I never saw this show on television. But I heard about it. All over — because of its theme. The first time I remember hearing the theme was when I saw “The Blues Brothers” movie for the first time. Duhduh duhduh duhduh DUHduh duhduh duhduh duhduhDUHduh — then the piano comes in, and then the lazy, brassy saxophones. During the end credits, “The Theme from Peter Gunn” was the only title I didn’t recognize.
1983, and “Spy Hunter” comes to the arcades, with that same theme running through it relentlessly. I recognize it instantly from Blues Brothers.
The theme made a star of its composer, Henry Mancini, and most every one of the musicians in the Peter Gunn sessions. Among those musicians was that pianist with the steady hand, Johnny T. Williams, later known as the composer of the music for Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and many other films and eventually the conductor for the Boston Pops. The creator, Blake Edwards, became a superstar, producing hit after hit in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The show itself was among the first to use a jazz soundtrack — the voice of the Beat generation. He made cool look good. And, he solved crimes.
For a short while, the full run of Peter Gunn was legitimately on the Internet, and I knew I’d want to write a recap eventually. Well, that archive is gone now, but YouTube has a couple episodes. This one is “The Blind Pianist”, from 1958. The video and theme song are embedded below.
ACT 1
A walking bass keeps time in the background as the long shadow of a man walks along a wide sidewalk. The man himself, wearing a white scarf, enters from the right as an alto flute joins the bass. The man stops outside a nightclub, “The Blue Funnel”. A balding man walks out of the club and turns, away from the scarfed man.
The man removes his scarf as he watches the other walk away, and casually knots it. BAM. The jazz band goes silent.
Inside the club, a man wearing dark glasses plays a slow ballad on a piano that has a white cane laid upon it. At one of the tables sits a well-dressed, middle-aged woman woman, smoking and apparently, aside from the piano player, alone.
The pianist cocks an ear as he hears the door open. The man with the white scarf (around his neck again) walks in and makes a slight bow to the woman. She looks away, disinterested. The man walks over and caresses her shoulder; she pushes his hand away. Standing behind her, he removes his knotted scarf. The jazz band starts in again, blaring, as he twists the scarf and strangles the woman with it, soundlessly. The pianist shows no reaction as he continues playing. The killer untwists the scarf and puts out the woman’s cigarette. He leaves. And….
OPENING CREDITS
The famous theme pounds out as “PETER GUNN” flashes on the screen. Starring Craig Stevens, created and produced by Blake Edwards, another Official Films presentation.
ACT 2
A photographer takes a picture of the crime scene as the manager talks to the police detective. “I’m telling ya she didn’t move! She just sat there listening to Steve play. The kitchen was closed, the bar was closed! Then she got hungry. She waved this hundred dollar bill at me and told me to go out and get some sandwiches. When I came back, there she was, crumpled up like a rag doll, her face was turning blue.”
In walks PETER GUNN. Little did he know that he’d be starting a trend of television PIs named after weaponry. Cannon. Bullit. Magnum, PI.
“Hello, Pete,” says the manager. The police detective, Lieutenant Jacoby, gives Gunn a look. “What are you doing here?”
“Just dropped in,” says Gunn.
The police detective begins to question the pianist. “Now, Mister Ware, just what did you hear?”
“Not much,” says the pianist. “I was playing. Max went out for the sandwiches. A short time later, I heard someone come in. A man.”
“How did you know?” “When you’ve been listening to footsteps as long as I have, you know.” He goes on to relate what he heard of the murder, sounds he couldn’t identify at the time.
Gunn steps into a wooden phone booth. “Where are you going?” demands the detective. “To make a phone call!”
Gunn calls his girlfriend Edie, who is sitting idly plunking keys on the piano at Mother’s, a dockside bar. (Jazz singer girlfriend Edie Hart and Mother’s, a jazz bar operated by an elderly lady and a tired old bartender, were introduced in the first episode). “I’ll get it,” says Edie, when the phone rings.
She answers the phone with “Mmm-hmm?” “Hello there, silly?” asks Gunn. “Where are you, Mister Gunn?” asks Edie. “I’m going to be tied up for awhile,” says Gunn. “You better go home.” “Well, I could just drop by your place, curl up on the couch and … boil you an egg when you come in.”
Gunn asks her to go home and get a good night’s sleep. “I’m not tired and my bed’s not comfortable,” she says. “The key’s under the mat,” says Gunn, and hangs up.
