-30-

The more of Jack Webb's work I see, the more I admire this vastly underrated auteur of mid-twentieth century American film and television. Often imitated and more frequently dismissed because of his perceived wooden acting style, Webb was both a consummate craftsman as a filmmaker and a man with a singular vision when it came to telling stories in as realistic and hard hitting a manner as possible. 

Case in point, -30- (1959), which I watched for the first time yesterday. This taut little thriller depicts a night in the life of a Los Angeles metropolitan newspaper with a varied cast of characters. All of the little dramas and comedies are played out against the backdrop of the "big" story and all of the action is confined to the newsroom which managing editor Sam Gatlin (Webb) watches over. He's aided by city editor Jim Bathgate (William Conrad), an unnamed wire editor (Howard McNear),  layout man Hy Shapiro (Joe Flynn) and staff "artist" Chapman (Richard Deacon). There's also a young copy boy (does anyone remember when newspapers had such employees?) Earl Collins (David Nelson) while the smoking hot Whitney Blake plays Sam's wife, Peggy.

The "big" story on this long rainy night is a young girl missing in the sewer drains beneath Los Angeles. As the night wears on the rain continues to fall, causing the storm sewers to fill to capacity, limiting the hopes of finding the girl alive. Gatlin orders as much coverage as possible, holding the crucial front page until the very last dead-or-alive headline. 

Webb, aided by screenwriter William Bowers, keeps the action moving at a good clip, allowing plenty of time for various character vignettes while also giving a peek behind-the-scenes of a how a big city newspaper worked in 1959. Not all of the humor works and Conrad gets to deliver the obligatory monologue about how important the work of a newspaper is (and I agree with everything he says), but this is Webb's baby from start to finish. He treats the men and women in the newspaper business as professionals first, human beings (with all of their inherent problems and troubles, including his own pending adoption of an orphan boy) second. Webb walks a fine line between thriller and docu-drama with the result an utterly fascinating and compelling film that deserves to be seen by anyone with an interest in journalism or the work of Jack Webb. 

Although it's his work on both iterations of the DRAGNET television series that made Webb an immortal, the man had a sizable body of work outside of that legendary series that is long past due for re-discovery and re-consideration as an important part of mid-century American cinema. 

Recommended.