Code Two

I've mentioned in the past how I often find the little black-and-white programmers from the early 1950s at MGM to be more interesting than the lush Freed Unit musicals that the studio is better remembered for. Recently, I had the opportunity to watch another such movie, Code Two.

The movie starts off with opening credits and a voiceover sequence about the damage caused by car crashes that give the distinct impression Jack Webb could have produced this if it came about several years later, but Webb is not involved. After the intro, we get sent to the Los Angeles Police Academy, where a new group of recruits is about to start training. They're given the chance to introduce themselves to one another, which is a device to introduce the three main characters to the viewer: Chuck O'Flair (Ralph Meeker) is the know-it-all you know is going to get taken down a peg later in the movie and need to redeem himself; Russ Hardley (Robert Horton) is the husband with a wife Mary (Sally Forrest) and kid living in one of those Los Angeles bungalows next door to Mary's sister Jane (Elaine Stewart); and Harry Whenlon (Jeff Richards), a shy but kind-hearted man. A subplot involves Chuck trying to pursue Jane, although she prefers Harry.

The recruits get put through their paces, with Chuck, Harry, and Russ becoming friends, although Chuck is always getting into a bit of trouble since he just knows better than everybody else how to do things. The police academy version of a DI, Sgt. Culdane (Keenan Wynn), does think a good officer could be made out of Chuck, while his boss Lt. Redmon (James Craig) isn't so sure. But all three are graduated and put onto the force in boring-to-them positions.

So when a motorcycle cop comes into the diner where all the cops hang out, Chuck gets the idea that perhaps he should apply to become a motorcycle cop. The pay is better and it's more glamorous. He uses his charisma to get Russ and Harry to follow him, although Russ is reluctant to tell Mary since he just knows (rightly) that she's going to be uncomfortable with the idea of Russ being out on a motorcycle in traffic for an eight-hour shift. It's dangerous, after all.

Mary is right to worry. Chuck and Harry are on a shift together when a truck blows through a stop sign. Chuck hasn't done maintenance on his bike so can't get it to start, forcing Harry to go after the truck alone. The two men in the truck say they're carrying a cargo of furniture, but Harry goes to inspect and finds a liquid that seems a lot like blood. For his trouble, Harry gets pistol-whipped and then run over and killed. Analysis at the lab reveals the blood is not human but bovine, so we've got urban cattle rustlers. The last third of the movie gives Chuck that obligatory shot of finding the men who killed Harry and redeeming himself.

Code Two is the sort of thing that you could easily see having been done on episodic TV just a few years later, certainly on one of the Jack Webb shows like Dragnet or Adam-12. The story mostly works, although having to go all the way through the police academy to introduce the main characters to us is a bit slow. Once everybody gets on their motorcycles the action really picks up. Code Two is entertaining, although it's unsurprising that it's one of those movies that isn't well remembered. It's definitely worth watching, however.