Title: Peter Gunn Films
Inclusive Dates: 1958-1960

Call Number: DE 905-DE 943

Quantity: 39 film reels (16 mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Thirty-nine episodes of a half-hour film noir styled dramatic television program which ran on NBC (1958-1960) and ABC (1960-1961) for three seasons. The series starred Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn, a private detective who works alongside police detective Lieutenant Jacoby (played by Herschel Bernardi). The series is best remembered for its driving jazz theme composed by Henry Mancini.

Note:

Created and produced by Blake Edwards.

Series pilot “The Kill” is dubbed from English to Spanish.

Includes commercials for Winston cigarettes and Bristol-Myers products.

Visual and physical condition varies between individual reels.

Forms part of the Television Collection.

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English, Spanish

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-de905

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This collection consists of thirty-nine episodes of a half-hour film noir styled dramatic television program, Peter Gunn, which ran on NBC (1958-1960) and ABC (1960-1961) for three seasons. The series starred Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn, a private detective who works alongside police detective Lieutenant Jacoby played by Herschel Bernardi. When not working, Gunn frequents Mother's, a nightclub run by its proprietor Mother (played by Hope Emerson, 1958-1959, and Minerva Urecal, 1959-1960). Lola Albright stars as Gunn's romantic interest Edie Hart. The series is best remembered for its driving jazz theme composed by Henry Mancini.

While a total of 114 episodes of Peter Gunn aired on NBC and ABC over its three year run, this collection contains only 39 of the original episodes from the first two seasons on NBC. All the reels in this collection are black and white, 16 mm prints with sound, with the bulk of the episodes containing original commercials including those for Bristol-Myers products and Winston Cigarettes. Each reel runs approximately 30 minutes each. The series pilot, The Kill, is dubbed in Spanish with the songs performed by Lola Albright in English. The visual quality of these prints is very good overall. However, many of the prints contain an apparent visual artifact, which produces a light clouding of the image.

The episodes in this collection are arranged chronologically by season and the date each episode originally aired on television.

William Spier and June Havoc Papers (U.S. Mss 97AN)

Gordon S. Mitchell Papers (U.S. Mss 175AN)

T.H.E. Cat Films (DE 836-DE 855)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Warren Lewis. Accession Number: M90-398/WCFTR

Use Restrictions

No duplication or public screening without consent of copyright holder.

