Dragnet is a 1947 American crime film

Crime film

Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...

 directed by Leslie Goodwins

Leslie Goodwins

Leslie Goodwins was an English film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967...

 and starring Henry Wilcoxon

Henry Wilcoxon

Henry Wilcoxon was an actor born in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies, and best known as a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMille's films, also serving as DeMille's associate producer on his later films....

, Mary Brian

Mary Brian

Mary Brian was an American actress and movie star who made the transition from 'silents' to 'talkies'.-Early life:...

, Douglass Dumbrille

Douglass Dumbrille

Douglass Dumbrille was a Canadian actor and one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.-Life and career:...

, Virginia Dale

Virginia Dale

Virginia Dale was an American film actress.She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She appeared in a number of movies in the 1930s and 1940s, including Holiday Inn, and became particularly associated with musicals. She left the movie business for almost three decades before returning to the...

, Don C. Harvey

Don C. Harvey

Don C. Harvey was an American television and film actor. Harvey was born in Kansas, United States.-Career:Harvey appeared in 180 films and television programs between 1945 and 1963....

 and Ralph Dunn

Ralph Dunn

Ralph Dunn was an American film, television, and stage actor.Career=Dunn was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania. Dunn's father was a veterinarian for the U.S. Army during WWI, and his mother was an actress...

. The screenplay is written by Barbara Worth and Harry Essex

Harry Essex

Harry Essex was a prolific American screenwriter. He was born on 29 November 1910 in New York City. He died on 5 February 1997 in Los Angeles. His career spanned more than fifty years...

. The original music score was composed by Irving Gertz

Irving Gertz

Irving Gertz is an American composer recognized for his compositions for many fantasy and horror B-movies and TV series of the 1950s and 1960s....

.

Henry Wilcoxon plays Inspector Geoffrey James of Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

 who travels to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

to investigate the activities of an international band of jewel thieves after the body of a diplomatic courier is found on the beach with smuggled jewels. James (Wilcoxon) is assisted by a the beautiful flight attendant, Anne Hogan (Brian).