Highway Patrol
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.
Cast: Broderick Crawford, Art Gilmore
TV-GHDCC
39 episodes
- 1. Prison 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.TV-GCC28minOct 3, 1955
- 2. Machine 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.TV-GCC28minOct 10, 1955
- 3. Reckless 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.TV-GCC28minOct 17, 1955
- 4. LookoutAn 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.TV-GCC28minOct 24, 1955
- 5. GamblingDan Mathews and his officers assist a county sheriff in closing down a club that offers illicit gambling.TV-GCC28minOct 31, 1955
- 6. HitchhikerA 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.TV-GCC28minNov 7, 1955
- 7. Desert TownNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minNov 14, 1955
- 8. RadioactiveNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minNov 21, 1955
- 9. Reformed CriminalDan Mathews has reason to suspect the worst when a courier with a criminal record disappears with $31,000 after an automobile accident.TV-GCC28minNov 28, 1955
- 10. Father ThiefNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minDec 5, 1955
- 11. Retired GangsterNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minDec 12, 1955
- 12. Phony InsuranceNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minDec 19, 1955
- 13. EscortNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minDec 26, 1955
- 14. ResortNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJan 2, 1956
- 15. Girl BanditNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJan 9, 1956
- 16. Mountain CopterNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJan 16, 1956
- 17. Lie DetectorNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJan 23, 1956
- 18. Scared CopNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJan 30, 1956
- 19. Harbor StoryNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minFeb 6, 1956
- 20. Hit 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.TV-GCC28minFeb 13, 1956
- 21. Car TheftCar thieves purchase wrecked vehicles and transfer the VIN plates to stolen ones in order to escape detection.TV-GCC28minFeb 20, 1956
- 22. Human BombNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minFeb 27, 1956
- 23. Plane CrashNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minMar 5, 1956
- 24. Desert CopterNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minMar 12, 1956
- 25. Plant RobberyNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minMar 19, 1956
- 26. Released ConvictA patient parolee decides the time is finally right to attempt the recovery of $250,000 stolen in an armored car robbery.TV-GCC28minMar 26, 1956
27. 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!TV-GCC28minApr 2, 1956- 28. Mental PatientNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minApr 9, 1956
- 29. License PlatesAn alert boy is able to give Dan Mathews information that provides a critical break in the pursuit of a recidivist thief.TV-GCC28minApr 16, 1956
- 30. Hitchhiker DiesNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minApr 23, 1956
- 31. Blast Area CopterNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minApr 30, 1956
- 32. Anti-toxinNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minMay 7, 1956
- 33. Dead PatrolmanA Highway Patrol officer is murdered while pursuing a car stolen from a lonely bookstore owner.TV-GCC28minMay 14, 1956
- 34. Art 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.TV-GCC28minMay 21, 1956
- 35. Runaway BoyNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minMay 28, 1956
- 36. TaxiNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJun 4, 1956
- 37. Missing WitnessNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJun 11, 1956
- 38. ProspectorA poor prospector arouses suspicion when he suddenly begins paying off long-standing debts from a large roll of new $100 bills.TV-GCC28minJun 18, 1956
- 39. Christmas StoryNo synopsis available yet.TV-GCC28minJun 25, 1956
Viewers also watched
Highway Patrol
★ 6.2/1019555 seasons156 episodesEnded
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.
Creators and cast
- Created by
- Frederick Ziv
- Studio
- Ziv Television Programs
