# Peter Gunn



## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

I've been watching episodes of Blake Edwards's terrific late Fifties noir detective series _Peter Gunn_, and completely digging the clothing in addition to Craig Stevens's iconic performance and the ultra-cool Henry Mancini theme music and jazz milieu of some of the stories. Stevens wears his suits (across dark, medium, and light color ranges) and French cuff shirts with real style and moves in them with total confidence. The cufflinks are big and bold, the shoes highly polished. In one episode, "Streetcar Jones," Stevens wears an absolutely wild patterned sportcoat in one scene -- Lindsay Nelson territory! -- and a rounded pin-collar shirt in another. Be still my beating heart.

I want to be Peter Gunn.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

I agree that Craig Stevens looks great in that series. It's one of the first TV Series DVD's I purchased. And the sound track isn't too shaby either!


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Stevens was in a Broadway musical (which I actually saw), c. 1964-65. Don't recall the title (and refuse to cheat by Googling around) but it was based on Miracle on 34th Street and in that show was born the tune "We Need A Little Christmas.

I don't think I liked it very much. I drank in those days. But apparently not enough. ​


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

I forgot to mention that Stevens always sports a pocket square as well.

About the only thing to be said *against *being Peter Gunn is the problem that exists for all nicely dressed fictional private eyes: those fistfights can rough up your suits!

Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer in the great film noir _Kiss Me Deadly_ is another ultra-dapper Fifties detective.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Peak and Pine said:


> Stevens was in a Broadway musical (which I actually saw), c. 1964-65. Don't recall the title (and refuse to cheat by Googling around) but it was based on Miracle on 34th Street and in that show was born the tune "We Need A Little Christmas.
> 
> I don't think I liked it very much. I drank in those days. But apparently not enough. ​


Half right - Wilson starred in _Here's Love _from October 63 to July 64. He played Fred Gaily, the cynical Macy's employee who fell in love with Susan Walker's mother and finally believed in Kris Kringle.

https://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3024

"We Need A Little Christmas" was from _Mame_. After the stock market crash of '29, when Mame's two household staff expressed their fear of losing their jobs, Mame insisted that they weren't going anywhere - she had already bought their Christmas presents! Then she gets the idea to bring out the Christmas decorations to cheer everyone up.

The memorable song from _Here's Love_ (which was written by Meredith Wilson, who also wrote _The Music Man_) was "Pine Cones and Holly Berries."


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Miket61 said:


> Half right - Wilson starred in _Here's Love _from October 63 to July 64. He played Fred Gaily, the cynical Macy's employee who fell in love with Susan Walker's mother and finally believed in Kris Kringle.
> 
> https://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3024
> "We Need A Little Christmas" was from _Mame_. After the stock market crash of '29, when Mame's two household staff expressed their fear of losing their jobs, Mame insisted that they weren't going anywhere - she had already bought their Christmas presents! Then she gets the idea to bring out the Christmas decorations to cheer everyone up.
> ...



Yes! That's it,_ Here's Love_. Thank you, and for the clarication on the tune (I also saw the original Mame). Haven't checked out your link yet, still checking my memory, this was 40+ years ago. Think it also starred Janice or Janet Page. But again, it was a pretty lousy show. ​


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## yanks1184 (Oct 28, 2008)

I remember my parents talking about this show...can not remember if they were impressed or not...


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Peak and Pine said:


> Yes! That's it,_ Here's Love_. Thank you, and for the clarication on the tune (I also saw the original Mame). Haven't checked out your link yet, still checking my memory, this was 40+ years ago. Think it also starred Janice or Janet Page. But again, it was a pretty lousy show. ​


Janis. It's never had a revival, but for a show about Christmas to run through the end of July is a pretty impressive feat.

I remember seeing Betsy Palmer in _Wait Until Dark_ at the Pocono Playhouse in the late 70s/early 80s. The final show of that season was Angela Lansbury in _Mame_. I would have loved to have seen that.


