McCloud (TV Series) The Barefoot Stewardess Caper (1972) User Reviews

A lovely European jaunt

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 4 August 2015]

J.D. Cannon as Chief Clifford got some of his testiest with Dennis Weaver and Terry Carter as well when the two of them start chasing some stewardesses to Europe. Their little European jaunt sends them to London, Paris, Rome, and Monte Carlo. For the rest of us that lovely vacation package would be worth a fortune.

It all starts when Scotland Yard requests the NYPD help in regard to the murder of a stewardess in London. They want surveillance on her New York apartment. Well after finding a fortune in jewels, Dennis Weaver was not about to let this drop because he knew he was on to something big.

Weaver even gets to romance Britt Eklund one of the stewardesses doing the stealing and the smuggling. But it ends bad for her.

A nice collection of players in roles of the crooks and the law like Patrick O'Neal, Joann Pflug, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Marcel Hillaire, John Williams, and Jacques Aubuchon.

Poor Chief Clifford. He's a man who likes organization and he never did get a handle on McCloud's fly by the seat of your pants police technique (no pun intended). There's a lot less bureaucracy in Taos, New Mexico and that was what Dennis Weaver was used to. But J.D. Cannon never did learn to go with the flow.

Globetrotting with McCloud

[jjnxn-1 · 9/10 · 6 January 2015]

Fun entry in the adventures of Dennis Weaver's McCloud encapsulates most of what the series was about but with a bit of a travelogue tossed in.

On his usual gig subbing with the NYPD McCloud accidentally stumbles across a stolen cache from an international ring of jewel thieves who also happen to be stewardesses and the chase is on! While he jets from country to country in pursuit the the chief of police back home grumbles and growls amusingly.

While the story is hardly revolutionary it enables Weaver to pursue his theories across several countries, end up in the hoosegow a couple of times and for the viewer to see some exotic locations while enjoying Weaver's easy going charm and dogged efforts.

The countries are more implied than shown but what is shown is flashy and handsome and the guest cast filled with some notables of the time.

In the role of ringleader is the suave Patrick O'Neal and among his accomplices two beautiful actresses who were everywhere in the seventies, Jo Ann Pflug and consort to the stars Britt Ekland. While none of their roles require much acting they all make them more interesting through their glamour and presence.

Nothing extraordinary but a solid representation of what the series was about.

Mission: INTERNATIONAL!

[profh-1 · 7/10 · 5 February 2018]

While the 1st season of McCLOUD were one-hour episodes, and the 2nd, 90 minutes, the next 2 seasons had the flexibility to alternate between the 90-minute format and 2 hours, depending on the demands of each story. The first of the 2-hour stories proved to be the most insane and complicated yet, and involved a quartet of stewardesses who moonlight as international jewel thieves.

No less than 3 writers were involved. B.W. Sandefur came up with this very off-beat story. Because the tone of various scenes kept changing, I'm guessing producer Michael Gleason did most of the finished screenplay, while executive producer Glen Larson probably handled all the character scenes with McCloud, Clifford & Broadhurst.

Despite being assigned to New York City, each season saw McCloud traveling elsewhere. This one takes the cake, as he hits London, Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Boonville. (Oddly, the script didn't specify New York, Missouri or California!)

Chief Clifford slowly began his journey to increasing apoplexy in this episode, each time he received news on WHERE his errant exchange student wound up, though amazingly, he managed to calm down and even exude bemusement once he came face-to-face with the recurring bane of his professional life. As he points in in one scene, while Sam is behind bars, that things "don't work that way" (meaning, Sam needs to follow procedures instead of being a lone wolf), Clifford also can't help but realize that McCloud's reasoning DOES make sense-- which no doubt only adds to his recurring frustration.

There's so many twists in the plot, it's easy to see why they had to give the story an extra half-hour to unfold. By the end, I was downright exhausted! One girl gets killed while pulling a job, another turns out to be skimming items off the top for her own private retirement scheme, one of their victims is actuially broke and doesn't want his creditors finding out, the private dick he hired gets crooked ideas of his own, and another girls falls under Sam's more polite and romantic overtures.

The most tense sequence has to be when the remaining thieves decide to pull off their final job, even knowing that the cops are on to them, and, "Mission: Impossible" style, pull it off ANYWAY!!

Among the usual impressive guest cast are Patrick O'Neal (returning from the previous season, this time as a stolen jewel "fence"); JoAnn Pflug (MASH, THE NIGHT STRANGLER) as the most intense of the thieves; Britt Eklund (THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN) as the sensitive member of the gang; John Williams, Marcel Hillaire and Jacques Aubuchnon as the English, French and Monte Carlo police inspectors; and Lincoln Kilpatrick as "Calvin Jones", a musician-thief who plots a double-cross from inside the group.

One of my favorite moments is probably when Clifford asks Inspector LeLouch, "Is he under arrest?" "No..." "You're SLIPPING, McCloud!" This is not one of my favorite stories... but the bar tends to be rather high on this series, and even a mid-level episode is an impressive, amazing thing to sit through.

One of the greatest sets of female cat burglars

[shawn-jenkins91 · 10/10 · 15 February 2021]

Truly still amazed by this episode the elevator heist is my favorite so smooth and well done!