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Forgotten Made for Television "Classics"

The Night Stalker (1972)

By Bruce Curle `Published 2 years ago 3 min read
2

Forgotten Made for Television “Classics”

The Night Stalker (ABC 1972)

Long before "Buffy," "I know what you did last summer," or "Chucky," "The Night Stalker" appeared as a Movie of the Week on the ABC Television Network. It would soon become a television series and be talked about decades later.

This film was created by ABC Circle Films and Dan Curtis Productions and was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada. ABC Circle Films was owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company, and ABC Circle Films ran from around 1970 to 1989.

According to the website IMDb, in its list of over 200 hundred titles, the 1972 "The Night Stalker" film is listed as Number Five in popularity. https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?companies=co0033054

The character Carl Kolchak is a rivetting reporter that has an uncanny ability to find trouble and annoy law enforcement officials all at the same time. Darren McGavin plays this annoying reporter perfectly, who is always out to get the true story no matter who or what he comes across.

Carl also has a way of creating all sorts of pains for his editor and chief Tony Vincenzo. Character actor Simon Oakland plays this part.

This ABC Movie of the week film has an excellent cast. Larry Linville of M*A*S*H fame, Claude Atkins of Sherrif Lobo fame, one actor well known for portraying secondary parts in films like "The Undefeated" "Hellfighters" and televisions series like "Adam 12" "The Virginian," Edward Faulkner has an uncredited part as a Los Vegas Police Officer.

John Llewellyn Moxey directed the film. He also was the director for episodes of the series Mannix, Murder She Wrote, Miami Vice, Magnum P.I (original series).

The film centers around several murders on or near the famous Vegas strip in the early 1970s. Now it is a great historical look at the original strip. A suspect is a man over 70 years old from Europe; he has super strength and seems to enjoy tossing male hospital staff and police officers through windows, doors and in the air.

Fame quote from the movie, "This nut thinks he is a Vampire" Carl Kolchak.

This film can be found on Youtube and appears from time to time. It is worth the watch and is well done. Those familiar with the Night Stalker series will note that Carl has a different car, a Camaro, and a very different camera in this movie version.

The original script also called for Carl to be wearing a Bermuda shirt and shorts. However, it was changed for the hat and the look that would stay with this character throughout the 1970s.

It should also be noted that two actors survived the early movie of the weeks to go on to the television series as regulars. Tony Vincenzo, the editor, would still be portrayed by character actor Simon Oakland, and Darren McGavin would also portray Carl Kolchak.

Throughout the series, there are a few other familiar faces that appear from the original television movies. I suspect some of the crew also went from the movies to the television series.

An important thing to remember about the time of this film, the big three networks of the day ABC, NBC, and CBS, were sometimes completing with limited budgets. Movies were often created to fit 90 to 120-minute time slots with commercials included. The director, producer, and cast and crew did a lot in the "Night Stalker" movies with the limited budgets they provided during the 1970s.

Rumours for years have persisted that we shall let see another "Night Stalker" reboot. But, I doubt it will have the same charms that Darren McGavin brought to the franchise or the classic ABC Movie of the Week introduction.

Note; "Forgotten Films" Group can be found on Facebook with other great ABC Movies of the Week reviewed.

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About the Creator

Bruce Curle `

A Fifty something male that enjoys writing short stories, scripts and poetry. I have had many different types of work over my lifetime and consider myself fairly open minded and able to speak on many topics.

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