1. Plot

2. Cast

3. Episodes

4. Origin of series

5. Production

6. Music
    Selected songs from the series 

7. Emmy nominations

8. Adaptations

9. Home releases

10. References

11. External links

Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend Edie Hart, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1958,^[1] to 1960 and on ABC in 1960-1961.^[2] The series was created by Blake Edwards, who, on occasion, was also writer and director.

The series is notable for being the first televised detective program whose character was created for television, whereas other early TV detectives had earlier appeared in other media.^[2]

The series is probably best remembered today for its music, including the iconic "Peter Gunn Theme", which was nominated for an Emmy Award^[3] and two Grammys for Henry Mancini and subsequently has been performed and recorded by many jazz, rock, and blues musicians. The series was No. 17 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1958–1959 TV season.

Plot

Peter Gunn is a well-dressed private investigator whose hair is always in place and who loves cool jazz. Where other gumshoes might be coarse, Peter Gunn is a sophisticate with expensive tastes. A contemporary article in Life noted that Edwards "deliberately tailored the part after the famous movie smoothie Cary Grant".^[4]

Gunn operates in a gloomy waterfront city, the name and location of which is never revealed in the series. He can usually be found at Mother's, a smoky wharfside jazz club that Gunn uses as his "office", usually meeting new clients there. His standard fee is $1,000 but it can be more, less, or nothing, depending on the client or the circumstances. Gunn has a reputation of being honest and among the best investigators. He sometimes works cases out of state and sometimes out of the country. Gunn was observed by a female character named Rowena in "Murder on the Midway" as "wearing $30 shoes, a $200 suit and carrying a solid gold cigarette lighter".{{Citation needed|date=April 2018}} Gunn drives a 1958 two-tone DeSoto two-door hardtop in the first few episodes of the first season, then a 1959 Plymouth Fury convertible with a white top and a car phone. In the third season Gunn drives a 1961 white Plymouth Fury convertible with a car phone.

Gunn's girlfriend, Edie Hart, is a sultry singer employed at Mother's; she opens her own restaurant and nightclub in season 3. Gunn's pet name for Edie is "Silly". Herschel Bernardi costarred as Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Jacoby, a somber police detective and friend of Gunn. Occasionally he refers people to Gunn as clients. In 1959, Bernardi received his only Emmy nomination for the role.^[3] Hope Emerson appeared as "Mother", who had been a singer and piano player in speakeasies during Prohibition. She received an Emmy nomination for the role.^[3] For the second season, "Mother" was played by Minerva Urecal, following the death of Emerson during the series' run. Associate producer Byron Kane portrayed Barney, the bartender at Mother's; Kane was never credited for playing this role. Bill Chadney appeared as Emmett, Mother's piano player. (Chadney and Albright were married in 1961.)^[5]

Both Billy Barty as pool hustler Babby and Herbert Ellis as Beat bistro owner, painter, and sculptor Wilbur, appeared in several episodes as occasional "information resources", as "Mother" also often is. Capri Candela played Wilbur's girlfriend, Capri. Morris Erby had the recurring role of Sgt. Lee Davis during all 3 seasons of the show. Frequent director Robert Gist appeared as an actor in different roles in three episodes. James Lanphier portrayed Leslie the maitre d'hôtel at Edie's restaurant and nightclub during season 3.

Cast

• Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn
• Lola Albright as Edie Hart, a lounge singer and Pete's girlfriend
• Herschel Bernardi as Lieutenant Charles "Chuck" Jacoby, a police detective and friend of Gunn
• Hope Emerson as "Mother", a singer and piano player in speakeasies during Prohibition (Season 1)
• Minerva Urecal as "Mother" (Season 2)
• Byron Kane (uncredited) as Barney, the bartender
• Bill Chadney as Emmett, the piano player at Mother's
• Billy Barty as Babby, a pool hustler
• Herbert Ellis as Wilbur, beat bistro owner, painter, and sculptor
• Capri Candela as Capri, Wilbur's girlfriend
• Morris Erby as police Sgt. Lee Davis (seasons 2 & 3)
• James Lanphier as Leslie, maître d' (season 3)

Frequent director Robert Gist appeared as an actor in different roles in three episodes.

Episodes

Origin of series

Edwards developed Peter Gunn from an earlier fictional detective that he had created. Richard Diamond, Private Detective starred Dick Powell, and aired as a radio series from 1949 to 1953. David Janssen later starred in the television adaptation from 1957 to 1960. It was this character's success which prompted his creator to revisit the concept as Peter Gunn. Edwards had earlier written and directed a Mike Hammer television pilot for Brian Keith.

In a 1993 interview which can be found at Youtube.com, Craig Stevens talks about how he and co-star Lola Albright were hired for the show. (See below in External Links.)

Initial plans called for the title of the program to be Gunn for Hire. The change to Peter Gunn occurred after officials at Paramount Pictures complained that the title was similar to that of the Paramount film This Gun for Hire (1942).^[9][10]

Production

Besides those directed by Blake Edwards, other episodes were directed by Boris Sagal, Robert Gist, Jack Arnold, Lamont Johnson, Robert Altman (for one episode) and several others. A total of 114 thirty-minute episodes were produced by Spartan Productions. Season one was filmed at Universal Studios, while seasons two and three were filmed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Philip H. Lathrop and William W. Spencer were cinematographers on many episodes. Craig Stevens' wardrobe was tailored by Don Richards and Lola Albright's fashions by Jax.

