Who Knows?

 (crimereads.com)

THE SHADOW: THE CURSE OF THE COTTON KIMONO-1954-Lamont Cranston (Tom Helmore; later in Hitchcock's VERTIGO (1958)), a police psychiatrist, helps a cheerful police commissioner (Frank M. Thomas) and a dour detective (Norman Shelly) solve the murder of a seemingly innocent woman. He's assisted by girlfriend Margo Lane (Paula Raymond; THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1952)). The dead girl's boyfriend Bromm (William Smithers) leads Cranston to music teacher Rollo (Alexander Scourby). Cranston becomes the Shadow laughs and threatens Rollo who's killed before being of any help. 

This pretty dull TV pilot failed to impress any network and was never picked up as a series. Directed by Charlie Haas who early directed episodes of the ill-fated Dick Tracy show.

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AlohaTV

 

 (imdb)

CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD-1977-In Hawaii, agent Johnny Paul (Roy Thinnes) (his code name is Diamond Head) is assigned to find out why criminal Sean Donovan (Ian McShane) is on the island. He gets help from entertainer Zulu (Zulu; TV's "Hawaii 50") and club owner Tso Tsing (France Nuyen). A German hit man Graeber (Eric Braeden) and a Japanese assassin Sakai (Michael Frank Liu) are also there. Apparently, Donovan is also a master of disguise. He impersonates an Army Colonel and learns that a research facility has created a powerful something. With Kent Smith and Ward Costello (TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000). 

Not much TV movie, director Jeannot Szwarc made this failed TV pilot while doing a lot of TV shows (Baretta, The Rockwood Files). He later made the feature films JAWS 2 (1978) and SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980).

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Into The Unknown

 (imdb)

THE UNKNOWN-THE FORMS OF THINGS UNKNOWN-1964-Two women (Vera Miles & Barbara Rush) kill a blackmailing gigolo (Scott Marlowe). After they wreck their car during a storm, the two seek refuge at a remote mansion where Tone Hobart (David McCallum) and his blind butler Kolos (Sir Cedric Hardwick in his last acting role) live. Hobart is experimenting with a "time tilt" machine which he says can bring back the dead.

There's a lot of talk and weird camera angles and it kind of reminded me of a Harold Pinter play! This was originally devised by THE OUTER LIMITS writer Joseph Stefano and director Gerd Oswald as the pilot for a new series to be called THE UNKNOWN. ABC rejected the idea and it became (with a different ending and credits) the finale episode of THE OUTER LIMITS' first season.

McCallum was in another episode the same season, the memorable THE SIXTH FINGER.

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Norliss!

 

 (imdb)

THE NORLISS TAPES-1973-Author David Norliss (Roy Thinnes) is hired by his publisher Sanford Evans (Don Porter) to write a book debunking the supernatural. However, 6 months later Norliss calls Evans to tell him he can't write the book, then disappears. Evans goes to Norliss’ home and finds some cassette tapes (remember them?) which he listens to. 

Norliss gets involved with widow Ellen Court (Angie Dickinson) who encountered some kind of ghoul one night that she claims was her dead husband, Paul. She tells Norliss the story of her husband's debilitating disease and this lead him to the occult, a mysterious ring and some Egyptian gods. After talking to Ellen's sister, Marsha (Michele Carey), he relates the story of a young woman in a car crash who was strangled and had all the blood drained from her body. The local hick sheriff (Claude Akins) wants to cover it up. Norliss tells gallery owner Mr. Langton (Hurd Hatfield) about the ring and that it was placed in the coffin with Mr. Court. When Langton tries to get the ring, he's killed. Then Norliss and Ellen are attacked by her dead husband but the redneck sheriff doesn't believe their story. Next victim is Marsha who's killed in a motel. Madame Jeckiel (Vonetta McGee) appears and tells Ellen how she turned Paul on to the ring that could cure his disease and bring him back to life. He's making a statue of the evil Sargoth, using clay mixed with blood. When the statue is completed Sargoth will be free and Paul gets immortality. She and Ellen go looking for Paul to try and remove the ring. But of course they go like 2 minutes before sundown. Paul kills Jackiel and chases Ellen. After Norliss rescues her they find the completed statue. Paul seems to bring it to life but Norliss uses a fire ring of blood to destroy it. He seems ok at the end of his story (despite Sargoth grabbing his arm for a moment) and Evans puts in another cassette tape. Stanley Adams is a truck driver. 

This pilot for an unsold series was written by William F. Nolan and directed by Dan Curtis, obviously in an attempt to create a new “Kolchak” like series (although it is based on a story by Fred Mustard Smith). Curtis directed “The Night Stalker” sequel, THE NIGHT STRANGLER the same year.

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Lookwell

 

 (tv tropes)

LOOKWELL-1991-Former TV detective Ty Lookwell (Adam West) lives in his own world where he still thinks he's a police detective. He runs an acting school for William Shatner wannabes all revolving around his short lived TV show "Bennigan" which people confuse with other TV shows like "Banacek". He tries to solve a case of stolen cars and messes up everything. 

LOOKWELL was a TV pilot co-written and co-produced by Conan O'Brien. It's pretty amusing but I don't think it would have worked as a weekly series. 

Directed by EW Swackhamer, a veteran TV director who worked on lots of TV shows since the early '60's.

