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Dragnet movie synopsis. Friday and Streebek are assigned to some very strange robberies, like i.e. the stealing of one bat, a 30 foot long snake and the mane of a lion from a zoo. All the latest BAIT magazines were also recently stolen, and some chemicals that when are mixed correctly develops a very deadly gas.
All these thefts have one thing in common; visit cards with the word “PAGAN” left at the crime scenes. Solving these crimes, including why plenty of police vehicles have been stolen lately, involves the usual; to drink coffee at strip tease bars, rescue kidnapped virgins from drowning and lose their jobs.
Dragnet is a 1987 American buddy cop comedy film written and directed by Tom Mankiewicz in his directorial debut, and starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. The film is based on the television crime drama of the same name starring Jack Webb. The screenplay, both a parody of and homage to the long-running television series, was written by Dan Aykroyd and Alan Zweibel. The original music score is by Ira Newborn.
About the Story
LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday’s nephew and namesake (Aykroyd), whose anachronistic views reflect those of his late uncle, is involuntarily assigned a smart-alecky, streetwise new partner, Pep Streebek (Hanks). Their contrasting styles clash at first, Friday disapproving of his young partner’s attitude, hair, and wardrobe, but they gradually bond over their first case as a team, an investigation of a series of bizarre thefts involving items as disparate as a tanker full of chemicals; police, fire and paramedic vehicles; a wedding dress; a wood tree bat; an anaconda; a lion’s mane; and the entire monthly print run of Bait, a pornographic magazine owned by Jerry Caesar (Dabney Coleman).
They follow the trail to an Orange County-based cult calling itself P.A.G.A.N. (People Against Goodness And Normalcy). After further investigation, Friday and Streebek focus on one of the cult’s henchmen, a brutish limousine driver for Jerry Caesar named Emil Muzz (Jack O’Halloran), who then reveals to Friday and Streebek the location of the next P.A.G.A.N. gathering during a gruesome interrogation by Streebek and a table drawer.
Friday and Streebek disguise themselves as P.A.G.A.N. thugs (Streebek as Muzz) and sneak into the secret P.A.G.A.N. ceremony. There they witness the masked leader attempting to sacrifice a virgin, Miss Connie Swail (Alexandra Paul). They see the masked leader, while making a ritual speech, release the bat and throw the lions’ manes that were stolen from the zoo into a pit of water below.
He then throws the Virgin Connie Swail wearing the stolen wedding dress into the same pit with the anaconda that was also stolen from the zoo. Friday and Streebek disrupt the ceremony and save Swail by poisoning the anaconda with some prescription narcotic drugs given to them to try to fit in.
In the process, Swail and Friday discover a mutual attraction. They report the incident to Capt. Gannon (Harry Morgan) and urge him to return to the site of the ritual. Upon arriving to the site with Police Commissioner Jane Kirkpatrick (Elizabeth Ashley), they find no evidence of any ritual held there the previous night. Friday and Streebek are removed from the case by Kirkpatrick.
Dragnet (1987)
Directed by: Tom Mankiewicz
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Tom Hanks, Christopher Plummer, Harry Morgan, Alexandra Paul, Elizabeth Ashley, Dabney Coleman, Kathleen Freeman, Lenka Peterson, Julia Jennings
Screenplay by: Dan Aykroyd, Alan Zweibel
Production Design by: Robert F. Boyle
Cinematography by: Matthew F. Leonetti
Film Editing by: William D. Gordean, Richard Halsey
Costume Design by: Taryn De Chellis
Set Decoration by: Arthur Jeph Parker
Art Direction by: Frank Richwood
Music by: Ira Newborn
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: June 26, 1987
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