30 1959 Jack Webb William Conrad David Nelson + trailer DVD

DVD-R of this 96 minute b&w 1959 full-length feature film released by Warner Brothers. This quality digital full-frame recording includes a disc menu with the original theater trailer and a plastic case. Details below as listed with imdb.com:

Cast (in credits order)

Jack Webb ... Sam Gatlin

William Conrad ... Jim Bathgate
David Nelson ... Earl Collins
Whitney Blake ... Peggy Gatlin
Louise Lorimer ... Lady Wilson
James Bell ... Ben Quinn
Nancy Valentine ... Jan Price
Joe Flynn ... Hy Shapiro
Richard Bakalyan ... Carl Thompson
Dick Whittinghill ... Fred Kendall
John Nolan ... Ron Danton
Jonathan Hole
Richard Deacon ... Chapman
Ronnie Dapo
Fay McKenzie

Marshall Kent
Howard Culver
Phil Gordon
John Truax
Mark Scott
Olan Soule
William Tracy
Dick Cathcart

Alan Reynolds
Donna Sue Needham ... Lucille Greghauser

Howard McNear ... Editor (uncredited)

Plot description: (written by book author Michael Hayde):
"-30-" is an anomaly among Jack Webb productions: it's the least realistic docudrama he ever made. Unlike "The D.I.," which got a ringing endorsement from the Marine Corps., journalists sneered at this picture. Newspaper critics harped on its wisecracks, its plot contrivances, and especially the constant abuse heaped on copy boys throughout the film. (Strangely, nobody commented on its LEAST realistic aspect: what kind of adoption agency releases a little boy to a family where the father refuses to meet with him?)

On the other hand, the film contains Webb's liveliest performance. His Sam Gatlin is animated and emotional. The closing scene, as Webb tries to explain to his second wife why he REALLY doesn't want to adopt a child, will shock you and perhaps put a lump in your throat. It's almost worth sitting through William Conrad's over-the-top, Edgar Kennedy-ish performance to see.

FACTOID: Warner Bros. really had a hard time marketing this one. In some cities, the ads labeled it a drama; in others, it was termed a comedy ("You'll laugh so loud, you might get arrested," read one ad under a picture of Jack "Sgt. Friday" Webb.) In the end, few people went to see it. It was the first Webb production to LOSE money, and it lost him his Warner contract.

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