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## Kav (Jun 19, 2005)

I'm driving on the freeway and the theme music comes on the radio. I happen to look to my left. There is a two seat T bird with the top down. Inside was a redhead, just about with her top down, tanned, 40 something and I just knew she was a former Vegas Showgirl.
And she had her radio tuned into the same station and was tapping these nails to Peter Gunn, smiling and blowing me kisses and laughing.
Then she started pointing frantically ahead. I thought she wanted to pull off and exchange phone numbers. So I'm nodding my head, making WW1 pilot hand signals and smiling and she's even more agitated, poor thing. I did have that effect on real women.
My guardian angel jerked my head forward just as I was about to rear end a California Highway Patrol Cruiser. I somehow managed to brake without locking up and escape into the heaven sent offramp, a long, tanned arm waving briefly on the disappearing horizon of concrete.
I need a drink just thinking about her.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Kav said:


> I'm driving on the freeway and the theme music comes on the radio. I happen to look to my left. There is a two seat T bird with the top down. Inside was a redhead, just about with her top down, tanned, 40 something and I just knew she was a former Vegas Showgirl.


Are you sure it wasn't Suzanne Somers? She has a habit of doing things like that...


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

In the episode I watched last night, "The Vicious Dog," Peter Gunn lost a perfectly nice raincoat and pair of shoes (to the vicious dog). The carnage! I'm just not sure I could take that week in and week out. My career as a cool Fifties detective may be on hold.


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## topbroker (Jul 30, 2006)

Watched a couple more _Gunn_ episodes last night. An interesting aspect of the show is that, even by noir standards, it is incredibly nocturnal, verging on the vampiric. In the five episodes I've watched so far, daylight hasn't appeared even by reference or rumor.


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## Pale Male (Mar 24, 2008)

*"Here's Love"*

From what I've read, would put the offerings of the last 25 years to shame. Even Mediocrity in the Golden Age had Craft, some Art, and likely no Vulgarity.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

Pale Male said:


> From what I've read, would put the offerings of the last 25 years to shame. Even Mediocrity in the Golden Age had Craft, some Art, and likely no Vulgarity.


I think it took Bob Fosse to bring the vulgar _back_ to Broadway.


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## Pale Male (Mar 24, 2008)

*Whatever Happened to Class?*

Do you mean Pippin? It's the earliest Fosse I saw.

Certainly many Stars had a delicious Vulgarity to them -- Merman, Bert Lahr, Channing, Mostel, others. And Nathan Lane today.

One can just imagine how smutty Gypsy would be if written today. And think of the "Darker and Grittier" Cabaret -- just Starker and, well, rhymes with grittier.

I'd say that "Class" perfectly suits the material -- and shocked the audiences in the mid-70's.

I thought that the "younger-than-springtime-larks-climbing-evry-rainbow stuff was silly. But then I never got to see a first-rate production. Yet what's more "Adult" than South Pacific? No cheap tricks, four-letter words, flashy-trashy razzle-dazzle. Not even much Beefcake in its current incarnation. Soft opening, soft close, and my eyes weren't dry from the second measure of "Cockeyed Optimist".


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## dfloyd (May 7, 2006)

*I recently watched all the Peter Gunn episodes on dvd ....*

Craig Stevens was great and I could find litlle to criticize in his dress. His trousers were a bit short, coming not quite to his shoes. I grew up in that period, but I don't remember anyone wearing high water trousers. If I remember correctly, a guy named Don Richards was given credit for Stevens' wardrobe. Anybody ever heard of him before?

If you like the music from Gunn, get the cd of Shelley Manne playing Peter Gunn. Probably the best jazz interpretation of Mancini's music and conteporarily recorded while the series was still playing.


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## Peak and Pine (Sep 12, 2007)

Pale Male said:


> I thought that the "younger-than-springtime-larks-climbing-evry-rainbow stuff was silly. *But then I never got to see a first-rate production*. Yet what's more "Adult" than South Pacific? No cheap tricks, four-letter words, flashy-trashy razzle-dazzle. Not even much Beefcake in its current incarnation. Soft opening, soft close, and my eyes weren't dry from the second measure of "Cockeyed Optimist".


A long, long time ago I went to a preview of a Broadway show. It was quite good, but they changed the title sometime during the out of town try-outs and hadn't yet changed the name on the tickets. Mine said _Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman_ (I think; it was long ago).
​


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