Back to the Streets of San Francisco

Karl Malden, born Mladen George Sekulovich in 1912, was one of the finest character actors of his generation. The people who know him at all know him from being the commercial pitchman for American Express. Although he appeared on the stage and in the movies -- his big-screen career stretched from 1940 through 1987, with two Oscar nominations and one win -- his homely, broken face and straightforward delivery were also on show for six years in the TV show THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO. There, paired with Michael Douglas as two police inspectors, he was nominated four times for an Emmy as Best Leader Actor in a Dramatic Series. Alas, STREETS was a well-regarded show, but its numbers were never great and he never won.

Twenty years after the show's debut, this movie was made. In it, time has passed and Malden (80 years old at the time of the broadcast) is now a police captain, dealing with the changes that time has wrought. He has to make recommendations as to which cop is to be promoted to Inspector, and which to the higher-ranking lieutenancy. One is Conor O'Farrell, a computer-smart man, and the other is Debrah Farentino, who Malden thinks is too hot-headed.

There's also a mystery to solve, when Michael Douglas' character turns up missing, and then dead.

I would like to rate this higher, but despite Malden's vigor and fine acting, and some good playing by the younger actors, it's a by-the-numbers effort, with the stakes raised through the this-time-it's-personal trope. It's still a solid TV movie, and it looks like an attempt to revive the series, with Malden in a senior role, and the two youngsters showing off their different personalities. It might have made a good series.

When I saw this crop up in my TV listings it fell onto my 'must see' list as I became an avid fan of the original show on cable reruns.

To be honest, this had all the ingredients of a truly dreadful film. Made for TV, based on a twenty year old theme, bringing back one aging star to reprise his role and trying to explain away the absence of the other who wouldn't lower himself after achieving massive Hollywood success.

This is probably why I was amazed to find it an engaging and truly enjoyable film that captured the spirit of the old series really well. The absence of Douglas was explained with some plausibility and Malden's performance really showed the pedigree and experience of this much underestimated actor.

It's a good film that's worth watching if it should appear on your schedules, and if you were a fan of the old series I think it's worth positively seeking out. My closing opinion, I think that when Douglas saw the finished film (and I'm sure he did) then he probably would have wished that he had put at least a cameo appearance in.

I was excited to see this television movie because, in a sense, I was personally involved in the original series. I provided my own personal Porsche, a 1973 Targa, as Steve Keller's personal car for the last two years of the series. I was totally surprised when they made the TV movie to learn that Steve Keller still drove a 1973 Porsche Targa. Karl Malden even had a line in the movie about it. An aide said that Steve drove a 1973 Porsh, sic, and had the license number. Karl dismissed him with, "I know the car." Later it was fished out of the bay, but I was surprised that the car they pulled out was a silver Targa, not the Agate Brown Metallic one that he drove in the series. They probably couldn't find one in the right color that they could dump in the bay. It was a pleasant surprise that they included it since 17 years had passed since the end of Michael Douglas' appearance in the show.