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[profh0011]

COOGAN’S BLUFF   (1968)
A Cowboy In Manhattan   (5 of 10)

Arizona Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan is so disliked by his boss, the man decides to give him "every dirty job that comes along". First up is going to NYC to extradite James Ringerman, a prisoner Coogan spent 8 days tracking before he then escaped from jail. Once in town, he learns his quarry has been transferred to Bellevue Hospital following an LSD trip, and can't be moved until his psychiatrist gives the okay. At which point, Coogan "bluffs" his way in, convinces those in charge the release papers were held up in transit, and heads for the Pan Am heliport with his prisoner. Except Ringerman's friends (more like followers of a cult leader) clobber Coogan, freeing Ringerman, which, to say the least, annoys Police Lieutenant McElroy, who warns Coogan that he ISN'T a cop in New York City, and stay out of it. Of course, we know where that advice will go.

This all started life as an unsold script for a TV series, from writers Herman Miller and Jack Laird. But when it didn't sell, it instead was picked up as a vehicle for Clint Eastwood, fresh off his 3 Italian westerns and HANG 'EM HIGH. Instead of shooting what they already had, 4 other writers were hired, who were all surprised when Eastwood HATED what they'd written, preferring Miller's original version. Eastwood & director Don Siegel assembled a new rough draft from their favorite elements of the by-then 8 existing script drafts, then brought in Dean Reisner to write a new screenplay based on that. YEAH. So, this film wasn't "written"-- it was "assembled"-- much like THUNDERBALL (1965) and HALLOWEEN 6 (1995). No wonder it's such a MESS. Characters seem to change personalities between scenes, important connecting scenes are missing, the epilogue makes NO sense in light of what immediately preceded it. It's no wonder that, when he started directing his own pictures, Eastwood preferred shooting from FIRST DRAFTS. I wish he'd done that here!

It's not that the film is a total write-off. It's just frustrating to watch, sensing what's wrong, and knowing how much better it should have been. In the long run, this seriously-flawed action flick led the way for countless later such films, definitely comes across as a "rough draft" of the entire DIRTY HARRY series... and was also so blatenly ripped off by the McCLOUD pilot that there was a lawsuit over it, resulting in Herman Miller's name being added as "creator" to every succeeding episode, even though he never worked on the show!

Miller's biggest success, apart from this, was the KUNG FU series, while Jack Laird went on to helm NIGHT GALLERY and KOJAK. (Laird isn't even credited on this film!)

Lee J. Cobb is "Lt. McElroy", the cranky, cynical head cop who, frankly, is far more patient with Coogan than the hard-headed deputy from Arizona deserves. I kept thinking, had Coogan handled things even the slightest bit different, these two might have become friends. As it is, when Coogan tells McElroy "Thanks" at the end, one has to wonder, FOR WHAT? For NOT throwing Coogan in the slammer as he promised? Or DID McElroy finally take Coogan's advice and have Ringerman sprung from the looney ward? Cobb definitely gives the single finest performance in the film, no surprise to anyone whose seen his work in such films as 12 ANGRY MEN.

Susan Clark is "Julie Roth", a parole officer who's apparently too lenient (or is it wishy-washy?) for her own good. She swings back and forth between disdain, anger, interest, falling in love, being angry and jealous and then finally giving Coogan a kiss and wave goodbye, though nothing before that scene should have led to it. I mostly remember Clark from MADIGAN (1968), which she did right before this, also with Don Siegel, where she played a married woman having an affair with Henry Fonda.

Don Stroud is "James Ringerman", a small-time crook who loves his mother, has an over-active libido, borders on being psychotic, and seems more like a cult leader given the blind loyalty of so many of those who know him and will go to hell and back for him. Although he's allegedly wanted on a murder charge, that detail doesn't seem to be in the print of the film I just watched 4 TIMES in one week. In his time, Stroud's been a surfer, a stuntman, an actor, and a musician (what a guy!). I mostly know him as "Captain Pat Chambers" from the Stacy Keach MIKE HAMMER series, but I've also seen him in MADIGAN and LICENSE TO KILL (1989). The 2021 Kino Lorber Blu-Ray has an interview with him that is absolutely one of the highlights of the disc. Though much older and almost unrecognizable, his personality, intelligence and sheer enthusiasm comes through so strongly, it's like inside he hasn't aged a day in the last 50 years! It is kinda odd how little his character is actually in this film. He's almost like "Dracula" in Bram Stoker's novel on that score. He's not around much, but his presence over-hangs every scene.

Tisha Sterling is "Linny Raven", Ringerman's drugged-out girlfriend, who gets her kicks seeing violence done to others, and has no problem sleeping with Coogan before turning him over to Jimmy's friends to beat the crap out of him. She's a walking contradiction in terms-- a VERY-beautiful girl who, if I met her in real life, I'd probably want to stay as far away from as possible. A shame, as physically, she reminds me, too much for comfort, of my best friend in art school back in the 80s. Apart from this, I mainly know her as "Legs", Shelley Winters' daughter on BATMAN.

Totally obscure trivia: I would SWEAR, that in the scene where Eastwood & Stroud are coming up the escalator in the Pan An Building, that actor David Henesy is right behind them. He's MUCH more visible in the widescreen version! DARK SHADOWS was filmed in a studio in New York City, after all.

A number of other familiar faces dot the story, including David Doyle, Louis Zorich, Rudy Diaz, Marjorie Bennett, Tom Tully, Betty Field. Again, lots of good bits that, because of how the film was constructed, don't hang together as well as they should.

And then there's this-- from Wikipedia: "Videotape and DVD versions of Coogan's Bluff are edited by approximately three minutes in all regions for unknown reasons. The missing scenes include Coogan receiving his assignment to return Ringerman from New York, a short scene in a hospital, and a scene in which Julie talks about Coogan's Bluff, a lookout point over the ocean near New York (the real Coogan's Bluff is a site on Manhattan Island between Washington Heights and Harlem), tying the location into the film's title." For the IMDB, I added: "Wikipedia claims these edits were only on the DVD, but they were on the rental."

Going through my own collection (and my decades-old type-written index of same), it looks like the copy of this film I taped off the local Philadelphia channel in the early 1980s may have been WIPED when I rented it in the 1990s. Damn. Unable to check, I have to guess that Ringerman's being wanted for murder was in the first scene. The reference to the movie's title is in the 2nd scene (which is right in the MIDDLE of the long scene of Coogan & Julie talking in the park). And, it's very possible that the important stuff leading to Coogan, McElroy and Julie ALL changing their attitudes, are in the 3rd scene-- in between Ringerman's capture and the departure at the heliport. The big question, WERE these scenes ever seen in its original theatrical release? I never saw the film until around 1976 or so (when McCLOUD was already in its 6th or 7th season), and I didn't get my 1st VCR until late 1979. The big 3 networks were in the habit of inserting "out-takes" to try and compete with new movie channels like HBO, but was this ever done for syndication? The scenes were definitely NOT shot after-the-fact, as some films in the early 60s had done (including FISTFUL OF DOLLARS). Someone on Facebook told me he had it "on good authority from someone who knows" that the missing scenes WERE out-takes. But if so, WHY in the hell were they ever left out in the first place? Their removal SERIOUSLY hurt the logic and continuity of the story!

For decades, 4 short scenes from THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951) were missing; their return on the DVDs dramatically improved the story. Decades after-the-fact, a couple of scenes cut before release from THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964) were restored, and the longer version is now available as a bonus, side-by-side with the shorter version on the same Blu-Ray. I think the same thing should have been done with COOGAN'S BLUFF. Kino Lorber's new edition of the disc added a number of terrific extras. But the longer, more COMPLETE version of the film, should have been one of them.

Crazy thing: my 1990s copy of the rental clocked in at exactly 1:32:58. The Blu-Ray clocked in at exactly 1:34:15. Both are identically UNCUT, but differ by 1:17. This isn't a NTSC/PAL thing. I wonder if that videotape I rented was recorded at just slightly the wrong speed, or if one of my VCRs (back then or now) is "off"?

[profh0011]

McCLOUD   (1970)
A Cowboy In Manhattan:  PART 2   (3 of 10)

Taos New Mexico Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud, after capturing a murder trial witness who fled a subpoena, inexplicably gets the job of extraditing him back to New York City, a job that by all rights should have been assigned to a NYC police officer! On arrival, he's gassed, knocked unconscious and left handcuffed to the side of a road on Staten Island, while the witness is kidnapped to prevent him giving testimony at a retrial for a man accused of murdering a beauty pageant contestent. Aside from that already sounding more complicated than it should be, if any of this sounds familiar, it should. SOMEONE at Universal Television decided to blatently RIP OFF the premise of the 1968 Clint Eastwood movie, COOGAN'S BLUFF, which itself started life as an unsold TV pilot. It was so blatent, that writer Herman Miller brought on a lawsuit over it, won, and had his name attached to the resulting series, despite never working on it. But that's just for starters.

What we have here is one of the most overly-talky, dense, impenetrable and badly-told murder mysteries I have ever seen in my whole life of watching these kind of films. Much of the murder mystery is described from the point of view of an already-published non-fiction novel, "Who Killed Miss United States?", and the details don't even begin to come out until a full 37 miniutes into this overlong, painfully padded-out mess. (I clocked it; at 1:37:45, it's clearly at least 25 minutes too long, having been done as a two-hour TV-movie rather than the by-then-popular 90-minute format.)

The tragic thing is, I consider myself the world's biggest McCLOUD fan! Because of the networks' habit at the time of running pilots separate, before a show was sold, I never even saw this until 1978, a year after the show ended. When I did, I was shocked-- totally aghast-- at how BAD it was. Since that time, I have always ranked it as the single WORST episode of the series. I can still remember, the first time I watched it, when it got to the scene where the police pick Sam up, still in handcuffs, and drive across the bridge into the city, thinking to myself, "This? THIS is how McCloud first arrived in Manhattan? REALLY???" I couldn't believe what I was watching.

COOGAN'S BLUFF is one seriously-flawed film. But at least it's NOT AS BAD as this thing!

One thing that most TV series that have been based on, inspired by or ripped off from hit movies tend to have in common: the TV counterparts of the characters are ALWAYS far more likable. And that is certainly true here. Dennis Weaver is "Sam McCloud", who, as a southwestern cop, is not only smarter than most, he's also far more polite than most. He reminds me of a western version of Charlie Chan, or Hercule Poirot, when it comes to being so warm, friendly, ingratiating, but also such a deep intellect, often utilizing lateral thinking, that those around him can barely keep up with his unexpected lines of reasoning. "Walt Coogan" HE AIN'T! Having lost his prisoner, McCloud is determined to rectify that, and the deeper he goes, the more personal it gets for him, especially when, 3/4ths of the way in, the witness he ALMOST got back is murdered to keep him quiet.

Diana Muldaur is "Chris Caughlin" ("Christopher" on her book covers, "Christine" in private), cousin of the Police Commissioner whose connection has given her too much arrogance and smugness for her own good. It takes awhile and some substantial effort to convince McCloud that she really does mean well, especially when he starts off suspecting SHE might be behind the kidnapping, in order to prevent her book sales from going down. Over the course of the story, she clearly warms up, and you can see it really hurts her when she realizes Sam has hatched a dangerous scheme to make himself a target of the REAL murderer.

Mark Richman is "Chief Of Detectives Peter B. Clifford", a stiff, stuffy, by-the-book guy who would prefer McCloud be out of his hair, but by mid-story one can see hints that he kind of admires the guy-- though he'd never want to admit it. Unfortunately, through either the writing, the directing, or his acting, Clifford is almost a non-entity in this film, and I wonder exactly why Richman didn't return for the series. Was he unavailable-- uninterested-- or was he just fired in favor of his FAR-BETTER replacement, J. D. Cannon? Richman had MUCH better luck as a regular on the series LONGSTREET, with James Franciscus!

Terry Carter is "Sgt. Joe Broadhurst", well-dressed, well-spoken, perennial nice guy, who takes an instant liking to Sam, and even moreso when Sam returns the sentiment. At one point Joe says, "Sometimes a fish out of water can see something we city boys might take for granted." Carter's been one of my favorite actors since I first got hooked on this show, and I've long joked that he was basically playing the same character (under a different name, and with a promotion in rank) when he was on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Craig Stevens is defense attourney "Whitman", and while the story structure is completely different, anyone who's a regular viewer of COLUMBO might be suspicious of him from the moment he shows up, always seems to be around, asking questions and "trying to be helpful". Yeah, as a matter of fact, he WAS behind the kidnapping, and the reasoning behind it can give you a headache. This really is the kind of film that Raymond Chandler might have loved-- where the emphasis is all on mood, character and atmosphere, but trying to make sense of the plot can make you want to kill the writers.

Other familiar faces pop up, including Raul Julia as Priest Father Nieves, who senses McCloud really believes the convicted man is innocent; Shelly Novack as "James Waldron", the runaway witness; Albert Popwell as a prison guard (the ONLY actor this film has in common with COOGAN'S BLUFF); Gregory Sierra as a member of a Puerto Rican community group; and Julie Newmar as a model who'd been a rival in the ill-fated beauty contest. Most are wasted here.

Something that somehow totally escaped my notice until I got my hands on the 2021 VEI DVD box set, was the guy in charge of this atrocity was Leslie Stevens-- the creator of THE OUTER LIMITS. On that show, his own scripts tended to be overly-tehnical and overly-wordy, while his best move was hiring Joe Stefano as chief writer & story editor. Stevens was also involved in both BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (both times with Glen Larson), but I can't honestly say exactly what his contributions there were. WAS this horrific mess ALL his fault, or was he just someone Universal decided to hire to do their dirty work? One detail caught my eye: the very 1st OL episode I ever saw (at age 4) was "The Borderland"-- and the star of that episode was Mark Richman. That CAN'T be a coincidence!

The writers also leave me a bit baffled. The story was concocted by Stanford Whitmore. I know him mostly for no less than 4 1st-season episodes of THE FUGITIVE-- including the pilot! This ties in with the early sequence here of a police officer transporting and then losing a prisoner, as happened to Lt. Gerard and Dr. Richard Kimble! (I love spotting "connections" like that.)

The screenplay was written by Whitmore and a pair of all-time TV mystery LEGENDS-- Richard Levinson & William Link-- the creators of COLUMBO! Check out their resumes-- EVERYTHING they've ever done has been Agatha Christie-level BRILLIANT... except THIS thing. How on earth did 3 terrific writers like these guys manage a finished script THIS BAD? I guess that's a mystery that may never be solved.

The director was Richard A. Colla. When I realized that this was the same guy who also did the GALACTICA pilot-- and that I considered both were the WORST episodes in each series-- I looked further, and noticed the odd fact that Colla was repeatedly hired to direct an episode of many different series-- but only one, and never asked back. Did he have some kind of "connections" to get himself work, and overcome his lack of talent? I don't normally single someone out this badly, except each time I've seen this pilot, it's consistently gotten worse and WORSE the longer it goes on. And in this case, once again, the climax is even worse than everything that came before it. All the confusing talkiness was bad enough. Here, they replaced the high-speed bike chase in broad daylight with a chase on foot in almost total darkness-- and it's the hero who's running from a pair of killers. But it gets EVEN WORSE when the showdown is accompanied by a Salvation Army band doing Christmas music-- louder and louder-- with repeated, incessant cuts back to see mimes in whiteface performing to this sappy stuff.

By the end, I wanted to kill the producer, the writers, AND the director.

So then we have a tacked-on epilogue, in which McCloud discovers that his boss back in Taos has decided it would be a good idea to have McCloud "assigned" to the New York Police, to learn big-city police methods. WHAT? Okay, I saw that coming, after watching all 7 seasons of the show beforehand. But the way it was done here was just awkward, contrived... the only good moment was Chris offering to show Sam his "new territory". I don't remember Sam ever repeating the word "country!" over and over as he does here. I have to assume that was dropped when the series began.

Some guesses: during the 7 months between this and the next episode, Herman Miller had and won his lawsuit. Also, McCLOUD may have been made a 6-week try-out in the FOUR-IN-ONE anthology, because after this, NBC may not have been too confident about it as a regular series.

2 different print sources have the original title as "McCLOUD: WHO KILLED MISS U. S. A.?". It was changed to "McCLOUD: PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GIRL" for syndication, presumably to tie it in with the pilots for both Columbo and McMillan And Wife. The VEI box print has "McCLOUD"! The picture & sound on the DVD is CRYSTAL-CLEAR. That really helped this time around!

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Who Says You Can’t Make Friends In New York City?
"DON'T try to leave town!"   (5 of 10)

Marshal Sam McCloud is settling in to his new assignment in NYC, and goes horse-riding in Central Park on his day off, when he's interrupted by a message from The Commissioner's niece... his high-class girlfriend Chris. Following a terrific day together, she gives him advice not to "get involved" when neighbors in his hotel are fighting. But that's not his style. After breaking up a lovers' spat, the following night he gets a call he believes is from the woman next door begging for his help, which leads him to a dark alley, where a professional hit man tries to take him out. Where did THAT come from?

At one point, to avoid bringing scandal on his department, Chief Clifford manages to secure Sam something he's wanted since he got to town-- permission to go home. Joe Broadhurst gets the job of making SURE McCloud gets on the plane, and once he does, you can see Joe will miss his new friend. But Sam gets off the plane and refuses to leave town until he knows the woman he met is okay. This seemingly-simple story gets more complicated than expected, when it turns out the man he met earlier is a political hopeful who was cheating on his wife. It just gets darker and nastier after that.

Following the (frankly, AWFUL) pilot, Leslie Stevens moved up to executive producer, and hired Glen A. Larson and Bill Egan as producer & associate. What can I say? The quality across the board JUMPED UP drastically. I think it's safe to say Larson "saved" the show from an early demise. As producer or writer, over 7 seasons, he became one of my top favorite people to ever work in television.

Carl Betz is "Aldon F. Flanders", whose rising political star is tied in with his new father-in-law, who he once helped avoid getting convicted when Flanders worked in the DA's office. With a long resume, Betz is probably most known for 50 episodes of JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE, and 272 episodes of THE DONNA REED SHOW! Oddly enough, I think this episode may be the only thing I really remember him for.

Randolph Mantooth has a tiny cameo as a hospital intern, 2 years before achieving fame on EMERGENCY.

Terry Carter & Diana Muldaur both return from the pilot as Joe Broadhurst & Chris Caughlin, he even more friendly to Sam than before, she looking somehow WAY prettier than she did when she first met Sam.

J. D. Cannon makes his debut here as "Chief of Detectives Peter B. Clifford", and from his very first scene, he totally blows his predecessor Mark Richman out of the water! He's got so much more personality, charisma and style, and back in 1971 he quickly became one of my favorite characters on TV. Clifford's relationship with McCloud is a complex one, always ranging from admiration to annoyance (often at the same time). In this story, he goes from wanting to help McCloud go back home, then annoyed when he hasn't, then working tight with him to try and nail a MURDERER. At the end, when he informs McCloud that now he has to stick around as a material witness, he comically warns him, "Whatever you do... DON'T try to leave town!" --and then SMILES.

Thanks to the sheer, unbridled incompetence of Universal Pictures, the 6 first-season episodes of McCLOUD that were run as the initial part of the FOUR-IN-ONE anthology in 1970-71 were BUTCHERED and turned into a trio of incoherent, UNWATCHABLE tv-movies for syndication. And they LOST the originals! This was a crime asgainst TV, and McCLOUD wasn't the only show they did this with. Some years back I learned the only place one could get copies from was Australia, but as they use the PAL system rather than NTSC, that means DVDs from there would be running in America at the WRONG speed! I don't know where VEI (Visual Entertainment Incorporated) found these 6 episodes, but I'm SO glad they did! The prints have some slight damage here and there, but remain very watchable, and are a welcome relief after decades of having nothing but those awful, ghastly re-edited butcher-jobs.

Something tells me VEI was waiting to put their box set out until they could get ahold of copies of these 6 one-hour episodes, and may have almost put the box out without them. The 2 discs are in a sleeve that separate from the rest of the set (which are bound together), and they're listed on the box as a "BONUS", like they were a last-minute addition. Oddly enough, while the entire box has the episodes in the correct order, the 2 FOUR IN ONE discs are slightly out-of-order. (Not too much of a problem when they're DVDs.) Also odd is the menu on these discs features the theme song from seasons 4-7, instead of the original theme used in the pilot and seasons 1-2.

When I got the 2021 box, I checked out the first few minutes of one of these episodes, just to see how the picture quality was. I was almost brought to TEARS. I haven't seen these episodes INTACT in 52 YEARS!!!

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Horse Stealing On Fifth Avenue
The ICONIC McCloud!     (7 of 10)

Sam McCloud & Joe Broadhurst are removed from a case involving a man stealing drugs when Chris Caughlin's latest society column spotlights Sam to such a degree it ruffles Chief Clifford's feathers. "As long as you're under my command, I don't want to be aware you're even here." So they get re-assigned to finding a missing police HORSE-- stolen from in front of a drug store. As luck has it, both get involved in another altercation with the drug thief, ending in a tense scene on a rooftop, in which Sam is shot-- but not seriously. Sam comes to believe the man they're after is both an army vet and an expert marksman, as he's shot 2 police officers without doing serious damage to either. After meeting with the suspect's wife, Clifford thanks Sam for his help... but then puts him back on the "pony patrol". UNTIL the man's wife contacts Chris about setting up a meeting between her husband and Sam, to give himself up without anyone getting hurt. It doesn't quite work out that simply, and Sam, after finding the missing horse, winds up borrowing it HIMSELF-- in possibly the single most iconic action sequence in the entire series!

For the 2nd weekly FOUR-IN-ONE episode, McCLOUD really came into its own, as producer & future exec Glen A. Larson supplied his first script for the series, accompanied by director Bruce Kessler, the same team who would later do the incredible 4th season finale, "This Must Be The Alamo". As it turns out, this was the very 1st episode I ever saw, during the rerun season sometime in 1971 when I was in Houston. I got instantly hooked on this show, and kept watching all the way to the end. Seeing this one intact for the first time in 52 years, I was surprised that this must have been my first exposure to some of the guest-actors.

Lorraine Gary is "Joan Stanford", a woman who's seen her marriage fall to pieces because her husband got addicted to pain-killers while recovering in an army hospital. She places her trust in Sam, believing he may be her husband's only chance to turn his life around. I later saw her in both "JAWS" and "1941" (both from director Steven Spielberg).

Leo Gordon is "Officer Shannen", who wonders what the city's coming to when someone makes off with his horse. McCloud finds it being used by a woman posing as "Lady Godiva" at a Women's Liberation protest rally, but moments after he's returned, McCloud takes off with "Toby" in a long high-speed race through the city streets and deep into Central Park. I've seen Gordon in so many things, but the stand-out roles for me are probably "THE INTRUDER" and, moreso, "THE HAUNTED PALACE" (both from director Roger Corman).

Ken Scott debuts as "Detective Polk". Although this was his only appearance this season, he returned at the end of season 4 and became a recurring character (along with Detectives Grover & Simms) after that. Aside from McCLOUD, I mainly know him as one of John Astin's henchman in the Adam West BATMAN story, "Batman's Anniversary".

J. D. Cannon, Terry Carter & Diana Muldaur continue as Clifford, Broadhurst & Caughlin. Chief Clifford managed to display anger, concern, thoughtfulness, and a wicked sense of humor (the latter at Sam's expense). Joe winds up telling Sam about the latest in the case they've been removed from, which leads Sam to try and get back involved in it (so he has no one to blame but himself). Chris gets Sam into trouble, then tries to make up for it, and in one scene the dialogue get extremely "suggestive" for network television at the time! Chris is definitely my favorite role Muldaur ever had.

I'll say it again-- it was absolutely criminal how Universal BUTCHERED the 6 episodes from this season, and then lost the originals. It took 50 YEARS for these to be available again in America. Although the prints are not in the greatest shape, I can hardly express how happy I am to finally be able to see them again properly after all this time.

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  The Concrete Corral
Murder At The Rodeo   (5 of 10)

Chief Clifford assigns Sam to ride herd over a visiting Rodeo, among which are several old friends of his, including an old flame who married someone else. But trouble's brewing, and next thing, one member of the show is shot dead, and another is seen fleeing the scene... though his wife insists he couldn't have done it. It takes Sam half the story to figure out where the guy has gone to ground, and when he finds him, promises to find out who the real killer is... which DOESN'T put Sam in good favor with Clifford, to say the least! This should be a simple story, yet despite seeing it in one form or another several times over the years, I still had trouble following the logic of who the murderer was and why he did it. (And, as another reviewer mentioned, like too many American TV murder mysteries, if you just read the opening credits, you can figure out who the killer is, which just doesn't seem right.)

This was Warren Douglas & David P. Harmon's only McCLOUD as writers. Why it took 2 writers to do such a "simple" story is beyond me. Douglas mainly has westerns in his resume, including SUGARFOOT, CHEYENNE and BONANZA, while Harmon actually did 3 STAR TREKs-- "The Deadly Years", "A Piece Of The Action" and "The Eye Of The Beholder".

Chris Caughlin must be out of town in this story, but Chief Clifford & Joe Broadhurst carry on as usual. In totally-different ways, both became favorite characters of mine. The best exchange in this one is between Sam & Joe: "McCloud, you've got to understand Clifford." (annoyed) "WHY?" "So you can explain him to ME." You know, come to think of it, Joe reminds me a bit of my best friend in 8th grade, who was named Sam!

Albert Salmi is "Goose Jenkins", a roughhouse who's been reduced to working as a rodeo clown. I'll always remember him most as "Cap'n Tucker" from 2 classic episodes of LOST IN SPACE, though he was also in the KUNG FU pilot.

James Wainwright is "Billy Gibson", whose arrogance makes him try to steal the top spot in the show, when he's not putting the moves on other men's ladies. It gets him killed! He's been in practically everything, including 9 episodes of DANIEL BOONE.

Burr DeBenning is "Blue Roberts", Billy's rival. Not the brightest light in the room, he takes it on the lam, and when Sam catches up with him, Sam has to explain to Blue that if he's innocent, killing Sam would be a big mistake! Nothing he did really stands out in my mind, but I have seen him in a 1984 MIKE HAMMER episode, as well as 2 different Irwin Allen films, CITY BENEATH THE SEA and THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN NEMO.

Joanna Moore is "Donna Roberts", the girl Sam was once in love with. She married the hot-headed "Blue", but feels certain he "couldn't" have done the murder, which sets Sam in Clifford's angry way. "The next time I see you, McCloud, he better be behind bars-- or YOU will be!" I mainly know Moore from 3 different episodes of THE FUGITIVE. I was deeply saddened to read about all the tragedy in her real life.

Nancy Malone is "Iris McKensie", the sadly-alcoholic wife of the murdered man. As I said, despite this being a relatively simple story, somehow the relationships & motivations of the characters involved were not that easy to follow. She was also in 2 episodes of THE FUGITIVE.

Filling out the cast: Bill McKinney is "Reuben", a tough-talking rodeo man whose insinuations get Sam riled up. Funny enough, with such a small role here, one might never guess what a successful career he went on to. I've seen him in ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES, THE GAUNTLET, EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE, BRONCO BILLY, ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN, FIRST BLOOD, THE MASTER, THE A-TEAM, PINK CADILLAC, HUNTER, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, and, most memorably for me, THE NEW WKRP IN CINCINNATI, where he played Herb Tarlek's future in-law.

And then there's the ubiquitous Doug McClure, who has a brief cameo as "Ringo Fontana", a fancy-dressing "western" TV star who Sam is assigned to protect for 2 weeks while he's visiting NYC. Clifford thought it was funny!

The print for this episode in the 2021 VEI box set seems more damaged than usual. If I assume each 1st-season story was the same length originally, this one appears to have about 45 seconds missing due to damage over the years. Oh well.

NOT one of my favorite stories, but still fun to watch. And I really do LOVE David Shire's theme song for this season.
   (8-7-2023)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  The Stage Is All The World
The Off-Broadway Murder Case   (4 of 10)

An obnoxious, egotistical stage producer is receiving death threats, which Chief Clifford is inclined to dismiss as just some kind of publicity stunt. When asked to reccomend someone for bodyguard duty, Joe Broadhurst says he's short-handed... until Sam walks in. Next thing, Sam has the unpleasant job of having to watch the man whose safety he's responsible for be rude, insulting and offensive to everyone who crosses his path, including his girlfriend. "Why do I put up with him?" she asks, and McCloud, always so insightful of human behavior, replies, "Because you still love him." But anyone watching from the outside would think it's more a question of who WOULDN'T want this guy dead.

I have to wonder how this story ever got past Glen Larson. It's more "Charlie Chan" than action comedy, in fact there's not a single action scene anywhere in the episode. McCloud uses his detective skills to look around and figure out what's really going on, making the scene where the producer sarcastically calls him "Sherlock Holmes" more appropriate than one would expect.

This was Norman Hudis' only script for the series, and I can see why. Much later, he wrote a 2nd-season BUCK ROGERS episode (another Larson series), but earlier, he'd done 6 MAN FROM UNCLEs, 4 SAINTs, and 6 CARRY ON films! You'd never make that connection, as there's almost nothing funny in this story.

Russ Mayberry does his 1st of 7 episodes as director. I've seen loads of his work, including 2 episodes of THE MONKEES, 10 of THAT GIRL, 9 KOJAKs, 2 MIKE HAMMERs, 12 MAGNUM P. I.s, 5 JAKE AND THE FATMANs, and 18 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHTs.

Richard Dawson is "Ted Callender", one of the most unlikable characters I've ever seen on TV. You wind up hoping he gets murdered by the end, but that's not how it pans out. Apparently, he was still appearing on HOGAN'S HEROES at the time he did this. In later years, he'd become known for FAMILY FEUD and THE RUNNING MAN.

Tina Sinatra is "Jennifer Houghton", Callendar's long-suffering girlfriend. She's a very attractive lady who somehow had a very short Hollywood resume.

Albert Popwell is "Gus Milner", a member of Callendar's staff. This was his 2nd McCLOUD episode, but he's no doubt better-known for 4 different DIRTY HARRY films as well as COOGAN'S BLUFF.

Murray Matheson is "Grantley", a diamond merchant who is reluctant to answer McCloud's questions. One of the more amusing moments is after he does, when Sam tell him he knows he can count on Grantley keeping their talk "confidential", throwing the man's own attitude back in his face. I'll always remember him as "Felix" on BANACEK.

Teri Garr makes her debut on the show as an un-named payroll clerk, who tries to explain to Sam where so much of his paycheck is disappearing to. It's clear she finds Sam attractive, but he fears he wouldn't be able to afford to take her out with all the payroll deductions. I think it's safe to say that the 3 different characters she played on this series should really be counted as all the same woman!

J. D. Cannon as "Chief Clifford" is given almost nothing to do in this episode, as is Terry Carter as "Joe Broadhurst", and there's virtually no hint this time around that Sam & Joe are such good friends. Years later, Glen Larson once said in an interview that season 2 had lost its way, but I'd say that started right here. It feels more "NBC MYSTERY MOVIE" than "FOUR-IN-ONE". Still, this is nowhere near as bad as the pilot movie was!

The print located for the 2021 VEI box set, as with the others from season 1, is a bit faded and has some damage in spots, but it's still infinitely better than the re-edited BUTCHER-job "Manhattan Manhunt". I'm sure I'll be watching these 6 episodes a lot in years to come, if only to make up for them being missing in action for 50 YEARS.
   (8-14-2023)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Walk In The Dark
The Central Park Stalker   (6 of 10)

Chief Clifford, in one of his sneakier moments, re-assigns McCloud from patroling a gang-infested neighborhood to training with an all-women's squad. In between flirting with not one but two lady officers, he takes part in a karate class, then while taking one of his fellow officers out for dinner, happens to run across Detective Vince Polk, who casually comments that McCloud will probably be working on a murder case--something Clifford certainly did NOT mention. When it turns out his new lady friend has volunteered to act as "decoy" for a murderous strangler, and that a longtime friend of hers was only just killed by their quarry, Sam feels she's not thinking straight, and insists on helping-- to the increasingly-angry objections of the squad leader, who puts in a formal complaint with Clifford! Despite this, Clifford is actually sympathetic, and unofficially, tells Joe to "help out". It turns out Clifford assigned McCloud to the women’s squad specifically because one member of the squad had been killed, he didn’t want it to happen again, knew Sam could help, but didn’t want to step on the toes of Sgt. Dameron (“office politics”).  What follows is a tense, moody sequence in almost pitch darkness, during which McCloud's prairie tracking skills come in handy nabbing the killer and saving a life.

This turned out to be the only episode of this season to get a special spotlight in TV GUIDE the week it aired. Looking at it now, I'm not surprised, as it was the only episode written by then-series executive producer Leslie Stevens! A far cry from his excessively-technical OUTER LIMITS scripts, this adds a lot of character to Sam, allowing him to be romantic, funny (when yodeling cowboy songs over the telephone), angry, and better at his job than his new temporary boss ever imagines.

I could have done without the Tim Morgan song "Take A Look Around", which was clearly added to pad out the timing. I believe this was the first of several such musical numbers included in various McCLOUD episodes over the course of its run. I'm gonna guess this was the work of Glen Larson, who started his career in show business as a member of the singing group The Four Preps!

Aside from regulars J. D. Cannon & Terry Carter, this episode was also the 2nd appearance of Ken Scott as Detective Vince Polk, who here is seen to be getting to be friends with McCloud long before he was joined by Detectives Grover & Simms in season 3.

Nina Foch is "Sgt. V. J. Dameron", head of the women's unit, who at first, welcomes McCloud with warmth and humor, but later becomes increasingly angry and hot-headed at his repeated independant attitude bordering on insubordination. Their interactions in this story predict the later growing irritation of Chief Clifford, who at times became quite apoplectic, despite his early admiration for McCloud's work. I'll always think of Foch mostly as the top secretary in EXECUTIVE SUITE (1954), though I first saw her on THE OUTER LIMITS episode "The Borderland"-- also written by Leslie Stevens. The other day, I was quite surprised to find her as the target of an insane strangler herself in the much-earlier film, RENDEZVOUS WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1945). That's an uncanny connection!

Ann Prentiss is "Officer Murdock", who McCloud flirts relentlessly with (at first). She stands out in my mind as a murderous KAOS agent in the 2-part GET SMART episode that guest-starred Don Rickles. The sister of Paula Prentiss, she sadly gained a different noteriety when she was convicted for assault and conpiracy to commit murder in 1997.

Susan Saint James is "Officer Keach", who McCloud gets VERY romantic with. Long a favorite of mine, I've seen her in THE NAME OF THE GAME, McMILLAN AND WIFE, and LOVE AT FIRST BITE.

One of my recent favorites, Bart Burns, is nearly-invisible in this episode as "Detective Reimer", a member of the squad backing up the "decoy" as she walks through the park at night, hoping to be attacked by a killer. Not long ago, Burns became my FAVORITE "Pat Chambers" on the 1958 MIKE HAMMER series with Darren McGavin.

I'll say it again-- it is SUCH a pleasure to be able to see these 1st-season episodes INTACT after they were missing in action for 50 YEARS.
(8-21-2023 /  revised 8-22-2023)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Our Man In Paris
The Clifford Kidnapping Case   (6 of 10)

Our favorite Chief of Detectives is snatched by a pair of crooks who wish to transport something to a man in Paris and avoid all the usual channels. Marshal McCloud, who happens to be assigned to airport duty, gets the job of accompanying one of the men, under the threat that if anything at all goes wrong, Clifford's DEAD. But since it's McCloud, he finds a way around it, first by subtly letting Joe Broadhurst know it's a life-or-death situation, then by enlisting the aid of a pretty stewardess to open the briefcase he's carrying to find out what's inside-- a million dollars in cash. Once in Paris, he's greeted by the local authorities, but soon, the man he's with pulls a gun and runs off with the briefcase! McCloud has to figure out how to locate the man the money is supposed to be delivered to, before Chief Clifford is killed back in New York.

I hadn't realized until I started watching this again uncut (after 50 years) that this was Leslie Stevens' 2nd and final script for the series. To anyone who's seen his writing on THE OUTER LIMITS, it's unmistakably his work. It's so TECHNICAL! The whole first act is filled with so much detailed information about entry permits, passports, and such, if this were a ST:TNG episode you could call it "techno-babble". Luckily, the guest-cast and the characters they play, plus the location filming, makes this a far-better story than it would seem on the surface. It's also fitting that Stevens should be the one who introduced the recurring plot device that McCloud, a marshall from New Mexico assigned to New York City, should find himself on a case in SOME OTHER country! They did at least one of these kind of stories every season after this one.

Alfred Ryder is "Mason", whose impersonation of Clifford ignores the fact that he's 6 inches too short-- something the Paris Police picked up on (eventually). I swear, I don't think I've ever seen Ryder play a character who wasn't some kind of total creep or scumbag, and this episode certainly keeps that consistent. I remember him mostly for STAR TREK ("The Man Trap") and THE OUTER LIMITS ("The Borderland"-- also written by Stevens).

Susan Strasberg is "Annette Bardege", the French stewardess who aids McCloud, and with whom she develops a mutual liking of. I've seen her in a number of things, but crazy enough, she came back to play a different character in the very next episode of McCLOUD after this!

John Van Dreelan is "Rissient", the man who holds Clifford's life in his hands via a phone call, and turns out to be a weapons smuggler. I've seen him in 2 episodes of U. N. C. L. E., 2 of VOYAGE, 2 of WILD WILD WEST, a GREEN ACRES, and a GET SMART.

Marcel Hillaire is "Inspector Prideaux", who greets first Sam, then Joe & Vince Polk, and manages to remain patient and polite despite the maddening confusion of the situation. One of the most recognizable characters actors in all of 60s TV, I'll always remember him most for 2 episodes of LOST IN SPACE and a couple of GET SMARTs. He came back 2 seasons later playing a different French Policeman. So it goes! (You'd never guess he wasn't really French, would you?)

Maurice Marsac has a tiny bit part as a "Police Official". Among the things I've seen him in were 3 episodes of THE NEW AVENGERS and an Ellen Foley NIGHT COURT episode.

J. D. Cannon doesn't get to do much as Chief Clifford in this episode, but he definitely trusts and appreciates both Sam & Joe's efforts on his behalf. I know it got hilarious later, when Clifford would increasingly have fits of anger, but myself, I prefer him when he was calm and friendly toward Sam, as he is here.

Terry Carter probably got to do more as "Joe Broadhurst" here than in the previous 5 episodes combined. As he explains to Sam when they're reunited at the story's end, "It's simple. I just listen to whatever you say-- then do the opposite." What a guy!

This was the last of the 6 one-hour "try-out" episodes on FOUR-IN-ONE. After this came NIGHT GALLERY, SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, and, the only one I've never seen, THE PSYCHIATRIST. NIGHT GALLERY would become a weekly the following season, while McCLOUD became one of the main recurring features on THE NBC MYSTERY MOVIE. But that would not debut until 11 months after this episode! Fortunately I got hooked during the summer rerun season, so I didn't have to wait that long for the next story to come along.

But in the meantime... associate producer Bill Egan would move onto THE VIRGINIAN... Leslie Stevens would do likewise, before then doing SEARCH... and Glen Larson would create ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, which became an instant hit, and remained thus until the tragic suicide of its lead actor, Pete Duel. The show didn't last long after that, and before long, Larson would make, I daresay, a triumphant return to McCLOUD, at the start of its 3rd season. In between, the 2nd season was under different management... and had a very different style and feel about it.
   (8-28-2023)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD: Encounter With Aries
McCloud “does” Columbo (5 of 10)

Sam's 1st "big city kidnapping" involves the wife of Richard Cantrell (Sebastian Cabot), who has gotten rich writing a syndicated astrology column, and who also does personal horoscopes for a large number of clients. The kidnapping occurred in front of a store where the wife was running an errand for her husband, and the wife has been left, unconscious, in an abandoned warehouse where a bomb is set to go off at 7 PM unless the husband comes up with the ransom money, which the kidnapper (Peter Haskell, a familiar face in early-70's TV) has shown up in person to collect! But after the husband goes berserk and attacks the kidnapper, sending him into a coma, McCloud begins to piece things together and suspect that the husband set the whole thing up, so he could gets his hands on his rich wife's inherited money.

After 1 short season of 60-min. episodes as part of NBC's "FOUR-IN-ONE" (which also featured "NIGHT GALLERY", "THE PSYCHIATRIST" and "SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT"), "McCLOUD" returned as part of the new "NBC MYSTERY MOVIE" cycle, which also featured "COLUMBO" and "McMILLAN AND WIFE". I got hooked on "McCLOUD" during the summer reruns of its 1st season, and was delighted to see it back, albeit in a different format. I came to love the 90-min. "MYSTERY MOVIE"s. They were very much like a revival of the "B"-movie series of the 1930's and 40's, like "CHARLIE CHAN", "THE FALCON" and "BOSTON BLACKIE". By making fewer episodes per season, each series could whittle out bad scripts, and each story had more room to develop and include more character development and humor, along with the crime and mystery angles.

While there had been 2 "COLUMBO"s before (a pilot in 1968, and a 2nd pilot in early 1971), "McCLOUD" was the only series that year that was actually having a 2nd season. But it was a strangely different 2nd year. Glen Larson, who'd overseen Season 1 (and would return for Season 3) was replaced by Dean Hargrove, and Peter Allan Fields wound up writing 5 out its 7 episodes. The 2nd season had a much more "mystery movie" feel to it-- laid back, slow-paced, relaxed (maybe too much so), with far less emphasis on action or comedy as the show had both before and after it.

But "ENCOUNTER WITH ARIES" takes that even further. For a season opener, this is not really representative of the series as a whole, and even feels a bit odd next to the other 6 this season. Sam McCloud, who we keep being told has been "assigned" to the NYC Police Dept. to "learn big city procedures", tends to bring more of his own style of intuition, initiative and lateral thinking to any situation, and is often at odds with his supervisor, Chief Clifford (the always-wonderful J.D. Cannon) for ignoring procedure en route to solving a case faster than anyone else in the department seems capable of managing.

However, in this one, he seems more dull-witted and slow of mind than usual. Of course, it's an act, but a far more pronounced one than on display in ANY other episode of the series. In short, Sam is doing a "cowboy" version of LT. COLUMBO. Peter Falk dealt with a murder passed off as a supposed kidnapping only 6 months earlier in his 2nd pilot, "RANSOM FOR A DEAD MAN". Dennis Weaver deals with a variation on that here, the difference being that the kidnap victim is still very much alive this time, though the clock is running out.

It's been pointed out by some that when some NBC exec decided that all the "MYSTERY MOVIES" should be 2 hours instead of 90 minutes (instead of only those "special" stories where the longer length was called for), that far too many of the stories felt hopelessly "padded out", and this is no doubt true, especially if some of the scripts had to be expanded after they were already written for the shorter length. I have the strongest suspicion that "ENCOUNTER WITH ARIES" was written for the 1-hour format, and then expanded when they found out it would be 90 minutes instead. Too much of it feels PAINFULLY padded out, stretched beyond endurance to fill the 90-min. slot. I guess I should be happy it wasn't stretched to fill a full 2 hours!

Joe Broadhurst (Terry Carter, another major favorite of mine) returned from the 1st season, but was only given limited screen time, and strangely, would be missing from most of this season. Thankfully, he came back for the 3rd, and had his role expanded. Although Diana Muldaur's "Chris Cauflin" would come and go (she was missing from the whole of Season 2), I can't imagine "McCLOUD" without Dennis Weaver, J.D. Cannon AND Terry Carter!

This was another rough start (for a series with one of the worst pilots I've ever seen), but as before, things would get better.
     (10-19-2012)




Just watched this one again tonight.  I kept saying to myself, outloud, "IT'S A COLUMBO!"  By the end, however, I was laughing both at the reaction of the villain ("I'd prefer to just go quietly if you don't mind") and of Chief Clifford ("I would have LIKED to have been part of your scheme, McCloud!").  Right at that moment, McCloud & Clifford really reminded me a lot of The (3rd) Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and The Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), as the Brig was always getting annoyed because The Doctor would never tell him WHAT he was up to!

After all these years (I first saw these when they were first-run-- 52 years ago) I really LOVE this show... EVEN the really "weird" 2nd season.

[profh0011]

McCLOUD: Top Of The World, Ma!
The Country Boy and The Mobster (6 of 10)

Bubba White's in town to collect ten thousand dollars. He drove all the way from Dayton Ohio with his mother (in a car--ahem-- "borrowed" from his collection agency boss), booked her into the most expensive hotel suite he could find, then went looking for the people who stiffed him his 10%. What he doesn't realize is, the man he's looking for is a high-level racketeer the NYC cops have been after for at least 7 years, and his own boss-- who works for the racketeer-- is the one who really stiffed him. No surprise-- turns out the guy's been stealing from the racketeer for 3 years!

When Bubba's (stolen) car runs out of gas, he just grabs another one... which brings him to the attention of Sam McCloud & Joe Broadhurst, assigned to stolen car detail. A young boy who saw Bubba helps point Sam in the right direction, and soon he & Joe are interviewing Mrs. White, who's worried about her son. When Sam promises her to find Bubba, Joe points out, "McCloud, you're still assigned to stolen car detail!" "He stole a car, didn't he?" (There's that lateral thinking again!)

When the investigation-- and Bubba's somewhat violent activities-- lead to mobster Jack Faraday, Captain (or is that "Chief"?) Clifford tells Sam to get back to stolen cars, since Clifford CAN'T tell the Police Commissioner the job of nailing the city's biggest racketeer has been assigned to "an exchange student from Taos, New Mexico". "Guess I'll have to make the best of it, Chief." Of course, we know what that means.

Before long, Bubba's boss, who came in at the request of the cops to pick up his car, has been found out by HIS boss, and winds up DEAD in a sleazy hotel room, as part of a frame-up to make Bubba look like the killer. But even a bullet wound in the shoulder is not enough to stop this ex-football linebacker, and, with info gathered by a photographer's model Bubba's befriended, he goes after Faraday. She winds up calling Sam, and HE arrives moments before the rest of the cops do (with warrants), in just in time to save Bubba's life.

The "laid-back" tone of the 2nd season continues here. While this story takes place in far more "gritty" surroundings than the last one did, it still has a "COLUMBO" sort of feel to it, with the focus being more on Bubba and the gangsters than McCloud and the rest of the police. Sam even goes into his "country Columbo" routine when he interviews Faraday in his fancy office, managing to get on his nerves while telling a story about a Taos crook which ends with the abrupt punchline, "They HUNG him." --just trying to shake things loose.

A lot of familiar faces in this one! You've got Robert Webber (12 ANGRY MEN, THE SILENCERS, THE DIRTY DOZEN, REVENGE OF THE PINK PANTHER) as Faraday, the main villain; Stephanie Powers (THE GIRL FROM UNCLE, HART TO HART) as Jackie Dawn, the tough-as-nails photo model; Joan Blondell (HERE COMES THE BRIDES) as Ernestine White, Bubba's Ma; Bo Svenson (WALKING TALL, Dan Curtis' FRANKENSTEIN) as Charles "Bubba" White; Vincent Gardenia (ALL IN THE FAMILY and countless guest-shots on TV shows) as Barney Sweetwater, Bubba's boss who really caused the whole problem; Milton Selzer (countless TV appearances) as Flynn, the sleazy hotel manager who tries to frame Bubba for murder; Val Avery (another longtime TV vet) as Gruber, Ed Peck (who I recognized as "Col. Fellini" in the STAR TREK episode "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"-- "I'm going to lock you up for two hundred years!!") as the bartender whose bar gets trashed by Bubba; and Antony Carbone (A BUCKET OF BLOOD, CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA, PIT AND THE PENDULUM) as Dave, Faraday's hit man.

Watching episodes from this season really brings back memories for me, of a time when it seemed TV became a haven for "kindler, gentler", more "human" TV shows. It didn't last. After Viet Nam ended and Watergate happened, it seems to me the whole mood of the country got more cynical and callous. Oh well!

