Review of Highway Patrol

... and in fact I've been doing just that with the new DVD releases of the show! Each episode was built for a half-hour TV slot in the 1950's, so in fact they run about 25 minutes apiece. I think they kept things quite inventive with all kinds of different crimes, with the chief of Highway Patrol, Dan Matthews, played by Broderick Crawford, heading the investigation in each case. You've got truck hijackers stopping their prey by faking accidents, a couple of brothers robbing stores and restaurants that cash payroll checks and using a hot-rod to outrun the police, and even a typhoid carrier. You can start watching in any episode since there is really no story continuity to trip you up. Dan Matthews is a very impersonal presence as he outsmarts the crooks, questions witnesses that are often overly chatty about things that have nothing to do with the crime, and sets up road blocks that often catch the criminal. Ironically, most of the "backstory" in each episode usually involves the criminals, often one of which is rather a reluctant accomplice and wants to give himself/herself up.

The atmosphere is great with all of those shots of the open road and those late 50's cars, any one of which makes today's cars look like dixie cups on wheels. Then there are all of those independent motels, cafés, and gas stations, just a brief time before they all became just a series of plain vanilla homogenized chains. Although it is never clearly stated that this is the California Highway Patrol, it is implied by the geography and some of the cities mentioned. Check it out if you are a fan of 50's TV.