RateBroderick Crawford
Chief Dan Mathews
Highway Patrol
—/100
MovieNerd ScoreHighway 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.
Filmmaking
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Attributes
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Genres
- Comedy
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- Action
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- Thriller
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- Adventure
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- Romance
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Maturity
- Family Friendly
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- Positive Message
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- Thematically Mature
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- Intense
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- Sexuality
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- Violence
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Creators and Cast
Creators
None.
Cast
Episodes
Season 1
39 episodes
S1 E1 · Prison Break / Road Block
A 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.
S1 E2 · Machine Story Copter / Machine Napping Copter
An 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.
S1 E3 · Reckless Driving
Systematic 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.
S1 E4 · Lookout
An 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.
S1 E5 · Gambling
Dan Mathews and his officers assist a county sheriff in closing down a club that offers illicit gambling.
S1 E6 · Hitchhiker
A 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.
S1 E7 · Desert Town
No summary.
S1 E8 · Radioactive
No summary.
S1 E9 · Reformed Criminal
Dan Mathews has reason to suspect the worst when a courier with a criminal record disappears with $31,000 after an automobile accident.
S1 E10 · Father Thief
No summary.
S1 E11 · Retired Gangster
No summary.
S1 E12 · Phony Insurance
No summary.
S1 E13 · Escort
No summary.
S1 E14 · Resort
No summary.
S1 E15 · Girl Bandit
No summary.
S1 E16 · Mountain Copter
No summary.
S1 E17 · Lie Detector
No summary.
S1 E18 · Scared Cop
No summary.
S1 E19 · Harbor Story
No summary.
S1 E20 · Hit And Run
No summary.
S1 E21 · Car Theft
Car thieves purchase wrecked vehicles and transfer the VIN plates to stolen ones in order to escape detection.
S1 E22 · Human Bomb
No summary.
S1 E23 · Plane Crash
No summary.
S1 E24 · Desert Copter
No summary.
S1 E25 · Plant Robbery
No summary.
S1 E26 · Released Convict
A patient parolee decides the time is finally right to attempt the recovery of $250,000 stolen in an armored car robbery.
S1 E27 · Motorcycle A
Two 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!
S1 E28 · Mental Patient
No summary.
S1 E29 · License Plates
An alert boy is able to give Dan Mathews information that provides a critical break in the pursuit of a recidivist thief.
S1 E30 · Hitchhiker Dies
No summary.
S1 E31 · Blast Area Copter
No summary.
S1 E32 · Anti-toxin
No summary.
S1 E33 · Dead Patrolman
A Highway Patrol officer is murdered while pursuing a car stolen from a lonely bookstore owner.
S1 E34 · Art Robbery
Two thieves attempt to steal valuable paintings and demand ransom of $500,000. but they are forced to commit murder when the plan goes awry.
S1 E35 · Runaway Boy
No summary.
S1 E36 · Taxi
No summary.
S1 E37 · Missing Witness
No summary.
S1 E38 · Prospector
A poor prospector arouses suspicion when he suddenly begins paying off long-standing debts from a large roll of new $100 bills.
S1 E39 · Christmas Story
No summary.
Season 2
39 episodes
S2 E1 · The Search
After an elderly couple inadvertently help a murderous bank robber slip through a police road block, a restaurant manager spots the fugitive who uses the old folks to keep from getting caught.
S2 E2 · Kidnap Copter
Jerry Watts is the son of a millionaire and he's just been kidnapped and taken to an old shack high in the mountains. After a tip from a game warden brings the Highway Patrol, Jerry tries to escape to the officers, only to fall into a canyon severely injuring himself. The only way out is straight up.
S2 E3 · Trailer Story
Steve Talbot is a jewel thief who likes nice automobiles, and the Highway Patrol knows this. So Talbot flees capture after a job in an old junker. This gets him past the roadblocks but he soon is stranded on the side of the road. He hijacks a newly married couple pulling a trailer and Dan passes the trio through, not wanting harm to come to the civilians. But in passing the blockade, they unknowingly pick up a new rider.
