Peter Gunn (1958–1961) User Reviews (34)

Grown Up Detective Drama For Beat Generation, The Martini Set and All Fans of Cool Jazz!

[redryan64 · 9/10 · 17 November 2007]

Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Mike Hammer and Rocky King (Roscoe Karnes) were all just a few well-known Private Detectives of our Popular Fiction. Though there were some obvious similarities, each one had some individually unique characteristics that gave them their own "personalities". All the above mentioned were multi-media characters, save for Roscoe Karnes' clever, under-stated everyman character from the DuMont Network's "ROCKY KING INSIDE DETECTIVE" series of the early 1950's. The 3 others were first gum-shoeing it first in the pages of the Detective Novel; then were adapted to Radio, Film, Comic Strips/Books and Television.

In the ensuing years we saw some string of original, 'Made for TV' Private I's. There was Ralph Bellamy as Mike Barnett- "MAN AGAINST CRIME" (1949-54), Don Haggerty in the title role in "THE FILES OF JEFFREY JONES (1954-55) and Frank Lovejoy portraying the main guy in "MEET McGRAW" (1957-58).

But it was a case of the cool, urbane and cerebral "PETER GUNN" (1958-61) who brought the sleuthing business to an unprecedented high on the little, living room screen. The series was a creation of a young writer by the name of Blake Edwards. And if Peter Gunn has a middle name, it surely must be "Style".

A typical GUNN episode was a murder mystery and like a good citizen, Mr. Gunn (Craig Stevens) always worked closely with the Local Police; especially with a certain Lieutenant Jacoby (Hershcel Bernardi) who is a regular and the number 1 supporting player. Gunn's home away from home was Mothers, the coolest of cool Jazz Clubs. It was there that he met with girlfriend, singer Edie Hart (Lola Albright).

Peter Gunn was a successful Detective, so there was never any doubt that he could take care of himself and shoot with the best of them. But the gun-play and fisticuffs were played down, though not eliminated. The series instead relied on well constructed plot, clever dialog, skilled direction and fine performances by the fine cast.

The production was also on of contrasts, for there was a lot of real film making skills being put into play to create mood, which could vary a great deal from scene to scene. Most scenes were shot in dark, shadowy lighting. This worked well for both setting up the scenes feeling and taking advantage of being rendered in good, old Black & White.

One Trademark of "PETER GUNN" was the teaser opening that was utilized. In a typical one of these "grabbers", the camera would slowly close in on the subject or subject, often with no dialog. Then the murder would suddenly occur with a shot or some other means, just as the background music would be growing to a crescendo, then suddenly the music changes to the famous Peter Gunn Opening Theme while simultaneously the Peter Gunn opening Title and Credits would rapidly flash across the screen.

And about this music, we just can't say enough for the score written and performed by Henry Mancini and Orchestra. The incidental music was properly exciting and lively or eerie and menacing as needed. And as for that haunting, infectious Peter Gunn Theme, well we just don't have enough superlatives in the English Dictionary to describe it. This is such a fine instrumental that its fame is spread far and wide and surpassed the familiarity of the GUNN Series.

The characterization of Peter Gunn as delivered by Craig Stevens was one of a worldly guy who is highly intelligent, well educated and quite well suited for handling anything that would come his way. In the final analysis, it is almost as if Mr. Craig Stevens was playing it as if Cary Grant were a Private Detective.

Thank God for Re-Run Channels like Nick At Night, Nick's TV Land and local Channels like our WMET TV Channel 23 here in Chicago.

Wonderful not out-dated and never predictable

[roguegenius · 9/10 · 25 April 2014]

I have been watching this show. I barely remember it from my childhood days due to it being a bit racy for its time. Mostly, I just remember the great Henry Mancini theme song. However, the plots are very entertaining even in today's time. In fact, unlike many of today's crime shows, which usually last an hour (including commercial time), most drag out showing parts of this and that which really do not move the plot along well, in Peter Gunn, the short 30 minute slot is generally packed with interesting scenes and is generally unpredictable until the very end. The acting is superb by nearly every cast member in every episode. Except for the cars on the street and the wonderful jazz scores and scenes, there is so little to make this show out-dated. Most of the actions that occur could still occur today (if you discount some technology like everyone having a cell phone and being to get information on the internet). The show is in B&W but the show is so gritty the lack of color actually gives it a good film noir feel. It is really a shame that Craig Stevens (Peter Gunn) has not even been given a Star on the Walk of Fame. If you are a fan of gritty crime shows and a lover of good jazz, this is a series you do not want to pass up.

