzy, the music at the end is way overdone, the child isn't the best actor and it's dripping with sentimentality. However, despite all this, it works! The more cynical viewers will probably laugh at it, but it tugged at my heart. Also, it was very nice to see Jack Webb actually smiling in the show!! At heart, despite his outer demeanor, you could tell from the various episodes that in real life, he was a real softy.

Having just seen the more tragic "Dragnet" holiday episode-"The Big .22 Rifle for Christmas"-I'd thought I'd check the more positive-influenced one called "The Big Little Jesus". In this one taking place on Christmes Eve-which is the same day of when this was broadcast in 1953-Friday and his partner Frank Smith (this time played by Ben Alexander) have promised Father Rojas (Harry Bartell who was born in New Orleans in my home state of Louisiana) to recover the stolen baby Jesus statue for the church nativity by the Christmas Day mass the next morning. I'll stop there and just say that this was a more lighter episode concerning the holidays as evidenced by Friday and Smith's banter about presents in the beginning scenes and that the ending was one of the most touching in the series history. Also appearing are Walter Sande, who died in my birthtown of Chicago, Illinois, as Captain Bernard and child actor Billy Chapin as Joseph Hefferman. His sister, Lauren, would later become one of the stars of the hit show "Father Knows Best". Now I'm going to watch the remake for "Dragnet 1967"...

I think they did a remake of this for the 60's edition of Dragnet. I think that is the one I remember more warmly as this one made my blood boil. Firstly, the young boy comes down to their office to answer questions and Friday got nasty with him when he was unsure about someone carrying a package out of the church. Secondly he got nasty with the hotel clerk who was very cooperative. Thirdly, the way they treated the down on his luck suspect was the worst. He was under arrest but they forcibly took him "downtown" for questioning. Never apologized or offered him a ride back. The Gestapo would be proud.

Dragnet a Christmas favorite? Yes. As the detectives search through the inner city neighborhood asking about the missing Baby Jesus statue, more and more people give testimony about how much the image of the Baby Jesus at Christmas means to the Hispanic community, including a presumably Jewish second-hand dealer or pawnbroker and skid row derelicts.

I won't spoil the ending here, I'll just say I cry whenever I describe it. It was so strong I remembered the episode from seeing only once over 50 years ago. A year ago,I found it on DVD. Funny, I "remembered" some incidents that weren't actually in the show...

I have found more than one version of a DVD, different collections, etc. Both contained this show, "The Big Little Jesus." I would recommend for Christmas viewing or anytime.