DE 905	“The Kill,” 1958 September 22 Language: This episode is dubbed in Spanish with songs in English. Note When Mother is approached by gangsters to pay protection money, she asks Gunn to intervene. When she refuses to pay, a bomb is set off in her night club. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: John Truax, Sam Scar, Joe Bassett, Charles Maxwell, Gavin MacLeod, Jack Weston, Byron Kane
DE 906	“The Blind Pianist,” 1958 October 13 Note A blind pianist witnesses a murder and, to protect his secret, hires Gunn to find the killer. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Judy and George W. George (teleplay); Blake Edwards and George W. George (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Richard Ney, Barbara Stuart, Herb Ellis, Barry Phillips
DE 907	“The Chinese Hangman,” 1958 October 27 Note Gunn is asked by a religious cult leader to find a missing girl and the money she had access to. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Lewis Reed and Vick Knight Story: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Marion Marshall, Buddy Baer, Theodore Marcuse
DE 908	“Rough Buck,” 1958 November 10 Note A famous boxer is murdered and Gunn is hired by the dead fighter's brother to find the killer, which leads him to a shady fight manager and a nightclub stripper. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Tony Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Antony Carbone, Larri Thomas, Ken Lynch, Grazia Narcisco
DE 909	“Death House Testament,” 1958 December 1 Note Ten minutes before his execution a convicted murderer hires Gunn to find the money he stole, hand it over to the bond company, collect the 10% reward and give it to his daughter. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: George and Gertrude Fass and Blake Edwards (teleplay); George and Gertrude Fass (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Lucy Marlow, George Mitchell, Sam Buffington, Harry Bartell
DE 910	“The Jockey,” 1958 December 15 Note Billy Arnet's girlfriend falls through a skylight, to her death. Gunn is hired to prove it was not an accident but murder. Director: Lamont Johnson Writer: Lewis Reed (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Robert Gist, Frankie Darro, Robin Morse
DE 911	“Let's Kill Timothy,” 1959 January 19 Note The stolen diamonds are hidden but where? The only clue left is Timothy the seal and why would anyone want to kill him? Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Lewis Reed, story by Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Abigail Shelton, John Perri, David McMahon, Peter Brocco, Frank Richards
DE 912	“The Missing Night Watchman,” 1959 January 26 Note A body gets dumped off the pier and Gunn is hired by the proprietor of an antiquities shop to locate a stash of diamonds owned by an eccentric collector. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Phillip J. Lasdown, Charles Qumby, Hope Summers
DE 913	“Edie Finds a Corpse,” 1959 February 23 Note Edie is having her apartment renovated and during the renovations she uncovers a body. Director: Walter E. Grauman Writer: P.K. Palmer (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Ruta Lee, Myron Healey, Barbara Darrow, Marjorie Bennett
DE 914	“Keep Smiling,” 1959 March 23 Note Peter Gunn poses as a professional bowler to investigate a case of blackmail and murder. Director: Jack Arnold Writer: Lester Aaron Pine and Lewis Reed (teleplay); Lester Aaron Pine (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Mara Corday, Jackie Coogan, Bob Hopkins, Mario Gallo, David Cross
DE 915	“Bullet for a Badge,” 1959 May 18 Note An attempt on Lt. Jacoby is made when he receives a mysterious phone call and set up for a bullet. Director: Jack Arnold Writer: Tony and Steffi Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Hope Emerson, Robert F. Simon, Berry Kroeger, Lillian Buyeff
DE 916	“Crisscross,” 1959 September 28 [21?] Note Bank manager Poole places smoke bombs throughout the bank and then cleans out the bank. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Ted Knight, Johnn Seven, Sylvia Lewis, Leonard Graves, Nina Roman
DE 917	“Edge of the Knife,” 1959 October 5 Note A distraught father is worried about his daughter who did time as an accomplice in a robbery. Now after her release she has disappeared and her father hires Gunn to find her. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony and Steffi Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Vladimir Sokoloff, Jeanne Bates, Ben Wright, Frank Leo
DE 918	“The Comic,” 1959 October 12 Note Convinced that his wife is trying to kill him, comedian Danny Holland comes to Peter Gunn for help. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Patricia Donahue, Tony Barrett, Pete Candoli, Sid Kane, Shelley Berman
DE 919	“Death Is a Red Rose,” 1959 October 19 Note John Alastair is a desperate man and has a problem; he has hired Burnett to kill him but changes his mind. Unfortunately Burnett doesn't see it that way. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Minerva Urecal, Don Keefer, Jesslyn Fox, Vitto Scotti, Henry Beckman
DE 920	“The Young Assassins,” 1959 October 26 Note Charlie Mays is on Death Row and his seventeen year old son is heading down a similar path. Charlie asks Gunn for help in saving his son from himself. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Dan Easton, Joe Sullivan, Marc Cavell
DE 921	“The Feathered Doll,” 1959 November 2 Note Plainclothes policeman Jay Madigan is found knifed on the docks near the carnival and Gunn uncovers a heroin smuggling operation going on in the fair's shooting gallery. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Eddie Firestone, John Marley, Tom Holland, Peggy Maley
DE 922	“Kidnap,” 1959 November 16 Note Lt. Jacoby is kidnapped and Gunn goes looking for him only to find suspects at every turn. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Frank Albertson, Will J. White, Richard Bakalyan
DE 923	“The Rifle,” 1959 November 23 Note Inventor Janos Kolanski comes to Gunn for help when a gang goes after his invention, a deadly rifle. Director: George Stevens Jr. Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Wolfe Barzell, Edit Angold, Paul Comi, Howard Ledig
DE 924	“The Price is Murder,” 1959 December 7 Note Two escaped convicts go after Gunn kidnapping his girlfriend in the process. Director: Boris Sagal Teleplay: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Norma Crane, Phillip Pine, Wilton Graff, Evan MacNeil
