Code Two

"Code Two" is a film that lost money at the box office. Despite that as well as a few clichés in the story, it's a dandy film and worth your time.

The movie follows a trio of men, particularly Chuck O'Flair (Ralph Meeker), from the police academy to their first assignment in Los Angeles. Chuck is a very stereotypical guy--much like the sorts of guys William Haines played in the 1920s and 30s. In other words, he is very skilled but even more full of himself! And, when it comes to women, he thinks they'll all swoon at his boorish ways. However, his obnoxious veneer is challenged when his partner is murdered on the job...and Chuck not only blames himself but insists on tracking down the killers.

This film runs at under 70 minutes and its stars are Meeker and Keenan Wynn...minor stars but typical of the sorts of assignments they'd get from the studio. Look past how obnoxious the writer made Chuck (that is a major problem in the film) and you'll be able to enjoy a decent cop film.

Code Two from MGM's B picture unit is the story of three rookie cops at the Police Academy and then their first assignments on motor patrol with the LAPD. This is not a Police Academy film by any means, it could have been done by Jack Webb. At Warner Brothers in the Thirties the rookie with the big mouth and attitude would have been played by Jimmy Cagney.

And the training officer would have been played by Pat O'Brien. Here at MGM in the Fifties the parts are played by Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn respectively. The other two rookies are Jeff Richards and Robert Horton.

All three opt for motorcycle patrol and within days of being assigned Richards is killed when he stops a truck doing a little smuggling. After that Meeker loses the attitude and he and Horton take leave just to find Jeff Richards' killers.

Code Two is a combination of a long Dragnet episode and one of those basic training military films. Meeker is kind of a lovable lout who gets real serious as the occasion calls.

There's some good Los Angeles location photography and nicely staged action sequences. All in all an acceptable B programmer.

Motorcycle Cops and Motorcycles are the Main Thing in this Mainstream Movie of the Docu-Types that were Prolific in the Early Fifties. This one has the Whole First Half Devoted to a Behind the Scenes Look at the Police Academy Training. Intriguing to Some it is quite a Boring Affair unless Ogling the Vintage Bikes is Your Thing.

It Zeroes in on Three Recruits and Their Initiation with some Youthful Playfulness and getting the Babes is Forefront. In the Second Half it is a much Better Movie as these Rookies are Thrust into a Crime Investigation and in the Third Act it Becomes a real Barn Burner with some Hard-Edged Violence and Believable Danger.

Ralph Meeker Melts the Screen with His Macho Egomania and Foolish Behavior but in the Space of the Film's Short Running Time Matures into a Full Blown Police Officer, however never Losing Sight of the Ladies.

I saw this movie as a kid when i was about 13 or so. I remeber this as one of the coolest movies I have ever seen. I am sure, now it would seem a little less dramatic, but it has stayed with me all these years. There is one scene where the truck hijackers are stopped by a cycle cop and when they get the chance to knock him out they do. They then take him and put him under the tires of the big rig and {pretty violent for back then} back up over him. A young chuck Conners, Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn make this a must see for biker, crime and film noir fans. I believe Ted Turner owns this movie and I wish he would release it on video. Enjoy the film if you can ever see it.

The first half of this modest 69-minute movie tells, in semi-documentary fashion, of the training of rookie cops in early 1950s Los Angeles. Needless to say, all these rookies are white males but it's the "dated" quality of the movie which lends it a curiosity value as an artifact of its time. Police buffs should enjoy looking over the equipment, the uniforms, the training techniques, the investigation methods, etc.

A let's-catch-the-cop-killers plot takes over in the second half. It's minor stuff but affords an opportunity to look over a cast soon to find greater success in TV westerns. There's Robert ("Wagon Train") Horton and Jeff ("Jefferson Drum") Richards and -- in a small part -- Chuck ("The Rifleman") Connors. Rounding out the cast of cops are Ralph Meeker and Keenan Wynn. There's a certain "fetish" appeal in seeing these men in boots and leather jackets and motorcycle pants, and Meeker, Horton, and Richards also do a "beefcake" scene by a lake where they appear in swimsuits. (Richards must have tipped the wardrobe department to give him the snuggest-fitting suit.)

A few scenes appear to be shot on actual L.A. streets but much of it is recognizable as the MGM back-lot. Somewhere, on one of those hills, Robert Horton would soon be stripped to his shorts and tortured by North Korean guards in "Prisoner of War."

Director Fred Wilcox later helmed the classic "Forbidden Planet."