KILLDOZER

The killer bulldozer about to squash an unfortunate

KILLDOZER (1974 telefilm). Director: Jerry London.

A group of construction workers are putting in an air field on an isolated island in the Pacific when an ancient, extraterrestrial lifeform is unleashed from some ruins. This lifeform then inhabits the hulking, metallic form of the project's special bulldozer, coming to life at unexpected times and whenever it chooses. At first the group think the dozer must be remote-controlled, but this is not the case. The driverless machine proves quite formidable as several victims are unable to get out of its way, and at least one is squashed inside his jeep. Finally the survivors try to concoct a way to stop the killer bulldozer for good. 

Clint Walker

Killdozer is based on a story by Theodore Sturgeon. The telefilm has some eerie, suspenseful, and exciting scenes, but never really turns into a thrilling or nail-biting experience. Clint Walker has given some good performances elsewhere -- such as in Scream of the Wolf -- but in this his mind seems to be on something else. Robert Urich is killed off early on, James A. Watson Jr., Carl Betz and Neville Brand [Adventures of Nick Carter] are more than okay, and James Wainwright arguably offers the best performance as the ill-fated Dutch. If nothing else, the picture is absorbing. 

Verdict: Stay away from construction sites. **1/2.

ADVENTURES OF NICK CARTER

Robert Conrad as Nick Carter

ADVENTURES OF NICK CARTER (1972 telefilm). Director: Paul Krasny. 

Around 1910 in Manhattan private eye Nick Carter (Robert Conrad), learns that his old friend and mentor, Sam Bates (Byron Morrow), has been murdered. Bates was trying to find a young lady named Ivy, who supposedly left town with a young man named Lloyd Deams (Sean Garrison), the paramour of club owner Bess Tucker (Shelley Winters). Nick is hired by Ivy's father-in-law Otis Duncan (Broderick Crawford) to find out what happened to Ivy, although Nick is just as interested in discovering who bumped off Bates. As Nick investigates he encounters Duncan's two sons, the flamboyant and dissipated Freddy (Dean Stockwell) and the much more uptight Neal (Pernell Roberts), not to mention corrupt cop Captain Keller (Neville Brand) and his murderous henchmen. 

Dean Stockwell and Pernell Roberts

Adventures of Nick Carter is based on a character who first appeared in print in the late 19th century. It's been decades since I read any Nick Carter stories but it seemed to me they were a little wilder than this fairly reasonable mystery-detective tale. Robert Conrad had wrapped up his lengthy run on The Wild, Wild West and it was undoubtedly thought that lightning might strike twice with the actor in another suspenseful period piece, but Nick Carter did not become a series. Conrad is okay as Carter, basically playing himself, but he gets fine support from the other cast members named above, as well as from Pat O'Brien as the head of a mission who gives Carter tips from time to time. Brooke Bundy is Carter's secretary, and the awful singer Jaye P. Morgan shows up very briefly as a forgettable chanteuse. The best performances are from Dean Stockwell and Pernell Roberts as the two highly unalike siblings. Nick Carter was later turned into a kind of super-spy in a series of lurid paperback books and was also featured in the foreign parody Dinner for Adele. 

Verdict: Could have made an interesting series, although not as much fun as The Wild, Wild West. ***.