Tag: Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards’ Private Eyes

And Other Miscreants... Like his contemporary Roy Huggins, Blake Edwards must have had a real jones for the Shamus Game. Along with his genuine successes (everything from Richard Diamond and Peter Gunn to 10, S.O.B. and the Pink Panther movies), Edwards wrote, directed and/or produced several radio shows, films (both for television and the big … Continue reading Blake Edwards’ Private Eyes →

Sam Valenti Jr. (The Ferret)

Created by Blake Edwards Pseudonyms include Sam O. Brown (1922-2010) In this comedy, Robert Loggia played legendary anti-terrorist UN Special Agent SAM “THE FERRET” VALENTI, whose disappearance sets off an global crime wave. It falls to his son SAM VALENTI JR. (Steve Guttenberg), a bumbling, accident-prone jazz musician and amateur inventor (and possibly a part-time private eye), operating under … Continue reading Sam Valenti Jr. (The Ferret) →

Mike Murphy (City Heat)

Created by Sam O. Brown Pseudonym of Blake Edwards (1922-2010)   "When a hotshot cop and a wise-guy detective get together... the heat is on!" -- the film's tagline. Burt Reynolds is MIKE MURPHY, a 1930's down-on-his-luck Kansas City P.I., reluctantly teamed-up with former Homicide partner Speer (played by Clint Eastwood), in the 1984 would-be buddy flick City … Continue reading Mike Murphy (City Heat) →

A. Dunster Lowell (The Boston Terrier)

Created by Blake Edwards & Tom Waldman Blake Edward must have really liked this idea. After failing to interest any of the networks in his 60-minute pilot, The Boston Terrier, about the adventures of suave, Harvard-educated (and presumably dogged) private eye A. DUNSTER LOWELL in 1962, Edwards tried again the next year with a revamped thirty-minute version—in … Continue reading A. Dunster Lowell (The Boston Terrier) →

Gus Monk (The Monk)

Created by Blake Edwards (1922-2010) "An independent guy like Gus Monk is always attractive. He attracts women, money, excitement… and danger." No, not that Monk. This is a whole different San Francisco treat. Hmmmm... maybe they're related. The Monk was a pilot for a proposed television series, featuring George (Route 66) Maharis as GUS MONK, … Continue reading Gus Monk (The Monk) →

Justin Case

Created by Blake Edwards and Jennifer Edwards In the definitely kooky but only slightly spooky made-for-TV flick Justin Case, which appeared during The Disney Sunday Movie on ABC in 1988, the ghost of murdered private eye, the unfortunately and eponymously named JUSTIN CASE (played by George Carlin, of all people), teams up with Jennifer (played … Continue reading Justin Case →

Willie Dante (Dante’s Inferno)

Created by Blake Edwards (1922-2010) In the fifties, realizing he was perhaps a little too long in the tooth to reprise his role as Richard Diamond for television, Dick Powell turned to directing and producing. In 1952, along with David Niven, Charles Boyer and Ida Lupino, Powell created Four Star Television (later Four Star Films), … Continue reading Willie Dante (Dante’s Inferno) →

Richard Diamond

Created by Blake Edwards (1922-2010) "Diamond Detective Agency. A pleasant smile, a cheerful rhyme, and we'll keep you from doing time." -- Diamond answers his own phone. Babyfaced Dick Powell was considered pretty much a lightweight song-and-dance man until his rebirth as a movie tough guy in Murder My Sweet (1944, RKO), where he played … Continue reading Richard Diamond →

My Scrapbook: Original Artwork for “Peter Goon” by Jack Davis

My Scrapbook Original Artwork for "Peter Goon" by Jack Davis What? You thought MAD Magazine had a monopoly on snotty, adolescent parodies of television private eyes? Or that the work of the "usual gang of idiots" was exclusive to William M. Gaines' "What, Me Worry?" periodical? Nope. In its day, MAD had a slew of … Continue reading My Scrapbook: Original Artwork for “Peter Goon” by Jack Davis →