Outstanding

[westerfieldalfred · 9/10 · 31 January 2019]

I watched the show every week as a teenager, but never appreciated the art that went into it. Shooting at night is difficult enough, but for a limited budget TV show, the workmanship has seldom been surpassed. Crane shots, deep focus, unusual camera heights and angles. All show how much care went into production. And the action was quite limited, replaced by excellent dialog and interesting characters. It seems the show used every set on the MGM back lot. Quite a treat for me after recently reading a book on the subject. Great show!

Kinescope Kabuki

[rrichr · 25 April 2004]

Television from the mid '50's to the mid '60's, probably due to its roots in the theater, was far more stylized than today's fare. Most of us who watched it then, certainly as kids growing up, were probably not really aware of this aspect. We just watched and enjoyed. But in retrospect, or through seeing various classic shows on disc or tape, this stylistic aspect becomes very clear. Also lacking then was today's bottomless well of technological possibility, giving most productions of the time a rather cut-and-dried feel that might seem hopelessly lacking in dimensionality to the young viewer of this time. But there were true gems lying about in this older, rougher ground. It was this era, lest we forget, that spawned the peerless, original Twilight Zone, a series that perfectly sampled the over and undercurrents of its time as no other ever has, and which owed much of its power to the stark realities of low-tech TV. Also produced in this era was the superb Have Gun Will Travel with its perfect blend of psychological and physical intensity, one of several excellent western series that aired then.

But in terms of pure style, no TV series of that time, of any genre, could match the half-hour crime drama Peter Gunn, a production so stylized and stylistically detailed, and so measured, that it almost resembled Japanese Kabuki. Every aspect of this Blake Edwards-produced series was meticulously detailed and managed, from the near-blank style of its acting to even the visuals that preceded and terminated breaks for commercials. In fact, it was the pre-commercial segue that became my favorite. In the sequence, a musical G-clef unwound itself and morphed into a Giacommeti-like human figure, all against a slowly-arpeggiated, extremely cool jazz guitar chord. This very slick sequence got past me the first time around, when the show was in its network run and I was too young to really appreciate it. But years later, when the series was in local syndication and airing at midnight, I stayed up just to watch and listen to it. It was that cool.

Most Peter Gunn episodes were cut from a similar template: the caper to be addressed transpired in a pre-credit sequence (Peter Gunn was one of the first shows to jump directly to story before rolling opening creds.) Then Craig Steven's almost impossibly urbane private eye, Peter Gunn, would step onto the case, always bending the law just enough to keep Herschel Bernardi's way dour NYPD detective, Lt. Jacobi, unsure of whom to arrest first: Gunn or the perps in question. The often-repeated sight of Jacobi arriving on the scene, snub .38 drawn, ready to arrest the suspect, only to find Gunn already there and in control, never failed to amuse. When Gunn was not effortlessly staying two steps ahead of Jacobi, he was lizarding at Mother's, a waterfront jazz club, and getting his flirt on with its sultry headlining singer, blonde neutron bombshell Edie Hart, played by Lola Albright, a type of lady that might be defined as Marilyn Monroe's far more experienced sister. The show's sense of cool was almost too much, but not quite, a fact that made it eminently watchable then, and has allowed it to live on even now in syndication.

