S01/E21: SCUBA

At the Moffat & Garvin Boat Salvage and Warehousing riverside warehouse, half owner Charlie Moffat is working alone when he hears a noise in the back room. He retrieves a gun and heads back there where he discovers huge wet footprints made by a scuba divers' flippers. He follows the footprints to a floor hatch leading down to river access below. Moffat climbs down the ladder seeking the intruder. A fully-equipped scuba diver rises from the waters (reminiscent of The Creature from the Black Lagoon) and points a spear gun at Moffat, who stares back in shock. A few moments go by and, though he had plenty of time to shoot his gun, Moffat instead lets out a scream just before the diver shoots a spear into his body, killing him.

(1. It appeared the scuba diver was already underwater and had plenty of time to escape without needing to kill Moffat, making it an unnecessary murder. 2. Why didn’t Moffat shoot his gun when he clearly saw a spear gun pointed at him?)

At Mother’s, penny-pinching goofy insurance agent Mr. Leeds is worried about the meter running on his waiting taxi outside and asks Mother for Peter Gunn. Mother points out the table where Gunn is seated. Edie is on stage singing and love-struck Peter Gunn is fully enthralled with her song (and her beauty, no doubt). Leeds tries speaking to Gunn, but Gunn puts a hand up to shut him up while Edie is singing. When the song ends, Leeds explains that he was directed to hire Gunn to investigate a series of warehouse burglaries along the riverfront and his company had been liable each time. The company wants the stolen items recovered. Gunn accepts the assignment and Leeds runs off complaining about the taxi meter.

Early the following morning, outside Moffat & Garvin, Peter Gunn waits on the sidewalk for someone to open the office door. While smoking a cigarette, a drop-dead gorgeous and sexy blonde arrives and unlocks the door. Gunn approaches and she tells him they aren’t doing any business today. Gunn says, “I didn’t want to talk business; I just wanted to talk.” That line from Gunn apparently caused the woman to wet her undies. With a big smile on her face she invites Gunn inside, and then she is all over him as if wanting to drag him to a nearby bed. A slowed sexy rendition of Henry Mancini’s tune, “The Brothers go to Mother’s” is heard in the background as the woman is ready to lay a kiss on Gunn. Suddenly, the woman’s husband, part owner Mike Garvin, comes through the door wanting to know who the man is. Gunn says he’s doing an investigation for the insurance company. Mr. Garvin says he doesn’t have to speak to Gunn and wants him to leave, saying he’s too upset about the recent death of his partner. Jacoby arrives and takes Mike Garvin back to the precinct for questioning.

Gunn arrives at a scuba and fishing equipment shop where a woman working there is feeding and talking to her pet octopus in an aquarium. Gunn asks for Captain Jones. The woman (who is likely Mrs. Jones, though never stated) points him out; Capt. Jones is sleeping on a hammock hanging from the store’s ceiling and it is swinging. (What is causing the hammock to swing?) Mrs. Jones says that he always takes a nap after breakfast. Gunn tells her he’s investigating thefts along the river. The woman says that if he thinks a group of thieves has been buying equipment at her shop to swim underwater to establishments being robbed, that has not happened. Gunn wants to know how he can float and hide things in the river. Mrs. Jones shows him a balloon device and tells him how to hide things. Gunn then asks who is the best diver to find things hidden at the bottom of the river. The woman mentions Mike Garvin, but that surely Gunn doesn’t want him. Then she suggests “young Jeff Jefferson”, who has a place just down the street.

It is not clear if the site Jeff Jefferson is located at is his home, or some sort of swinging pad for anyone to drop by and enjoy (typical in the 50’s along with beatnik joints), or a place of business where he offers scuba diving lessons; or all three. The place looks like one large Hawaiian Tiki barroom lounge, complete with two regular beauties that have excellent curvatures and amazing legs doing seductive Hula dances around the room barefoot as Jeff Jefferson, squatted in a corner of the room, taps on a conga drum to the sounds of traditional Hawaiian Luao music playing on a record player in front of him. One of the girls places a Hawaiian flower leis around Peter Gunn’s neck soon after entering. The second girl hands him a tropical drink with straw in a large pineapple designed cup. A third stunning beauty in swimsuit comes up through the floor hatch, excited about how wonderful her swim was below. (A wonderful swim in the river? Also, her hair and body were completely dry; was she wearing a scuba suit?) The three young ladies sit with their bodies pressed up against Gunn who is seated on a stack of cushions; one behind him (a dark-haired girl named “Midge” in credits) fiddles continuously with his hair. The third girl has a heavy European accent and asks Gunn, “You don’t like Olga?” And then you have Jeff Jefferson asking Gunn, “You like ‘em tall, or short?...They’re swinging chicks, and they both dig you.” (Viewers may get the impression that this place is a brothel and Gunn needs to pick one of the girls to take back to a private room).

Gunn tells Jeff Jeffries that he needs help getting to Mike Garvin’s warehouse and wants to get there underwater and enter through the floor hatch. Jeff tells Gunn to follow him down through his floor hatch (what he refers to as a “trap door”). Once at the bottom, both put on scuba diving suits and Jeff Jeffries gives Gunn instructions on how to breathe and use the oxygen tank.

Following is a long scene of both men swimming underwater. They arrive at the Moffat & Garvin warehouse and go up through the floor hatch. (It was also possible to ride a small boat to that dock under the warehouse. One may assume Gunn preferred to swim to begin getting scuba diving experience to look for all the missing valuable artifacts).

