P.J. (1968)

the audience applauded

Sorry, this movie sucks

Good movie but grossly overrated

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I would like to see P.J. again. I need one more time to make sense of the ending. I saw it twice when it first came out. The second of these two times was on a U.S. Navy ship, and the gay leather bar scene had been removed, presumably to protect sensitive sailors; in the edited version P. J. suddenly appeared beaten up with no explanation. (The irony is that a gay leather bar is a very subdued place, where the only fights are non-physical disagreements over china patterns and over recipes.)What I remember forty years later are several scenes: the bad guy dragged by the departing subway train; the gay bar scene, of course; and P.J.'s paying hubcap thieves to protect his car. Yes, I'd call it gritty.

This Private Eye drama, set mostly in New York City in 1968, is an above-average film which is largely (and unfortunately) passed over by both network television and the movie rental industry. The low-key acting by Mr. Peppard is superb; indeed, he is probably at his best in this gritty PI flick which takes one from the dark subway stations of 1968 New York, to the glamour of a Carribean island, and back again. All the while, there is fantastic music, from the opening score to the recurring theme of "P.J." Raymond Burr is interesting and convincing as William Orbison, a rich, arrogant, scheming tycoon who hires P.J. Detweiler (Peppard) to protect his mistress Maureen Preble (Gayle Hunnicutt), but whom we always suspect of having other, darker motives. Coleen Grey, in a somewhat lesser role, is excellent as Orbison's bitter, scornful wife. Overall a very good, well acted drama, with plot twists, catchy music, and of course, a bit of Peppard's trademark dry humour.

If you've only seen PJ on Television, you haven't really seen it. In the late 60s, censorship was temporarily relaxed: Ratings were "G" for Nothing Offensive, and "M" in case there was anything objectionable. With the wisdom of their breed, Studio execs quickly realized they should try to get away with as much as possible, and films like GUNN, DEADLIER THAN THE MALE and NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY were filled with raunchy (for those days) sex and violence. However, with an eye to TV showing, the studio execs also had alternate scenes shot for these films and the resulting Tv showings were tepid at best. The movie version of PJ has a seamy, tasteless feel totally appropriate to a cheap Private Eye film.

The private eye genre had something of a rebirth in the late 1960s, most notably with Paul Newman's excellent "Harper,'' Frank Sinatra's "Tony Rome'' movies and James Garner doing a nice turn as "Marlow.'' But George Peppard merits a tip of the fedora for his work in this forgotten goodie, "P.J.'' Peppard's PJ is hired as a bodyguard for a fat-cat's (played by a menacing Raymond Burr) mistress, unleashing a plot of double-crosses and, eventually murder. Peppard is great as a wisecracking P.J. Detwieler and the above average script is perfectly matches to his rapid-fire, half-bemused delivery. Gayle Hunnicutt is great as the kept woman, the fantastic (and overlooked)Brock Peters turns up in small, but pivotal role and a young, "pre-MacMillan and Wife'' Susan Saint James spews a few deliciously catty lines. And there is a great ending. Sadly, "PJ" can't be found on video or DVD. And I haven't seen it aired on tv since I saw it (and recorded it, luckly) when a Chicago station aired it 1986. Too bad. This little gem deserves to be seen.