Underpinning and significantly defining the series was Henry Mancini's superb music. Mancini passed away in the mid 90's and is just now getting his due, including a postage stamp in his memory. His Peter Gunn theme is still being covered today but it was his incidental music for the series that I loved best, especially the stuff that played as the pre-credit story opened. Mancini took the then-popular West Coast, cool jazz sound and further iced it down, doing things like blending flute and tremoloed vibraphones to sustain a menacing, ever-darkening cloud behind the plot. Mancini was a master of all moods, which he crafted with lush harmonies and gliding melodies (The ageless Days of Wine and Roses and Moon River are his; lyrics by Johnny Mercer.) Mancini was very prolific and did many great things that sort of slid by while no one was really looking, probably because he never tried to acquire the spotlight himself, as himself. He mainly let his work do the walking and talking. His soundtrack to the movie Hatari (an intermittently very entertaining action flick with John Wayne as an African big game capture expert) remains worthy and remarkable to this day. As a freshman at the University of Idaho, I watched Mancini guest-conduct the university orchestra; the Maestro forbearing graciously as his `Baby Elephant Walk', an incidental piece from the Hatari soundtrack that became an international hit, was butchered by the inept flute section. It was heart-rending. Mancini also did the music for another similar but unsuccessful TV series, Mr. Lucky, based on the Cary Grant movie character from the mid-forties. Mr. Lucky died fairly quickly, but its theme music, featuring the squishiest, most liquid Hammond organ voice ever recorded, lives on, in my memory at least.

Peter Gunn (114 episodes)

[GeoData · 10/10 · 1 August 2010]

Peter Gunn DVD sets 1 & 2 contain the first 32 episodes of this series. These are reproduced in good quality video and audio, with easy to use menus and good jacket art clearly listing episode titles.

The series is a joy to watch. As other reviewers have already noted, this series displays a good example of early TV production values in an era without special effects. Stories are acted out by excellent interplay between performers. Sets were limited to just a few stock locations and outdoor scenes were nearly always back lot scenes, ..at night. Special scenes are often just talking heads of the actors, looking down, seen from the "corpse's eye view". All tricks of the trade by excellent directors presenting well written scripts, in a short time, on a shorter budget. And, it all works still as artful production.

It would be nice to see the remaining episodes made available in the same high quality professional manner. The 82 remaining episodes would easily fit onto two (or three) additional multi-disc DVD sets.

Anyone out there at A&E listening?

Terrific film-noir-entertainment in short form

[lqualls-dchin · 10/10 · 21 April 2002]

"Peter Gunn" was one of the most enjoyable TV-detective series of all time! Every week, the black-and-white cinematography (by Hollywood veterans like Philip Lathrop), the jazzy music (by the incomparable Henry Mancini; the album won the first Grammy "Album of the Year" in 1958), and the sharp writing and directing (contributed and supervised by the creator, Blake Edwards) combined, along with the incredibly "cool" performances of Craig Stevens, Lola Albright, Herschel Bernardi, and Hope Emerson, to create a mini-movie, a little "film noir" that took the elements of the big studio thrillers and condensed them into 24 minutes! There was always time for a little musical interlude, with Lola Albright's Edie performing a standard. It was all done with style, wit and verve. Now, the entire first season is available on DVD, and it's as sophisticated and seductive as such movies as "Double Indemnity" or "The Killers" or "The Big Sleep", only in short bursts.

Kinescope Kabuki Captured It All --

[mcd_47 · 10/10 · 6 June 2006]

A masterful interpretation of a wonderful TV show AND musical experience (thank you, Henry Mancini). And thank you, Kabuki!! This was one of the hottest TV shows of the 1950's, spawning a slew of imitators, a chart-topping record from Ray Anthony, a theme that has been covered by dozens of artists and which caused at least one existing TV series (M-Squad, starring Lee Marvin) to change its theme to a jazzier format (thank you, Count Basie). I grew up with this stuff, and to my mind, Peter Gunn exemplified television's 'golden age' in a way few others could. If only today's television fare could come close.

Absolutely The Best Half-Hour TV Drama EVER!

