Air Patrol

This has a bit of an air of the documentary to it as we follow the investigations of the LAPD as they try to track down the thieves of a valuable paining by 19th century French artist Fragonard. Now although we don't know who has done the deed, we know right from the start how this audacious crime was committed and so are, for a while, one step ahead of "Sgt. Castle" (Robert Dix) as he uses his new airborne sleuthing skills to work with "Lt. Taylor" (Willard Parker) to track down the picture before it's smuggled out of the country. The detective elements of the drama are quite dry, as is the acting and the writing - this is really just a sort of public information film that demonstrates to the audience (and to the criminal fraternity) that there is a new dynamic to policing and that makes tailing and surveillance much simpler. It passes an hour effortlessly enough, but it won't challenge your own grey cells in the least and I doubt you'll remember it for long afterwards, either.

Despite a rather low budget and mostly actors you probably are not familiar with, this is a decent police drama.

The story begins with a robbery of a valuable painting and the getaway part is interesting...the thief leaves via a helicopter late in the night. After investigating, the police are able to determine that a helicopter must have been used. In the meantime, the thief has contacted the company that has insured the painting and the man who owned it...demanding ransom. Can the police get back this painting AND catch the man responsible?

The film is not a film noir caper, but a rather straight forward police film. The only real gimmick is the use of helicopters both to commit the crime and catch the thief. Well worth seeing, though not a must-see either.

It's an interesting film technically, but the story and characters are very insignificant. An invaluable painting is stolen and collected from a skyscraper roof by a helicopter, and all the rest of the film is the trouble of the police to trace this helicopter and the painting. The motive is obvious, someone needed money, and used the painting for blackmail. We learn about the crook at a rather early stage, and there is no doubt about it when he pushes someone off that same roof of the theft. It's a very ordinary plot of hide and seek, but the end chase is very exciting for its very unusual procedure, and you can follow the entire manhunt from the air. The criminal has no chance of course, his end is inevitable, and the romance of the film does not succeed in making it more interesting. The film is actually only interesting from a technical point of view.

Maury Dexter, who went on to direct LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE and HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, began his career with Lippert Productions and cranked out many exciting B films. AIR PATROL is one of them, a film all about aerial cops who fly around Los Angeles, attempting to nail the bad guys.

A famous painting, worth a fortune, is the center of attention here where some real nasties are out to get their hands on it. Lots of familiar faces in this one, but at the top is veteran Douglas Dumbrille, at his crafty best. There's a terrific scene where he meets a "colleague" and pushes him off a 10 story building --just for starters.

This is really a great film, campy and fun as you watch the cops vs. The robbers and some excellent aerial footage of helicopters, especially a car chase as they hover over Dumbrille's station wagon as he makes his getaway. A big thank you to FXM retro channel for re-running this little gem of late, and perfect viewing for late night weekends. Some great shots of 60s Hollywood, especially the famous Hollywood Bowl, eerily empty and very quiet.

Dexter would next go on to direct the cult classic THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH. These two films make a fantastic back to back feature. You have to shop around as this may be on a private label dvd.

Saw this 2/3/17 thanks to cable on demand. Over the years I've become something of a connoisseur of Maury Dexter movies, with "Air Patrol" the latest after having seen (or endured) "Wild on the Beach" (1965), "Surf Party" (1964), and "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" (1963). "Air Patrol" is without question the best on that list, keeping in mind that it is a distinction based strictly on the level of play in Dexter's single-A cinematic league.

In "Air Patrol" a thief steals a Fragonard, helicoptering off with it from a Wilshire Boulevard rooftop. Apparently choppers were still exotic and relatively rare for the 1962 audience, during the time between the end of the series "Whirlybirds" and the Alcatraz operation depicted in "Point Blank" (1967).

The thief threatens to destroy the purloined Rococo masterpiece unless a $100,000 "ransom" is paid. The art buyer's secretary is played by Merry Anders, who, in spite of the limited acting demands of her role, is both effective and beautiful in the tradition of Beverly Garland. Robert Dix narrates as he performs in a first-person styling of Jack Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday, only Dix' cop character not only carries a badge but also flies an LAPD helicopter to catch the thief. The cast includes Willard Parker and Dexter regular Russ Bender as detectives, with Parker's Lt. Vern Taylor sharing with us his knowledge of art history.

The final act resembles last acts in "The Third Man"(1949), "He Walked by Night"(1949) and "711 Ocean Drive" (1950). Only here an agile senior citizen leads the cops on a daylight chase through a partially filled Los Angeles River. Douglass Dumbrille gives us an unconventional-looking thief who reminded me of East bloc chieftans Walter Ulbricht or Gomulka in their final days. He seems to inhabit Del Webb's Leisure World, not Jack Webb's police world.

Unlike the virtual house arrest of the action in "Wild on the Beach", "Air Patrol" makes extensive use of location photography, giving us clear, just-made-yesterday looks at Los Angeles at the beginning of the 1960's, with views of the Miracle Mile along Wilshire Boulevard, the Sepulveda Dam, Los Angeles River, Hollywood (101) Freeway, and the Cahuenga Pass.

In spite of the movie's obvious limitations, which include a strange, ill-fitting score, it all kinda works. Weird, but it works. Never let admiration for Ford, Hawks, Welles and others make us forget their fellow auteurs Dexter, Arch Hall, Sr., Ray Dennis Steckler, William Witney, and the recently departed Ted V. Mikels.

They all made movies.