Dragnet (1951)

Someone murdered a secretary late at night in her office. She was beaten to death with a metal pipe wrapped in newspaper. Could it be the drunk found three blocks away beating his head against a wall?

Friday must cope with the sudden death of his partner as he and his new partner track a pair of escaped convicts.

Upper middle-class teenagers in Los Angeles are going crazy. They trash a movie theater, beating up the manager and pushing a young man through a plate glass window. Sergeant Friday must get to the bottom of what is causing this to happen.

Friday and Smith search for a missing boy. The first sign that the case is serious is when blood is found. Further probing reveals the boy's parents had purchased him a .22-caliber rifle for Christmas -- and the weapon is missing, removed from its wrapped package.

A lady reports an abandoned baby at a bus depot. Officers Friday and Smith investigate, and realize her story doesn't quite hold water.

Friday peruses the elusive armed robber Mark Hoffman after the man repeatedly escapes from both State and military prisons. Can Friday convince the man to surrender or will he go down in a hail of bullets.