Gunn tells Jeffries that he’s going to have a look around and to keep an eye out the window; to whistle if anyone shows up. Gunn, walking with scuba flippers, enters the offices area and first tries deceased Mr. Moffat’s office door, but it’s locked. He then enters Mr. Garvin’s office where the door was left wide open. He opens and closes two desk drawers, and then hears a whistle from Jeff Jeffries. Garvin enters just as Gunn made it back to the back room. Garvin hears the sound of the hatch door slamming shut and notices a trail of multiple scuba flippers’ footprints leading to it. (By this point one may wonder why they haven’t put a lock on that hatch door). As it turns out, Gunn learned absolutely nothing from the trip to the warehouse. It was a complete waste of time, aside from Gunn getting some practice scuba diving.

Gunn is back at the scuba equipment shop where he purchases (or rents) a slew of scuba diving equipment and floating devices. Gunn then asks Mrs. Jones where would be the best place to hide stuff in the river. She walks Gunn over to a map on the wall and provides her best guess, saying there are “about two or three good spots where the current don’t touch.” As Gunn leaves the shop, Mrs. Jones goes back to her octopus. “Hello, Baby, are you hungry again?” she asks.

With Gunn now an expert scuba diver following his brief lesson and one swim with Jeff Jeffries, he’s back in the river again on his own. (Film of these underwater scuba diving swims must have appeared very interesting to television viewers back in 1959; possibly not the case today), Gunn eventually comes upon a large bunch of crates scattered about on the ground. He uses a floating device to get some artifacts to rise. (How he goes back to retrieve the items floating on the water is not shown).

Gunn is in Lt. Jacoby’s office with some recovered artifacts. Jacoby is holding an art piece in one hand and going through some paperwork with the other. Jacoby locates the piece in the report and says it’s part of an art shipment that’s been missing over a year and a half. Gunn says, “There’s plenty more where that came from.” Jacoby says he’s got a professional diver doing work for the police department. He wants Gunn to direct the diver to the stolen items. The phone rings; a caller alerts Jacoby that the diver arrived and is headed to Jacoby’s office. The door opens and in walks Jeff Jeffries!

Mike Garvin is using binoculars to spy on Jeff Jeffries and Gunn, both in scuba suits, surrounded by the same three girls from Jeff’s place. They appear to be at a dock. They go into the river and, unbeknownst to Gunn and Jeffries, Mike Garvin in scuba suit follows. Another long swim underwater takes place until Gunn and Jeffries arrive at the location of the stolen artifacts. Suddenly, Jeffries pulls a knife and attacks Gunn by slashing the oxygen hose. With Gunn unable to breath he drifts to the ground below. Then Mike Garvin approaches, swimming like a hero to save the day while pointing a spear gun at Jeff Jeffries. He shoots the spear, but it misses and floats past Jeffries. Garvin comes in to attack Jeffries with only the spear gun barrel as Jeffries swings back with his knife. Jeffries disarms Garvin of his spear gun, but drops the knife which begins sinking to the ground. Mike Garvin picks up the knife and manages to tear the oxygen tank off Jeffries’ body. Garvin then hurries to Peter Gunn and lifts him to safety out of the water.

Back at Mother’s, Gunn and Garvin are seated at a table. Gunn says Jeffries is being held for murder as well as theft. Garvin tells Gunn that twice he’d discovered wet flippers’ footprints at his warehouse and recognized an elite Italian design. Knowing that Jeffries preferred the best equipment, he had suspected him. (Did he tell this to authorities when he was questioned?) Edie walks over to the table where Gunn introduces Mike Garvin as the man who saved his life.

 

QUOTES:

Inside the Moffat & Garvin office where Mrs. Garvin attempts to seduce Peter Gunn and, speaking sexy and softly, begins to create an imaginary romantic setting for both of them…

Mrs. Garvin: “I’ll set the scene. We’re on the terrace of your villa overlooking the Mediterranean. We’ve just finished dinner…candles flicker in the warm breeze. You’ve dismissed the servants for the night and we’re alone. And you were saying?”

Gunn: “Who put a steel spear through Charlie Moffat?”

 

NOTES:

Film/editing goof-up: When Mrs. Garvin arrives outside the Moffat & Garvin warehouse office to open the door, it is clearly seen as she begins speaking to Peter Gunn that she is not wearing a ring on her left hand ring finger. In the following scene they are inside the office and she is now wearing a wedding ring on that finger. The two scenes were shown in continuous sequence and she had no opportunity to put the ring on. The ring became a focal point of the scene as Peter Gunn had not realized he was being seduced by a married woman.

How was Gunn so sure from the start that the valuable artifacts being stolen from warehouses was being hidden under water? His guess turned out to be correct.

Who was the stunningly beautiful actress that played Mrs. Garvin? There is a role of “Jackie” listed in credits as played by Jackie Blanchard, but the name “Jackie” was never referred to in episode. Was that her?

The hot brunette Hula dancer at Jeff Jeffries Tiki pad is listed in credits as “Midge” (though the name was never used during the episode), played by “actress” Diane Webber. Her real name, however, was Marguerite Diane Empey (she married a John Webber in 1955). Marguerite Empey was a Playboy “Playmate of the Month” in May, 1955 and again in February, 1956. She appeared nude in a number of publications throughout the years prior to and following her appearance on Peter Gunn.

Lola Albright sings “You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me”, a popular song from 1930. The song was introduced in the 1930 movie “The Big Pond” starring Maurice Chevalier.

See Lola Alrbright sing “You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me”

 

DECEASED: Charlie Moffat is shot by Jeff Jeffries with a scuba divers’ spear gun.

Total Gunn Kills: 0 - Series Total: 7.

 

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NEXT BLOG: S01/E22: "EDIE FINDS A CORPSE"

 

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