Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames, on PBS

Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews were the great Hollywood love story, second only to Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Yet, they were also considered an odd couple: Mary Poppins and the director of some of the most slapstick physical comedies ever. Nevertheless, they did some of their most enduring work together. Andrews looks back on Edwards’ entire career and their lives together in Danny Gold’s Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames, which airs tonight on PBS, as part of the current season of American Masters.

Not surprisingly, Gold’s film largely concentrates on the films Edwards made with Andrews, who serves as narrator when not appearing directly on camera, as well as his collaborations with Peter Sellars. Happily, she still rewinds all the way back to his breakout success as the creator of Peter Gunn. Andrews even identifies the jazz club setting as a key to the show’s success.

However, Andrews (quite credibly) suggests the most important takeaway from Peter Gunn was Edwards’ introduction to Henry Mancini, whose immediately identifiable scores for his subsequent films are discussed at length. Of course, we hear his classic Pink Panther theme, but Plas Johnson should have been acknowledged for his tenor solo. Naturally, we also hear “Moon River” from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which is a true American standard.

Unfortunately, we also hear plenty of hand-wringing over Mickey Rooney’s “yellowface” supporting role from the likes of Leonard Maltin, giving one relatively minor part of an otherwise beloved film disproportionate attention that would have been better spent on unmentioned films like Sunset, Micki & Maude, The Carey Treatment, and Gunn, the movie version of Peter Gunn.

Regardless, Gold talks to all the appropriate surviving people (since, depressingly, so many of Edwards’ regular thesps are no longer with us), including Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria), Robert Wagner (Pink Panther), Bo Derek (10), Rob Marshall (choreographer of the Broadway Victor/Victoria), his daughter Jennifer Edwards (who appeared in That’s Life, S.O.B., Sunset, and Th Man Who Loved Women, etc.) and Henry Mancini’s vocalist daughter Monica.

Yet, the most entertaining sequence has to be the opening titles, which are animated in a style the evokes the look and humor of those that distinguished the Pink Panther films. Even the original music composed by crossover-jazz musician Tom Scott deliberately echoes the vibe of the classic Mancini-Johnson soundtracks.

There was a time when Gen X (and older) looked forward to a new Blake Edwards film, because we had confidence it would be funny—and also a little naughty. He had some misfires, but even his less heralded films, like The Tamarind Seed (which gets a little airtime), hold up quite well. Highly recommended for the nostalgia and the Hollywood history, Blake Edwards: A Love Story in 24 Frames airs tonight (8/27) on PBS and streams soon thereafter on the PBS app.