Hart to Hart (TV Series) Murder Takes a Bow (1981) User Reviews

The Harts Put on a Show within a Show

[HilaryElizabeth9 · 8/10 · 18 March 2009]

J & J have philanthropic fun by appearing in a community theatre show. IN BEL AIR?! OK, well, anyway, The cast in this one is really fun on a few levels. Unfortunately, half of them are deceased, so seeing them again is just wonderful. What a joy seeing Bibi Besch again. Then there's the whole show within the show. The community theatre play they're in is just hysterical. For me, particularly, because I'm in community theatre, myself. So all those little things that make a community theatre experience memorable and special are here. You're not gonna get it if you're not in shows like this, but that's part of the beauty of Hart to Hart: Each episode is a microcosm of whatever slice of society the Harts are visiting that week. So, in the show within the show, you have the self-important director who dreams of bigger things; the wife taking advantage of the casting couch; the stage manager; the cast members with day jobs that should absolutely keep them; and, the costumer and chief bottle-washer who has been around since the good old days and sees everything and knows where the bodies are buried. RJ & Stefanie's stage-overacting in the play is really well-done, they probably had a blast. Some other fun stuff in here, such as the bad guy looking RIGHT into the camera for three solid seconds or so while he plays a little ditty on the piano backstage. And Jerry Stiller, who barely looks more than a few years younger than he does now even tho it was nearly 30 years ago (!), trying to act like a normal guy acting like a British Detective, yet his Bronx NY accent slips thru time and again despite his best efforts. And Bibi Besch as a French Maid. And a really noticeable StuntJen. And one more thing. Ya know what I love? The Harts actually drive around in their Rolls. They don't keep it in the garage with a heavy insurance policy never to be seen by the sun. They DRIVE it and enjoy it.

Anthony Newley Acts, Directs, Sings . . .

[amorehl · 10/10 · 30 July 2023]

This is perhaps my favourite episode, with great guest actors: Anthony Newley, Bibi Besch, Jerry Stiller, Gino Conforti . . . There are no spoilers here because it is shown from the start who the murderer is: Anthony Newley. The fun is in seeing him directing the oft-trying amateur actors (with admirable patience) while more frantically trying to cover up his poisoning of the playwright by doing away with more people: Sawing through the ropes to make scenery/sandbags fall on various characters, trying to kill Jonathan with a sword while dressed in an ape costume, and trying to have one actor shoot another with real bullets in a prop gun. This part was made for Newley who was nothing if not a consumate showman. In fact, it probably WAS written for him since 6 years earlier Newley and Stefanie Powers had co-starred in a movie where Newley played a washed-up playwright. It was wonderful to see Newley in his prime again, and especially get to hear him sing a bit, even if it was only his homicidal lyrics set to 'Three Blind Mice'!

Anthony Newley

[willjohn · 4 February 2010]

Jerry Stiller was in his fifties when he appeared in this episode. What had me wondering is how they got actor/singer/songwriter Anthony Newley to appear in it. Was he already suffering with the renal cancer that killed him in 1999?

Newley achieved fame in England as a singer in the 1960s with novelty songs and plays he appeared in, after having been a stage actor from 1948 before becoming internationally famous as a film actor. His second marriage (to Joan Collins) had failed by this time.

No offense meant, but he must have been on the decline when he appeared in "Hart to Hart" and similar shows. He showed much promise earlier.