Search - Arrest and Trial, Part 2 on DVD

More Arrests. More Trials.

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 04/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the second nine-episode DVD release of "Arrest and Trial," the 1963-64 police and legal drama that's said to have influenced the modern day "Law & Order" series. If you've seen the first DVD set released by the Timeless Media Group and enjoyed it, you will undoubtedly want to include this second release in your collection. The first half of each episode, The Arrest, begins with the crime and subsequent investigation by LAPD detectives portrayed by Ben Gazzara and Roger Perry. The second half of the show, The Trial, features defense attorneys portrayed by Chuck Connors and Don Galloway pitted against lawyers from the district attorney's office, portrayed by John Larch and John Kerr.

As I watch this second collection of episodes, I'm struck by the similarity in execution to some of the other great television dramas of the early 1960s, "Naked City" and "Route 66." Like those other classics, the recurring characters of "Arrest and Trial" are often secondary to the guest stars that appear as the accused or as those who are close to the crime. In the episode "The Witnesses," Anne Francis plays a high school teacher who is having an affair with a married man, a high powered corporate lawyer (Robert Webber). The couple witnesses a murder, but can't come forward due to the nature of their illicit affair. Despite reassurances from her lover that everything will come out right, it becomes apparent that the wrong man will be convicted, and Ms. Francis experiences a crisis of conscience. While the ending is predictable, it's the outstanding performance by Anne Francis that carries this episode.

An interesting side note on "Arrest and Trial" is actor John Kerr who played Assistant Deputy District Attorney Barry Pine. The experiences of portraying a lawyer on television must have made a positive impression on Mr. Kerr, who later entered UCLA's law school in 1966, and became a successful civil trial attorney, practicing law for 30 years in Southern California.

Despite Timeless Media's claim that the episodes were "faithfully reproduced from the original NBC masters," these episodes look no better or worse than the episodes contained in the first release, Arrest and Trial. If, indeed, the episodes were reproduced from the NBC masters, they do not appear to be restored or cleaned up in any way, shape or form. Some of the episodes in the first set were missing their opening title sequence, but the title sequence appears on all episodes in this second set. The episodes are very watchable, but for anyone expecting a high quality audio/visual presentation along the lines of some of CBS Paramount's vintage TV-on-DVD releases like "The Fugitive" or "The Untouchables," you'll be soundly disappointed. Still, it's the writing, acting and overall production values that are important and, on those counts, "Arrest and Trial" delivers. Recommended.
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