Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Countdown to Christmas: The Big Little Jesus (Dragnet, 1954)

Dragnet presented a Christmas tale in 1954 that was later remade for the 1967-70 version.

The keynote to this tale is the theft of a Nativity scene from a Los Angeles parish, and it's up to Joe Friday (Jack Webb) & Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) to locate the missing Nativity. I remember seeing the remake many times, and the surprise reveal is worth the price of admission alone.

George Fenneman (You Bet Your Life) is the announcer.



Rating: A.

2 comments:

magicdog said...

I'd seen the 1967 color version on TV Land a few years back. This was a good story - and since it was Dragnet, that means the story did indeed happen in real life!

hobbyfan said...

I thought it was cute the little boy had taken the Nativity for his family so they could celebrate Christmas, as they couldn't afford to buy their own. At least he had the good sense to return it after he was done.