Journey Into DVD: Gang Busters Volume 1

I'm sure glad I enjoyed this DVD because, oh, what an epic adventure it was getting a playable disc from Netflix.

Now, I may see a glitch or two on one of their rental DVDs every now and then, but they generally aren't so bad as to require a replacement. So I was suprised just before last month's Blizzardpalooza when I got a disc of the 1950s crime show "Gang Busters" which was not just unplayable, but unHOLDable. I mean, the thing was in 3 pieces.

I had to wait a few days for the replacement given the weather, and then when my mailma--uh, letter carrier arrived, I had to help him dig out access to our mailbox because of the Great Wall of snow and ice the plows and some of my neighbors had amassed. I handed him the bad one and took the sub. Later, after a whole lot more shoveling, I opened the new enevelope and found that Netflix had indeed sent me a different disc.

This one was in 4 pieces.

What are the odds of this happening? Big. Big, big odds. I thought Netflix would brand me a serial destroyer of their merchandise. "This guy HATES Gang Busters! Flag his account!"

Netflix was great about this, though, and even sent me a few bonuses discs while I waited for the second replacement. After all this, I sure hoped "Gang Busters" was worth it. More importantly, I sure appreciated that it was a 1950s TV show I was trying to rent and not something like "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Strippercise Workout." THAT would have been a fun title to repeat to the customer service guy.

I finally did get an intact copy, though, and fortunately, it was almost worth the wait (hey, I know it's not end-of-the-world-type stuff here, but that kind of hassle would only be worth it if the DVD contained lost Honeymooners footage or a montage of towering Ralph Kiner home runs or footage of my appearance in a production of "The Jungle Book" in elementary school).

Based on the vintage radio program, "Gang Busters" has one of the great opening sequences in TV history. We look through the barrel of a gun as it pivots toward us, followed by a frantic mix of animation and stock footage showing a searchlight atop an island scanning the ocean, convicts busting out of jail, cops firing guns...the whole thing is so much fun, you sit there and think, "Can the show possibly be as good as all this?"

Well, no, it can't, but it can be mighty entertaining for each half-hour or so. These episodes feature the show's original gimmick of a "real-life law enforcement official" introducing and narrating a specific case from his CRIME FILES. Then we get a nice little reenactment of the crime and manhunt (sometimes womanhunt). It's a fun show. Ultimately, crime doesn't pay and all that, but the series does seem to focus on the criminals as much as on the coppers. This particular disc offered a "Detour" reunion of sorts in "The Red Dress," which co-stars Tom Neal and Ann Savage in a suitably sordid tale.

Netflix stocks a Volume 2, but I'm almost afraid to ask for it. I did have success, though, with "Guns Don't Argue," a worthwhile but sloppily assembled feature-length collection of "Gang Busters" episodes spotlighting the "Public Enemies" of the thirties like John Dillinger and Alvin Karpis. It's pretty loose with the facts, but you shouldn't be expecting a documentary.

"Gang Busters" is a decent vintage crime show, one which merits further DVDs--and I don't mean breaking up existing ones into pieces to make multiples, either. Say, I wonder who IS out there busting 'Gang Busters" DVDs? If the show presented that case, the guy would be pursued and arrested or possibly gunned down within 25 minutes.