[IanRayonline · 10/10 · 10 July 2016]

How many TV themes from 1958 can be instantly recalled and hummed by today's teenagers? This is the only one I know of. Not only is Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn Theme a jazz masterpiece, his (hot, cool, and sometimes even ethereal) jazz scores for the show are still as gripping as they were when they were composed and recorded - over half a century ago. Combine that with producer/creator Blake Edwards at his up-and-coming very best, big-screen quality cinematography, routinely spectacular stunt work, and just the right cast - and you've got an enduring treasure of a TV series. Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn is several notches smoother than James Bond - but also willing to tangle with anyone and also willing to take his licks. Pete wins some and he loses some. But he's always ready to slug it out with the best of them. Stevens is as athletic as any actor around and, supported by the best brawling stunt men you've ever seen, the fights are as real as you're ever going to get. And on this show violence doesn't just appear - it EXPLODES out of nowhere! With some classics of this era, people still debate whether they're truly "noir" or not. There's no debate here - Edwards gives us noir of a purity seldom seen anywhere else. Quirky character portrayals bring dark urban sets to life - alluring temptresses linger everywhere - and without any inclination to hide their sensuality. Pete, the tenacious, hard-nosed denizen of this dark urban world of low-lifes and gangsters - is a suave, lusty, gentleman playboy with the ladies. Oh, but for Pete, nightclub singer Edie Hart is special. He may earn his living competing in the testosterone driven world of the big-city private detective ... but it's a whole different scene when he slips into "Mother's" place where Edie sings every night. There he's welcomed by "Mother" herself and - wow - "Mother" has no problem with what Pete and Edie are up to! Pete moves effortlessly from the macho world of the mean streets to the gentie, warm, female environment of "Mother's" place. The dynamic is classic and the transition palpable. The technical quality is always superb. You'll not only see close, intense, intimate scenes - you'll see large scale exterior sets that would normally take half a day for a top cinematographer to light so exquisitely. Yet even with the extra limitations of shooting for the limited contrast range of black and white television, these amazing setups have been created somehow at TV production pace, on a TV budget. The atmosphere is delicious - the sensuality omnipresent - the action stunning. This show was way ahead of its time and, as you might guess, the outcries of "too hot for TV" were loud and many. But fortunately "PETER GUNN" delivers several seasons of stunning, delicious, unforgettable period noir drama we can treasure forever.

Peter and His Gun

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 23 July 2018]

"Bang! Bang! Shoot! Shoot!"

When it comes to the likes of no-nonsense, smooth-talking L.A. gumshoes - Peter Gunn (a very sexually suggestive name) was (Indeed) the coolest, the calmest, and, yes, the most collected P.I. of them all.

Featuring lots of snappy dialogue, jazzy music, and the recurring elements of "Noir" thrown into the mix for good measure - This entertaining, tough-as-nails, TV crime show was impressively created by Blake Edwards.

Filmed in stark b&w - Peter Gunn starred Craig Stevens as the title character. This show ran from the years 1958-1961.

Film Noir for millennials

[Bowserb46 · 10/10 · 18 March 2017]

Film noir was really a movie style until Peter Gunn. And PG brought it to the small screen. I was 11 when PG premiered and knew nothing of film noir. Our city had two broadcast channels and no cable TV. My friends and I in the school band mostly noted the Henry Mancini music. I transcribed a simple version of the theme, and our little Jr High talent show group won over a superior-but less pop musical group playing "Put Your Head on My Shoulder".

Now that I'm old but not dead, I've rediscovered Peter Gunn on Amazon. For years a fan of film noir, I was blown away by the pilot episode. Holy cow! 1958 was at or near the end of classic film noir, yet PG may be one of the best of the genre and probably the only film noir TV series. Unlike most TV and a lot of movies of the time, PG's outdoor night scenes were actually shot at night! Like others here, I think it could have been better as a one hour show, as it's a major challenge to tell a whole dramatic story in a half hour program. OTOH, this series is a great way to introduce your millennial friends to film noir. 25 minutes almost fits their attention span. Next thing you know, they'll be looking up The Big Sleep and the Maltese Falcon.

A handy guy

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 20 May 2019]

In this three year series Craig Stevens got his career role in Peter Gunn. The problem I had with the series is that the half hour format did not give sufficient time to develop characters and alternative suspects in whatever case Stevens had in an episode. Usually the audience could figure it out.

