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This last show of the year (shown Dec. 30, 1968) is memorable for several reasons. A not-so-fond look back at the November presidential election mocks various politicians in an unusually long sketch. The show's news segment had one big surprise feature introduced as "the worst event of 1968". This cut to network broadcast footage of the Emmy Awards (the show won three awards that year). Host Don Rickles kids Sally Field as she stumbles through her announcement of Laugh-In's Best Writing award. The entire writing staff then goes up on stage to accept. Later there was also some stock footage of President-elect Nixon saying "Sock it to me" at a press conference.

The other stand out is Vincent Price who appears in ten "quickie" one-joke sketches as Dr. Frankenstein in his lab with the monster and Ygor. (The revival of Gothic horror was at a peak in 1968 with Price starring in a series of Poe-inspired AIP films.)

A Mod Mod Look at the battle of the sexes includes a charming song with Goldie Hawn and others. Big-voiced Kate Smith does a series of unfunny musical sketches. The usual roster of uncredited comics and celebrities do a series of one-liner jokes and "If (blank) married (blank)" word-play gags. These are done by Bob Newhart, Rich Little, Bill Dana, Dave Madden, Nanette Fabray, singer Lena Horne, and George Jessel.

Guest star Vincent Price is the whole show here. He is clearly having a blast hamming it up as Transylvanian Count Sforza. He dresses and talks like Bela Lugosi's Dracula, travels by hearse, carries a pet crow on his arm, and moves into a supposedly haunted mansion on the outskirts of town. Of course, everyone is afraid of him and assume he's a vampire or something equally sinister.

Later on, the three principals (Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Ken Berry) search for the missing Jane (Melody Patterson) inside Sforza's spooky old house. Not surprisingly, all sorts of frightening Abbott and Costello-type sight-gags ensue. The slapstick bits are pretty stale and feel recycled from the many haunted house comedy films of the 1940s. Nevertheless, Price is fun to watch and elevates the material.

This film was inevitable as the late '60s -- following Paul Newman's hit "Harper" (1966) -- reinvented the '40s-'50s private eye yarn by adding more sex and violence. GUNN fits somewhere in the middle of this trend -- not as classy as "Harper" and "Deadlier Than the Male", not as cynical and gritty as Sinatra's "Tony Rome" films (1967-68). Craig Stevens, with his wry humor and effortless charm, rises above the material, much like James Garner in "Marlowe" (1969) -- a highly recommended film in this genre.

Old school "Peter Gunn" fans will lament the absence of Lola Albright and Hershell Bernardi (a cranky Ed Asner fills in), but this should be seen on its own terms as a stand-alone film. The opening credits, with psychedelic graphics and jazzed up theme music, suggest a 007 spy film influence, but the story is a standard whodunit with gangsters and frequent murders. Some of these killings (like the diver with the spear gun) and plot turns don't make much sense or are needlessly complicated, but the fast pacing and supporting cast distracts one from worrying about the details. The sex appeal quotient is ramped up considerably by gorgeous Sherry Jackson (sadly, stunning Carol Wayne only has a cameo at the end). Jackson even did a Playboy pictorial to promote the film. And, for an added plot twist, writer-director Blake Edwards indulges in his strange obsession with gender bending (Victor Victoria, Switch, et al,).

All in all, this is a slick, breezy, enjoyable detective yarn that moves along with strategically placed scenes of action, humor, and eye candy. It is very much a product of the late '60s. (Will someone please release this, along with "P.J." and "Rogue's Gallery", on disc already?) In the next decade this genre would get darker and more complex with The Long Goodbye (1973), Chinatown (1974), and Night Moves (1975).