Decoy

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.

This show took me completely by surprise. When it showed up on my suggested list, on a whim I watched the 1st episode and was hooked.

It's been called the female Dragnet but in my opinion it is better. The topics are timely even for today and definitely ahead of it's time for 1958. Filmed entirely in NYC, it is a enlightening snapshot of the city in the 50's with many of the structures looking exactly the same to this day. Also of note are the many actors appearing in Decoy who would go on to become household names.

Don't let the name or age of the show dissuade you. I think American TV audiences were just not ready for an empowered female lead in a series and that's a shame because personally, I would have liked to have seen a few more seasons.

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.

Yes, this is a wonderfully gritty, no-nonsense cop yarn. What struck me is: Where's the sexism? Where's the condescension? Where's the "Oh, ya gonna arrest me, Officer Sweetie Pie?" This was the Fifties, right? It's a cop show with a twist: a cop who gets emotional over what she sees and what she has to do. But Casey Jones never, and I mean never, lets it get in the way of her completely professional approach to her job. She works with male officers, and they are nothing if not equals, comrades in arms. And for those of you who know Beverly Garland only from the fluff of My Three Sons, have you got a surprise coming. Great entertainment all the way around. And for something a little snappier, try Front Page Detective.

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.