Experiment In Terror (1962)

Kelly Sherwood (Lee Remick) returns home from a party, parks her car in the garage, and gets the shock of her life. A man grabs her and tells her she will steal $100,000 from the bank where she works. If she doesn't comply, he'll kill her or her younger sister, Toby (Stefanie Powers). The man, named Red Lynch (Ross Martin), warns her that he'll be watching her every move, so there'll be no alerting the police. Kelly calls the FBI anyway, and connects with an agent named Ripley (Glenn Ford). Once a check on Lynch's background reveals the man is even more psychotic than previously thought -- and a body turns up -- the race is on to stop him.

This is a very taut thriller. Remick's character is continually under stress, and at times it looks as if she will crumble. Martin's character is very creepy, even using disguises to unnerve his victim. The camera angles make you wonder who is watching whom in various scenes.

Ms. Remick appeared in the original version of the horror movie The Omen (1976). Ms. Powers was in two TV series, "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E."(1966-1967) and "Hart To Hart"(1979-1984). Mr. Martin, a fine character actor, also did a lot of TV work including, "Mr. Lucky"(1959-1960) and "The Wild, Wild West" (1965-1970). Blake Edwards directed this movie. His TV and film work include the aforementioned "Mr. Lucky", "Peter Gunn" (1959-1961), 10 (1979), and The Pink Panther (1963).

"Peter Gunn" (1958-1961)

This was one of mother's favorite TV shows. It ranked high on the cool factor with her. I only know this series from reruns, as it disappeared from the airwaves a few months before I was born. From what I've seen of it, I have to agree with Ma's assessment.

Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens) was a smooth private eye. He was tall, dark-haired and handsome. His girlfriend, Edie Hart (Lola Albright), was a singer in a jazz nightclub called Mother's. The woman who ran the place was also called Mother (played by actresses Hope Emerson during the first season, and Minerva Urecal the second season). Many women came across Gunn's path in his line of work, but he appeared to be faithful to Edie. Gunn sometimes got help from surly policeman Lt. Jacoby (Herschel Bernardi). Jacoby was usually already on the case, so he resented Gunn being involved, too. Despite of his feelings, Jacoby would be on hand to help Gunn when he got into dangerous situations with the bad guys.

The show feels a bit film noir-ish, with a lot of the action taking place at night. I grew up mostly on full-hour cop shows, so I'm amazed that a lot was packed into these half-hour episodes.

This series had some of the coolest sounding incidental music, in addition to the main theme song. A couple of albums were released -- The Music from Peter Gunn and More Music from Peter Gunn -- and they did well on the charts. Henri Mancini, who also composed "The Pink Panther" theme, and "Moon River" for the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), did the music for the TV series.

Blake Edwards, a director known for The Pink Panther films and other films such as S.O.B. (1981), produced 44 episodes of the series and wrote some of the episodes. Herschel Bernardi was also the voice of Charley the Tuna, the character on the Sunkist Tuna commercials.

Victor/Victoria (1987)

Funny Blake Edwards directed comedy about a down-on-her-luck singer named Victoria Grant(Julie Andrews) in 1930's France. She can't get a job, and she is about to be kicked out of her apartment. She meets Caroll "Toddy" Todd (Robert Preston), a gay man who befriends her and takes her in. He comes up with a great idea: why doesn't Victoria pass herself off as a female impersonator? Victoria is not sure she can do it, but with Toddy's coaching, she becomes Victor, an instant hit.

One of her (his?) club performances is King Marchand (James Garner), a Chicago-based gangster who is laying low in France. He has his bimbo girlfriend, Norma (Leslie Anne Warren) and his bodyguard Squash (Alex Karras) in tow. King is attracted to Victoria, who at the end of her act, pulls off a wig to reveal her short cut hair, pretending that she is actually a man. Victoria is attracted to him, but she continues with her deception. In the meantime, there are people out to prove that Victor is indeed a fake, and a private detective is sent to investigate. Things get out of hand, and Victoria begins to have a hard time living a double life.

Garner and Andrews worked together in another movie, The Americanization of Emily (1964), and their good chemistry is also on display in Victor/Victoria. In real life, Andrews is married to director Edwards. The late Robert Preston was also a song and dance man back in the day: he was in The Music Man (1963) with Shirley Jones. Alex Karras was a former professional football player. He once punched a horse--in the movie Blazing Saddles (1974).