the audience applauded

Fantastic!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Okay, fine; this ain't a review, see. What it is, it's a confession. See, I remember this opening performance of John Cassavetes, and it's a great one. Only thing is; well, it's like this... What I remember, and what is true can be completely conflicted in reality, so, I put off finishing out my Perry Mason collection until later, and bought into this program from Amazon this month. Next month's Amazon budget is spoken for, so I know it's a gamble, but what the hey?

One of the best TV detective shows. Cool, if improbable. The gritty NYC location shots compare favorably with other great programs of the era like NAKED CITY, but are somewhat more moody. The beatnik characters are less goofy than the patronizing look at the Beats that Peter Gunn features. It's just an altogether hip show.EPISODE LIST http://epguides.com/JohnnyStaccato/ Season 11. 1- 1 12901 10 Sep 59 The Naked Truth2. 1- 2 12906 17 Sep 59 Murder for Credit3. 1- 3 12912 24 Sep 59 Parents4. 1- 4 12904 8 Oct 59 Shop of the Four Winds5. 1- 5 12914 15 Oct 59 The Nature of the Night6. 1- 6 12916 22 Oct 59 Viva, Paco!7. 1- 7 12918 29 Oct 59 Evil8. 1- 8 12902 5 Nov 59 Murder in Hi-fi9. 1- 9 12915 12 Nov 59 Fly, Baby, Fly10. 1-10 12913 19 Nov 59 Tempted11. 1-11 12911 26 Nov 59 The Poet's Touch12. 1-12 12926 10 Dec 59 A Piece of Paradise13. 1-13 12923 17 Dec 59 The Return14. 1-14 12922 24 Dec 59 The Unwise Men15. 1-15 12921 31 Dec 59 Collector's Item16. 1-16 12907 7 Jan 60 Man in the Pit17. 1-17 12930 14 Jan 60 The Only Witness18. 1-18 12927 21 Jan 60 Night of Jeopardy19. 1-19 12931 28 Jan 60 Double Feature20. 1-20 12929 4 Feb 60 List of Death21. 1-21 12925 11 Feb 60 Solomon22. 1-22 12920 18 Feb 60 An Act of Terror23. 1-23 12903 25 Feb 60 An Angry Young Man24. 1-24 12939 3 Mar 60 The Mask of Jason25. 1-25 12935 10 Mar 60 A Nice Little Town26. 1-26 12919 17 Mar 60 Swinging Long Hair27. 1-27 12905 24 Mar 60 The Wild Reed

This short-lived (one season, 1959/60) television detective series is without a doubt, the definitive example of what can now be termed TV Noir, riding high atop a list including such programs as Peter Gunn and 77 Sunset Strip. But JOHNNY STACCATO had much more going for it than those other shows, mainly the presence of the mighty John Cassavetes who starred as the jazz pianist turned Greenwich Village private detective. He also directed a handful of the 27 total episodes. The only other regular character was Waldo (veteran character actor Eduardo Ciannelli), the crusty old proprietor of Waldo's, the jazz club where Staccato hung out. On any given show the "house band" might include Johnny Williams (before he became Academy Award-winning composer JOHN Williams), Red Mitchell, Ray Brown, Barney Kessel and Shelly Manne. In addition to Cassavetes, other directors who stepped in were Joe Pevney, John Brahm, Boris Sagal and Paul Henreid. Among the crack cinematographers on the show were Ben Kline ("Detour") and Lionel Lindon ("The Manchurian Candidate"). Each of the 27 episodes are fantastic in their way, but among the stand-outs are: MURDER FOR CREDIT with Charles McGraw as an egocentric jazz musician; THE NATURE OF THE NIGHT with Dean Stockwell as a psychotic slasher; EVIL with Alexander Scourby as a corrupt religious leader; FLY BABY FLY with Gena Rowlands as the target of a bomb planted on an airplane that Staccato's also on; TEMPTED with Elizabeth Montgomery as an old flame of Johnny's; DOUBLE FEATURE with Cassavetes in a dual role; THE LIST OF DEATH with the great Paul Stewart, SOLOMON with Elisha Cook Jr as a megalomaniac attorney and Cloris Leachman as a mysterious vixen; THE MASK OF JASON with a pre- Dick Van Dyke Mary Tyler Moore; A NICE LITTLE TOWN, a Twilight-Zonish episode and THE WILD REED with Harry Guardino as a heroin addicted jazz musician. Lots of VHS tapes and now DVDs are floating around offering up most of the episodes with varying quality, depending on the original source material. Many are taken directly from 16mm television prints. It's truly criminal that MCA doesn't release a full DVD collection of this show, given its incredible credentials and consistently excellent quality. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THESE EPISODES MORE HIGHLY, they are simply superb in every respect. 10 out of 10.

I got to see a handful of episodes one night in Northampton, Massachusetts. A friend of a friend was screening some 16 mm prints he had. I'm a huge fan of John Cassavetes. This series was a terrific showcase for his acting. He plays a jazz musician who sides as a P.I., surrounded by mobsters, hop heads, and femmes fatal. It's such a treat. If you should ever have an opportunity to catch the show I think you'll be glad you did.