The Rookie Cop

Tim Holt is fine as the title character but the film is full of the clichés common with B pictures of this sort: a police commissioner who hates dogs; the hero being captured; an all-too-easy escape, etc. And why would any man bring his girl along to investigate a place where known killers may possibly be present? To add suspense, of course! It's a watchable movie, but kids and dog fanciers will enjoy it more than I did. Ace is billed 4th as "The Wonder Dog," and he is in the tradition of smart dogs that Rin Tin Tin began in the silent era. Janet Shaw is lovely to look at as the love interest, and not a bad actress either. Virginia Weidler, as the next door neighbor kid who wants to become a cop, provides the only comic relief, and is a plus. I've always been fond of her. She's there for the kids to root for and I'm sure all will cheer when she gets to shoot her water gun full of onion juice into the eyes of a baddie.

Our forgetful filmmakers department: When Janet Shaw reads a newspaper account of a crime, we see the name in print as "Midgit Mason," but she reads it as "Monte Mason," the name the guy (Monte Montague) was called in the film.