Dragnet 1967 (TV Series) The Bank Jobs (1967) User Reviews

A Unique M.O. & Props To Kipp Hamilton

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 26 October 2010]

Wow, this was a different story and a very interesting episode because of the uniqueness of the M. O. (and these shows were based on real-life crimes).

A male bank robber would grab an innocent woman nearby, threaten her to help him in the robbery "or else," the two would stuff money into a pillowcase, he would drive a short distance away, abandon the car and ......well, I don't spoil the show so the rest you'll have to watch. It's worth watching, particularly because of the woman who is involved (or is she?) with first robbery.

"Kipp Hamilton" does a nice job as ''Jana Altman. The more Joe Friday and Bill Gannon interrogate her, the more guilty she appears as she is caught in different lies. However, later we discover she might not be involved. This episode will keep you guessing. The ending is really bizarre. It involves a woman karate instructor! Kipp Hamilton is yet another actress who died at an early age; in her case, 45. Info is tough to find on this pretty lady but in her resume here, she stopped acting the same year this episode aired. It is said she died of cancer.

Dragnet 1968: The Bank Jobs

[Scarecrow-88 · 9/10 · 3 December 2011]

GREAT episode of Dragnet 1968 has a fine performance from pretty redhead Kipp Hamilton who is suspected of participating willingly (due to being caught in a series of lies while under interrogation, further clouding her innocence) in a bank robbery by Sgt Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon (Jack Webb and Harry Morgan). Convinced she may be concealing the identity of her ex-husband (a no-good gambler she went to prison for in another state, having moved to California hoping for a clean slate)as the possible bank robber, Friday and Gannon keep her under surveillance. When the robberies continue (a certain bank branch the constant target, at a certain time early morning, entering woman's car, demanding her to follow him into an establishment and load as much money as she could into a pillow case, dropping off female "accomplice" from her vehicle, dumping it a few blocks from the crime scene), Webb and Gannon have to decide if Hamilton's Jana Altman is guilty or innocent. How a female karate instructor of children gets involved in the final resolution of the serial robber is a hoot! Good work by guest starring Hamilton, feeling the pressure of being targeted as a possible suspect, and some intriguing statistics/details involving the reason bank robberies were so prevalent in the 60s provided by Friday and Gannon really give "The Bank Jobs" a boost on what otherwise could've been another by-the-numbers investigation. The questionable Altman character adds a nice bit of mystery as well, as Hamilton appears guilty, only enhancing the story because her past could or could not be a relevant gauge on an involvement in present crime.

How Hawaii Five-O and Batman of Dragnet!

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 6 May 2022]

The case is not that straightforward.

A bank is robbed and officers Joe Friday and Bill Gannon investigate. They find the getaway car deserted, and they trace it back to the woman from whom it was stolen. However, when they talk to the woman whose car was stolen, she matches the description of the woman who was with the robber and they notice she has an envelope with parole documents on her kitchen table.

They take the woman to headquarters where she changes her story and says she was kidnapped by the bank robber and made to help in the bank robbery. She also says that her run in with the law in Oklahoma was because of her husband's criminal activity. So here we have a woman who only tells the truth when forced, who has a criminal ex-husband, and claims she was forced to participate in a bank robbery when that would only greatly complicate matters for said bank robber.

So they release the woman and follow her to see if she meets up with the robber. Instead the case takes a startling turn, but of course our two protagonists never look startled. There is even a finale involving karate. I almost expected to see BAM! POW! CRASH! ZAP! On the TV screen.

Not just another episode of Dragnet. One of the stranger turns is every time the suspected woman is on the screen there is sirenish/romantic music playing, even though she is not romantically interested in anybody and is respectably dressed. The 60s were such a transitional era.

Worthe seeing just for the ending...

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 18 November 2009]

The episode begins with Friday and Gannon responding to a call about a bank robbery (note the weird police light used by the team). When they arrive, the robbers are long gone. The pair consisted of a man and a younger woman in a yellow dress. Eventually, the trail leads to the woman and her story about how she got involved with the robbery is unusual, to say the least. She was apparently kidnapped and forced to participate, but it sure is hard to believe--especially since when police first question her, she lies about everything. And, when she finally does come clean about the robbery, she STILL lies and holds back information--and it's hard for the police to believe anything she said. However, when another woman participates in a robbery...with exactly the same story as the first, then it becomes apparent that the women were, in fact, innocent.

Overall, this is a completely average episode except for the ending. How the robber is caught is actually pretty funny...and oddly, the Friday and Gannon had nothing to do with it! Worth seeing just for the ending. Plus, Friday's comment to the crook is priceless.

"I've been teaching karate for years. And you know what.....,

[Otkon · 22 June 2022]

....it really works!"

This episode is pretty great in its own insane way.

Lots of red herrings with redheads and pool boys.

And the climax. It's crazy hilarious.

Even Friday gets a chuckle in.

The Big Flying Kick.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 20 September 2016]

There's something endearingly amateurish about every single episode of this series. Most of the actors don't know how to act very well. I'm viewing this from a professional perspective because I gave a sterling performance in the unforgettable TV miniseries, "Rage of Angels." Or was it "Windmills of the Gods"? I forget.

In many episodes there's a career performer in the cast -- Virginia Gregg or someone -- but even they are hobbled by the stilted dialog. "Well, now why don't you just start from the beginning? You drove from Lancashire to Venice Boulevard, did ya?" Here, an ugly and untalented bank robber forces women at gunpoint to help him rob banks. One of the female victims describes him as "kind of good looking really" but she must be desperate. He's so ugly that when he was born, the doctor slapped his mother.

At any rate, he's undone at his third attempt by a woman who is a karate instructor. He stands there like a punching bag while she pummels awkwardly with fists and elbows until he finally collapses, as he's been directed to do.

I love it.

Bill Gannon

[raad-71634 · 21 December 2023]

I thought a review was a person's opinion on how they liked/disliked a show, not to tell people every detail of it from start to finish... Including spoilers. That's not a review.

I've watched almost every episode. Each one you can be grossed out by Gannon's liverwurst and onion, pickle, horseradish and peanut butter on garlic bread sandwiches... even Friday rolls his eyes. At the beginning of this episode, you watch him put 6 cubes of sugar (96 calories! 2 tablespoons! Want some coffee with that?) into his cup.

If it weren't for him, this show would have been a very boring cop show. Harry Morgan (Future Col. Potter/M*A*S*H) is awesome as Friday's comedic half.

I guess they weren't too worried about diabetes and halitosis..... Neither one seems to walk like normal people. Arms to the side, very robotic.

It's what makes it so nostalgic.