A Gota de Sangue

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."

This is a decent old movie with several future TV stars. It even has an almost unrecognizable Chuck Connors who looks like a teenager. It depicts the training that the motorcycle officer take. The actual plot is pretty weak but that's OK. I have a pretty good copy of it from TCM.

I am trying to remember the name of a similar 50s B&W movie about LAPD recruits who end up on motorcycles. In an early scene, one of the soon to be cops is a swimming pool cleaner and flirts with a babe in a swimsuit. This is about all I can vaguely remember except that there were some decent motorcycle scenes.

Anybody have a clue on the title or any of the actors?

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 was an LAPD Explorer in the late 1960"s and had shot on the Academy pistol range. The movie showed the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters (outside) before Parker Center was built. It also showed the real Academy with the pool, parade ground, a fenced area, indoor training area, dispatch, and pistol range. The part that was not real was the dining room. The dining room looked like a movie set. Some of the the motorcycle training looked real too like laying down the bike and driving through the cones. Like I learned during my motorcycle training course (civilian), it does not take much of a rider to go fast. The trick is how slow can you go!. It was also interesting how the movie gave a plug for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The movie had everything I like bikes, guns, and cops. What else is there.

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.