The Return of Sam McCloud

"McCloud" used to be one of my favourite series on TV, the heartwarming bumblings of the "seconded" New Mexico innocent abroad, or rather, in the New York jungle, somehow he always seem to come out on the winning side and delights us with the folksy turns of country people. The trio of McCloud, Chief Clifford and Joe Broadhurst as sidekick form the same buddy ensemble as, say Captain Kirk, Spock and the Doc in another series. The net effect is that they eventually worm themselves into our hearts and follow their every adventure and interchange with great interest.

This film, the return of McCloud, should have, I suspect, been quietly shelved or distributed only among fans and devotees of the series as it is I am afraid very poor; the plot is rudimentary, the parts sketchy and incomplete, and you have to squirm at times, it is so embarrassing. But all is forgiven, when you see them together, even Joe Broadhurst, being used as a sidekick once again,(he calls Clifford "Chief" even though he is now Commissioner in New York and his underling asks him about it - a delightful instance!) And the incapacitated Clifford asking McCloud to leave him to his fate - ("And that's an order!")

So, in spite of all the weaknesses, I enjoyed it very much and added the taped-from-TV copy to my McCloud collection!