User Reviews

I suppose the side streets and dark alleys that make up this show's no name city are really just carnivals themselves, so plopping Gunn down into an actual carnival doesn't really feel like much of a stretch.

As you might imagine, the atmosphere of the traveling circus and its odd-ball denizens adds a nice flavor to the whole thing, but the real star here is Nita Talbot. She absolutely melts the screen with her smoky voice and the naughty twinkle in her beautiful eyes. Her back and forth flirtation with Gunn is clever and sexy, and their scenes together are the highlight of the episode.

The plot itself isn't exactly earth-shattering stuff, but I was surprised by the ending, which stuck the landing pretty well.

Take a bow, Ms. Talbot. In fact. Take two.

I'll watch anything with the delicious Nita Talbot, one of Hollywood's more exotic performers. I love it when she gets coy with Pete. The flirtation just oozes out. I always remember her as the available barfly in that exceptional noir, On Dangerous Ground (1952). She has a way of projecting on two levels- one is her outer role, the other is kind of an inner smirk at what her outer part's doing. Anyway she's always interesting and different.

The episode's a good one, though I wish they had done more with the carnival's unusual people-the bearded lady, the fat man, the midgets, et al. Then too, I wanted more of singer Edie's jealous reaction when a reluctant Pete's sits down front at Mother's with a sexy Talbot. That's a really good setup that deserved follow-up. Nonetheless, the opening hook's a grabber in a series that specialized in opening hooks. Forget the routine whodunit, even though the storyline does have a surprising twist. All in all, it's a very watchable half-hour thanks to Talbot and co, and shouldn't be passed up.

You get everything that makes noir such a great genre in this episode. Perfect for 'Peter Gunn' fans as well as a general audience unfamiliar with the series.