Miss Undercover 2 (2005)

Miss Undercover 2: Directed by John Pasquin. With Sandra Bullock, Regina King, Enrique Murciano, William Shatner. After Heather Burns (Cheryl Frasier) and Stan Fields (William Shatner) are kidnapped, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) goes undercover in Las Vegas, Nevada to find them.

“Anthony Franciosa got off to dazzling start as a film actor with u0026quot;A Hatful of Rainu0026quot; (recreating his Broadway role and getting an Oscar nomination), u0026quot;A Face in the Crowdu0026quot;, u0026quot;The Long, Hot Summeru0026quot;, and u0026quot;Careeru0026quot;. At times Franciosa was almost capable of a Brando-like intensity. He could have been a great Sonny or Michael in u0026quot;The Godfatheru0026quot;, if he had been a few years younger.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLike Ben Gazzara (who co-starred with him on Broadway in u0026quot;A Hatful of Rainu0026quot;), Franciosau0026#39;s film career petered out quickly and he turned to television, first with u0026quot;Valentineu0026#39;s Dayu0026quot; (1964) and then with u0026quot;Name of the Gameu0026quot; (1968-71). u0026quot;Name of the Gameu0026quot; was a series with enormous potential but the execution was only slightly above average. Franciosa fought with the producers to improve the quality and eventually quit or was fired.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBen Gazzara wisely didnu0026#39;t do any more series after the fine u0026quot;Run For Your Lifeu0026quot;, but Franciosa returned for a third try with u0026quot;Searchu0026quot; (1972) and a fourth time with u0026quot;Matt Helmu0026quot; (1975).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMatt Helm is a spy in a series of admired novels by Donald Hamilton, and in a series of unadmired movies starring Dean Martin.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor the series they turned Helm into a Los Angeles private detective, which seems reasonable enough. Helm worked for a beautiful blond attorney named Kronski (played by Laraine Stephens of u0026quot;Brackenu0026#39;s Worldu0026quot;). Helm and Kronsksi were in love. Gene Evans (u0026quot;My Friend Flickau0026quot;, u0026quot;The Steel Helmetu0026quot;) played Mattu0026#39;s friend on the force.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe show was developed for television by Sam Rolfe (u0026quot;The Man From UNCLEu0026quot;, u0026quot;Have Gun, Will Travelu0026quot;). The executive producer was David Gerber (u0026quot;Police Storyu0026quot;), who was lucky enough to be married to Laraine Stephens.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHelm was somewhat reminiscent of Richard Diamond. Helm had a phone service operator named Gertrude, similar to Diamondu0026#39;s Sam. Helm was a brash, playboy type who lived the high life and didnu0026#39;t take anything seriously. Helm lived in a beautiful California house with lots of wall to wall glass. He drove a cool convertible.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe most memorable scene of the series had a gangsteru0026#39;s girl friend suggestively licking an ice cream cone while Matt tried with difficulty to concentrate on talking to the gangster. Matt later went and had an ice cream cone of his own.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis show had no ambition to be anything but light-weight entertainment, and it was modestly successful at that. But Franciosa was an actor with greatness in him, and this seemed like a waste of his talent. If he was frustrated with the quality of u0026quot;Name of the Gameu0026quot;, he must have been very depressed with this effort. Franciosa got into a fist fight with episode director Richard Benedict, which must have been an indication of the tension on the set and Francisosau0026#39;s general unhappiness with the direction of his career.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDoing good work in drama series in the 1970u0026#39;s seemed almost impossible. The only truly good drama series I remember from the 70u0026#39;s are u0026quot;Lou Grantu0026quot; and u0026quot;Police Storyu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNine years later Franciosa came back for one more series: u0026quot;Finder of Lost Lovesu0026quot; (1984). Even in mediocre material, Franciosa was always a watchable, lively presence. He never stopped trying.”