Customer Reviews

Peter Gunn [VHS]

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These are the only videos currently available for the vintage television series, "Peter Gunn", starring Craig Stevens. They are not too easy to find and Amazon.Com is one of the few places I've seen them available. This is a box set of five (5) videotapes with two (2) thirty minute episodes per tape for a total of ten (10) episodes. To begin, I bought this set with a little bit of apprehension. First, the price for the five tapes was very inexpensive ($15.83). Second, they are distributed by a company that I am unfamiliar with, Diamond Entertainment Corporation. However, for the price of $15.83 for ten episodes, I thought I would take my chances. Well, the episodes themselves were no surprise, your basic classic late 1950's/early 1960's detective show. The show was filmed in black and white which adds a film noir effect. This, combined with jazzy background music by Henry Mancini, are a "cool" combination. This is what "Peter Gunn" is known for. As for the quality of the tapes, well, they were okay. These are not digitally remastered copies by any stretch of the imagination, but the quality was decent. In fact, I was expecting a lot worse. Belive me, I've paid a lot more and seen a lot worse. With this in mind, if you like Peter Gunn or vintage detective shows, go for it!

PETER GUNN remains a television landmark. A half-hour show with enough material for a feature film in every episode. A groundbreaking marriage of narrative and music--many scenes play like Henry Mancini music videos (from the era when Mancini was cutting great jazz tracks with talent like Shelley Manne). The series' low budget is cleverly disguised behind the minimalist film-noir atmosphere. Blake Edwards created the series in response to the poor television handling of his RICHARD DIAMOND radio show--many episodes were actually rewritten from RICHARD DIAMOND radio scripts! Edwards proved he was an authentic successor of Hammett and Chandler (simply working in a different medium). Gunn is sophisticated, amusing, classy, tough, and always likable. His friendly relationship with Police Lt. Jacoby was a welcome change from the hard-boiled stereotype of P. I.'s who hated corrupt and/or stupid cops. The racy (for the 50's) banter with his night club singer/girlfriend and the bizarre, comic-relief contacts round out the format for this great series. The only complaint with this box set is the poor quality of the picture (it helps explain the low price). Collectors take note that three of the ten episodes were previously issued by Rhino Home Video about ten years ago. A must for mystery fans--PETER GUNN was Blake Edwards at his creative pinnacle.

If I had to compare Craig Stevens' suave demeanor as Peter Gunn with any contemporary actor of today that actor would be Pierce Brosnan. Peter Gunn had a style all it's own from the clothes that the character wore to the incidental music and lighting of the show itself. I remember as a young child watching this show and thinking how cool this guy really was. They just don't make shows like that anymore. What a shame!!!