Customer Reviews

Peter Gunn, Set 1

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Shame on A&E for using the syndicated masters on the series. In many cases hissy, 16mm prints with scratches in them. To make matters worse, the episodes are cut 22 minute syndicated versions. Another BIG disappointment. The packaging should have been the tip off here...COLOR pictures do exist from the series BUT so-so black and white shots used for the covers. This series deserves better!

Not only is the quality of the Peter Gunn episodes recently released by A&E substandard (it is more reminiscent of Madacy Video), the episodes are CUT, despite what it says on the box.

I was checking The Chinese Hangman for quality against the Rhino/Image laserdisc and noticed that some lines in one scene were missing, as follows.

[Cult leader Ahben Unesku is talking to Gunn about finding Joanna Lund, who absconded with money from his organization. The missing lines are in square brackets.]

Unesku: The funds were in safe keeping. Joanna and I were the only persons who had access to them.
Gunn: When did she disappear?
Unesku: Last week. [I held hope that perhaps she would return to us. I sought forgiveness for her in meditation. By her act she has desecrated the sacred duty. She's shattered the very tenets of the philosophy.]
Gunn: How long have you known Joanna?
Unesku: She came to us almost five years ago.
Gunn: Any relatives?
Unesku: Not to my knowledge.

Gunn: What about friends?
Unesku: WE were her friends.
Gunn: In other words, you want me to find a girl that could be anywhere. It's a large world, Mr. Unesku
[Unesku: Would you accept a thousand dollars?
Gunn: If I find Joanna and return her to you with the stolen funds...
Unesku: I would be greatly in your debt.
Gunn: There's no need for you getting in debt, Mr. Unesku, I'm sure we could settle on a figure right now.]
Unesku: (takes money from his sleeve) Shall we say a thousand dollars now and an additional two thousand when you find Joanna and the money?

It's great to see these old shows again. Classic suave and sexy atmospheric noir. But shame on A&E for the terrible DVD transfer. Scratchy soundtrack and the grainy and flawed print detract from the enjoyment. A&E did the same with many of their other Cult TV releases. It shows a lack of respect for the customer.

Sheeesh... why do the DVD purists bad-mouth these recordings. The video and audio are as good (if not better) than I recall getting on my old Dumont TV in the late 50's. It's still Peter, Edie, Mother and Lt. Jacobi all wrapped up into delicious 22-24 minute bites of nostalgia, with Henry Mancini's mellow notes thrown in. If you're a true Peter Gunn fan, as I am, you will really go for it.

The best noir ever made for the small silver screen, this classy series exudes as much pizzazz today as in its heyday! The dark streets glisten with rain and neon, the nightclubs steam with sultry jazz and smokey-voiced women, and stalwart men stalk the unlit alleyways, shadowy docks, and hitman hideouts of the urban jungle. The storyline of each half-hour-slotted epidode is tight and to the point, but time is still taken to explore the relationahip between Gunn and his glib, glamourous girlfriend Edie, his matron-with-moxie chum Mother, and the dogged, job-bound Lt. Jacoby. The series has a timeless ambience. It oozes with hot, on-the-surface sexuality without being brazenly explicit, and the violence is palpably throbbing without being gratuitous or gorey. As terrific television, it's right on target!

Blake Edward's "Peter Gunn" is a tough character. The private investigator is a big man, quick to use his fists, and used to carrying a gun. A smoker and drinker, his HQ is a bar called "Mothers" run by a woman called "Mother" (big surprise!). The singer in the bar, Edie Hart (Lola Albright) is Gunn's girlfriend. Every private eye has a buddy on the local police force, Pete's is Lt. Jacoby (Herchel Benardi). The two-disc set contains 16 half-hour episodes arranged in broadcast order.

A half-hour TV detective drama is a challenging proposition. Almost all of the screen time must be devoted to plot development, with little time for wasted scenes. A concern was that the writers would take the easy way out, and resolve stories in some convenient fashion just because of time constraints. Having characters pull out guns, and shoot their way to a solution could be a tempting way to wrap up an episode running long. And truthfully, it does happen here more than a few times. There are however, some quality episodes in this collection.

Gunn does his share of investigating, but perhaps because of the time-limited format, it often seems that trouble seeks him out, thus speeding up crime solving process. Gunn is like a lightning rod for trouble, drawing hoods, heavies and damsels in distress. When trouble appears, it usually means a fight, and Gunn both gives and takes his share of lumps. The level of violence in these episodes is very high, and they are not suitable for young children. Gunfights, strangulation, shotgun blasts, explosions, hangings, arson, car bombings, and plain old cold-blooded murder, is what you will find here.

Peter Gunn is not about solving mysteries, with the audience following along, sorting out false leads, and attempting to guess the guilty party. There isn't time for that. Instead each episode usually opens with a murder or crime, and then it's more or less a straight line from there to the culprit. There isn't a long list of suspects to choose from. In the best of these episodes, there is still suspense generated in this rigid format.

Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn, comes off as stiff and rather wooden, with a delivery reminiscent of a sedate Cary Grant. A gruff, low-key individual, that is somewhat hard to warm up to. Herschel Bernardi as Lt. Jacoby is deadpan, speaking with a dull monotone, at times he hardly seems alive. His conversations with Gunn do not make for the most animated TV viewing. Peter's relationship with girlfriend Edie is firmly established, but he has little time for her. And though we follow with some interest what happens to these characters, it may be a stretch to say that we actually "like" them.

These black and white episodes are from 1958, and the picture quality reflects that age. Common flaws are streaks and dirt, lack of sharpness, missing frames and a "wavey" image. The quality of the episodes varies, but seems to improve as you get to the later ones in the set. Comparing the image quality of Peter Gunn to "The Rifleman", a program from the same time period also recently available on DVD, the transfer of "The Rifleman" is far superior. The images are sharp, texture is more visible, and dirty and missing frames are not evident. Based on A&E's high standards, the quality of the original Peter Gunn episodes must not have been very good to begin with, and they did the best job they could. While the video quality isn't the best, the audio track is clear, and sounds just fine. If you happen to own Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn TV soundtrack, you may recognize a track or two from the snippets of music played on the program.
Vocal numbers by Edie Hart are also frequently featured.

In summary, Peter Gunn provides a look into TV's violent past. The set is a good value, providing nearly seven hours of hard boiled, two-fisted programming. The programs at roughly 25 minutes in length, make for quick convenient viewing. If you like a tough no frills approach, Peter Gunn is your man.

Its great to see these old episodes on DVD with their cool, David Mamet-like dialog and low budget noir settings. But in this case, "digitally remastered" apparently means "find the original tape, in any condition and put it on a DVD".

Long before Crockett and Tubbs, before Magnum and Dan Tanna, and before Tony Franciosa as Matt Helm or Mike Conners as Mannix, there was Peter Gunn. He was cool. He was the guy every girl wanted and every guy wanted to be like. He lived in a cool world of jazz and bad guys, and girls who needed his help. He had a cool and sexy girlfriend, a little on the sweet side. Some of his friends, like Lt. Jacoby, were squares. It somehow made Gunn even cooler, that you didn't have to be cool yourself to be his pal.

Craig Stevens was Peter Gunn and Lola Albright was his girl, Edie Hart. Hershel Bernardi was his cop pal Lt. Jocoby. Hope Emerson was "Mother." She ran the jazz joint Gunn frequented. Blake Edwards was the guy who dreamed up Peter Gunn in the first place. By accident, he ran into a guy by the name of Mancini while getting his hair cut, and the music Mancini would write for Gunn would change television forever. It would also begin a long and fruitful friendship that would give moviegoers and music lovers such classics as "Days of Wine and Roses" and "The Pink Panther."

While there is an occasional washed out look to these black and white episodes, the convenience of having so many great episodes on the two discs sort of makes up for the occasional lack of quality. Volume one contains great episodes like "Rough Buck" and "Streetcar Jones," while the second disc contains fabulous entries such as "Death House Testament." My favorite "Peter Gunn" episode of all time, "Lynn's Blues," is included on the first disc.

This is one of the best episodes of Peter Gunn ever aired. Linda Lawson portrays Lynn Martell, singing hauntingly about being blue. It is obvious she needs someone on her side. Lynn is an old friend of Peter Gunn's girlfriend, Edie, and Gunn noses around the jazz club where she sings as a favor to her. He soon learns that Edie was right to be worried.

A knife-wielding guy named Santano (David Tomack) guards Lynn and doesn't take well to Gunn asking questions. Gunn's old pal, Lt. Jacoby, warns him about Santano, who works for the club's owner, Nat Kruger ( Guy Prescott). Peter suspects it all ties in to the murder of Roger Dwyer (William Masters). Gunn is just in the nick of time to keep Lynn from ending it all, and she finally tells him her story of love and sadness.

Linda Lawson gives a great performance as the distraught Lynn Martell, and sings beautifully, adding a lot of atmosphere to this episode. Gunn gets to flirt with his girl Edie and talk to "Mother." Lt. Jacoby will have Gunn's back when everything comes to a head, and the last scene of Gunn and Edie dining at the club and listening to Lynn's final number makes this one really special.

This particular episode was written by Lewis Reed and the show's creator, Blake Edwards. Like all the others, it had Mancini's West Coast jazz score. Craig Stevens will always have a special place in TV history as the very cool, Peter Gunn. This show broke new ground in television for its blend of music and action, and set a tone for what cool really was. This is a must have for "Peter Gunn" fans and anyone else who loves classic television. There may indeed not be much that's new here, but that is only because Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn started it all.

For A&E to call these "remastered" is a joke. The quality is poor, with scratches, obvious splices, a hum throughout some soundtracks - like THE DIRTY WORD in set 2. The only bright spot is that these shows are otherwise unavailable. But don't expect anything like DVD quality.

This is a top-notch old time gumshoe detective show. It's one of the best late night curl up with a blanket in the dark and watch a film-noir type show. As for the quality of transfer - I consider myself lucky that these shows have even been saved in a way that allows for reproduction in the first place. Being much younger than these shows-I'm actually thrilled with the quality-I found no problems that affected the viewing. I'd rather they looked the gritty way they did way back when than look like a show made in B/W today. It's authentic, and it's a really great show.