Synopsis
Highway Patrol was a syndicated, fictional police action series produced from 1955 to 1959, concerning the activities of the highway patrol and their leader, Dan Matthews (who held no rank). Although filmed in and around the Los Angeles area, the state setting for the stories was never identified, and city and street names were fictionalized.
Episodes
1E1Prison Break / Road BlockA hardened criminal, whose personality belies his viciousness, escapes from prison, killing a guard. Dan Mathews swings into action, and as the man commits one ruthless act after another to break through the trap closing in on him, it becomes apparent that there's almost a personal conflict between the two men - that ends only when they meet face to face in the final scene.28m2E2Machine Story Copter / Machine Napping CopterAn expensive, giant computer, one of the twentieth century wonders, which does a tremendous amount of administrative work in just hours, is ingeniously 'kidnapped' from an electronics company by two men. The firm's owner is told to get $100,000 from his bank at two o'clock the next day and wait for instructions. A helicopter chase helps Dan stop the men from collecting the ransom or getting away.28m3E3Reckless DrivingSystematic traffic checks and increased patrols begin on a high accident freeway. Hoping to determine causes and cures, Dan questions drivers who get too many citations there. One man refuses to accept Dan's safety philosophy. When his license is suspended, his wife drives him to an important business meeting. En route, her eyeglasses break and he takes over at the wheel. Encountering a traffic check, he panics and flees, resulting in a severe accident in which his wife is critically injured. He learns the hard way - and too late - what Dan had earlier tried to impress upon him.28m4E4LookoutAn uninvolved man happens to be in the company of two brothers who hold up a diner and kill its owner. Fearing the police and terrified of the vengeance he may expect from the criminals, he flees. As Dan searches for him, one man winds up dead, two critically wounded, and the man who a few short hours ago was an average law-abiding citizen is harried to the point where he is willing to shoot it cut with the police - until Dan manages to show the error of his ways.28m5E5GamblingDan Mathews and his officers assist a county sheriff in closing down a club that offers illicit gambling.28m6E6HitchhikerA series of fraudulent insurance claims is discovered after Dan Mathews and his officers learn that the "accidental" death of a migrant worker was actually a homicide.28m7E7Desert Town28m8E8Radioactive28m9E9Reformed CriminalDan Mathews has reason to suspect the worst when a courier with a criminal record disappears with $31,000 after an automobile accident.28m10E10Father Thief28m11E11Retired Gangster28m12E12Phony Insurance28m13E13Escort28m14E14Resort28m15E15Girl Bandit28m16E16Mountain Copter28m17E17Lie Detector28m18E18Scared Cop28m19E19Harbor Story28m20E20Hit And RunDan Mathews must cope with a family's effort to protect an emotionally fragile young woman who fled after striking a pedestrian with her car.28m21E21Car TheftCar thieves purchase wrecked vehicles and transfer the VIN plates to stolen ones in order to escape detection.28m22E22Human Bomb28m23E23Plane Crash28m24E24Desert Copter28m25E25Plant Robbery28m26E26Released ConvictA patient parolee decides the time is finally right to attempt the recovery of $250,000 stolen in an armored car robbery.28m27
Motorcycle ATwo bikers (Clint Eastwood as 'Joe Keeley', John Compton as 'Nick West') ride stripped-down Harleys into town and stop at a cafe. They are shocked when the cafe owner (Jack Edwards as 'Bernie Sills') confronts them with a shotgun and orders them to leave.
As his wife calls the Highway Patrol her husband provokes the bikers, until Nick takes the gun from Sills and punches him. The bikers jump on their bikes and roar out of town.
When Sills learns his wife has called the law, he hides the gun and lies to the responding motorcycle cop, telling him the cyclists started the trouble. The cop takes off after the bikers, only to be struck and killed by a trucker who runs a red light.
Broderick Crawford’s ‘Chief Dan Mathews’ quickly sorts truth from fiction and arrests the café owner for assaulting the bikers. A nice (albeit unlikely) twist on the ‘bad guy bikers’ trope!28m28E28Mental Patient28m29E29License PlatesAn alert boy is able to give Dan Mathews information that provides a critical break in the pursuit of a recidivist thief.28m30E30Hitchhiker Dies28m31E31Blast Area Copter28m32E32Anti-toxin28m33E33Dead PatrolmanA Highway Patrol officer is murdered while pursuing a car stolen from a lonely bookstore owner.28m34E34Art RobberyTwo thieves attempt to steal valuable paintings and demand ransom of $500,000. but they are forced to commit murder when the plan goes awry.28m35E35Runaway Boy28m36E36Taxi28m37E37Missing Witness28m38E38ProspectorA poor prospector arouses suspicion when he suddenly begins paying off long-standing debts from a large roll of new $100 bills.28m39E39Christmas Story28m
Motorcycle ATwo bikers (Clint Eastwood as 'Joe Keeley', John Compton as 'Nick West') ride stripped-down Harleys into town and stop at a cafe. They are shocked when the cafe owner (Jack Edwards as 'Bernie Sills') confronts them with a shotgun and orders them to leave.
As his wife calls the Highway Patrol her husband provokes the bikers, until Nick takes the gun from Sills and punches him. The bikers jump on their bikes and roar out of town.
When Sills learns his wife has called the law, he hides the gun and lies to the responding motorcycle cop, telling him the cyclists started the trouble. The cop takes off after the bikers, only to be struck and killed by a trucker who runs a red light.
Broderick Crawford’s ‘Chief Dan Mathews’ quickly sorts truth from fiction and arrests the café owner for assaulting the bikers. A nice (albeit unlikely) twist on the ‘bad guy bikers’ trope!28m28E28Mental Patient28m29E29License PlatesAn alert boy is able to give Dan Mathews information that provides a critical break in the pursuit of a recidivist thief.28m30E30Hitchhiker Dies28m31E31Blast Area Copter28m32E32Anti-toxin28m33E33Dead PatrolmanA Highway Patrol officer is murdered while pursuing a car stolen from a lonely bookstore owner.28m34E34Art RobberyTwo thieves attempt to steal valuable paintings and demand ransom of $500,000. but they are forced to commit murder when the plan goes awry.28m35E35Runaway Boy28m36E36Taxi28m37E37Missing Witness28m38E38ProspectorA poor prospector arouses suspicion when he suddenly begins paying off long-standing debts from a large roll of new $100 bills.28m39E39Christmas Story28mCast
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