Details of what happened during filming. 

Fun and laughter.

Robert Wagner, Lionel Stander, and two Hart to Hart guest stars, all gussied up in dinner jackets, are clustered in front of a richly carved fireplace. The camera is rolling. There is a pause in their dialogue, during which Stefanie Powers is meant to come down the set's handsome staircase, walk briskly to the gentleman and deliver a line.

She descends smartly but, when her slender Italian pumps make contact with the polished wood floor, there is a startling squish, squish, squish sound, more appropriate to the descent of Jabba the Hut than Jennifer Hart. Stefanie's concentration starts to crack, and she erupts in a cascade of giggles. The cigar-chewing director begins to laugh, as does the actress. Wagner and Stander turn to look at the red-faced actress. "Can we get on with this?" inquires Wagner with pseudo archness , before a smile begins to slide across his face. Stefanie hikes back up the stairs, and the director tells her he can erase the sound on the audio tape. Its take two.

Again Stefanie descends the staircase. This time everyone is waiting for the squish, squish, and when it comes the group breaks up again. Its now six in the evening, and almost everyone has been at it since day break. Sometimes tired begets silly"....... 1

 

Organised chaos

"One of the most elaborate Hart to Harts yet is in its last three days of production. They've just come back from Vail, Colo.,.....The next days shooting is an intricate sequence at the ski lodge, with the cast's five principals and a large number of extras assembled. Behind the scenery, it looks like a civil-defense emergency: the young dancing extras, vainly fighting the old ennui, litter the carpeted backstage flat on their stomachs....." 2

 

A visit with RJ - some time in his trailer  

George is a PR man, and he's taking me to lunch with Robert Wagner. It's pouring with rain as we pull into the Burbank Studios, where Wagner's hit series Hart to Hart (ABC, CTV) is in production. George gets as close as he can to Wagner's luxury trailer and parks awkwardly, with the rear of his car jutting into traffic.

A sign on Wagner's door declares: "Under No Circumstances Disturb Me". George knocks and enters. Wagner is on the telephone and he bids entry. George disappears.

All around the trailer are pictures of the Wagner family.... He's seen me looking at the pictures on the wall but chooses to remark on the trailer itself, which has the look of luxury you would expect from a man who earns an estimated $2 million a year.: "My wife and I designed it four years ago, he says. " We have all sorts of suspension on it, and CBs and telephones and stereos. It's great, because we use it on location a lot for story meetings and production sessions."

[After the interview] an assistant director comes to the trailer to tell Wagner that he should dress for work. Wagner kibitzes with her for a moment then she leaves. "A trainee" he says "Cute".

Wagner goes into his bedroom to change his clothes for the next scene, and when he emerges, George, who had left with the trainee assistant director, returns to the trailer."Whenever I see you, you are always in pajamas" says George. Wagner sighs in an expression of mock exasperation; "This is a romantic comedy, George. A romantic comedy. That means pajamas." 3 (Thanks to Betty for the article.)

On the set in London

The scene: Lambeth Pier on the south bank of the muddy Thames. David Warner, playing a heavy-weight hoodlum is about the throw Robert Wagner's Jonathan Hart into the river. This does not seem like a good idea to Hart, especially when he is wearing a natty white coat.

It does not seem like a good idea to Wagner, either, but Warner wins the battle and splash... the man in the white coat is floundering in the water, struggling to reach the steps.

Bedraggled, soaked, streaked with mud, he stumbles up to safety with the stench of the river reaking from his clothes. The white coat is not so natty now.

Neither is Rocky Taylor, the stuntman who took the dunking in place of Robert Wagner in the shooting of Two Harts are better than one.

But when the episode is screaned on ITV later in the year, it will be Wagner who is seen stepping, dripping from the top step. In fact, he got little more than the soles of his feet soaked by the Thames, the rest of the water comes sparkling clean and fresh from a near-by tap.

And by the time he has walked two yards from the bank his hair is immaculate again... thanks to the prop man and a can of hairspray.

Wagner and co-star Stefanie Powers were in England to film two episodes of the series. Two Harts are better then one is a flash-back to seven years ago when the screen husband and wife met in London. Jonathan Hart was in London on a business trip and o Jennifer was a reporter chasing him for a story.

Guest stars Ron Moody and David Warner were chasing him too, with more murderous things in mind.

For authencity the film crew turned the clock back. All the cars used, including the Rolls Royce and the polic cars were vintage 1976. So was Stefanie's hair-do - a dated bouffant. Even the telephone boxes were changed to suit the period.

But people who know their London will spot a minor historical descrepencay. The riverside pub they use - The Founder's Arms- wasn't built until 1980.

When it came to proposing to Jennifer, Jonathan did it with typical panache... a banner reading "Will you marry me?" was strung between the towers of London Bridge.

But it wasn't all work for Wagner and Stefanie. They took time out to meet their fans and Elton John, a firm friend of both stars." 4 (Thanks to Coral for the article.)


Jennifer's wardrobe

Stefanie said "I like Jennifer Hart, who is a woman similar to me, but not exactly like me. I like the fact that she is an independant woman with a career. But I don't like some of her clothes." What she means is that she would rather wear jeans and shirts than the clothes Jennifer wears.

But about Jennifer Hart's wardrobe, they're all designer labels and they're the property of the production company. To make Jennifer's character more realistic, she actually wears each outfit more than once, and she does wear them well, adding to the glossy look of the show.5