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Efrem Zimbalist Jr. stars in the pilot film for the popular TV series, "77 Sunset Strip." The story is about a lounge singer who witnesses the killing of a union boss (a ripe old plotline staple of 50's TV), and then is stalked by the killer, as he tries to get rid of the only witness to his crime. Zimbalist is hired to find her under a ruse by the murderer, and then falls in love with her and helps to bring the killer to justice. Eddy "Kookie" Byrnes plays a gunman hired to kill the singer, by the murderer, which is kind of odd since he's a good guy in the series. But, I'm guessing he is portrayed as a reformed man in the next episode. Slow moving by today's standards, it's a pleasure to be able to watch a story at a regular pace, and not have your eyes gouged out of your head by rapid, 3 second takes strung together to make a 2 hour film.

Zimbalist is good in the role of the hero PI, but for someone supposedly trained by the government during WWII to be a spy, he makes an enormous amount of mistakes. He leads the heroine around the town to at least 10 different hiding places before he gets the idea he might be followed. Shepperd Strudwick is reliably evil as the villain, and the Erin O'Brien plays her part as a 50's damsel in distress as well as anyone could.

If you can't remember the series, don't worry. Seeing this film will introduce the characters and get you ready to enjoy a true slice of classic 50's television, "77 Sunset Strip." Kookie, Kookie, lend me your comb!