KOLCHAK PAPERS: Episode #17 - LEGACY OF TERROR
Airdate: Feb 14, 1975
Directed by Don McDougall, Written by Arthur Rowe. Guest Cast: Ramon Bieri, Pippa Scott, Sorrell Booke, Victor Campos, Erik Estrada, Carlos Romero, Udana Power, Sondra Currie, Cal Bartlett
From IMDB: A series of brutal murders all share a particularly grisly characteristic: each victims has his or her heart cut out, much like a human sacrifice. Kolchak discovers that the murders are all connected to a modern-day Aztec cult that has been preparing for an apocalypse for centuries. Kolchak tries to stop the final sacrifice from being made, but he soon discovers that the mummified corpse of the cult's leader may not be as inanimate as it appears.
This one opens with a murder, as all of them do, but then we get some great Tony Vincenzo/Ron Updyke interplay as they wait for Carl at a publisher’s convention setup at a downtown hotel. This same downtown hotel appears to have some connection to the murders and our first clue that something is amiss happens when we meet the Erik Estrada character who is a mindless hunk who has somehow made it to the level of Vice Presidency despite an apparent shortage of intellect.
Estrada was a commodity in the 70s, I know he was on CHIPS and he probably was a LOVE BOAT regular, but his charm has always been lost on me and he is the weakest part of the episode. He’s sort of a male Charo and if you don’t know who Charo is trust me it’s a case of you have to wonder why some people became stars. Pretty soon Carl is attacked by a giant chicken and that’s when the episode picks up steam.
Ramon Bieri is back as the hateful police Captain, only this time he’s Captain Webster while back in Episode #8 BAD MEDICINE he was Captain Baker. Back then I’m sure I wrote that he’s sort of a poor man’s Claude Akins and if you liked him in #8 you’ll like him in this one too. Not sure how the producer’s didn’t think to have him match the same name but like COLUMBO often characters would reappear but with new names while essentially being the same character.
Pippa Scott plays Tillie Jones who is a PR Person for the hotel who can’t understand why Estrada got to the position he did. Scott has a long Hollywood career mostly in musicals so as you can imagine I am not familiar with her work.
Sorrell Booke is most famous for playing Boss Hogg in THE DUKES OF HAZARD TV series, I was convinced he played a music producer in a previous KOLCHAK episode but looking it up he played a music producer in the Johnny Cash episode of COLUMBO (the ties between these two series is insane). Booke was also in a second episode of COLUMBO playing a murder victim in the 7th season. He always added charm to anything he was in. Sort of the Danny DeVito of his day.
I always thought Erik Estrada would make a great Desi Arnaz if they ever did a behind the scenes of I LOVE LUCY bio pic. As I stated above, I’m not a big fan but I have no real problem with him. Here he plays sort of an anemic pretty boy who plays an important role to the plot.
Stuntman Mickey Gilbert is The Mummy in this episode, I have an affinity for Mummies so that might add a point or two to the episodes final rating. Gilbert has a long career as a stuntman in everything from BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES to THE FALL GUY. Earlier he played The Ripper himself in the first episode of KOLCHAK and he’s suitably mummy like here.
KOLCHAK DIALOGUE
Carl Kolchak: Businessman? What businessman keeps a mummy in the basement and a dummy in a key staff position?
Tony Vincenzo: Carl, you yourself said that the mummy vanished, right?
Carl Kolchak: Yeah.
Tony Vincenzo: You had a terrible hit on the head, and you saw things. And as for having dummies in key staff positions, I'm as guilty as the next.
MORE KOLCHAK DIALOGUE
Tony Vincenzo: It says here the Andrews family changed their name from Arguello. And they're from Jalisco, and the hotel chain started in Veracruz.
Carl Kolchak: It's Ha-lisco, Tony, not Ja-lisco.
Tony Vincenzo: Oh, excuse me, Jose. I don't care if they came from Hersey City, New Hersey! There are Mexicans there too, but none of them are Aztecs.
KOLCHAK RATING: 3.5 - it’s got some flaws and an ending that felt like the clock ran out but still fun.
