This is maybe the best episode of Johnny Staccato, the Jazz Detective. A tremendously dark story line about recovering a package before the criminals execute innocent people. It's all filmed in almost total darkness, and the action moves forward relentlessly. Johnny is caught up, innocently of course, in a counterfeit scheme and the thugs are after him. Every shot of this movie is milked for the most expressive content possible, with close-ups, shadows, clever compositions, and fast editing in a snappy, jargon-laden script. Jazz becomes both the rhythm of the tension and the refuge for the hunted. The series up to now was becoming a bit of a snoozer, but this one had me on the edge of my seat. Very advanced cinematography for its time on TV. Cassavetes himself directed it (which is far from a coincidence). I wonder if this show was too much for TV audiences of the day; such intensity could explain the show's cancellation after just one season. Compared with its forebear, Peter Gunn, which this show imitates, this episode transcends its model to an unprecedented degree.
2 Reviews
A Must-See Staccato Episode
mackjay22 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
If you can only see one episode of the legendary one-season drama JOHNNY STACCATO, make it "Night of Jeopardy". Violent, grim, darkly claustrophobic, a teleplay that must have shocked or repelled many viewers in 1959.
This great show really took some chances with its dark story lines and ultra-tough, jive-talking characters. In "Night of Jeapardy" all the best elements of STACCATO come together and add up to a 24-minute Film Noir of tension, danger and darkness.
No spoilers here. Just watch, and marvel at the potential TV had so long ago.
This great show really took some chances with its dark story lines and ultra-tough, jive-talking characters. In "Night of Jeapardy" all the best elements of STACCATO come together and add up to a 24-minute Film Noir of tension, danger and darkness.
No spoilers here. Just watch, and marvel at the potential TV had so long ago.
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