S2 E4 · Fisherman's Luck
A car that was involved in an accident is stolen and later found again, and just happens to match the description of one used in a bank holdup. Putting two and two together, Dan speculates that this was the getaway car and it's occupants must have escaped on foot, which is near a posh resort.
S2 E5 · Magazine Writer
Reporter Sam Dalquist has gone missing. Dan has been looking for him because a two bit hood was found dead after getting a traffic citation driving Dalquist's car. The only lead Mathews has is that Dalquist was working on an exposé about a hood named Matlock and that may be where the writer will be found...dead or alive.
S2 E6 · Typhoid Carrier
Hank Dooley's daughter has just died from typhoid fever, and Dooley is now searching for his farm hand Len Frazier who is the one who infected her, complete with rifle in hand.
S2 E7 · Hot Rod
Dan enlists the help of the leader of a local hot rod car club to assist in finding two robbers who use a souped-up car to get away from the Highway Patrol after each job.
S2 E8 · Hot Cargo
Several criminals conspire to stage highway accidents prompting truck drivers to stop and help victims only to be assaulted and have their cargoes stolen. After discovering the hijackers are being tipped off by the owner of a roadside diner favored by truckers, Chief Mathews creates a ruse to force the crime ring into action with the hopes of capturing them.
S2 E9 · Oil Lease
An Army bazooka is stolen by two men who use it to capture the payroll from an oil drilling company.
S2 E10 · Ex Con
The life of an ex-con is never easy, especially when cellmates show up expecting favors. Al Baldwin is a reformed criminal but suddenly has unexpected guests who hide out at his house while plotting their next crime. When that holdup goes bad, the cons hold Al's wife hostage until Dan and the Highway Patrol come to the rescue.
S2 E11 · Motel Robbery
No summary.
S2 E12 · Stolen Car Ring
No summary.
S2 E13 · Escaped Mental Patient
No summary.
S2 E14 · Armored Car
No summary.
S2 E15 · Migrant Workers
No summary.
S2 E16 · Ranch Copter
A woman suspects her husband is trying to kill her. Iris: Virginia Dale. George: Douglas Henderson. Mathews: Broderick Crawford. Ted: Robert Cavendish.
S2 E17 · Amnesia
No summary.
S2 E18 · Statute of Limitations
Mathews tries to prove the guilt of three holdup men---before the statute of limitations runs out. Mathews: Broderick Crawford. Eddie: Bing Russell. Wyatt: Mike Regan.
S2 E19 · Resident Officer
No summary.
S2 E20 · Psycho
No summary.
S2 E21 · Counterfeit
Mathews and the Highway Patrol investigate a rash of forged payroll-check cashings affecting merchants in and around Los Angeles.
S2 E22 · Suspected Cop
No summary.
S2 E23 · Trojan Horse
No summary.
S2 E24 · Female Hitchhiker
No summary.
S2 E25 · Nitro
No summary.
S2 E26 · Motorcycle B
No summary.
S2 E27 · Officer's Wife
No summary.
S2 E28 · Stripped Cars
Two brothers hijack a new-car carrier, planning to sell the cars to get cash to purchase a farm. When the driver dies from injuries sustained in the hijacking, they make a panic-stricken attempt to dispose of the evidence.
S2 E29 · Convict's Wife
No summary.
S2 E30 · Reformation
An ex-con wants to return money stolen in an armed robbery, but his erstwhile partner has other ideas.
S2 E31 · Stolen Plane Copter
Two convicts steal an airplane to escape from prison.
S2 E32 · Gem Robbery
No summary.
S2 E33 · Wounded
No summary.
S2 E34 · Fake Cop
One member of a three-person holdup team impersonates a Highway Patrol officer in order to deceive robbery victims into thinking that they need not notify the Patrol themselves.
S2 E35 · Double Cross
No summary.
S2 E36 · Narcotics
No summary.
S2 E37 · Hired Killer
No summary.
S2 E38 · Hostage Copter
No summary.
S2 E39 · Rabies
No summary.
Season 3
39 episodes
S3 E1 · Hypo Bandit
No summary.
S3 E2 · Efficiency Secretary
No summary.
