Peter Gunn

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!

"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.

This was one of the most provocative series ever made for TV, inaugurating a whole new genre. In addition to having the best music (by Henry Mancini) ever written for TV, it was perhaps the first and only film noire series.

although i didn't get to see pete do his thing when the show originally aired from 1958-61 i have thoroughly enjoyed watching the released episodes on homevideo.peter gunn has the smoothest demeanor about the cases he works,but when he gets riled,look out.he can spar with the best of them.i'm sure it helps his image to be dating the pretty night club singer at the local scene called mothers.this way,it doesn't seem like he's just a hood bustin machine,but also a loverboy on the side.henry mancini does wonders for this show with its slick "crime jazz" that sets the tone at the beginning of each episode.i recommend anyone who is into police or detective stories to get into pete if they haven't already.

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.