Following this season, producer Dean Hargrove would move on to MADIGAN, followed by-- appropriately enough-- COLUMBO. In the years since, his credits have included PERRY MASON, FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES, MATLOCK, JAKE & THE FATMAN, and DIAGNOSIS MURDER. And to think it all started with these 7 "low key" McCLOUDs! Meanwhile, Peter Allan Fields' later work included executive story consultant on THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, RETURN OF THE SAINT (a real favorite of mine), STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION and producer of STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE.
     (10-21-2012)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Somebody’s Out To Get Jennie
McCloud and The Sensitive Girl     (6 of 10)

    Another very unusual episode begins with a man barely escaping (by accident) a helicopter explosion meant to kill him. Months later, bored with more tedious assignments in "big city law enforcement", McCloud finds himself doing "follow-up" on an insurance investigation of a business exec who was killed in a "helicopter crash". As with most COLUMBOs, the audience spends most of this story knowing more than the hero, as he slowly winds his way into the case.

    Robert Devlin (Cameron Mitchell in an unusually sympathetic role for him) ran a company that had big contracts with the military, and his sudden death had the F.B.I. investigating for months. His accountant is also believed to have made off with a pile of money. As McCloud questions insurance man Ira Mastin (Gabriell Dell), who seems overly proud of his old days as a nightclub entertainer, and retired General Ralph Touhy (Barry Sullivan), they both become concerned that under his laid-back country demeanor, that he's gotten more from reading the extensive F.B.I. reports than they'd like.

    The one wild card turns out to be Devlin's secretary, Jennie, who may have been in love with Devlin, and who seems to believe he might still be alive. A gentle, sensitive soul with her head often in the clouds, Jennie spent months in a psychiatric ward after Devlin's demise, and in the time since, has changed her name hoping to put her past behind her. But in his most gentlemanly way, Sam slowly begins to get to the truth, and unfortunately this has bad consequences as the guilty parties decide it would be best if they could find a way to drive her BACK into the hospital, for good.

    Jennie is played by Julie Sommars, and I'm pretty sure this was my first exposure to her. She returned a couple seasons later playing a very different character, but probably made her biggest dent on TV as a regular on 94 episodes MATLOCK (like this story, produced by Dean Hargrove). But it was in this story she made the biggest impression on me. How could I not fall in love with her character? Also in the cast are Priscilla Pointer as "Shirley", the flirtatious manager of an art gallery who McCloud uses to check the identity of a supposed deceased painter; I thought I recognized her, around 20 years later she played Barry Allen's mother on THE FLASH! Also, among the girls at the General's estate is Anne Randall, Playboy Playmate of the Month May 1967.

    Missing in action this time is Joe Broadhurst. If not for J.D. Cannon as Captain Clifford, Sam would almost be on his own this time out.

    I saw this when it was first-run, but had almost forgotten it by the time I taped it off THE CBS LATE MOVIE. They used a very memorable (and creepy) scene in their promos, that of a figure appearing to step right out of a painting. It's the sort of thing one might have expected on Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY, which had its 2nd season at the time this story aired.

    A major sub-plot, involving Sam going to a small town in Mexico trying to track down a man everyone else believes is dead-- based on a painting he did-- could well have been lifted from the film "THE FALCON IN Mexico" with Tom Conway. There was also a similar plot in an early episode of DANGER MAN, "View From The Villa". Clifford has his best line in the story when he tells Sam, "You've got TWO days. If you can't find him by then... keep riding south." (Don't come back now, hear?)

    McCLOUD was my FAVORITE show at the time this aired, and stayed that way right to the end of the run. The 2nd year may not be my favorite, standing out as so "different" from the other 6 seasons, but I feel they're all worth seeing. On top of anything else, they bring back powerful memories for me of a very different time in my life.
   (10-25-2012)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  The Disposal Man
Who Hired the Hit-man?     (6 of 10)

    Sam's evening with Chris Caughlin is interrupted when a low-level crook assaults him in a bar, then informs him of a "hit" planned against a prominent businessman. He later denies it, but following McCloud's instincts, Clifford assigns him to act as bodyguard. Sam soon finds himself in a viper's nest, as it seems Arthur Yerby (Patrick O'Neal) has a way of offending everyone whose path he crosses, including, it seems, every member of his family. He's like the murder victim in an Agatha Christie story, except here, McCloud is trying to prevent the murder before it happens, as well as find out who's behind it.

    Along the way Sam manages to interview a retired hit man (Arthur O'Connell), who gives him tips on how someone in that peculiar business operates.

    After the last 3 episodes, this is a real step back toward the "traditional" McCLOUD of the the 1st and all later seasons. His occasional girlfriend Chris (Diana Muldaur) is around, writing stories about him that anger his boss, and hob-nobbing with the rich and famous. Clifford gets to be angry & irate in some scenes, while clever enough to "play along" with McCloud's schemes in others. And Sam gets help from-- no, wait, that isn't Joe Broadhurst, it's Richard Thatcher! I don't know what happened to Terry Carter, but James McEachin fills in nicely. His Thatcher, while filling the slot of "helpful black detective" (I don't know what else to call it) is quite different from Broadhurst, if anything he's got a lot more "personality". 2 years later, McEachin would get his own short-lived TV series as part of the NBC MYSTERY MOVIE cycle. If "McCLOUD" was based on "COOGAN'S BLUFF", then "TENAFLY" surely was inspired by "THEY CALL ME MISTER TIBBS!" 15 years later, he could be seen semi-regularly as "Lt. Ed Brock" on the revived PERRY MASON movie series (like this episode, produced by Dean Hargrove).

    Also in the cast are comedian Jack Carter as "Frank Gordon", the crook who tips Sam to the contract; Nita Talbot as "Rosalie Hudgins", the part-time hooker who fails to take Sam's advice (I always remember her as the Russian spy on HOGAN'S HEROES); Arlene Martel as "Linda Farley", the strange, long-winded girlfriend of Frank Gordon (she's probably best remembered as "T'Pring" from the STAR TREK episode "Amok Time"); Randolph Mantooth ("EMERGENCY") as "Phillip Yerby", perpetually put down by his father; Pat Morita (HAPPY DAYS) as "Felix", the bartender at the beginning of the story; Murray Matheson (BANACEK) as "George Lincoln", Yerby's business manager; and James Olsen as "Thomas Dane", the hired killer of the story title. Olsen's had a long career playing mostly psychos and killers, this episode being a prime example, but I often remember him as the lead scientist (and hero of the film) in "THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN".
   (10-26-2012)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  A Little Plot In Tranquil Valley
"The Loved One" -- Part 2   (6 of 10)

Some people are just plain greedy. Marvin Sloan run a nation-wide chain of expensive, exclusive funeral parlors and cemeteries called "Tranquil Valley", where, for "surprisingly reasonable rates", you can be buried like a millionaire. You'd think that would be satisfy some people. So why is he ALSO in the business of hijacking medical supplies, watering them down and then shipping them to South America to sell on the black market?

Marvin's also got a problem. His wife Lucy has been nagging him for months to let her half-wit brother Ralphie (the one with the mind of a 5-year-old) join the operation, because he wants to get out of TV repair. And against all his best instincts, he agrees. You just know things are going to go bad when, with childlike glee, Ralphie, on getting a gun (gift-wrapped!) excitedly asks, "Where's the bullets? Where's the bullets?" Sure enough, during a routine hijacking at a warehouse, Ralphie, nervous and over-anxious, accidentally drops his gun in front of a security guard-- who he then proceeds to SHOOT, before being wounded himself. Now, while he's in a hospital under police guard, his sister Lucy is nagging her husband because HE let her brother get shot and beaten and arrested and what's he going to do to get him out of it? You can bet Marvin is wishing he'd gotten a divorce years ago.

So Marvin does two things. His 2 henchmen KIDNAP McCloud (the arresting officer) and demand a trade of prisoners. Meanwhile, Marvin's lawyer goes to visit Ralphie, at first mistaking him for a whiplash case. "I'm here on a MURDER charge!" "I'm sorry, I had the wrong file." After questioning his client (the guard never pulled his gun, Ralphie shot him in front of 7 witnesses, he gave the police the murder weapon), the lawyer makes an unusual proposal. "I'd like to suggest that you might consider saving yourself a lot of hassle by taking your own life." "WHAT? What kind of a lawyer ARE you??? GET OUT OF HERE!!!"

If you haven't figured out by now, this episode is more of a comedy than usual. I found myself laughing so hard at that last scene.

As usual, producer Dean Hargrove has lined up an impressive cast for this low-key loony-show. Joyce Van Patten (THE GOOD GUYS, UNHAPPILY EVER AFTER) is "Lucy", the pushy, bossy, complaining wife and overly-loyal and loving older sister. Moses Gunn (SHAFT, SHAFT'S BIG SCORE, BATES MOTEL) is "Morgan", the Shakespeare-quoting hired thug. Vic Morrow (THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, COMBAT, THE TWILIGHT ZONE movie) is "Richard", the brutal, hypochondriac sidekick. Alfred Ryder (STAR TREK: "The Man Trap") is Dudley, the chemist who branches out into a little murder on the side. Arlene Martel (STAR TREK: "Amok Time") makes her 2nd appearance in a row on the show, this time as the blonde-haired "Tour Guide" whose long-winded spiels about Tranquil Valley pepper the entire length of the episode. Bruce Kirby (COLUMBO and countless other shows) is the "PR Man" who takes photos of Marvin. Burgess Meredith (BATMAN, ROCKY, CLASH OF THE TITANS) is "Marvin", who probably brings the best performance as the story's main villain. But the kicker is Allen Garfield (THE FRONT PAGE, MOTHER JUGS & SPEED, CONTINENTAL DIVIDE) as "Ralphie", the idiot's idiot who should have stayed in TV repair.

No sign of Joe Broadhurst or Richard Thatcher in this one. I seem to vaguely remember Chris Caughlin, but it must have been a brief cameo. At least Peter B. Clifford got to make an impact, when he solemnly stands on the steps of the Criminal Courts Building and silently shakes his head "NO", knowing that by doing so he's probably sealing McCloud's death sentence.

This is just one really WEIRD story, but considering most of the NBC MYSTERY MOVIES tended to have humor alongside the drama, crime & mystery, and given that I LIKE humor with my dramas, I got a real kick out of it.
   (10-28-2012)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Fifth Man In A Strong Quartet
Classical Music, Mystery & Murder     (6 of 10)

A concert conductor is stabbed in an alley. A student of his, who had a crush on his daughter, just happens by and is accused of the killing. As McCloud investigates, he finds wildly divergent descriptions of the suspect in custody. His landlord calls him a weirdo, the lawyer helping raise funds for a music conservatory says he was potentially dangerous, but all his friends say he was utterly focused on his music and incapable of hurting a fly.

But as his investigation continues, McCloud finds something far more twisted was going on behind the scenes, involving a (supposedly) reformed mobster who's up for the job of harbor commissioner; his lawyer who (coincidentally?) is the one helping to keep the music conservatory open with "anonymous" donations, and who happens to be dating the murdered man's daughter; and how the murder was really meant to bring the conductor's brother, who's been on the run from the mob since he witnessed a hit years ago, out of hiding. (It somewhat blew my mind when this dawned on me, about a third of the way into the story.) McCloud gets somewhat reluctant help from the suspect's friends, the other 3 members of his string quartet, who all work at a deli.

As usual for this show, the cast includes an interesting assemblage of known actors and future familiar faces. This time around there's Rick Weaver (Dennis' son) is "Louis Brocco", the shy, sensitive violin player conned into being in the wrong place at the wrong time, just so he could catch a glimpse of the girl he admires. Gary Collins (THE SIXTH SENSE) is "Kevin Mallory", the "helpful" lawyer whose boss pushes him to commit murder. Neville Brand (THE UNTOUCHABLES' own Al Capone) is "Fred Schultke", the crook-turned-politico who no doubt sees the job as harbor commissioner as an open door to controlling all the narcotics coming into the city for his own profit. Alex Henteloff (the sleaze-ball attorney "Arnold Ripner" in 8 episodes of BARNEY MILLER), Richard Haydn (AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, THE SOUND OF MUSIC) and Avery Schreiber (MY MOTHER THE CAR) are the 3 musicians who wind up helping Sam clear their friend of the murder charge. Shelly Fabares (THE PRACTICE, ONE DAY AT A TIME, COACH) is "Natalie Rudell", daughter of the murdered man. Timothy Carey (HEAD, THE NEW MIKE HAMMER) is the "Apartment Manager" who paints a bad image of the murder suspect, then surprisingly seems to make a pass at McCloud (who departs rather nervously). Lilia Skala (LILIES OF THE FIELD, GREEN ACRES) is "Eugenia Rudell", the conductor's wife, who proves the be the most outspoken defender of Louis Brocco, McCloud's staunch ally and perhaps the most interesting character in the story. Dick Miller (THE PREMATURE BURIAL, ROCK & ROLL HIGH SCHOOL) is the hit-man in the "green hat". Finally, Joseph Wiseman (DR. NO, CRIME STORY) is "Paul Rudell", who is shocked and cannot believe his brother could have been killed for the reason McCloud suggests (until he finds out that's exactly the truth).


This story continues to steer slowly back toward the style of the 1st season, with more action to balance out the long stretches of mystery and character scenes.  Joe Broadhurst has a brief but important scene in the story, providiing the crucial link in McCloud's investigation between the lawyer & the ex-mobster.
   (10-30-2012)

[profh0011]

McCLOUD:  Give My Regrets To Broadway
Bullets On Broadway   (5 of 10)

The night Sam swaps duty with another officer (he wanted to see the football game, which did not thrill his date Chris Caughlin one bit), the man who took his place gets killed during a "routine" investigation. Sam, feeling guilty ("It should have been me!") gets depressed and begins to think maybe it's time he went back home to Taos.

But then he receives an anonymous note indicating the killing wasn't random, and wasn't an accident. Before long, he's looking into it, and discovers that Det. Arthur Franz, who'd been investigating Broadway producer Malcolm Garnett, abruptly closed the file on the case, shortly before his daughter was offered the lead in Garnett's next show. VERY suspicious!

The trail also leads to Louise Blanchard, an apparently wealthy widow whose husband was swindled by Garnett. She seems very nice on the surface, and appears to find Sam very attractive... until we find out that she's also having an affair with Julian Franco, the man suspected of KILLING Det. Franz! Before this complex web plays out, nearly everyone involved winds up being guilty of something, whether it's bribery or conspiracy to commit murder.

Topping the guest cast this time out is Milton Berle as "Malcolm Garnett". Though famous as a comedian, Berle has repeatedly proved over the years he can do straight drama as well, and be very convincing at it. Barbara Rush (PEYTON PLACE) is "Louise Blanchard"; Rush reminds me a bit of a 60's version of Dana Delany, in that I rank her as one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, but she always seems to be playing very disturbed or corrupt characters (as seen in her guest-shots on THE OUTER LIMITS, BATMAN, or here). Arthur Mallet (YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, HALLOWEEN, a guest-shot on WKRP IN CINCINNATI) is "Leonard", one of Louise's rich friends who married a wife much younger than he is. Reginald Owen (whose career goes back decades) is "Orville", another of Louise's friends. Vic Tayback (STAR TREK: "A Piece of the Action") is "Thomas", Garnett's bodyguard. Jeff Pomerantz (founder of "Hollywood Says No To Drugs") is "Julian Franco", the painter-sculptor boy-toy of Louise who looks like a porn star and is easily talked into committing murders for her. Lane Bradbury (several episodes of GUNSMOKE and a long list of other credits) is "Carol Harrington", the sweet, talented dancer who's shocked to learn her father may have accepted a bribe to get her a career break. (She was also the wife of actor-turned-director Lou Antonio, who helmed this episode.)

Between the film montage of McCloud roaming around NYC to the tune of Dennis Weaver warbling the song "Another Way", the scenes at the beginning and end of Sam & Chris having dinner together, and an extended "rehearsal" sequence in the theatre, this episode feels very much to me like it was written for the one-hour format of the previous year, but painfully padded out to fit the 90-min. slot.

Also, while the climax, with Sam getting the drop on a killer who was waiting to take him out, was clever, with the 2 main plots, both of which end in rather downbeat fashion, this episode may be my least-favorite of the season. Oh well. Things would change-- BIG-time-- the following year.
     (10-31-2012)