Music

The show's use of modern jazz music was a distinctive touch that helped set the standard for many years to come, with cool jazz themes accompanying every move Gunn made. The music, composed by Henry Mancini, was performed by a small jazz ensemble which included a number of prominent Los Angeles-based jazz and studio musicians. Trumpeter Pete Candoli, alto saxophonist Ted Nash, flautist Ronny Lang, trombonist Dick Nash, and pianist John Williams provided most of the improvised jazz solos.^[11][12]

Prominent jazz musicians occasionally made on-screen appearances. Trumpeter Shorty Rogers appeared in the episode titled "The Frog" playing flugelhorn as Lola sings "How High the Moon".^[13] Drummer Shelly Manne, in addition to performing on the soundtrack album, was credited with a Special Guest role in the 1959 episode "Keep Smiling" playing drums in the "Bamboo Club" combo. Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida plays guitar as himself in the 1959 episode "Skin Deep".

In his autobiography Did They Mention the Music? Mancini stated: {{quote|text=The Peter Gunn title theme actually derives more from rock and roll than from jazz. I used guitar and piano in unison, playing what is known in music as an ostinato, which means obstinate. It was sustained throughout the piece, giving it a sinister effect, with some frightened saxophone sounds and some shouting brass. The piece has one chord throughout and a super-simple top line.}}

The "Peter Gunn Theme"^[14] became an instant hit, earning Mancini an Emmy Award nomination^[3] and two Grammys. The RCA Victor soundtrack album by Henry Mancini, The Music from Peter Gunn, was voted Album of the Year at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959 and reached No. 1 in Billboard's Pop LP Charts.^[15] The popularity of this album prompted RCA Victor to issue a second Mancini album of Peter Gunn music titled More Music from Peter Gunn.^[1] Bandleader Ray Anthony's recording of the theme music reached No. 8 on Billboard's Hot 100. Shelly Manne recorded two jazz albums of themes from the show in 1959, Shelly Manne & His Men Play Peter Gunn and Son of Gunn!!.

"The Peter Gunn Theme" has been recorded and performed by numerous musicians. Today, many people who have never seen the TV show can easily identify the theme.

Selected songs from the series

Emmy nominations

The series was nominated for 8 prime time Emmys without wins, all in 1959. They were for Best Dramatic Series - Less than One Hour, Craig Stevens as best lead actor in a drama, Herschel Bernardi as best supporting actor in a drama, Lola Albright and Hope Emerson as best supporting actress in a drama, Henry Mancini for best musical contribution to a television production, and Blake Edwards for best writing and direction of a single episode of a drama series.^[19]

Adaptations

The series made the transition to other media. An original novel and a comic book adaptation were published by Dell Publishing in 1960. A feature film, Gunn, was released by Paramount Pictures in 1967, scripted by Edwards and William Peter Blatty and directed by Edwards with Stevens reprising the title role. A 1970s TV revival with Craig Stevens got as far as a script, but failed to materialize. A long-gestating ABC 90-minute pilot, "Rogue Cops" aired in April 1989 with Peter Strauss in the lead role^[20] that was written, produced, and directed by Edwards, but the network failed to order a series despite strong ratings and reviews.

In 2001, Edwards and his son, Geoffrey, joined with producers Jeffrey Tinnell and John Michaels and writer Norman Snider in developing an updated television series, The New Peter Gunn for Muse Entertainment in Canada. The project fell through when producers John Woo and David Permut began developing a big screen remake for Paramount with screenwriter W. Peter Iliff. Once Upon a Time in L.A. was pitched as a possible vehicle for John Travolta or Harrison Ford. Neither revival made it beyond the script stage.

TNT announced a new series was in development in May 2013 from producers Steven Spielberg, Julie Andrews, Lou Pitt, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank with writers Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and André Nemec. The proposed series was not picked up for the 2014-2015 season.

In 2017, Paramount renewed its agreement with The Blake Edwards Estate with the intent of developing the property.

Home releases

In 2002, A&E Home Video released two volume sets of Peter Gunn on DVD in Region 1, which comprise 32 episodes from Season One. These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.

On October 23, 2012, Timeless Media Group released Peter Gunn – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The 12-disc set features all 114 episodes of the series, as well as a bonus CD of Henry Mancini's award winning score.^[21]

References

External links

• {{IMDb title|id=0051301|title=Peter Gunn (1958 TV series)}}
• {{Internet Archive film clip|id=PeterGunn-LetsKillTimothy|description=1959 episode 17 "Lets Kill Timothy" of season one}}
• {{IMDb title|id=0098085|title=Peter Gunn (1989 TV movie)}}
• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051301/episodes Episode Listing]
• {{tv.com show|peter-gunn|Peter Gunn}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235808/http://www.morningsonmaplestreet.com/petergunn1.html The story behind the making of the music from Peter Gunn, including interviews with the musicians and sound engineers]
• Peter Gunn: A TV and Movie Review by David L. Vineyard
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztd8qpXL9sY Craig Stevens--1993 TV Interview, "Peter Gunn", Alexis Smith]

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