Peter Gunn's Gun?

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M&P777

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I just saw my first "Peter Gunn" episode! It ran on the local RTN station. The theme music was the best part of the show, but the 30-minute plot wasn't bad either. Question: What gun did Gunn pack? It looked to be a S&W snubbie, but it could have been a Colt. Any "Gunn" experts out there?

BTW: I'm now listening to the Peter Gunn theme song. If you like free theme music, check out televisiontunes.com.
 
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It was a blued Chief's Special, Model 36 or 37. I was a kid when I watched that, but could ID guns from when I was about 12.

Good theme music, too.

77 Sunset Strip had the same sort of guns for their PI's, but one had a Colt Cobra or DS. The one set in New Orleans (Bourbon Street Beat) had the PI's with M-36's, but they had a Smith .357 in the office safe. I think it was a 3.5-inch barrel M-27. They got it out when they expected really bad guys or going into a swamp, etc.


T-Star
 
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I was in 8th grade when Peter Gunn first hit the airwaves. I loved that show. My parents were concerned because it was so violent, but loved the jazz/blues singer.

Craig Stevens -- incredibly cool actor. I had to look him up to see if he was still alive. Alas, no. Died in 2000.
 
Never missed an episode. Had an LP of the Henry Mancini theme song. Show ran from '58-'61. I was 11-13. My dad (who hated TV) watched with me in hopes that Pete's girlfriend would appear.
 
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JcMack said:
Never missed an episode. Had an LP of the Henry Mancini theme song.
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If you got the same record that I did, it had some other songs from the show, too. Lola Albright was the girl who sang in the club, I think. Blonde babe.

Peter Gunn was a pretty sophisticated guy and the show was a cut above typical TV fare.

T-Star
 
Texas Star said:
If you got the same record that I did, it had some other songs from the show, too. Lola Albright was the girl who sang in the club, I think. Blonde babe.

Peter Gunn was a pretty sophisticated guy and the show was a cut above typical TV fare.

T-Star
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Yes, her name was Edie on the show. Pete had to compete with all the horse operas. My dad would also watch (Super Circus) with me on Sunday A.M.. Super Circus was a local live kids show that featured Mary Hartline, a super looking blonde that marched around in a red cheer leader suit. She had her own guns.
 
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JcMack said:
Yes, her name was Edie on the show. Pete had to compete with all the horse operas. My dad would also watch (Super Circus) with me on Sunday A.M.. Super Circus was a local live kids show that featured Mary Hartline, a super looking blonde that marched around in a red cheer leader suit. She had her own guns.
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I was on some kids' show about like that when I was little. The girl who ran it didn't have a red cheerleader outfit, though. Maybe the TV hostess wanted to be a cheerleader and this was her only way? I've heard that lots of girls hate cheerleaders if they can't be one.

Or, maybe this was her Halloween costume, too. ;)

Do you remember how Peter carried his gun? I'm thinking it was in a crossdraw holster, but can't really recall. I think that's what most TV detectives used. I don't recall any using a strong side holster or having a really fast draw.
 
Greetings all, as a young lad growing up on the southside of Chicago I was in the audience at Super Circus with the blonde babe known as Mary Hartline. It is just a dim memory now.
 
I LOVED Peter Gunn and Henry Mancini's music. I remember it as being mostly dialog and you had to pay attention. (A thinking man's detective show, as I remember.) I don't even remember him having a gun.
 
I seem to recall he had a snub nosed revolver and while I cannot be certain, for some reason I thought it was a Colt Detective Special.
 
As I (very dimly) recall, Gunn carried his piece *** (small-of-back) - very unconventional for the time and very uber cool.

Regards.

Dave
 
Creig Stevens was a cool guy in an area of not so cool TV shows...Gunn didn't carry in small of the back, that was a undercover cop show, before undercover was a normal part of policing...Seems like actors name was Mike something...heck I'm 72 I barely remember what I had for breakfast. that small of the back holster became a rage and they are still being made...Tough on your back riding in a vehicle....Oop's I guess I snitched myself off, I had one...Young cops will try anything once......Got to take a nap..
 
Like George says. Show; Mannix. Actor: Mike Conners.

Regards,

Tam 3
 
M&P777 said:
I just saw my first "Peter Gunn" episode! It ran on the local RTN station. The theme music was the best part of the show, but the 30-minute plot wasn't bad either. Question: What gun did Gunn pack? It looked to be a S&W snubbie, but it could have been a Colt. Any "Gunn" experts out there?

BTW: I'm now listening to the Peter Gunn theme song. If you like free theme music, check out televisiontunes.com.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, that theme! It definitely defined the late '50/ early '60s era...

I have the PG Theme in my iTunes file...on the Blues Brothers soundtrack, of all things!

Thanks for the website mention! :-)
 
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george minze said:
Darn good memory...thanks It was driving me nuts Mannix...He wore the first small of the back holster I had seen....Started a trend for a while..
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I don't think much of that carry, and Jim Wilson, the ex-sheriff turned gun writer, told me that if you get knocked down in a fight, the holster position can easily cause spinal injury.

Otherwise, I liked Mannix, but preferred Peter Gunn. It was a more sophisticated show than most.

Another show that I liked then (I guess I was maybe 12) was, Adventures in Paradise, with Gordon Somebody. When he had a a gun, it was a Webley MK IV .38. He kept it hidden on his boat, sailing near Australia.

I'm almost certain that Peter Gunn had a M-36 or 37 S&W, but can't recall if it had the early small triggerguard. It would have had the flat cylinder release. I think the show was gone by the time that that changed, about 1966.

I tried to find Peter Gunn on the Imdb database, but couldn't. But I'm almost sure about the Chief's Special. Not sure, but I think he carried it crossdraw.

The detectives of that era seem more real for their times than many do now.
 
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Any pic I find of Pete looks like a 36-37. Another very knowledgeable forum guy says he saw a Gunn episode where Gunn presses a revolver to a "bikers" belly. The gun is clearly a Det Spec.
 
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PETER GUNN THEME 1958 - 1961 - YouTube

Someone needed to post the theme song. Many here haven't heard it. Note the gun on the record alblum. I really do feel it was a Chief's Special.

Could have been a Terrier or .32, I guess, depending on what the prop people had. But the .38 Special is most likely and what the character would have probably used.
 
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