I just watched a 1948 movie called HE WALKED BY NIGHT, and the Dragnet vibe was obvious from the beginning. The camera scanned over Los Angeles as the narrator droned on about the L.A. police.
They showed the L.A. Hall of Justice, also seen in Dragnet, and the forensic technician was played by Jack Webb. The Wikipedia piece said he got the idea for the Dragnet radio show and the Dragnet TV shows from this movie. In fact, I heard the mention of a police DRAGNET at least three times in about two minutes.
There were some recognizable faces in the crowd, including John Dehner, Scott Brady (Shotgun Slade and Perry Mason), Whit Bissell (The Time Tunnel and Perry Mason, among other credits) and the bad guy, Richard Basehart (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea). Frank Cady (Sam Drucker on Green Acres) was another notable face.
Sadly, they didn't strike a chisel with a hammer at the end.
It wasn't a great movie, but, at 1:18:42, it would have made three good Dragnet episodes. By the way, it's in the public domain and is on YouTube.
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