Other regulars on the show were Herschel Bernardi fresh off the blacklist as Lt.Jacobi, Lola Albright as chanteuse at a nightclub called Mother's and Minerva Urecal as Mother. Albright was Gunn's squeeze.

Peter Gunn was a hand guy with fist, sapper or a snub nose revolver. And he always got his man.

Influential

[actionsub · 9/10 · 24 September 2019]

In watching this series and others of the genre that followed, it is clear that "Peter Gunn" filled a particular niche of noirish private eyes on TV that followed: suave, tough but cerebral at the same time, and access to "friends in low places" who could point him in the necessary direction to do his business effectively. Craig Stevens played Gunn with West Coast cool. The initial success of the series, created by Blake Edwards, spawned a number of imitators. Revue Studios particularly threw a number of things at the wall hoping some of them might stick, with minimal success. They took the jazz music element and mashed them up with an Old West setting to create the syndicated "Shotgun Slade", a Western detective show. It did OK, but the jazz background music just didn't fit with the Western theme. Another imitation was "Johnny Staccato", which was almost the polar opposite of Gunn. The only similarity was that both Staccato and Gunn were jazz aficionados. While Gunn had that laid-back SoCal personality, Johnny Staccato, played by John Cassavetes, reflected his New York setting, all twitchy and tense like an over-caffeinated chihuahua. The plethora of Warner Bros. PI shows, like "77 Sunset Strip" and its various clones in other locations, seemed to draw heavily on the Gunn formula, too, while mixing various aspects of the Gunn persona and splitting them up among the ensemble casts of detectives. Even Blake Edwards himself tried to recapture the magic with "Mr. Lucky" a year later. In short, Gunn might not have been a great series in and of itself, but it has held up over the years, far better than the numerous attempts to catch that lightning in a bottle again.

The Parts Of Peter Gunn Are Better Than the Whole

[jadedalex · 7/10 · 16 February 2012]

There are so many good things about "Peter Gunn". The classic theme by Mancini will stay in your head forever. Craig Stevens and Lola Albright may not be Bogey and Bacall, but both are attractive leads. Stevens has a Cary Grant debonair quality. Albright was never used correctly, a la Ann-Margret. She was a beautiful actress and a fine singer. Herschel Bernardi is quite likable as Lieutenant Jacobi.

I think the main reason 'Peter Gunn' did not succeed, say, in the way that 'Perry Mason' succeeded are tired scripts, and the fact that the half hour show left little time for plots to develop. 'Perry Mason' could often be an exercise in tedium, as characters move in and out so quickly that it is often hard to follow the story. And forget about trying to figure out who the murderer is. Best to leave it up to Mason, or, worse yet, have the killer confess to everybody in court. (This seems to me to be a lazy writer's plot device; this rarely EVER happens in real life. It's hokey.)

I just viewed one "Peter Gunn" episode where sure enough, the murderer gives it all up on the witness stand. See that once and it is silly...see it countless times and it's irritating and downright stupid.

To be fair, I've seen episodes that contain some flashes of wit. One scene fills with a young punk with a gun in his hand. For a moment, you think it's part of the episode. But the camera pans out and reveals that it is Jacobi watching television in his office, and he vocally decries the violence he is seeing on the tube. That was a clever touch.

"Peter Gunn" had its share of violence, although I don't think it ever reached the gore that became 'The Untouchables'. The Desilu production may have been the first to lead to public outcries about television and violence.

With better scripts, and an hour-long format, "Peter Gunn" may have become a mainstay on television, enjoying a longer run. Certainly there were the beginnings of a fine ensemble cast a la Mason, but at twenty five minutes an episode, there was little chance of doing much more than saying 'hello' and 'goodbye'.

Which is a shame. Lola Albright, had she been born in the days of the studio system, could have become a major movie star. I feel the same about Julie Adams ('Creature From the Black Lagoon'). Both these women were gorgeous, but they came into fame during the television age. Their lovely faces seem out of place on the small screen of the tube, but both women turned in fine performances in just about everything they were handed.

