The NBC "Best Sellers" series this time emanates from the pen of Robert Ludlum. And couldn't he churn them out? He wrote the sort of novel that had his name above the title; what he wrote scarcely mattered, so long as it was his.
This miniseries has everything: a starry (mostly 1970s TV) cast, an historical setting, Nazis . . . Nothing made a good miniseries like Nazis. Or so thought Hollywood, who thanks God every day in its bedside prayers for those incredibly useful all-purpose villains. With Nazis they don't have to develop character for villains or dredge up Freudian backstories to explain them. They're Nazis. So they show plenty of swastika flags.
It has nice old-style clothes and cars (though the ladies show an awful lot of skin with their gowns; I'm old, but I'm not that old. Did they really dress like that back then? Well, on Tricia Noble, or almost on, who cares?)
All this miniseries needs is a stronger leading man and a comprehensible story. They have Stephen Collins beat up Lauren Hutton pretty regularly to demonstrate his forcefulness. After a century of Victorian/Edwardian/American mores against hurting the ladies and treating them like glass, the hero laying fists on the heroine was a new thing in the 1970s. Not, I fear, a trend I approved of. But no one would believe Collins beating up a man. And the story?
The Army recruits a polo-playing playboy (Collins) to form a cell of spies that devolves into a plot about a gyroscope. Or diamonds. Or something. I'll confess, both times I've watched this I fell asleep at that point and saw no good purpose in rewinding.
Stephen Collins is a rather weak glue holding this mess together. Elmers, rather than superglue. A little moisture and the whole thing might disintegrate.
Lauren Hutton shows the perils of supermodels (she was an early exemplar of the species) transitioning to acting. And her character is obviously a dope to keep going back to a man with such an uppercut.
For the rest, what does one need to say about Roddy McDowell or Jose Ferrer? They were good, professional actors who came in knowing their lines and collecting their paychecks. They were the sort of actors you could cast the night before knowing you'd get a job well done. Most of the cast is paint-by-numbers. Claude Akins is Claude Akins. What else could he be? One thing you can say about this format, you went in knowing what to expect from the talent they plugged in.
Only Jeremy Kemp shows a spark of life as a fellow good guy. Or is he a bad guy? Kemp's played his share of Nazis over the years. It's good to see him essay a role that takes a little thought.
If you miss this one you haven't skipped a classic.