S3 E3 · Temptation
No summary.
S3 E4 · Safecracker
No summary.
S3 E5 · Mistaken Identity
No summary.
S3 E6 · Hostage Family Copter
No summary.
S3 E7 · The Sniper
No summary.
S3 E8 · Hot Dust
No summary.
S3 E9 · Witness Wife
Mathews tries flushing out two gunmen who are holding a farmer and his wife hostage. Mathews: Broderick Crawford. Ruttman: Tom Holland. Collins: Robert Swan. Martin: Ted Lehman. Jane: Gail Gregg.
S3 E10 · Dead Hunter
Mathews investigates a businessman's accidental death. Mathews: Broderick Crawford. Foster: Joe Haworth. Tom: Pierre Watkins.
S3 E11 · Convicted Innocent
No summary.
S3 E12 · Chain Store
No summary.
S3 E13 · Double Death
No summary.
S3 E14 · Hideout
No summary.
S3 E15 · Mother's March
No summary.
S3 E16 · Slain Cabby
No summary.
S3 E17 · Insulin
No summary.
S3 E18 · The Seventh Green
No summary.
S3 E19 · Foster Child
No summary.
S3 E20 · Lady Bandts
No summary.
S3 E21 · Revenge
No summary.
S3 E22 · Tear Gas Copter
No summary.
S3 E23 · Deaf Mute
No summary.
S3 E24 · Hit and Run
No summary.
S3 E25 · Fear
No summary.
S3 E26 · Careless Cop
No summary.
S3 E27 · Policewoman
No summary.
S3 E28 · The Truckers
No summary.
S3 E29 · Cedit Card
No summary.
S3 E30 · Psycho Killer
A mentally disturbed man murders women who seek husbands through "Lonely Hearts" clubs.
S3 E31 · Suicide
No summary.
S3 E32 · Phoney Cop
No summary.
S3 E33 · The Judge
No summary.
S3 E34 · Dan's Vacation
No summary.
S3 E35 · Explosives
No summary.
S3 E36 · Hostage Officer
No summary.
S3 E37 · Double Copter
No summary.
S3 E38 · Dan Sick
No summary.
S3 E39 · Reward
No summary.
Season 4
39 episodes
S4 E1 · Frightened Witness
No summary.
S4 E2 · Hostage
No summary.
S4 E3 · Family Affair
No summary.
S4 E4 · Transmitter Danger
No summary.
S4 E5 · Gamblng Story
No summary.
S4 E6 · Train Copter
No summary.
S4 E7 · Portrait of Death
No summary.
S4 E8 · Train Robbery
No summary.
S4 E9 · Deadly Diamonds
No summary.
S4 E10 · Blood Money
No summary.
S4 E11 · False Confession
No summary.
S4 E12 · Confidence Game
No summary.
S4 E13 · Split Robbery
No summary.
S4 E14 · The Trap
No summary.
S4 E15 · Expose
No summary.
S4 E16 · Breath of a Child
No summary.
S4 E17 · Narcotcs Racket
No summary.
S4 E18 · Copter Cave-In
No summary.
S4 E19 · Gem Robbery
No summary.
S4 E20 · Mexican Chase
No summary.
S4 E21 · Framed Cop
No summary.
S4 E22 · The Collector
No summary.
S4 E23 · Revenge
No summary.
S4 E24 · Brave Boy
No summary.
S4 E25 · Diversion Robbery
No summary.
S4 E26 · Cargo Hijack
No summary.
S4 E27 · Hitchhiker
No summary.
S4 E28 · llegal Entry
No summary.
S4 E29 · Killer on the Run
No summary.
S4 E30 · Prisoner Exchange Copter
No summary.
S4 E31 · Dan Hostage
No summary.
S4 E32 · Woman Escapes
No summary.
S4 E33 · Auto Press
No summary.
S4 E34 · Express Delivery
No summary.
S4 E35 · Desperate Men
No summary.
S4 E36 · Confession
No summary.
S4 E37 · Detour to Death
No summary.
S4 E38 · Fire
No summary.
S4 E39 · Bank Messenger
No summary.
Season 5
0 episodes