The detective is waiting outside the booth when Gunn exits. “Who was Mrs. Stanfield?”
“Laura Hope Stanfield,” says the detective. “That’s an expensive corpse,” says Gunn, after a pause. “You don’t know why anyone would want to kill her, do ya, Pete,” asks the detective. “No.” “You want to tell me why you’re here?” “No.” The detective leaves.
“Everything happens to me, huh, Pete?” asks the manager. “It’ll double your business,” says Gunn. “It might at that!” agrees the manager, as he eats one of the dead woman’s sandwiches.
The pianist jokingly takes offense at Max’s insinuation that people won’t come to the Blue Funnel just to hear him play. “Hey, you’ve been gone two years, you’re a little out of touch, a little publicity….” After getting Pete’s promise to lock the place up, he leaves. Peter and the pianist are alone in the club.
“How was Europe?” asks Gunn, putting a cigarette in his mouth. “Sweet,” replies the pianist, reaching over to light Gunn’s cigarette. Gunn pauses. “What’s on your mind?”
Steve reaches up and removes his glasses, showing perfectly healthy eyes. “It’s good to see you, Pete.” The pianist explains about an experimental cornea transplant he underwent in Antwerp, but he realized when he returned that his reputation and career were built on being a BLIND pianist.
“You saw the killer?” asks Pete. “Yup.”
Steve describes the murderer and passes along the murdered woman’s casual mention that she was at Wilbur’s before she came to the Funnel. Pete, when he finds that the pianist had not told any of this to the police, urges Steve to go to the station or be considered an accessory after the fact. Believing his career ruined if he makes public that he can see, he urges Gunn to find the killer. If he hasn’t in twenty four hours, he will go to the police and tell them what he knows.
“Thanks, Pete,” says the pianist. “Don’t thank me,” says Gunn. “When you get my bill, you’ll be sorry you ever had that operation.”
Gunn don’t work for free.
ACT 3
In a door, a peephole opens, an eye stares through. “So?” says a man.
“Peter Gunn,” says Gunn. “Crazy!” says the man. The man, who is wearing a long, striped cardigan, lets Pete in, tells him where Wilbur is. “You’re getting taller!” says the man. “Clean living,” says Pete.
Wilbur’s is a clandestine jazz club. An obviously stoned poet is monotonously reciting a poem while a small jazz combo improvises behind him. The camera picks out well-dressed hipsters in the crowd, settling on an overweight man explaining something earnestly to a young woman at the bar. Pete approaches, and leans in. “Heyyyy…. it’s the Profound Gass, Mister Gunn,” says the fat man, bowing. Gunn bows in return. (I know Gass is spelled that way, because it’s on one of the soundtrack albums.) “Pete, meet Capri,” says Wilbur, nodding to his companion.
“There is no jelly doughnut on the other side of that window,” intones the poet, finishing. “Only death.”
“Makes you wonder whatever happened to the good old iambic pentameter,” quips Pete.
Pete and Wilbur discusses beat poetry and surrealistic art for awhile. Wilbur shows Pete a picture of a tentacled brain with glowing eyes feeding on a man’s carcass. “Self portrait?” asks Pete. “What else, man,” says Wilbur. “Good likeness.”
Wilbur admits knowing Mrs. Stanfield — “Mrs. S”, and jokes that she has had so many face lifts, that when her neck itches, she scratches her nose. Wilbur says Mrs. S was in earlier — alone — to listen to Shirley Blaze (not Shirley Bassey), the club’s “like, new intellectual ecdysiast”.
“Like, keep on explaining,” says Pete.
“Ecdysiast!” explains Wilbur. “Like to take off. Like to peel. Like to shed one’s outer garments.”
“A stripper,” says Pete.
“Man, she makes it with a rad quintet, backed up by my rendition of T.S. Eliot’s ‘Wasteland’.”
Wilbur says he isn’t sure why Mrs. S was there, but it could have been because the stripper’s boyfriend was once Mrs. S’. Wilbur doesn’t know the name of the man, but describes the murderer. It’s a half hour show and people talk a lot, these aren’t terribly hard crooks to pin down in this show. Alas, it is Shirley’s night off. Wilbur gives Pete an address, but warns him, “with this chick, home ain’t where the heart is, you dig?” “I dig.” “Coool.” They press palms.