And so all of the parts, Edie Hart's face, her voice, Gunn's suaveness, and Mancini's jazz add up to more than what became known as "Peter Gunn".

Hot on the case... cool under fire. Should've been an hour!

[jbacks3-1 · 3/10 · 2 February 2006]

I just finished watching 3 compilation series DVD's and was hoping to have a flashback on what I had thought was the coolest show (actually even then in syndication) from my early 1960's childhood. Yup, there was Craig Stevens racing around in his Plymouth Fury convertible (wearing "$30 shoes, a $200 suit and carrying a solid gold cigarette lighter") and guitar strumming Lt. Jacoby, complete with Charlie the Tuna's voice (even he drove a Christine-like Plymouth) and Lola Albright's "Edie" was as sexy as I remembered. Mancini's music is still way cool. But Jeez-Louise, the scripts stink! The problem is the :30 minute format allowed for maybe :22 of story and it appears that the producers just opted for atmosphere over cohesive plot. The series begged for an hour format. Several episodes I watched are completely illogical and/or just plain silly--- some make the revamped Amos Burke, Secret Agent or the 77 Sunset Strip clone, Surfside Six look Masterpiece Theater. Frankly most of the scripts are pointlessly stupid, and follow a format that invariably contain an immediate homicide (victims are quickly dispatched by bullets or the obligatory knife in the back), introduce a superfluous oddball character (Jack Webb used to do this with Dragnet, but usually less outrageously and certainly more sparingly)--- often a stereotypical beatnik, that simply wastes precious plot time. Next comes the fists and cut to a scene at Mother's Jazz Club where Edie makes googly eyes at Pete. Murders are solved somewhere around :19 and you can bet a Franklin half dollar that it was someone Pete met before the first cigarette commercial. It was kind of weird seeing several cast members of future Andy Griffith Show in one episode. In retrospect, it's odd that the perennial 1950's-60's also-ran ABC network (remember it's first #1-rated series wasn't until "Marcus Welby" a decade later) never realized they had all the elements here for a much better hour-long show. Peter Gunn is one of those television memories better left rattling around in a nostalgic corner of your head... I'll look for the two RCA albums of the show's music instead. Blaaech! 3/10 for Mancini, the threads and cool 50's Mopar wheels + the occasional glimpse of a talented-yet-under-employed character actor working for $250 1958 scale rent money. If Herschel Bernardi were still alive I'd love to ask him what it was like to work for 3 minutes screen time every week. Those Starkist commercials would be like Shakespeare.

Noir In Small Segments

[ccthemovieman-1 · 27 December 2004]

Are you a fan of 1940s film noir? If so, check out this Peter Gunn compilation. You'll find a lot of the same type of snappy dialogue and great black & white cinematography complete with shadows and interesting camera angles. Also featured are interesting stories, a "cool" (or "crazy" as the expression of the time period was) lead character in Craig Stevens and an absolutely dead-gorgeous blonde in Lola Albright.

True, you can't develop character studies or much of an intricate plot in 25- minute stories, but if you just "dig" the atmosphere, you'll find a real sleeper of a DVD series here. Wonderful stuff for film noir buffs.

Find memories

[theladylay · 10/10 · 17 September 2018]

I remember my Mom watching this when I was only five. Even as a kid I loved the sound track. As an adult I find there is so much more to appreciate in this classy, sexy film noir series. Thanks for the comeback Peter Gunn.

Cool Cats, Cool Cars, and... Freeze-Dried Gunn

[davidcarniglia · 9/10 · 21 June 2018]

Everything's cool in this series: the criminals, the hangouts, the dialogue, the noir scenes, the cars...and, of course, our private eye, Peter Gunn.

He outfoxes both the cops and the criminals, he's got a knock-out girl friend, he fights his way out of tons of scrapes with hoods; crime drama doesn't get much better. Tight plotting builds the suspense; action tumbles out in timely fashion. As other reviewers have mentioned, the transitions are slick--you're set up for the breaks as they occur. Peter Gunn is sort of like if Paul Drake's character from Perry Mason had his own show.

