The Harts dodging bullets in romantic Frisco. Sony's Choice Collection vault of hard-to-find cult and library titles has released Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart, the fifth Hart to Hart made-for-TV reunion movie starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers, with a sad, final appearance by Lionel Stander (Sony has just recently re-released all eight of the Hart to Hart reunion movies in two handy four-volume sets). Absolutely first-rate location work, matched by an excellent supporting cast and a snappy mystery mark Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart as one of the best of the Hart reunion movies. No extras for this great-looking transfer.

In his hometown of San Francisco for a charity auction, multi-millionaire industrialist and dabbler sleuth Jonathan Hart (Robert Wagner) opts to bid on an antique gold heart-shaped locket for his gorgeous wife, Jennifer (Stefanie Powers). Inside the locket, however, Jonathan discovers a picture of none other than himself as a boy...with a picture of a little girl on the other half. An orphan who never knew his family, Jonathan is intrigued, to say the least, with this development, but he treads cautiously when he finally tracks down his long-lost aunt, Frisco tour guide Maureen Collier (Marion Ross), and her nephew, Stuart Morris (Jason Bateman), a slick, hustling, fast-talking caterer who wants to climb up into the big leagues of Frisco society. Complicating matters is a heist of gold doubloons hauled up by Captain Jeremy (John Beck), employed by one of Jonathan's scientific foundations, with thieves Sarah and Evan Powell (Wendie Malick and Michael Parks) hot on the Harts' trail to tie up all the loose ends.

Written by Rob Gilmer (Dear Prudence and other TV work like Magnum, P.I., Knight Rider, and Scarecrow and Mrs. King), and directed by Kevin Connor (lots of childhood favorites like From Beyond the Grave, The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth's Core, Motel Hell, The House Where Evil Dwells), Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart is a super-smooth entry in the Hart to Hart made-for-TV reunion series. If you're a fan of the original show, you can pretty much guess that the producers (which include the two lead stars), aren't going to mess around with Jonathan's origin story, so the mystery isn't whether or not Marion Ross is Jonathan's sister, but rather who's behind the scam and why. And to Gilmer's credit, he keeps the proceedings nicely tangled so we can't quite get a handle on who's dirty and who's clean. Even better is director Connor's absolutely first-rate use of San Francisco locales, giving Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart a big-screen, dreamy look, courtesy of cinematographer Douglas Milsome, that mostly avoids the clichéd Frisco haunts: no Fisherman's Wharf here (there's a wonderful shot of Wagner and Powers walking under umbrellas on a dark, rainy afternoon that perfectly captures how romantic Frisco can seem on a day like that...if you're rich and good-looking, that is). Connor keeps everything light and brisk, moving effortlessly from inconsequential scene to inconsequential scene: the perfect recipe for escapist TV fare.

Obviously, Powers and Wagner are great together, as expected, but this time out, they have a hefty back-up cast adding a lot of the fun. Fast-talking Jason Bateman, injecting some much needed youthful energy into the Hart reunion formula, is perfectly cast as the slick, smarmily ingratiating hustler who can't keep his mouth shut. Marion Ross is exactly the kind of warm, friendly sister you'd want to newly discover, while pros Pat Morita and Edward Mulhare both have funny little cameos (not sure what someone like John Beck, though, is doing here in a nothing role). Real-life step-daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner is cute and charming, too, in a small role (the shadow of her mother's face hauntingly appears whenever the lighting is right), while Michael Parks pretty much steals the show as a gum-chewing strong arm who's not too bright, with Wendie Malick offering good contrast as his snotty, exasperated foil (when Parks' gum falls out of his mouth in one scene, I hit the floor―too bad they didn't let him put it back in, to top the gag). And watch for Donald Trump in a very funny bit right at the tail end. As for the great Lionel Stander (I recently caught him in A Star is Born: he was fantastic), there's not much to say for his final screen appearance. Obviously ill, he isn't given much to do here; his loss would leave a hole in the franchise that would prove impossible to fill.

The DVD:

The Video:
The full-screen, 1.33:1 transfer for Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart, as with all the Hart reunion movies, looked just fine: solid color, a sharpish image, and no compression issues to speak of here. Not bad at all.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English stereo mix was fine, with little in the way of directional effects, but with clear dialogue and a healthy re-recording level. No subtitles or closed-captions available.

The Extras:
No extras for Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart, not even a menu: you put it in, and it immediately starts.

Final Thoughts:
A stylish, snappy entry in the series. Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart benefits from a nicely involved mystery, fabulous Frisco location work, the charming presence of Stefanie Powers and Robert Wagner, of course, and bang-up work from the supporting cast, particularly Jason Bateman and Michael Parks. I'm highly recommending Hart to Hart: Secrets of the Hart.