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".
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".