“I’ll see you around,” says Pete, leaving. “Our parting is such sweet, swinging sorrow,” says Wilbur, waving goodbye. The murderer, sitting at the bar, watches Pete leave, as he finishes his drink.
Peter knocks at the door of the address given. A blonde woman opens the door, looks Pete up and down, asks him to come in. Pete enters, sees a bored man in an overcoat waiting on a couch. It’s the police detective, Jacoby.
“What’s your name, doll?” asks the woman.
“Gunn,” replies Jacoby. “That’s right,” agrees Gunn.
“Do you know him?” asks the woman. “Intimately,” replies the detective. “Cop?” asks the woman. “Not even close,” says the detective. “You mean to tell me you have never heard of the legendary Peter Gunn?”
The woman (who must be Shirley) leaves to make some coffee. Both men watch her go, staring.
“Why are you here,” asks the detective. “She’s an old friend?” tries Pete. Jacoby mouths “No”. “I got lost?” Again, “No.” “Awww, I was looking for you!” Shirley returns with coffee for Peter. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Could you find something to do for a couple of minutes?” asks the detective. “Sure,” agrees Shirley, “but uh, don’t go anywhere,” she says to Pete, giving him a wink as she leaves the room.
Pete and the cop banter awhile, Pete refusing to say for whom he’s working and the cop refusing to let it slide. “We’re after the same thing here. Our girlfriend has a boyfriend.”
“Guy Beckett,” says the detective.
“I didn’t know that,” admits Pete.
The detective describes the boyfriend (matches that of the murderer), but says Shirley was with him all night until half an hour ago. He puts on his hat and leaves. “Enjoy the coffee,” he says.
Pete finds Shirley in a small darkroom, developing a photograph. Pete stands behind her, almost embracing her. “You like?” asks Shirley. “Mm hmm,” agrees Pete. The picture develops to be one of Shirley dancing. Shirley admits it was Guy who took the picture. Pete accuses Guy of murdering Mrs S, says he has an unimpeachable witness, describes the entire murder. Shirley says he is mistaken, once again insisting Guy as with her all night.
Pete fends off Shirley’s advances and returns home.
ACT 4
There, curled up on the couch, he finds his nearly-forgotten girlfriend Edie. He wakes her with a kiss. “Thanks,” she says. “Thanks?” “You smell like a perfume factory. A cheap one. Who was she?”
“Some gal that runs around with a killer by the name of Beckett.”
Peter tries to get Edie to leave, explaining that he’s meeting someone soon. A man. Probably has a gun. Probably going to try and kill him. “It would be a little less confusing if you were home in bed.”
“And you’re just going to stay here?” “Well, I might boil myself an egg or two while I’m waiting.” “Very funny”.
As he opens the door to let Edie out, he sees Guy standing just outside, wearing the white scarf. “Well, apparently I wasn’t expected,” he tells Pete, smiling. Pete tries to make Guy let Edie go, but Guy can see that Edie knows exactly why he is there, and pulls a gun on Pete, forcing them back into the apartment.
The phone rings. “Let it ring,” says Guy.
As it continues to ring, Pete lights a cigarette. Guy continues, “I found out a little about you, Mr. Gunn. You’re not a foolish person. You knew Shirley would tell me, and I’d come here. Didn’t you think that I would kill you?”
“You couldn’t,” says Pete. “Too many loose ends.”
Guy tries to put the pieces together, finally figures Gunn was working for Mrs S to get back the $100,000 “loan” Guy took, but he can’t figure out when Gunn saw him. He puts his gun to Gunn’s head, but Gunn refuses to offer any information, “you’d kill me anyway if I told you,” he reasons.
Guy orders them into his car downstairs, which is driven by Shirley. A cab pulls up opposite Pete’s apartment and drops off Steve, the pianist, who is wearing his dark glasses and carrying his white cane. Steve begins to feel his way across the street, then stands still, rips off his glasses, and shouts, “Pete! That’s the man who killed Mrs. Stanfield!”
Guy turns to shoot Steve; Pete takes advantage and wrestles Guy to the ground. A shot rings and Guy is dead. Shirley roars off in the car.
Steve tells Pete that when he didn’t answer his phone, he decided to come over and tell him to forget the twenty four hours, he was going to go to the police right away.
“How does it feel to see again?” asks Pete. “I’ll get used to it,” says Steve, as he tosses his cane into the street.
And… the end theme and credits.
The episode:
The theme:
