The opposite side of the coin is the blatant police propaganda of Dragnet. It wasn’t just popular culture that occasionally showed the police in a bad light, but the general public often accepted the stereotype of the lowly paid, rather dim, and corrupt policeman in mid-century America. Dragnet was one of the first shows to mythologize a universally competent and professional police force. (Excepting some radio shows about the FBI “approved” by J. Edgar Hoover)
Indeed. Jack Webb set out to sell the idea of a virtuous, corruption-free, highly-competent force.
This article provides an interesting overview of the entire question of how popular culture views the topic:
(Granted, it’s not about Perry Mason, though it is relevant to the question of “eras” of depiction of various traits, as given in the OP.)
Here’s a thoughtful piece centering on Perry Mason:
Right. It’s a mistake to imagine that the further back in the past we go, the more the police were admired. “The Keystone Cops” were a very popular series of movies about buffoonish police, and other films (like “His Gal Friday” involve police who are wrong (and fairly easy to fool). And then the Hayes code required that extra care be taken in any representation of law enforcement officers, which changed things.
I’m saying exactly what I said. You said there were few such shows. I provided a few examples. That built on what you said rather than negating it.
Webb did two different tv Dragnet series, one from 1951-59, the other from 1967-70. It’s the latter that had the anti-hippie depictions that turned the younger public against Webb, not unlike what happened to Hope in that period.
All valid points. I think though my thought process is influenced by the fact I am a GenXer. All I know of Tv shows from the era are from reruns on local TV stations. Anything from the Honeymooners to the Brady Bunch. All of which usually portrayed an idealized view of life in America. Even the Andy Griffith show. Yes Barney was portrayed as a buffoon. But he was an honest hardworking buffoon for comedic effect.
Most TV shows mentioned countering my viewpoint I never heard of. I assume because they didn’t make it to rerun syndication into the 70s.
As far as movies, yes I am well aware of film noir and gritty detective stories that didn’t portray cops particularly competent or even downright corrupt. I saw many on TV. (Didn’t have Cable TV until college)
I have been swayed by the point a few have made that Perry Mason does in fact idealize the life in America and the Judicial system. As in, even if honest cops mistakenly arrest the wrong person, because all available evidence does in fact point to the innocent person (and viewer at home would probably agree it looks like they did it). Luckily for us in America, we have a system of Justice that includes Defense attorneys who work within our system of Justice to prevent any innocent people to jail. Thus guilty people go to Jail, innocent people don’t. The system works.
I’m also amused by the comparison between Joe Friday and Det Arthur Tragg. Imagine they are in the same precinct. “Hey Joe, how did court go? Joe: slam dunk guilty verdict again”. “Hey Arthur how did court go? Arthur: (sighs) I arrested the wrong guy again”
“Arthur, this crime has baffled all the experts.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“You’re going to arrest a guy at random, aren’t you?”
“And give ‘em Perry’s phone number, that’s right.”
Very rarely there were depictions of innocents being sent to prison but usually only because they were actively framed, usually by whoever really did it.
I think the idea that Perry Mason showed the police as incompetent is somewhat overstated. In most episodes the evidence against Perry’s client was pretty damning.
Very often the defendant would publicly tell the victim, “If you do X, I’ll kill you.” Victim does X and shortly after is murdered.
Then too it frequently turns out the defendant lied to the police (and often Perry). “No, I was nowhere the crime scene that night.” Of course it turns out that the defendant was seen at the crime scene by a reliable witness. “He was dead when I got there. I didn’t admit to being there because I knew how it would look.”
At times the defendant is covering for someone else that he’s afraid committed the murder. For example, he recognizes the gun as belonging to a loved one, and takes it. Naturally the police find the gun where he hid it.
Take all such evidence and it does seem obvious that Perry’s client did the murder. It’s not like the police arrested him on really flimsy evidence. But the client proclaims his innocence, and Perry believes him, looking then to find out who the real murderer is. In most episodes the charges are dropped because someone else confessed to the crime.