DECOY (1957 Television series) (Film Chest Media) DVD set (all 39 episodes on 3 DVDs) $19.98 First episode date: October 14, 1957 episodes run about 25 minutes each. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y18TNQ1/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=tvobscur47-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B06Y18TNQ1&linkId=24b5dd7a881e2acaab9606c6f8f612bf
Back in 1992, I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing actress Beverly Garland .The interview appeared in issue ten of SCARLET STREET (to read and see the issue, go to http://scarletstreetmagazine.blogspot.com/2015/10/ )
Best known for her films with Roger Corman as well as her later appearances on MY THREE SONS (74 episodes,Don Fedderson Productions 1969-1972) ,in the late 1950s she starred in a syndicated New York lensed series called DECOY (Official Films ,39 episodes, October 14,1957 -July 7,1958) .
In our SCARLET STREET #10 interview , she called the series the “biggest mistake of her life” as it ran only one season but rerun for seven, and she was labeled a TV actress, thus being forced to start her career all over again.
Now ,in hindsight , we can see how forward thinking the show was, as well as a time capsule of ideas and mores of the period . For one, she was an independent woman who knew self defense and how to work a side arm, as well intelligence. That said, reactions to her show the difficulty of a police woman being looked at as an equal.
The series has had certain episodes available from several public domain companies as well as on line video sources, but this is the first time that the entire series has been released in a three DVD collection.
“Presented as a tribute to the Bureau of Policewomen, New York City Police Dept.”(opening credit ).*
Ms. Garland was Policewoman Patricia ‘Casey’ Jones . She seems to live up to the Decoy title , as she is often undercover to investigate and stop crime in a no nonsense style reminiscent of the then popular DRAGNET (Mark VII,Ltd. ,1951-1959). She often breaks the fourth wall to address the audience about the case that has just been solved.
She often finds herself in dangerous situations, like becoming an inmate at an insane asylum while pursuing a lead in an heroin case (“Dream Fix”). We know very little about Jones’ personal life except that her boyfriend was a police officer who was killed by a person he was sent to arrest (“The Sound of Tears”), but like her counterpart Joe Friday from DRAGNET ,it was the cases, not her personal life, that were front and center.
Being shot in New York on location gives the series a grittiness often lacking in other series from the time . It also is a time capsule of the many sites and sights no longer around in the city that never sleeps, such as Colony Records and Steeplechase Park ,as well as several that still are (John Jovino’s Gun Shop in Little Italy. The photographer Weegee had a room above the store that overlooked the large pistol replica).
(Weegee from his apt fire escape, same locale today)
Also, the New York location gave them a talent pool of up and coming actors from the New York Theatre scene .Larry Hagman ,Frank Campanella,Ed Asner , Colleen Dewhurst, Martin Balsam ,Suzanne Pleshette, Diane Ladd and Al Lewis all appeared on the series.
As a syndicated show, it was shot quickly ,and some continuity errors exist .For example, Al Lewis is with a cigar in his mouth in wide shot but cutting to closeup ,we see him putting the cigar into his mouth again.The exteriors were often filmed with a hidden camera , as they did not have the funds to get permits and shut down streets.
The show probably slipped into obscurity due to it’s noticeable lack of violence ,concentrating on gathering evidence and good police work .Plus, with so many people wishing to be “politically correct” , there is a lot of smoking on the show (amazing that Westinghouse rather than Winstons Cigarettes sponsored the series.).
That said, it is historically important that it is one of the first dramatic shows to star and be built around a female character, who didn’t have to “sex” it up , or need a male side kick. Indeed, Ms Garland is one of the few recurring characters, having her instead work with officers in different departments to solve the week’s story .Without Policeman “Casey “ Jones, we may not have had an Angie Dickinson’s Sgt. Suzanne “Pepper” Anderson , Teresa Graves’ Christie Love , or Mariska Hagitay’s Olivia Benson .
In other interviews, Ms Garland said : “Throughout my life, I’ve had ten or twenty women come up to me and tell me that they saw me on ‘Decoy’ and because of it they became a policewoman.”
I think that was a source of pride for the actress.
FILM CHEST has done a great job of presenting these full frame black and white episodes. Images are sharp and clear ,with no noticeable dirt or film damage. The mono sound was clear and serviceable. Each of the three discs has 13 episodes ,and can be either played straight through or episodes played separately .
-Recommended.
Kevin G Shinnick
scarletthefilmmagazine 