A Cowboy in Paradise
Just
before presenting a rackets case, Chief Clifford goes to Hawaii for a police
conference. Taos sends McCloud, too, and the Marshal is obliged to dragoon a
vacationing N.Y. policewoman when the Chief is set up on a murder charge.
Five-O Country
The
script pays homage to Hammett: “You’re a very resourceful man,” says Edgar
Hamilton (Richard Denning) to McCloud, after the Marshal has fought his way
through a passel of thugs to speak to Mrs. Hamilton, who was engaged to Chief
Clifford twenty-eight years previously.
Hamilton
runs a sugar plantation, “owns the docks,” keeps his wife under wraps, and is
running for Senator. In one of several homages to Hawaii Five-O, McCloud
commandeers an outrigger canoe to reach the Hamilton yacht (later, on a
familiar stretch of beach, he confronts a Chief of Detectives at the end of his
rope).
“Before
you know it, they own you,” says a crooked cop.
Al
Moana, “Mr. Hawai’i,” is a very popular entertainer with interesting
connections up and down the social scale.
It’s
revealed that Chief Clifford was a naval rating during World War II, and spent
90 days in the brig unjustly.
Louise
Lasser’s beautiful performance underplays her jokes and overplays her
plainness. Don Ho gives a generous sampling of his lounge act (or something
similar). James Gregory heads a batch of conventioneers, Martha Hyer is the
two-faced Mrs. Hamilton, and Nephi Hannemann is a finely irascible Honolulu
detective.
Paris’s
direction is fast, frisky, faultless, and complements the sparkle of the
script. There is a notable double coda of high angles on Waikiki.
|
Louise Lasser Sergeant Maggie Philbin James Gregory Dave Harmon Martha Hyer Peggy Hamilton Don Ho Al Moana Richard Denning Edgar Hamilton Nephi Hannemann Lieutenant Kelani Robert M. Luck Bill Wrigley Bob Basso Alan Davis Elithe Aguiar Mara Karen Klein Stewardess Alan Naluai Carter, the Chauffeur |
Written by James Sangster Directed by Jerry Paris |
38002, 1.20.74
Now here’s to the Golden Rule—
Here’s to the silver sea—
Mostly here’s a toast
To you all and me.
—“Tiny Bubbles” (Sung by AL MOANA.)
(Riding horses at sunup on the beach.)
SGT.
PHILBIN: McCloud?
McCLOUD:
(Dully.) Uh-huh.
SGT.
PHILBIN: Have you heard of the, um, New Morality?
McCLOUD: Uh-huh.
AL MOANA: (Onstage with audience members.) Grandma,
you come with me, you’re going to do the hula now. OK? You’re supposed to say
no, Grandma. Stand behind me and put your hands on my hips. Underneath my coat
on my hips. My hips are lower down, Grandma! Don’t fool around under there! ...Grandpa,
take her home, she’s ready.
LT. KELANI: Who goes to a motel with a sexy lady
to watch television?
McCLOUD: Well,
beats watching it alone.
McCLOUD: Looks like a nice spread.
SGT.
PHILBIN: (Laughs.) You know, McCloud, if it weren’t for you, someone might
be saying that about me right now.
McCLOUD: Hey, that sounds romantic, doesn’t it.
SGT.
PHILBIN: It does sound romantic, doesn’t it? A New York girl on a
floating luau.
PEGGY HAMILTON: I’m sorry, Mr. McCloud, but it looks
like you’re on the wrong track. My husband would go a long way to protect his
name and privacy, but not all the way to murder.
McCLOUD:
Well,
maybe somebody just went a little bit farther than your husband intended.
AL MOANA: She’s an islander too, McCloud. I don’t think you’re
going to get anything out of her.
McCLOUD: Maybe.
But sometime, somewhere down the line, somebody’s gonna open up.
CHIEF CLIFFORD: Oh, I imagine there are a lot of
people who would like to see me locked up, but most of them are probably in New
York.
McCLOUD: You got it?
SGT.
PHILBIN: I’ll do it. But I don’t got it.
McCLOUD: Just do
it.
McCLOUD: Ain’t exactly karate, but it keeps me out of trouble.
PEGGY HAMILTON: The life I’m leading now is one
giant deception. But it’s all I’ve got.
AL MOANA: You’re right. You’re right, McCloud. I’m a singer, I’m
not a shooter. I found that out from the boys in Las Vegas at the tables. Never
play games with the big boys, man. They’re bad winners.
LT. KELANI: Aloha
McCLOUD: Aloha.
LT.
KELANI: Aloha.
SGT.
PHILBIN: See you later.