The Shield of Honor

Based on an American Film Institute standard, films with a running time of forty-five minutes or longer are considered feature films. In 1915, feature films were becoming more the trend in Hollywood. In 1916, Universal formed a three-tier branding system for their releases. Universal films decided to label their films according to the size of their budget and status. Bear in mind, Universal, unlike the top-tier studios, did not own any theaters to market its feature films. By branding their product, Universal gave theater owners and audiences a quick reference guide. Branding would help theater owners judge films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see.

Universal released three different types of feature motion pictures:[3][4]

• Red feather Photoplays – low budget feature films
• Bluebird Photoplays – Mainstream feature release and more ambitious productions
• Jewel – prestige motion pictures featuring big budgets using prominent actors

This film carried Universal’s “Jewel” branding, designating top-shelf motion pictures featuring big budgets with all-star casts.

This film is the second effort by Emory Johnson to glorify the brave men in blue. The first film to start the series of "Glorifying the men in uniform" men in uniform" was In the Name of the Law. This film and showing their everyday dedication to duty, also interweaves love, adventure, and a series of crimes.

Emilie Johnson was Emory Johnson's mother. She developed the stories for the majority of films directed by her son. The basis of this film was the original Emilie Johnson story In the Name of the Law. By the time this movie was produced, Emilie Johnson was no longer writing screenplays. Adaption and screenwriting duties fell to a team of three writers, Leigh Jacobson, Gladys Lehman and Viola Brothers Shore.

Ralph Lewis was cast as the veteran 65-year old policeman Dan MacDowell. Casting Lewis in this role made sense since he was featured prominently in the Emory Johnson 1922 production of In the Name of the Law. In that film, he played policeman Pat O'Hara. Lewis was now 55 years old, saying he was too old for a leading man. In another ironic twist, Claire McDowell plays Dan MacDowell's wife. In the 1922 film In the Name of the Law she played the wife of Pat O'Hara. 28-year-oldJames Neil Hamilton received the starring role of Jack MacDowell. 19-year-old Dorothy Gulliver earned the role of Leading lady Gwen O'Day.

Filming the externals for this film took place in Exposition Park located in Los Angeles. The remainder of the filming was at Universal Studios located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California.

• The film's producers decided to use the same successful approach used to increase revenues for In the Name of the Law. That exploitation strategy is fully explained in more detail in In the Name of the Law. Briefly, the approach was to team city police departments with local theater owners to promote the film mutually.
• On three traffic signals in downtown Los Angeles, the police posted signs reading, "Stop! See The Shield of Honor - Boulevard Theater"[6]

• A newspaper article claims no law enforcement officials will find fault with the scenes featuring the drill team squads. The reason is they were all performed by real policemen. All characters in the film, except for the cast, was shot with real law enforcement officers. The article also states 1,500 policemen of the Los Angeles Police Department were employed during the shooting of the action scenes for the film.[7]

• This article states on the film's opening night, they featured the Los Angeles Police Quartet. The article also mentioned the Los Angeles Police Department's drill squad was on stage during another showing of this film.[6]

Several magazines mistakenly list the title of this film as "Shield of Honor." The official copyrighted title of this film is "The Shield of Honor."

The film was copyrighted on February 11, 1927, under LP24621. The film premiered in New York City on December 10, 1927. The official film release date to US theaters was February 18, 1928.[8]

The critics published mostly positive reviews. One newspaper critic especially liked Universal's use of "magnificent settings, gorgeous costumes, a perfectly balanced cast, superb direction, and beautiful photography."[9]

A sampling of reviews is shown below.

In the December 30, 1927 issue of the Motion Picture News, E. G. Johnston points out[10]

. . . Emory Johnson's picture has some bang-up action and timely airplane material that will score with the average audience. No other director in this business has had more experience with pictures of the kind and Mr. Johnson has not failed to add an interesting yeard to the glorification of this country's police departments.

In the May 13, 1928, Sun issue of The San Bernardino Sun, Sue Bernardine observes[11]

. . . a picture designed in tribute to the new department of the guardians of the law, "the sky cop," . . .It is said to be of the thrilling type, depicting the police of the sky in real action.

In June 1927, Emory Johnson signed a new nine-picture deal with Universal.[12] The first film Johnson releases under his new Universal contract is The Fourth Commandment.[13] In September 1927, Johnson releases The Lone Eagle.[14][15] In February 1928, Johnson released The Shield of Honor. After completing three successful movies for Universal, Johnson reneges on the remainder of his nine-picture contract. He negotiated a new contract with Poverty Row studio, Tiffany-Stahl Productions.[16][17] Emory Johnson would not direct another film until 1930