So - what DID Cagney and Lacey carry??

[BluesBear]

In the autographed photo Sharon is carrying what sure looks like a round but model 10 to me. As is Tyne in the first photo. The cylinder latch would be located higher on a Colt. Also the grips just scream S&W.
But the grips seem different on Sharon's in the first pic. Not unusual thought for that time period for the prop departments to use different guns in different episodes.

In fact I have seen shows where the gun magically transformed from scene to scene.

I recall an episode of Vega$ where Dan Tanna's (Robert Ulrich) S&W 4" M-19 morphed into a 4" Python and back while entering a doorway.

 

[Archie]

I remember watching the show.

I liked it.

I distinctly remember one episode getting a good look at Tyne Daly's revolver. It was a 2" M 10. As someone pointed out, the props changed from time to time, so that may not mean anything.

Sharon Gless carried a revolver too. But I don't remember getting that good a look at it, ever.

I was more of a Mannix with a Barracuda , Frank Cannon with a Lincoln, whom IIRC both carried Colt Detective Specials .... Dirty Harry's gun is a given...As is Ness's gun in the b/w series of Elliot Ness...

Now the fella , Paul whom did Perry Mason's Investigations in the b/w series...never got a good look at what he sometimes had...

Mannix (Mike Conners) carried a mid sized autopistol (PPK, I think) in a futuristic mechanical skeleton holster. Frank Cannon (the late William Conrad, who actually knew something about guns) carried a S&W Chief's Special. Harry had a 29, of course, Ness (Robert Stack) carried a 6" Colt Official Police in a George Lawrence shoulder holster.
Paul Drake (William Hopper) carried a Propmaster revolver.

Does anyone else remember Mike Conners earlier series, "Tightrope"? He carried a small S&W revolver in a sideways, small of the back holster. The M36 Chief Special came out in 1955, the series was about 1959, so it was probably the M36. The small of back holster was rather exotic at that time. The Ken Maddox (or Maddens?) "Fly Holster" was rather exotic too, but since you had to unzip your trou to get to it, it was not a TV item then.
Maybe for a Superbowl show..... but I digress.

Probably the poorest properties of TV series was the "Mike Hammer" series starring Darren McGavin in 1959-1960. As we all know, Mike Hammer carried a GI 45. This series had him armed with a 2" .38 of unknown (to me) make. One of the publicity stills has him posing with what looks to be a Sauer .32 automatic! Gotta love it!

 

[Stainz]

More trivia re Tyne Daly.... what did she carry as one of Harry Callahan's partners in an early 'Dirty Harry' film? Also, didn't Dirty Harry actually carry a 57 (.41 Mag) in the first film because the prop department couldn't find the less popular hunting revolver (29) in .44 Magnum?

It is odd how most of the anti-gunner actors & actress' share a love of gun-toting roles on the screen...

What did Beretta carry? I'll bet his late wife knew!

Stainz

 

[BluesBear]

NO, NO, NO.
They did NOT use a model 57 in the movies. Take a good look. you can tell the chambers and muzzle are bigger than .41. Also if you ever owned long barreled N-frames you can spot the difference between a 6" .41 and a 6½" .44.

This urban legend seems to have started by those trying to sell the Model 57s languishing on the shelves as the "hep-cats" flocked to buy "The Worlds Most Powerful Handgun".

Of course some experts will swear that Harry carried an 8-3/8" incher.


By the way, Tony Baretta carried a S&W 36 in a left handed ankle holster on his right ankle.

 

[ruger357]

Lets not forget the Rockford Files. I saw Jim carry both second and third gen. Detective Specials as well as a S&W M36.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

Tyne Daly & Dirty Harry

Yes, Tyne Daly did play one of Dirty Harry's partners. It was in "The Enforcer," about terrorists who kidnap the mayor of San Francisco. (Now there's an idea...)

If you look hard, you can get a copy of this film on DVD for about $5 at Wal-Mart.

 

[Boats]

Except for that pesky trigger finger problem he no doubt picked up from his friend Spenser, who trying to get a head start with that crummy Beretta trigger, Avery Brooks had it going on as "Hawk" in Spenser For Hire.

 

[bountyhunter]

About 300 pounds of excess fat between them at best estimate. It absolutely shocks me when I see Tyne Daly on TV these days. It looks like she swallowed an inflatable raft and then pulled the rip cord. Almost as bad as Sally Struthers: me and my brother used to drool over her back on All In the family, now she's bigger than a Sumo wrestler.

 

[bountyhunter]

Yes, Tyne Daly did play one of Dirty Harry's partners. It was in "The Enforcer," about terrorists who kidnap the mayor of San Francisco. (Now there's an idea...)

If you look hard, you can get a copy of this film on DVD for about $5 at Wal-Mart.)

Look for the scene where she is drawing down on a terrorist with her snubnose .38 then shoots him and he goes flying.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Hummm - - -

ruger357, Jim Rockford may well have carried what you mention at some point - - BUT, I recall him using a 2-1/2" model 19 - - He kept it stored in a flour cannister, IIRC. He didn't carry all the time, though. Just on "secial occasions." Wasn't there something in the story line about him having a criminal record?