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Tobor Pilot

 

 (wikipedia)

TOBOR AND THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE-1957- Professor Adams (Arthur Space), Steve (Bruce Cowling) and Talbot (Allen Reynolds) search for clues of a missing submarine. Also present are Adams' young nephew Tommy (Tommy Terrell) and the robot Tobor who Tommy can control by ESP. The adults send Tobor on a mission to the sub after they locate it. Unfortunately Tommy gets locked in the rocket they're using to send Tobor there. After some control trouble Tobor finds a bomb and throws it overboard. Later the sub is picked up by a pirate named Morgan (Gavin Gordon) and his war criminal scientist buddy Ohm (Franz Roehn). Tobor dispatches the whole crew and saves the day. 

Kind of juvenile little science fiction TV pilot for "Here Comes Tobor", a failed spin-off of the 1956 movie. It seems like it could have influenced future anime series. Director Duke Goldstone had once been an associate of George Pal, working on the "Puppetoons" series and DESTINATION MOON.

They should have made a horror movie where the robot meets Dracula. They could have called it "Tobor vs. Alucard.

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Nimoy

 

BAFFLED!-1973-American race car driver Tom Kovack (Leonard Nimoy) has strange visions of Wyndam Castle in Devon and a woman and child in danger. An English woman Michelle Brent (Susan Hampshire) tells him he has a special power. Meanwhile actress Andrea Glenn (Vera Miles) and her daughter Jen (Jewell Blanch) move into the castle Kovack saw in his vision (they were also there). Mrs. Farraday (Rachel Roberts) sees to their needs. After Kovac has another vision where he falls out a window, he goes with Michelle to stay at the castle (which takes guests). It seems someone is hiding out in the castle grounds and only Jen knows it.

 Jen gets a medallion with a wolf on it that seems to possess her but it all has to do with an old woman who wants to use Jen's psychic powers (but not really). 

Nimoy is good in the lead role with some nice touches of humor but the story isn't much. It was a pilot for a proposed TV series directed by Phillip Leacock who was doing a lot of American TV episodes at the time.

Happy Memorial Day! Love long and Prosper!

Made For TV Horror

 

THE WORLD BEYOND-1978-After a near death experience sports writer Paul Taylor (Granville Van Dusen) gets communications "from the beyond" telling him to help certain people. 

Here he goes to an isolated Canadian island to help a guy named Frank Faber. Andy (“special guest star” Barnard Hughes), owner of the boat that takes him to the island introduces him to his other passenger, Mary Faber (JoBeth Williams), the guy's sister. When they get to the island a dog attacks Paul. At the house Faber is missing. Then something wrecks their boat and kills the dog. A loud noise is heard. They realize there is something on the island and it may have to do with Frank practicing "the occult arts". While going to a neighboring house to borrow a boat they find Frank's severed head! After finding the neighbor dead and his boat wrecked Taylor deduces that Faber created a "golem" out of mud. "That's insane. There's no such thing!". After it kills Andy the mud monster attacks Paul and Mary. They cut off one of its hands and it terrorizes Mary. While fighting the severed hand in the basement Paul discovers how to destroy the monster.

 I guess this second pilot for an unsold series (by TV director Noel Black) isn't bad for a TV show despite too many monster POV shots. It was created and written by Art Wallace who created “Dark Shadows” earlier. The first pilot was made in 1977 and  called "World of Darkness", also starring Van Dusen.

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Unsold!

THE SOLARNAUTS-1967-Unsold British TV pilot about  two astronauts Power (David Garfield) and Tempo (Derek Fowlds) who prowl around Mars for their grouchy boss. A green faced alien named Logik (Alex Scott) causes problems by threatening to destroy the capital of Mars if he doesn't get the planet’s mineral rights. A woman named Kanda (Martine Beswick) shows up to help them. They thwart his plan in the end but he gets away. They have guns that freeze people. 

The very toy like sfx seem like this could have been filmed by Gerry Anderson for a puppet cast but they decided to substitute humans at the last minute. Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey who later made many films and TV episodes both in England and the US including the classic vampire TV movie THE NIGHT STALKER.

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Out Of Their League

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA-1997-This CBS TV movie was an unsold pilot based on the DC comic book team. I see why it was never released (but is readily available as a bootleg).  It takes place in New Metro where a tornado is created by bad guy The Weatherman threatens the city. The Flash, The Green Lantern and The Atom destroy the tornado and save endangered residents (and a cat). Guy Gardner (Matthew Settle) and Ray Palmer (John Kassir) are roommates with Fire (Michelle Hurd) but Barry Allen (Kenny Johnson) is a dysfunctional jerk who gets thrown out of his apartment so he later joins them. Tori (Kim Oja)), a meteorologist who works at a weather institute run by Dr, Eno (Miguel Ferrer) later becomes Ice and joins the league which is run by Martian Manhunter (David Ogden Stiers). The SFX aren't very good and the story is just like some disaster movie. It's further bogged down by wraparound scenes of the main characters talking about themselves and each other.

Director Felix Enriquez Alcala is still a busy in TV (BLUE BLOODS, THE GOOD WIFE, CRIMINAL MINDS). I read Lewis Teague (ALLIGATOR) may have directed some scenes. 

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