Hart to Hart Returns

Old Air Force buddy Bill McDowell (Mike Connors) wants self-made multi-millionaire Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) to buy his massive aeronautics laboratory. Defense contracts are drying up, and McDowell thinks it's time to transition to peace-time applications for his company's products; a transition he doesn't think his tech-savvy son, Peter (Lance Guest), is capable of running. Like any good businessman, Jonathan begins his homework on McDowell Aviation, but when acquisitions/merger researcher Eric Hayden (Brian Reddy) winds up dead, Jonathan's poking around in McDowell's army contracts begins a series of frame-ups that could cost the mystery-hound Harts their lives.

And Jonathan's wife, gorgeous freelance writer Jennifer Hart (Stefanie Powers), is working on an article about Dr. Paul Menard (Ken Howard), of the World Team Medical Organization, a quasi-military/U. N. unit that drops doctors into troubled political hot spots all over the globe.

Hart to Hart Returns ably recreates the lighthearted charm of the original show, particularly when chemistry-loaded Wagner and Powers are on screen, however it's not as striking as the actual TV series. It takes some time to pick up, but on the whole it's a decent and watchable mystery, and is aided by a solid supporting cast and typically lush production values.

I've never seen an episode from the television series, but still wanted to check out the films that followed it - this is the first of eight (!).

'Hart to Hart Returns' gives me split feelings. The opening chunk is very boring and rather tiresome, there's literally a set of three or four consecutive scenes at one point which are just the two leads having a kiss. There's a lot of filler at the start, is what I'm saying.

However, I found myself fairly - if only minorly - enjoying the back end of the film when the mystery elements start kicking in. I'm not saying it's an unpredictable second half but it's alright to watch unfold. It ends up being a marginally interesting story. Not enough to make up for the slow start, mind.

As for the cast - average. Stefanie Powers is the pick, though is obviously closely followed by co-star Robert Wagner. Lionel Stander is likeable in his role, he has an amusing scene featuring Freeway the dog and an estate agent - arguably the scene of the film.

Onto the next one!