DE 925	“The Briefcase,” 1959 December 14 Note Matthew Dunaway is killed on a train and his briefcase is stolen. Gunn is hired by Lavinia to find a man she claims is her husband and find what is in the briefcase. Director: Blake Edwards Writer: Lester Aaron Pine Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Barbara Stuart, Joe Sawyer
DE 926	“Terror on the Campus,” 1959 December 21 Note Dean Norse hires Gunn to get to the bottom of mysterious occurrences that are terrifying girls on a college campus. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Anne Seymour, Anne Neyland, Peter Brocco, Tom McKee
DE 927	“The Wolfe Case,” 1959 December 28 Note Nancy Fowler is murdered and Gunn is hired to find out why, discovering a setup and a bitter gold digger. Director: Lamont Johnson Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Norma Crane, Phillip Pine, Wilton Graff, Evan MacNeil
DE 928	“Spell of Murder,” 1960 January 11 Note An attempt is made on Arnold Simpsons' life when he hires Gunn to find out who is blackmailing him. Director: Lamont Johnson Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Story: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Malcolm Atterbury, Cynthia Leighton, Ben Hammer
DE 929	“Fill the Cup,” 1960 January 25 Note Getty hires Gunn to help him stop drinking, his daughter that he hasn't seen in fifteen years is coming to see him tomorrow and he wants to be sober. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Holly McIntire, David Hoffman, William Quinn, John McIntire
DE 930	“See No Evil,” 1960 February 1 Note Cliffy, the blind newspaper vendor, hires Gunn to protect him from Al Brenners, an escaped convict. Director: Alan Crosland Jr. Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Walter Burke, Lou Krugman, Benny Rubin, John Sebastian
DE 931	“The Hunt,” 1960 February 15 Note Gunn learns that he has been marked for murder, but refuses police protection. The would-be-killer finds Gunn alone in his apartment and forces him to take a nighttime ride into the desert. Two-thirds of this episode consists of a chase sequence without any dialog. Director: Jack Arnold Writer: Lewis Reed (teleplay); Blake Edwards (story) Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Gordon Oliver, Tony DeMario, Charles Wagenheim, Ralph Moody
DE 932	“Sing a Song of Murder,” 1960 March 7 Note Arnie Kelton, musician and ex-convict, asks Gunn to investigate his wife's death. Director: Lamont Johnson Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Byron Kane, Paul Baxley, James Edwards, Diahann Carroll, Jan Arvan
DE 933	“The Murder Clause,” 1960 March 28 Note Gunn is hired by trumpet player Bud Bailey's wife, who claims that her husband is trying to kill her for the insurance money. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: James Coburn, Cece Whitney, Bob Hopkins, Charles Wagenheim, Sam Edwards
DE 934	“Slight Touch of Homicide,” 1960 April 11 Note Gunn is hired by the mob to find out who is blowing up gang members. Director: Lamont Johnson Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Lola Albright, Herschel Bernardi
DE 935	“Death Watch,” 1960 April 25 Note School teacher Paul Conlon hires Gunn to prove his innocence when he is being accused of killing a young girl. Director: Alan Crosland Jr. Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Christopher Dark, Jimsey Somers, Herbert Rudley, Henry Corden
DE 936	“Witness in the Window,” 1960 May 2 Note Anthony Scott hires Gunn to locate Marion Venner, an old girlfriend who is blackmailing him. Director: Boris Sagal Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Charles Aidman, Eleanor Audley
DE 937	“The Best Laid Plans,” 1960 May 9 Note There is an assassination plot against the Governor and Gunn tries to find out who in order to prevent the assassination from taking place. The plot is a ruse for something even bigger, as Jacoby and Gunn find out. Director: Alan Crosland Jr. Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Peter Whitney, James Lanphier, Sterling Holloway
DE 938	“Send a Thief,” 1960 May 16 Note Hired by a mysterious woman to deliver a briefcase, Gunn stumbles upon a bigger mystery in finding out who is willing to kill to get it and the dead man involved. Director: Lamont Johnson Teleplay: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Story: Blake Edwards Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Don Ross, Ottola Nesmith, Sol Gorss, Phyllis Avery, Charles Horvath
DE 939	“The Semi-Private Eye,” 1960 May 23 Note Gunn is hired by a wealthy businessman to deter the man's son (an amateur detective) from trying to solve the case of an investment counselor who disappeared with a suitcase of money and murdered a cop. The self-assured, yet bumbling, budding detective is unaware of the danger. Director: Gene Reynolds Writer: Gene L. Coon Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Edward Platt, Wendell Holmes, Judy Bamber, Pitt Herbert, Bill Gray
DE 940	“Letter of the Law,” 1960 May 30 Note The District Attorney's son is the chief suspect in the murder of a pretty gold-digger. Gunn is hired to find the real man responsible, which may or may not involve a local mobster. Director: Robert Gist Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Carey Loftin, Haile Chace, Robert Ball, Robin Raymond, Stanley Adams
DE 941	“The Crossbow,” 1960 June 6 Note Gunn is hired by Mr. Copeland to find out who stole his antique crossbow and is using it to murder people. Director: Alan Crosland Jr. Writer: Tony Barrett and Lewis Reed Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Henry Daniell, Theodore Marcuse, Burt Douglas, George Kennedy
DE 942	“The Heiress,” 1960 June 13 Note Gunn's job is to remove a gangster from a wealthy man's mansion. The millionaire's wacky daughter had an ex-mob boss paroled to her and now he's using the estate as a base of operations to rub out his enemies and regain power. Director: Robert Gist Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Gage Clarke, Selette Cole, John Duke, Ned Glass
DE 943	“Baby Shoes,” 1960 June 27 Note A baby is dumped outside of Gunn's apartment with a note attached asking him to take care of the baby. When a woman is gunned down, Gunn believes that she is somehow connected. Director: Paul Stanley Writer: Lewis Reed and Tony Barrett Producer: Blake Edwards Cast: Billy Barty, Donald Barry, James Millhollin, Tony DeMario