About

A selection of three TV episodes from the noir detective series Johnny Staccato. John Cassavetes plays the titular private eye. Suave, intelligent and assured, Staccato has a side hustle as a pianist in a New York jazz bar.

The series ran for two seasons from 1959-60 and cemented Cassavetes’ acting career. In the years leading up to Johnny Staccato, Cassavetes had garnered increasingly more prominent acting roles and alongside this taught acting in an alternative acting workshop co-founded with Burt Lane. In this period, Cassavetes began the process of making his first feature film Shadows which was shot in 1957 and, after a few reshoots and re-edits was released in 1959 to much critical acclaim.

The steady television work of two seasons of Johnny Staccato, allowed Cassavetes to use the paycheck to finance personal film projects. Cassavetes was one of the first American filmmakers to utilise this model of acting in a film to finance the production of their own creative projects. These three 25-minute television episodes lead detective Johnny Staccato into the underworld of crime in New York City.

Johnny Staccato: The Wild Reed 1959

In The Wild Reed Staccato is determined to help an old college friend who has found himself involved with a narcotics racket.

25 minutes | Ages 15+ | Mild level violence, drug references

Johnny Staccato: The Shop of the Four Winds 1959

In The Shop of the Four Winds, Staccato is due to meet a Japanese friend for some sensitive information, but the friend is killed on the way to delivering his message. The ensuing investigation leads the detective into Little Tokyo.

26 minutes | Ages 15+ | Contains mild level violence and adult themes

Johnny Staccato: Swinging Long Hair 1960

The final episode of the series, Swinging Long Hair finds Johnny Staccato crossing paths with Eastern European refugees who have escaped the Iron Curtain and defected to the USA.

24 minutes | Ages 15+ | Mild level violence