Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

biorngm Peter Gunn, the TV series, ran three television seasons, 1958 – 1961, a total of 114 episodes, 38 episodes per season, a thirty-minute drama televised once a week, beginning in the fall of 1958, Season 1, Episode 1, was September 22, 1958. The series ran until the last episode televised was on September 18, 1961. The star was Craig Stevens, appearing in all 114 episodes, and co-starring in primary recurring roles included Herschel Bernardi as Lt. Jacoby, 102 episodes, and Lola Albright as Edie Hart, 84 episodes. Other recurring roles were offered by Bill Chadney as Emmett (piano player at Mother's), with 42 episodes and two actresses in the same role, a total of 45 episodes, between Hope Emerson, 27 episodes, and Minerva Urecal, 18 episodes. A definitive, collaborate effort making the series a success was from Henri Mancini's Grammy Award winning music for the entire series, with the piano played by the future award-winning John Williams. Series creator and producer was Blake Edwards where Blake also wrote and directed episodes throughout the series. Blake cut his teeth on Peter Gunn and certainly went on to success in films and television. The Peter Gunn drama was set in a non-specified city, usually at night, with a private investigator searching for and bringing the perpetrator(s) to a justifiable end, often with a late assist, sometimes timely assist, of a certain police lieutenant Jacoby. The scenes included a stop at the quaint waterfront nightclub named Mother's, that included a songstress Edie, who had a mutual attraction to our Peter Gunn. The title character's portrayal would have been given a thumbs-up by the definition of cool, Steve McQueen. Craig Stevens played the lead role superbly each week, working with whatever script he was handed, and for late fifties television in a half an hour setting, well done Mr. Stevens. The jazz music setting with professional recurring character roles played quite well by the chosen actors and actresses made the series work for its 114 episodes. The viewer has to pay attention from the start since there are no introductory credits, a brief prologue, then with Mancini's theme music, the screen reads "Peter Gunn starring Craig Stevens" then jumping right into the action and usually there were no wasteful scenes throughout each weekly episode. Essential scenes could be in Jacoby's office, Mother's nightclub, but the primary scenery is at or near the action with the perpetrators. Each week you could have a few different roles from a variety of central casting's thespians. Of course, these other roles were usually the bad guys including some innocent characters, wrong place, wrong time. The viewer didn't know some parts were being played by what would come to be up and comers. With so many episodes per season, it left the field open to some actors that would go onto starring roles, although many continued to make a living by going wherever they were called.

pensman 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.

schappe1 TV actors, at least in the old days when they were placed in a separate class from movie actors, often seemed to be clones of their movie brethren. Some were singular in their associations. Nehemiah Persoff seemed to be the Edward G. Robinson of television, getting similar roles and acting them in a very similar manner. Carolyn Jones was the Bette Davis of TV, even to the point of playing a set of sisters one of whom is a murderer on Burke's Law. Other's had company in their pursuits. The western stars were all either John Wayne or Gary Cooper, with an occasional Jimmy Stewart or Henry Fonda thrown in, (including the real thing on "The Deputy"). There were a whole selection of Clark Gables, including John Russell, Rory Calhoun, Richard Egan , Robert Lowery and others. There were plenty of Brandos, including Burt Reynolds, George Maharis and John Saxon. There were enough Rock Hudsons to fill a theater, with John Gavin, Tom Tryon and Gardner McKay coming immediately to mind. The blonde versions I call the "Redfords", a group of thoughtful , well educated types of which Robert Redford was one along with James Franciscus, Richard Chamberlain and William Shatner. They had varying degrees of success with Redford emerging as the head of the class. Perhaps the most successful strain, however were the Cary Grants. Grant made an ideal model for the suave detective hero, able to be charming or tough as the occasion demanded. Craig Stevens was hired to play Peter Gunn specifically because of a strong resemblance to Grant. His tightlipped performance was not really very charming but it's surely how Cary would have played that character. Latern-jawed John Vivyan played a role that Grant had actually essayed in the movies, Mr. Lucky. He was competent at best. The heroes of the Warner Brother's detective shows were largely based on Cary Grant. Ephram Zimbelist Jr.'s Stu Bailey was a grant-style role with a lot more charm than Peter Gunn. Richard Long's Rex Randolph on Bourbon Street Beat was much the same. Anthony Eisley's Tracy Steele was a less convincing version of the same character on Hawaiian Eye. But the best of the Grant clones was Gene Barry. He was male-model handsome, had good breeding and seductive whiskey voice. He was also TV's greatest reactors. He had a series of comic takes that was perfect for Amos Burke, who had to confront an unending series of eccentric subjects. Yet he could turn around and romance the ladies or get tough with the tough guys. And he was a good enough actor to hold up his end when the heavy dramatics intervened. One wonders what the originals of these clones must have thought as they watched the boob tube in it's infancy.

Daryl Chin (lqualls-dchin) "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.