ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Christopher George ("A Day of the Animals") plays a Houdini-like escape artist who employs his special skills to battle evil-doers. He risks death to prevent the kidnapping of a scientist, then he teams up with the scientist's daughter (Marilyn Mason) and an assistant to battle an evil scientist played by comedian Avery Schreiber. Schreiber plans to turn the world into zombies with a virus he's developed.

The cast includes Gloria Grahame ("Oklahoma", "It's a Wonderful Life"), William Windom, John Vernon, William Schallert , and Huntz Hall.

Director John Llewellyn Moxey allows the film to degenerate into silliness — which comes as no surprise in view of the fact that villain is a famous comedy.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Enjoy this one compliments of YouTube and a user's VHS tape of the movie. Neither the clarity nor the color are very good, I seen worse.
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________________________ Escape (1971)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[scotpens]

This one has "series pilot" written all over it. But really, how many stories can you tell about a Houdini-like escape artist who employs his special skills to battle evil-doers?

[Bud Brewster]

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Right on both counts, Mr. Scotspen Holmes!

User comments on IMDB and Youtube call this a "pilot" for a series. And the demise of the recent series Houdini and Doyle seems to indicate that a show based on a crime-solving escape artist would not work.

However . . . crime-solving heroes with special skills have ruled the airwaves for decades. Everybody from McGiver to Dr. Temperance Brennan (in Bones) have dazzled us with their abilities to solve mysteries and escape from dangers with their own unique abilities.

I think Christopher George's knowledge of hi-tech magic and elaborate illusions could have provided endless stories about crimes which involved complex plans to commit robberies and baffle the police.

This sounds like yet another missed importunity for Hollywood to give us an intelligent and imaginative series.
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___Lalo Schifrin "Escape" 1971 TV Pilot opening


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)