American cop shows routinely portrayed their heroes as working stiff, blue-collar types, and that was part of Burke's Law's particular genius--it upended the stereotype by making Amos Burke (Gene Barry, updating his Bat Masterson dandy to a mid-20th century milieu) not only the Chief of Homicide in L.A., but a multimillionaire with all the trappings--a Beverly Hills mansion, a chauffeur (Leon Lontoc) to drive him about in the aforementioned Rolls, and, perhaps most importantly, a string of buxom beauties hanging off his arm. Burke's police team consisted of his young detective assistant, Tim Tilson (Gary Conway), a kid who, in a running gag throughout the series, always seems to be one step ahead of Burke until the final denouement of each episode. Also on hand was the older Sergeant Les Hart (Regis Toomey), the sort of crusty "Uncle Charlie" type who was the voice of experience and reason counterbalancing Tim's youthful exuberance.

What really set Burke's Law apart from the run of the mill police fodder of those days was its truly impressive list of guest stars, perhaps not exactly A-listers, but former A-listers a plenty, some of whom were rarely seen on television in those days. In fact, my jaw was literally agape in one episode as I saw this list of guest stars reeled off in the opening credits: Linda Darnell, Mickey Rooney, Bert Parks, Gale Storm, Telly Savalas, Sheldon Leonard, and Elizabeth Montgomery. That's just one episode, folks. Typically the episodic nature of each episode--Burke simply traveled from suspect to suspect, amassing clues--gives each guest star their moment in the sun, something which they are all obviously relishing. In fact you haven't truly lived until you've seen Storm and Parks perform not only a convincing marital squabble, but a seamless segue into a vaudeville version of "Baby Face." In another episode, you get Oscar winner Gloria Grahame as perhaps the world's most glamorous heroin addict (evidently proving her Oklahoma statement that she's a girl who "cain't say no") erupting into a surprisingly violent outburst with hubby Jack Carter, who hasn't been able to find her a fix. (There's probably an unintentional laugh out loud moment when Burke encourages Carter to give Grahame a candy bar to help with her heroin "delirium tremens"--do they know about that at Scientology's Narconon?). The show, as suave and smooth and glossy as it always was, provides some unexpectedly visceral moments like Grahame and Carter's fist fight throughout virtually every episode.

Barry, who always seemed a bit fey to be a totally believable "man's man" sort of star, does great work here, vocally lugubrious while perfectly self-effacing enough to bring out the comedy that is always lurking just below the surface in many scenes of Burke's Law. This series had a light, airy ambience that never took itself too seriously, even when examining the seedier side of mid-60s L.A. If Barry is occasionally a bit on the stiff side (watch especially his peculiar posture in many scenes when he's forced to just "stand there" during dialogue moments--it's almost comical how uncomfortable he looks), he has that suave and assured manner that brings Amos Burke alive as, well, an effete snob, albeit one with a gun and occasional karate move.

Angelinos will especially love the series for its many location and establishing shots throughout the city, circa 1964. It's amazing to look back on Los Angeles in the era and realize how relatively undeveloped large swaths of the city still were. Occasionally the show missteps in establishing shots, as in two consecutive episodes where the same still photograph of a mansion is used as the scene of two separate crimes. (Strangely, that's something that another popular detective show, Poirot, would commit decades later in its hour long episodes--if you watch them back to back, you'll see that the same white Art Deco house is used over [and over and over] as the scene of various crimes. It's something that producers and directors probably never thought of in the pre-home video days, when marathon viewing of series became more of the norm).

Also adding to the fun of Burke's Law is seeing up-and-comers in both featured and small, supporting roles scattered throughout the episodes. Watch for some nice turns by such later well known stars as Rue McClanahan, Fess Parker and Barbara Eden in several episodes, while enjoying great starring roles by a host of performers like Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy Lamour, Ed Wynn, Tab Hunter, Don Ameche and Buster Keaton in others. This was obviously a well-budgeted show for its era as its slick production values and uncommonly good guest star rolls consistently prove.

If Burke's Law never attained the top tier status of some of the other, longer running 1960s police efforts, looking back at it now it seems an unusually charming and nimble show with just the right "wink factor" to take the edge off some of the murderous mayhem. Despite his reputation being somewhat sullied and caricatured later in his life, Aaron Spelling was always a producer who knew his stuff, and this early effort of his shows him trying to inject a sort of filmic ambience into the grind of a weekly television series. Burke's Law holds up much better than a lot of its better known kin, and that's testament not only to Spelling's production expertise, but also to the unique charms of Barry, the excellent supporting cast, and the incredible guest stars in each episode.

The DVD

Video:
The series has evidently undergone substantial restoration, which, at least as evidenced by the restoration extra included on Disc One, seems to have been more audio related than image. The basic elements of Burke's Law are excellent, with really good contrast in the full frame black and white image. Detail for this filmed series is sharp and vivid. Where I have some qualms is a peculiarity of virtually every episode I watched--they all seem to suffer from some added "time compression," where suddenly people will move quickly and the soundtrack will be out of synch for a moment. I tried playing various episodes on two different players and it exhibited this anomaly on both, so I'd be interested in hearing from others so that I can determine whether I received a faulty pressing. If this is endemic of the entire release, it's a real head-scratcher--was this "time compression" added to make these broadcast ready for cable? I'd love to have more information.

Sound:
Though the repurposed 2.0 mono soundtracks have been "restored," some of these tracks are in surprisingly bad shape. You'll hear distortion here and there, especially in the upper frequency ranges, and even a disturbing low frequency fluttering noise in others. There's nothing so bad that you'll miss any dialogue, but don't expect digital perfection here. No subtitles are available.

Extras:
Aside from the restoration examples mentioned above, each disc has some cute and enjoyable vintage commercials, some tied into the bumpers from various episodes. It's like a time capsule for those of us who grew up in the mid to late 60s.

Final Thoughts:
Burke's Law was one of the most consistently sophisticated crime shows on the air in the mid-60s and it's a lot of fun to go back and visit these episodes again now. Barry is a smooth and suave star, and the guest star lineups are unparalleled for 1960s series television. While there are some issues with both the image and audio quality in this release, overall the show is still Highly Recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet