News:

PRODUCERS & OTHER FORUMS SITES: Please note - you MUST HAVE A RECIPROCAL LINK back to this site is you wish to ADVERTISE your site on this forum. If you do not have a link back to us, we will remove your posts with immiediate effect - 25th April 2010

Hart to Hart Catfight

  • 8 Replies
  • 3951 Views
*

Offline biancabarclay

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 98
Hart to Hart Catfight
« on: July 30, 2021, 06:34:52 PM »
There were a few short catfights at the end of various episodes of the TV show Hart to Hart, usually when Mr Hart fought with a villain, and the villainess went to retrieve his dropped gun, only to be pounced on and disarmed by Jennifer Hart. And there were a few episodes where the villainess was about to get to the gun, but where Jennifer stopped her in other ways. One such episode is Death in the Slow Lane, where she sprays the villainess in the face with liquid from a power jet, causing her to drop the gun. The build up and scene starts at 45:40 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEwoSWEXAg8

Here's an alternative ending that I wrote for someone who liked the Hart to Hart catfights, describing what might have happened if there'd been a catfight in skirts and heels:

Hart to Hart Catfight

As Jonathan Hart powered into the man holding him and Jennifer at gunpoint, the blonde spy gasps in panic. If she and her husband can take possession of the car and permanently dispose of these two interfering witnesses, they'll get clean away, and complete their espionage mission, leading to promotions and other rewards from their paymasters. But if they're caught, it's going to be life in prison, given that they shot the car dealer who sold the Harts the vehicle. The blonde spy eyes her husband's gun on the stone floor of the garage, dropped after Mr Hart slammed into him - the two men now trading punches and struggling some distance away, up against the wall on the other side of the garage. The icy blonde glances briefly at Mrs Hart, then steps quickly towards the fallen gun and scoops it up. But Jennifer Hart reacts quickly, knowing her life is at stake, as this murdering blonde clearly plans to kill her, then kill Jonathan. Even as the villainess raises the weapon to fire, the feisty and determined Jennifer powers into her, simultaneously grabbing her wrist and forcing the blonde's arm up as she fires, the shot going harmlessly into the ceiling. The blonde screams in shock and rage as Jennifer tackles her down, knocking her backwards, both women crashing into two industrial-sized drums of engine oil as they fall, the sticky black contents spilling onto the floor.

Screaming in shock and rage as Jennifer tackles her down and gets her on her back in the ever-growing pool of black engine oil, the murderous blonde tries to aim her gun at Jennifer, but Mrs Hart still has her wrist pinned hard and tight in her hand, now lying on top of the downed spy, slamming her hand on the hard stone floor and twisting her wrist savagely, so the villainess loses her grip on the weapon. Screaming in fury, eyes blazing with hate, the blonde rolls over, throwing Jennifer off, and briefly getting on top of her, but Jennifer does the same, and the two women roll over and over in the slippery pool of black engine oil that's spilled out of the overturned drums. Jennifer and the blonde spy struggle furiously and desperately, in a sweaty, oily tangle, hitting, slapping, scratching, spitting, biting, choking and pulling hair, raking each other with their well-manicured nails, fingers tugging at each other's dresses, shoulder straps snapping, leaving them both semi-naked as their dresses are ripped and torn away over the course of the next few minutes.

Gasping with exertion and screaming insults at each other, the two women struggle on the floor, both losing their high heeled shoes as they roll over and over, their oily, sweaty bare legs tangling and kicking as they roll - slipping and sliding in the oil. Bras are torn away, and oily bare breasts occasionally brush or grind together as first one woman then the other is on top as they roll over and over on the floor, slipping and sliding off each other, the sweat and the oil making it nearly impossible for either woman to get a firm grip on the other. Occasionally one woman makes a lunge for the gun, only to be dragged back by the other, or have it wrestled from her grasp.

With a scream of fury, the panicking and increasingly fearful blonde spy catches Jennifer with a savage blow that knocks her backwards. The exhausted blonde crawls across the floor and pounces on the gun, on her knees, fumbling with it in frustration as she tries to grip it in her oily hands. Sobbing with rage and with murder in her eyes, she slowly gets to her feet, facing Mrs Hart, glaring at her opponent, bringing the gun up to fire. Jennifer is standing a few feet away from the rising blonde crook, with one of the toppled drums of engine oil right in front of her, now nearly empty, but still quite heavy. Placing a shapely bare foot firmly on it, Jennifer kicks with all her might, rolling the oil drum into the blonde, who screams in shock and panic, falls forward over it, landing heavily, ending up face down in the oil, losing her grip on the gun. Jennifer scoops up the weapon and sharply clubs the sobbing blonde on the side of the head with it, as the dazed and sobbing spy tries to get to her feet. The blonde slumps back into the oil and Jennifer, breathing hard, rolls her onto her back and sits astride her, straddling her, pinning the blonde spy down.

Jennifer immediately sees that the blonde is out of it: exhausted from the desperate life-or-death struggle, the wind knocked out of her after her heavy fall, and dazed by being clubbed with the gun, the blonde spy is flat on her back in the oil, only semi-conscious. Her body is limp under Jennifer's, her eyes glazed and struggling to focus. Her nerve has gone, and she's utterly defeated, a look of utter despair coming over her face as she realizes her situation. Realizing this, and having taken possession of the gun, Jennifer gets up to check on Jonathan, only to see that he's stumbling in from an adjacent room, having obviously got the better of the male spy. Despite his concern for Jennifer, he soon sees that he has nothing to worry about.

Astonished and proud, Jonathan sees his wife standing over the defeated blonde, holding her in check with the gun, both women oily, sweaty, scratched, bruised and barefoot, clad only in panties and a few strips of their ruined dresses. The dazed blonde is on her knees, crawls a few feet cross the floor, then slowly gets to her feet, eyes wide in a mix of shock, rage, humiliation and fear, her body shaking with sobs, knowing she's facing a life sentence as a result of being disarmed, overpowered and defeated by the glamorous Mrs Hart, who she'd contemptuously written off as a spoiled rich bitch who wouldn't give her any trouble.

*

Online Tiberius J.C.

  • God Member
  • *****
  • 263
  • Profile pic: James Mason as Tiberius in "A.D."
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2021, 09:23:00 AM »
Your version of the ending's a thousand times better than the original. Why, in the original, when she'd gained possession of the gun, did Jennifer toss it to her husband (as though she didn't know how to use it) when he was in no position to catch it? An utterly stupid thing to do and a winning advantage was lost.
That was the problem with this series. They tried to make her a heroine and a wimp at the same time.
Now your Jennifer Hart, on the other hand, is what she is and isn't ashamed of it. In a life-or-death situation (for her husband as well as herself), when she scoops up the gun, instead of tossing it away with a "I'm-just-a-poor-little-woman-I-wouldn't-possibly-know-how -to-use-one-of-these", she KOs her adversary with it, and then goes to see how the boys are doing, which was the only logical thing to do.
Pity, as I was rather enjoying the image of her sitting astride that smug blonde murderess and holding the gun on her.
You should be a fight choreographer Bianca B. You have a definite talent for it!
« Last Edit: July 31, 2021, 09:24:23 AM by Tiberius J.C. »

*

Offline biancabarclay

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 98
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2021, 06:30:15 PM »
Your version of the ending's a thousand times better than the original. Why, in the original, when she'd gained possession of the gun, did Jennifer toss it to her husband (as though she didn't know how to use it) when he was in no position to catch it? An utterly stupid thing to do and a winning advantage was lost.
That was the problem with this series. They tried to make her a heroine and a wimp at the same time.
Now your Jennifer Hart, on the other hand, is what she is and isn't ashamed of it. In a life-or-death situation (for her husband as well as herself), when she scoops up the gun, instead of tossing it away with a "I'm-just-a-poor-little-woman-I-wouldn't-possibly-know-how -to-use-one-of-these", she KOs her adversary with it, and then goes to see how the boys are doing, which was the only logical thing to do.
Pity, as I was rather enjoying the image of her sitting astride that smug blonde murderess and holding the gun on her.
You should be a fight choreographer Bianca B. You have a definite talent for it!


Thanks. I'm glad you liked my alternative ending. It wasn't exactly a full story (like my Film Noir Catfight one, in this same sub-board), but I think it turned out quite well.

And yes, I strive for the sort of realism and continuity that wasn't always there in the Hart to Hart TV catfights. So while - in my story - I see the attraction of Jennifer pinning the blonde spy for longer (like the post-KO pin in Film Noir Catfight), realism demanded that she finish things as quickly as possible, then go to help Jonathan, knowing her having the gun could be decisive. I suppose I could have written a scenario where Jonathan knocks out the male spy and comes in while Jennifer is still straddling and pinning the blonde villainess, but perhaps I'll save a longer pin for a more detailed Hart to Hart story!

Incidentally, the tie-in book (Hart to Hart: Talent for Adventure, by Roger Bowdler) describes a couple of catfights, one in Ex-Wives Can Be Murder, and the other in 'Tis The Season To Be Murdered. The latter is quite catty, though there's no real fight in the TV episode - just a little grabbing.

I think the fight in Max's Waltz is the best of the Hart to Hart TV series fights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pjd2zTW4vs

*

Offline Big Easy Jim

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • 39
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2021, 10:10:54 PM »
My Brother  worked on the set as lighting. He told me that Robert  Wagner and Stephanie  Powers were just real  hard to work with and treated everybody  on the set  like shit.  Worst series  he ever worked on.

*

Offline CoffeeMug

  • God Member
  • *****
  • 191
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2021, 01:02:14 AM »
Well there is a decent chance Robert Wagner murdered his wife, so that scans.

Also, I'm definitely intrigued by this idea to take "what could have been" moments from movies/TV/etc and write them up as story excerpts.

*

Offline Hammer48

  • God Member
  • *****
  • 172
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2021, 09:45:19 PM »
There's certainly plenty of potential to be found in older television shows. This thread reminds me of seemingly countless hours spent as a teenager  suffering through shows like the Dukes of Hazzard, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeanie and, yes, Hart to Hart, and yearning for a catfight to break out. Although  I'm hesitant to dive, after sooo many years, into the way back machine myself the fantasy remains a compelling one.

*

Offline sinclairfan

  • God Member
  • *****
  • 4668
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2021, 01:52:49 AM »
This thread reminds me of seemingly countless hours spent as a teenager  suffering through shows like the Dukes of Hazzard, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeanie and, yes, Hart to Hart, and yearning for a catfight to break out. Although  I'm hesitant to dive, after sooo many years, into the way back machine myself the fantasy remains a compelling one.

Brady Bunch had an episode where Peter had to fight a school bully.  Wished it had been Marcia or Jan.

*

Offline biancabarclay

  • Senior Member
  • ****
  • 98
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2021, 03:03:15 AM »
There's certainly plenty of potential to be found in older television shows. This thread reminds me of seemingly countless hours spent as a teenager  suffering through shows like the Dukes of Hazzard, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeanie and, yes, Hart to Hart, and yearning for a catfight to break out. Although  I'm hesitant to dive, after sooo many years, into the way back machine myself the fantasy remains a compelling one.

As you may know, there were catfights in several Hart to Hart episodes (e.g. Max's Waltz and Ex-Wives can be Murder) and 2 or 3 Dukes of Hazzard episodes, including a mudfight between Daisy Duke and a fleeing villainess who she tackles down. Quite good, though it would have been better if the bad girl had been younger and dressed more like Daisy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfTjpP8XjHs

*

Online Tiberius J.C.

  • God Member
  • *****
  • 263
  • Profile pic: James Mason as Tiberius in "A.D."
Re: Hart to Hart Catfight
« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2021, 07:26:02 AM »
Looking at those old clips and comparing them with what's available today, it's astonishing how much things have changed. Look at this fight from a Turkish soap opera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QR7jfKWMjQ
Different times? It's a different universe!