Peter Gunn

When I saw this film ten years ago, I was a teenager, and I liked the film very much. Peter Strauss did a decent job as Peter Gunn. I sure like to see that film again, now that the range of genres that appeal to me has widened considerably since then.

Some actors own their TV cop roles. Jack Lord. Gene Barry. Mike Connors. Craig Stevens. A fine actor, Peter Strauss is a weak Gunn. I knew Blake Edwards loved the character but remaking and watering down a show that was noir heaven for many viewers (and producing a pallid movie version in 1966, at least with Stevens but suffered without Albright and Bernardi) was not a successful venture and fun to sit through.

I used to watch re-runs of the original Peter Gunn late at night with my father, and picked this one up as a nostalgia piece. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this reflected the 'look and feel' of the 1960's series.

The movie has a nice, period feel to it. The actors are pleasantly understated. The level of blood and gore is unbelievably low considering the amount of gun play that happens. Even the music is true to the original.

Definitely worth seeing.

Everything works here -- expect for the jerks at ABC who refused to pick this up as a weekly series. (This was the pilot.) One of the most stylish TV movies ever made, everyone is at their best: Peter Strauss & Barbara Williams(what a couple they would have made each week!), Jennifer Edwards as the beautifully cooky fill-in secretary, Jurasik as Pete's cop buddy, Mancini's music, and -- of course -- the writing and direction of Blake Edwards. Along with his great portrayal of Dick Diver in the Dennis Potter version of "Tender is the Night"(1985), this is Strauss's best work -- the role he was born to play: smart, stylish, cooly heroic. Looking back now from the era of "men" such as Ben Affleck, Guy Pearce, Ethan Hawke, ad nauseum -- Strauss is more and more the real thing. (As is Williams.) Terrific.

The best thing about this is the theme music if nothing else it lets you know the film has finally ended. The film looks to me like they are trying (to hard) to be funny and cool. The ex-cop, nightclub owner and gumshoe all rolled into one theme is badly represented here. Complete with mafia bosses sending the "muscle" to say lines like "Come on, let's take a ride".

This genre is great if it's done well - Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade for example - but here it's like pulling teeth. And at the same time listening to the poor jokes (if you can call them that) all the way through. This cost me 97p on DVD, it's the only reason I watched it all the way through, I want my 97p back, I'll pay the postage you can this for free.