Escape

An escape artist who solves crimes on the side, is the basis for this TV movie which was a pilot for a series that never was. You could imagine every week a new evil genius deciding to dispatch of the hero by tying him up in an easily escapable manner, as opposed to shooting him in the head with a gun. You can sort of imagine this utter nonsense working as an ongoing thing but it doesn't work so well as a standalone. The villain here is a master criminal who has a base hidden underneath a funfair played with typical full-on cheese by John Vernon, while the hero is Christopher George who would go onto star in some Euro trash classics such as Pieces. Its not bad but its hardly too impressive either.

"Escape" was a pilot for a TV series that never was approved by the networks and like what was often the case in the 1970s, the pilot was shown as a movie of the week on TV. In the case of this one, I could understand why it wasn't approved...it was awfully strange...even for an action/adventure show.

The film stars Christopher George as 'Cameron Steele'...a man of adventure much like The Saint, James Bond and Mannix put together. This case is a weird one, as the trail eventually leads to a supposedly dead man. Now here's the kicker...the guy has a Bond villain-like lair hidden in an amusement park funhouse! And what's he doing in there with his minions? He's working on creating life from non-life--but not like creating a Frankenstein's monster but by creating a germ-like thing that will potentially destroy all life on the planet! Can our man of action possibly stop this madman?! Well, considering it was supposed to be a possible series, it doesn't take Einstein to conclude that the planet will not be destroyed!

This is an odd one...that's for sure. After all, the likes of Huntz Hall and Avery Schreiber co-star in this! A strange confection....kind of like a movie serial and adventure film that left me feeling a bit baffled at its oddness. Not bad...just odd and a film that makes you wonder what the folks were trying to do here.

If you want to see this film, a very yellowed copy is available on YouTube.

Somewhat intriguing and I suppose watchable if you are interested in tv from this time period. Too many scenes of cars being driven around in the dark to open the movie and kind of far-fetched in that the bad guys don't just kill Christopher George, but keep finding ways to subdue him that of course require him to use his special escape artist skills. The cast is noteworthy, with Avery Schreiber as George's sidekick, William Schallert as the senator, his eccentric wife played by Gloria Grahame. William Windom was okay, not his best stuff. Maybe I am rating it too low, it tried to connect in several different ways, but unsuccessfully on all counts in my opinion. The best scene was Gloria Grahame and Schreiber, somewhat reminiscent of Johnny Depp playing Dean Corso and his conversation with Baroness Kessler in her library. The plot is really not that bad, but there is no sci-fi type build up or anything, and then it quickly shifts into batman type silliness at an amusement park. Several scenes involving George go on too long as what should be an episode is turned into a 73-minute movie. Frankly George is the major weak spot here. And it's just not very well shot.

This TV movie was actually the pilot for a series that never got made. I'm a bit surprised since this seems to be a pretty good example of the private investigator genre so popular around 1970.

The cast is pretty strong, with Christopher George, Avery Schreiber (Jack Burns' sidekick) and the B+ legend William Schallert. The mood is so funky 1970s that it is almost an historical document in parts.

Christopher G plays a former professional escape artist who is now a private investigator, and it is obviously pretty lucrative judging by his "cool pad, man". Avery S is his slightly dubious associate. They hang at a bar where, today, Penn & Teller would probably know quite a few people.

Some scenes are a bit silly, and we never really find out much about the scientific breakthrough that is the cause of all this skulduggery.

Nonetheless it is quite fun. You can catch it on YouTube since it has never been released to DVD. Have a look one night when you have a couple of spare hours.