Johnny Staccato

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.

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 1

1. 1- 1 12901 10 Sep 59 The Naked Truth

2. 1- 2 12906 17 Sep 59 Murder for Credit

3. 1- 3 12912 24 Sep 59 Parents

4. 1- 4 12904 8 Oct 59 Shop of the Four Winds

5. 1- 5 12914 15 Oct 59 The Nature of the Night

6. 1- 6 12916 22 Oct 59 Viva, Paco!

7. 1- 7 12918 29 Oct 59 Evil

8. 1- 8 12902 5 Nov 59 Murder in Hi-fi

9. 1- 9 12915 12 Nov 59 Fly, Baby, Fly

10. 1-10 12913 19 Nov 59 Tempted

11. 1-11 12911 26 Nov 59 The Poet's Touch

12. 1-12 12926 10 Dec 59 A Piece of Paradise

13. 1-13 12923 17 Dec 59 The Return

14. 1-14 12922 24 Dec 59 The Unwise Men

15. 1-15 12921 31 Dec 59 Collector's Item

16. 1-16 12907 7 Jan 60 Man in the Pit

17. 1-17 12930 14 Jan 60 The Only Witness

18. 1-18 12927 21 Jan 60 Night of Jeopardy

19. 1-19 12931 28 Jan 60 Double Feature

20. 1-20 12929 4 Feb 60 List of Death

21. 1-21 12925 11 Feb 60 Solomon

22. 1-22 12920 18 Feb 60 An Act of Terror

23. 1-23 12903 25 Feb 60 An Angry Young Man

24. 1-24 12939 3 Mar 60 The Mask of Jason

25. 1-25 12935 10 Mar 60 A Nice Little Town

26. 1-26 12919 17 Mar 60 Swinging Long Hair

27. 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.

JOHNNY STACCATO: Produced by Revue Productions/Universal Television and ran for just one season on NBC-TV from 1959-1960. In all 27 episodes were produced all in black and white. Starring John Cassavetes with Bert Freed and Eduardo Ciannelli. Filmed on location in New York City.

This was in fact one of the coolest,hippest detective shows that I ever had the pleasure of watching and believe me this was just one "cool" incredible show that centered around the mixture of intrigue,suspense and mystery and all with a truly remarkable jazz score! However the censors canned this show for being too violent or too explicit,but who cares! This short-lived series showcased John Cassavetes' terrific acting ability which would propel him to the next level as one of the most influential American artists in American cimema.In other words,this would be the only TV-series that Cassavetes would star in. He plays Johnny Staccato,a jazz musician who moonlights as a private investigator who is surrounded by mobsters,beatniks,hop-heads,crooked musicians,and femme fatals. It's was such a treat that certain guest stars would make their appearances on this show:stars like Martin Landau Micheal Landon,Yvonne Craig,Tina Louise,Norman Fell,Jack Klugman,and the musical stylings of Shelly Mann and his band. If you should ever catch this show,you'll be glad you did since cable channel TRIO shows this short-lived series every so often. Worth viewing.

Despite Cassavetes' sometimes intense acting style (or maybe because of it), "JOHNNY STACCATO" was easily one of my favorite TV shows of the late 50s, early 60s. It had a dark-haired, bedroom-eyed, brooding hero and it had jazz - really GOOD jazz, sometimes even great jazz by big names like Pete Condoli and Ray Brown and Mel Lewis (the latter two would later form one-half of the MJQ). East coast jazz mixed with private eyes was a popular theme in that black and white era (think "PETER GUNN" and "FIVE FINGER EXERCISE" with David Hedison and Luciana somebody as his OTT Italian girlfriend). STACCATO didn't last more than one year but it was well-written, beautifully shot, and certainly caught the zeitgeist in its web. There is even one episode that starred a young Mary Tyler Moore. Get a copy on CD or video and prepare to be impressed.