| “ | This is the city. All year round it wears work clothes; on holidays it dresses up. To most people Christmas brings happiness and prayer. To some it brings heartbreak. Then my job gets tougher. I'm a cop. | ” |
— Joe Friday's opening narration | ||
"The Big .22 Rifle for Christmas" is the first Christmas episode of Dragnet that initially aired on NBC on December 19, 1952. The story is adapted from an episode of the radio series of the same name that originally aired over NBC radio on December 22, 1949.
The story is particularly heartbreaking for a Christmas episode, even a police procedural series of the day like Dragnet, in that it depicts the accidental death of a young boy just days before Christmas. Nevertheless, the episode does end on a bittersweet note.
Synopsis
Three days before Christmas, Los Angeles police detective sergeant Joe Friday and his partner Officer Frank Smith who were working Homicide division get a call that a 9-year old boy named Stanley Johnstone has turned up missing from his home. The officers who did some initial searching found numerous fresh blood stains in the Johnstone's back yard and called homicide division to investigate. Mrs. Johnstone said that at 11am that morning she had left her son at home while she went out shopping, but when she returned at 2pm the boy was not there.
Forensic technician Ray Pinker examined the stains on the back patio and found them to be blood, but had to do a precipitin test back at the lab to determine if it was human or animal. Friday finds an empty .22 shell lying nearby and has it put into evidence. Meanwhile, the search for Stanley widens and Joe and Frank go to talk to Stanley's mother.
Mrs. Johnstone tells them that Stanley doesn't habitually run off though he has done it before, once after being scolded; she points out that there was no falling out between them this time, and after calling friends and neighbors who haven't seen him she is getting a little worried. Mrs. Johnstone calls her husband at his work to see if Stanley is there, but learns he is not. When Joe and Frank ask Mrs. Johnstone if they have any guns in the house, she mentions that her husband owns a .45 pistol, but then adds that they bought a rifle for Stanley for Christmas and hid it in a closet. She goes to the closet to get it for Joe and Frank to check it, but to her surprise the gift-wrapped box has been opened and the rifle is gone. Joe examines the box; the missing rifle is a .22 caliber.
As the search for Stanley continues, Joe calls Ray Pinker at the lab who confirms the blood is human but needs to know Stanley's blood type for a match. Joe then talks to Captain Lohrman who gives him more not-so-good news: another boy, an 8-year old named Steven Martin, is also missing. They learn that Martin's family just moved to the neighborhood and only the Martin family knew that Steven and Stanley played together. They then find out that Stanley and Steven both have type-O blood, a match for the blood stains on the Johnstone patio.
Joe and Frank are with Mrs. Martin when they get word that Stanley has been found. Back at the Johnstone home they find a crestfallen and taciturn Stanley sitting at the dining room table. Joe eventually gets Stanley to open up; he says that Steven is dead and that he killed him. Joe is not so sure, but then Stanley shows the detectives a clump of trees behind the house where he took Steven's body. He explains that he knew his parents were going to give him the rifle and a box of bullets for Christmas, and knowing where they hid it, he went and got it out. Steven got a turn to play with it and was running with the rifle in his hands when he tripped and fell causing the rifle to fire a shot into his chest killing him. Joe asks why Stanley believes he killed Steven; he tearfully answers that it was his gun, and that if he had just waited until Christmas morning to open it Steven would still be alive. When Joe asks where Stanley had been since he was reported missing, he replies that he had been there the whole time with Steven's body "praying that God would make him alive again".
Putting all the pieces together, Joe and Frank conclude that Stanley was telling the truth, and that Steven's death was accidental. They get permission from the coroner to move Steven's body to the Martin's house where his mother collapses from the news. Joe and Frank are waiting there when Mr. Martin returns home. When he sees his son lying dead on the bed he himself tearfully collapses at his bedside. When Joe explains to Mr. Martin what happened, he determines to go and see Stanley, with Joe and Frank accompanying him as a precaution. At the Johnstone house, Mr. Martin quietly tells Stanley that he knows that Steven's death was an accident and doesn't blame him, and then reveals that he had bought some Christmas presents for Steven and wants to give them to Stanley.
Their work done, Joe and Frank casually walk back outside, with Frank asking:
| “ | Frank: Well, what's it all prove, Joe? Joe: You don't give a kid a gun for Christmas. |
” |
Epilogue
Two days later, a coroner's inquest was held at the County Morgue. The coroner's jury ruled that Steven Martin's death was indeed accidental, and Stanley Johnstone was absolved of any legal responsibility for Steven's death.
Cast
| Actor/actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Jack Webb | Sergeant Joe Friday |
| Herb Ellis | Officer Frank Smith |
| Wm. Johnstone | Mr. Martin |
| June Whitley | Mrs. Johnstone |
| Sammy Ogg | Stanley Johnstone |
| Virginia Christine | Mrs. Martin |
| Rennie McEvoy | Officer Doherty |
| Olan Soulé | Ray Pinker |