I mention Drake not only because the two series were contemporary with each other, but also because I find William Hopper a more interesting actor than Craig Stevens. Gunn is so cool he's practically glacial. Drake manages the cool panache with enough of an 'everyman' touch to seem more believable. Luckily, Gunn's Edie, the amusing Mother, and even Lt. Jacoby add plenty of spice to the surroundings. The supporting cast and great scripts ensure that Gunn's blandness remains only a minor letdown.

Peter Gunn does more in its thirty minutes than most feature-length crime dramas manage in an hour and a half. Maybe if Gunn didn't look like he got a haircut every day I'd never stop watching this series. As it is, hugely entertaining, and almost perfect. 9/10.

Peter Gunn series

[toxicavenger-797-252863 · 10/10 · 20 September 2013]

I was aware of this show when it first aired but, since I was a baby boomer, it wasn't on my allowed watch list, being an "adult TV series" in the late 50's. Finally got interested in it while listening to Mancini's music album of the same name. To say that this show was ahead of its time and a forerunner of future series is to do it a disservice. Peter Gunn was groundbreaking in the use of jazz to create the proper mood of the action on screen, and in the way it slyly spanked the censors through witty writing and heavy emotional and physical situations. It brings back memories of the old Mae West and W.C. Fields comedies in the way they battered the blue-pencils of censorship while looking oh so innocent on screen. I recall one scene where Pete is convincing a landlady to let him into the room of someone he is investigating. She asks him, "So, are you a cop?" Pete replies, "Not exactly." She says, "Oh, a private dick then?" And Pete says, "Just private." If that doesn't tickle your fancy to go watch this series from start to finish, you are missing out on one of the great treats that life has to offer. God Bless You, Blake Edwards.

Unnamed City in Peter Gunn? I don't think so.

[lammi · 10/10 · 27 April 2021]

In Season 3 -Episode 13, Tender Touch, Howard McNear (Floyd the Barber of the Andy Griffith Show fame) plays an Assistant Teller, who steals money from a bank in order to negotiate a pension plan for its employees. He is caught and his case is discussed by Peter Gunn, Lt. Jacoby, and officials from the bank. One letter is read by Lt. Jacoby signed by the "Beaver Patrol, the RIVERSIDE Boys Club. I submit that this is the name of the city where Peter Gunn operates.

Formulaic due to its short running time but entertaining nevertheless

[grantss · 7/10 · 5 August 2022]

Peter Gunn is a private detective with a knack for finding trouble. His cases often mean he runs into some of the shadiest characters, most vicious thugs and the most powerful crime bosses. Unflappable and resourceful, he always gets the guilty party.

I was initially very impressed with this series. The first episode was brilliant, a mini film noir crime drama condensed into a 26-minute episode. All that was missing was Humphrey Bogart.

However, as the series went on it was obvious that the episodes follow pretty much the same routine. The 26-minute running time is a severe constraint as there's no time for plot development or character development. It's generally just: murder, enter Gunn, meet villain, initial setback for Gunn, regroup, showdown, Gunn prevails. It's a by-the-numbers action series.

It's still quite entertaining though. The action scenes are great and Craig Stevens does a solid job as Peter Gunn. Gunn's girlfriend Edie (played by Lola Albright) also helps make this watchable.

The show also gave us the classic Peter Gunn theme by Henry Mancini as well as added further momentum to the career of writer-producer Blake Edwards. He would go on to direct the Pink Panther movies (also with a catchy Henry Mancini theme tune), Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Party and Victor/Victoria, amongst many others.

Gunn still has heart (and Hulu)

[pensman · 9/10 · 17 February 2015]

Great music, clipped noir dialogue right out of Dashiell Hammett, solid plots (mostly), black actors when no one was using any, and non PC police (shoot first)--the series deserves a modern audience to appreciate early quality TV. What's nice for me is seeing this show on a 65 inch TV and running the sound through a home theater sound system with top JBL speakers. Just sit back and enjoy that Mancini sound track. Yes the sets are minimal but some great actors getting started--James Coburn, Norman Fell, Ted Knight, Gavin MacLeod--just to name a few. Now thanks to Hulu you can stream Gunn right into your home.