There was one episode where he used the 2.5 19 to disable a Cessna aircraft in flight - - Some decent footage of him shooting it two-handed, and this was before the two-hand hold was all the rage in TV and movies.

Best,
Johnny

 

[Kestrel]

I used to watch Rockford Files all the time. I loved the way he drove. All those J-turns, etc. I always thought he should have carried a gun, though - he was always getting a beating or something.

Cannon - Haha - I used to watch that, too. I remember one time, he was questioning a guy and the guy asked him, "Are you a cop?" and Cannon growled, "The private kind..." Of course, the guy then submitted to his questioning. Hahaha...

And Dirty Harry - good grief. If ever there was a movie that made me want a gun... I loved the beatings he was able to administer. I remember one time, he was looking for a guy - I think it was in a "house of ill repute" or something. He caught the guy and in the tussle, they ended up crashing into a bathroom. Harry somehow flung the guy face-first onto the toilet and grabbed a plunger and wrestled the guy's head into the toilet. Hahaha... What a great tough-guy.

Oh yeah, another time, he chased some crook forever and finally caught up with him. He had the guy on the ground and somebody else was pleading with Harry to let the guy up or take a look at something - I don't remember. Harry says, "This guy runs like a rabbit." The other guy keeps imploring, so Harry delivers a 6-inch punch and knocks the guy out cold, to keep him from running again. This was pure, Hellywood toughness.

Steve

 

[9mmepiphany]

the reason jim rockford did not regularly carry a gun was his prior criminal record...it was in the series premier. that is why he kept his friendship with "dennis" the PD Lt. discreet and why departmental detectives generally didn't like him

 

[BluesBear]

Jim Rockford had been falsely accused and convicted of a felony and had been sentenced to prison. He was later exonerated, pardoned and released but the stigma still followed him. There were some that still felt he was guilty. So apparently, even though he could have legally possessed a firearm, he chose to keep the fact that he owned a gun a secret.

But then again it could have just been the "only real cops and bad guys carty guns" mentality of the era. I really don't know where Steven J. Cannell stands on the RKBA.

 

[Old Fuff]

I admit that I never watched the show - not because I wasn't old enough, but because I wasn't interested. My TV viewing is very limited because I don't think "the tube" is worth the time.

That said, why do we care what guns two actresses carried on a TV program? I doubt that either knew zip about handguns, and whatever they used were provided by a prop department that possibly knew even less. The last place I'd look to for sound information on guns or gun use would be the entertainment media.

 

[Marshall]

P95Carry,

I see today is the anniversary of your born on date.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 

[P95Carry]

I see today is the anniversary of your born on date.

Indeed it is ...... and I can't stop em coming! But - onwards .... and try and get another year of shooting in before the next one .. which is uncomfortable large!




Fuff .... true enough - essentially this question is inconsequential ... but it was kicked off purely because of having talked about it with a buddy .. which then simply piqued interest.

Of course ... in truth it matters not one jot!

 

[J Scott]

FunYet,

The Twinkie shot is great. LMFAO

 

[bdhawk]

didn't mike conners carry SOB in mannix, too? do you remember his custom toranado convertable during the first season? he drove a swinger in latter episodes.

in cagney and lacy, one of the male detectives carried his issue revolver and a hi-power in a shoulder holster as back-up. his boss was always fussing at him for using his back-up first.

 

[BluesBear]

Don't forget that in the first season Joe Mannix (Mike Connors) worked for a company called Intertect, where his boss was Lou Wickersham played by Joe Campanella. The show was revamped for the second season with him becoming a private investigator where he was his own boss, since the disagreeing with your boss act was getting stale.

The revamped show was complete with, something that was unheard of at the time, a secretary/girl friday who was black.

Even though I always thought that Mannix was a little more intelligent than most ofthe other PI shows for that time, Joe Mannix was no Barnaby Jones.

By the way did Barnaby carry a 4'' S&W or a 4" Colt?

 

[armoredman]

BTW, I read in a story about Dirt Harry that he did indeed use the 8 3/8 bbl for close up shots to make the gun that much more impressive, even though he admitted in Magnum Force to using 44 Spls....

 

[Old Fuff]

P95Carry:

I won't lose any sleep over it. But I do worry that some newby may take what actors' do as serious advise. I think you're a far better role model then most of the jerks that work in Hollywood.

 

[Bainx]

Cagney and Lacey

...

you mean, Gag Me and Mace Me!

 

[dinosaur]

I used to call them "Ragbag & Bracey" but yours is good.

I think Buddy Ebsen carried a Colt.

 

[9mmepiphany]

i do remember manix carrying SOB, i even gave it a try once out of curiousity. but his custom olds toranado (2 seater with full lenght headrest covering the back seats) just made the show stand out. the dodge dart swinger just never did it for me.

do you guys remember if longstreet ever carried a gun?

 

[bdhawk]

wasn't longstreet blind?