-30-

This film is entertaining but marred by a too archly clever script, lines that are delivered, (particularly by William Conrad), as if the speaker were narrating a documentary and scenes that are played at 45RPM instead of 33. The effect is to make the film play like an opera without the music, complete with a mixture of low comedy and high tragedy. An attempt to break the news about a loved one's death becomes an extended discourse on God and the Universe. (I have always found that people in a certain situation are not very interested in the philosophies of people who are not.) Someone makes a wisecrack about the newspaper business and Conrad launches into a sort of aria about the purpose of the news business. He also sings lines like "BBBooooyyy!" when he calls for a copy boy. We have a kid trapped in sewers, another hoping to be adopted by the hero, another dying in a plane crash, etc. etc. I also agree that the thought of David Nelson having been a sergeant in the Korean War when the actor was born in 1936 is absurd.

Still, no one can deny that the film is entertaining for all it's faults. It moves and has real dramatic punch. Jack Webb's performance is his best in the movies since "The Men", (1950), although he still lacks the presence and charisma of the movie star he surely wanted to be. This was almost his last attempt at it after "Dragnet (1954), Pete Kelly's Blues, (1955) and The D.I. (1957). He had one more attempt, "The Last Time I saw Archie" (1961), a service comedy with Robert Mitchum, (now there's a Movie Star!) which, like -30-, was a box office flop and ended Webb's ambitions in this regard. He them became a Warner Brother's executive and then returned to the medium where he really excelled, television.

Jack Webb walks into the newsroom and asks if "your boy still loves "Huckleberry Hound" He was referring to myself in real life. Wehad just gotten our first TV and this cartoon was the first show I ever saw. My father had been the sportscaster for the Pacific Coast League team,The Hollywood Stars, named for the fact that the team was owned by a syndicate of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time. He also was the host of the show"HomeRunDerby"which ran from1959 to 1960 when he sadly passed away. I am a film composer working in LA and have worked with Andrew Davis and Glen Ballard among others. Jack Webb and my Dad were friends and my Dad can be seen in several episodes of "Dragnet", playing a reporter again and in many other shows of the day including "Fury", "Whirlibirds" and others.

I saw "-30-" on our old black and white in the 60's. It was a movie for a worthwhile popcorn and soda evening. Sure Jack Webb made movies and series that were sentimental but believable for the most part. He knew how to touch heart strings.

The story lines all come together. There's the search for the little girl lost in the LA storm drains while looking for her puppy. Lady, the reporter, whose grandson is lost in a military plane crash. The bet from Jim Bathgate that was to be delivered, but was lost, by Earl, the copy boy and wannabe reporter. Earl is a Korean War Veteran. Jim and PeggyGatlin, Jim who doesn't want to adopt a kid and Peggy who does. What will happen in each situation?

Jack Webb and William Conrad were actors of the highest degree. Louise Lorimar was a long time character actress who knew her trade. Comments were made about David Nelson's young age during this movie. I'm not sure of the importance of the issue after all he was acting. We, also, must consider the looks and ages of the young men going to war. I feel David did a fine job for his part.

I grew up watching DRAGNET with Jack Webb and Ben Alexander. Later on Harry Morgan (of M*A*S*H fame) signed on to be Jack's partner. One thing I appreciate about Jack is that in all of his movies and series many of the older character actors were used on a consistent basis. He also gave opportunity to many young stars like David Nelson and Dennis Weaver. I guess that shows that his sentimentality was real. He knew how and when to give a kid of any age a break.

Whitney Blake went on to do several acting parts in TV but will probably be remembered most for the TV series "Hazel". She starred with Don DeFoe and the great Shirley Booth (Hazel) as Dorothy Baxter, aka Mrs. B (1960-65). Sadly, Whitney passed away from cancer in 2002.

Compared to his roles in Dragnet or the DI, Jack Webb was positively eloquent playing night editor Sam Gatlan in -30-. For those of you who don't know, the title is the symbol put at the bottom of every newspaper article or news release signifying the end.

-30- tells the story of half a day in the office of a working newspaper in Los Angeles of the Fifties. The film is centered around the characters of Webb and Bill Conrad who are in charge as they decide the content and format of a daily edition.

-30- doesn't break any new ground, but has a nice documentary look to it which is what you would expect from the Jack Webb who gave us the daily grind in police work in Dragnet and with paramedics in Emergency. A bit more of a personal life is seen here with Webb and his wife Whitney Blake as they are going through a personal crisis of their own, whether to adopt young Ronnie Dapo or not.

Some familiar character players populate the newsroom here like Howard McNear, Joe Flynn, Richard Deacon, David Nelson who fill out their assigned roles very well. The primary news is about the rescue of a little girl trapped in a sewer drain. The film never leaves the set of the press room much like Dead End or Rear Window and like those films, the set almost becomes a character. But the most unforgettable characters are rich beauty queen Nancy Valentine who wants a journalism career and wants people to take her seriously and Louise Lormer as a veteran reporter who sustains a personal tragedy, but whose commitment to her job carries her through.

-30- like some of the journalism dramas of previous years is almost quaint now with most people getting their news from the internet or from radio and television. Still the papers are out there, struggling as they are for their audience. The people who work on newspapers are nicely tributed by Jack Webb and this film.

This film is a night in a newsroom at a big city newspaper. It stars Jack Webb as the boss, William Conrad and a whole host of other folks. There are a could of surprises--with Howard McNear (Floyd from "The Andy Griffith Show") and David Nelson ("Ozzie and Harriett") in small parts. All of them work very well together and "-30-" is a surprisingly good film. While it's not nearly as cynical and hard-hitting as "Five Star Final" (also remade as "Two Against the World"), it is a dandy little film--and one that might surprise you. Surprising because it was produced and directed by Jack Webb--and has Webb in the lead actually plays a surprisingly vulnerable guy. This is not the tough as nails guy he played in "The D.I." or Joe Friday from "Dragnet" (though Friday could, on rare occasions, show a bit of heart). This guy is cynical but also a guy who is hurting--and Webb was able to do a surprisingly good performance in this complex role. Now the film at first does not appear to have a lot of depth--just a lot of hard-boiled stereotypical newspaper folks. But, as the film progresses, various tragedies occur--bringing some humanity to these folks who seemed cold as ice.

Overall, a very compelling film--particularly the last half hour. Very well written, a bit schmaltzy (in a good way) and never the least bit dull, this is a heck of a good film that is all but forgotten today. And, the same can be made for Webb's other films. If he hadn't been so successful on TV, you wonder what other film projects he might have made.