That is Sick Mitch, Very Sick

[biorngm · 6/10 · 16 July 2021]

Trying to make any sense out of this meaningless crime; kill the hatcheck girl because the headliner is in love where performer is not a singer at all. Pete is sent on a fool's errand, a set up to be cuffed by the murderer who sent him on the mission. The cab driver was an known actor with plenty of legitimate credits, the singer and the hatcheck girl were nothing and Gavin MacLeod, pass. The cast regulars carried this sick story to its conclusion with Herb Vigran and Roy Glenn in acceptable supporting roles. Three seasons composed of 114 episodes from 1958 into 1961 were not all gems but what can be expected with so many in a television year. Craig Stevens pulled this Mancini jewel off assisted with Bernardi and Albright making the noir private detective era a winner for the period of black-and-white.

Peter Gunn depicted the l940's and l950's era very well and with the same atmosphere of the night clubs.

[ciaoetshana · 10/10 · 24 July 2006]

I take exception to the present commentary in that the movies were large and more impressive due to the sound and filming. However, the television characters that had a good, strong, character or persona were definitely their own and I respectfully do not see the comparison.

Gable, Brando and Grant can never be duplicated in any way. Each man had a distinctive personality and body language that expresses their individual persona which comes through the camera. Jones and Davis have nothing in common. Jones can be compared to Lola Albrights character somewhat from her movies, being in the same era. Her performance in comedy (the Adams Family) is a good reference of her acting abilities.

William Shatner is what I call a very lucky actor being at the right time and place all during his career. Not an impressive nor commanding actor.

Edward G. Robinson is another actor with extreme body language that meets his verbal lines. However, Craig Stevens has some romance in his persona and combining this with being a detective brings a new and fresh character. I have seen him in a movie with Lucille Ball and he did not have as much presence as he did in Peter Gunn.

Ephram Zimbalist, Jr., played the same persona type actor in his movies as he did in television. A very personable, attractive male but not the leader. He is a well poised and groomed actor but lacks a certain strength.

John Vivyan was great. I loved his facial expressions, his voice and body language. The all matched the character.

Comparing Grant to Barry is somewhat close, however, we have a definite individual persona behind the characters that is strong and distinct. Grant is Grant after so many pictures and Barry did an outstanding job at his character.

Looking back at the program and the comparison commentary, brings the thought to mind that being a female, of that era, makes me think the commentary was written by a male. I hope I am right.

Don't mess around with Mother

[Bernie4444 · 6/10 · 12 January 2024]

Lots of fun standard 25-minute episodes where the problem arises in the first five minutes. Then the answer happens in about 15 to twenty minutes and it wraps up with Peter played by Craig Stevens on top of the situation in 25 minutes. In most episodes, we get to listen to songs sung by Lola Albright as Edie Hart. By the way Edie most of the time stumbles on to the scene at the most inappropriate moments. Why can't she just stay in the car or home?

Peter spends a lot of time hanging around Mom's place "Mothers" where he gets mysterious phone calls from the soon to be dead. We listen to quasi jazz tunes for the most part.

The theme song is by Henry Mancini.

It is still fun to watch and maybe fun to see old-time technology and hear antiquated speech. As for distracters complaining of the quality of the transfer, my DVD copy of these black and white episodes from 1958 looked much better on a large flat-screen LED than the old TV broadcasts.

I have not watched it on the original broadcast. It is worth adding to your cultural knowledge.

Not bad, but could have been better

[Johnboy1221 · 5/10 · 30 September 2018]

This is not bad, but it could have been better. On the plus side, the acting is great among the leads, especially Craig Stevens, who is perfect in the role of Gunn....a sort of second-rate Cary Grant, which is probably what they were after. If you can get past the cheesy jazz music and lame Vegas style songs, you might find this one interesting. And then there's the stilted, stupid dialog between Gunn and his girlfriend (no one talks like that in real life). The stories aren't bad, though and are worth watching, if only once.