Wednesday, January 19, 2022

YouTube Theatre: The Immortal (1969)

 The Immortal, as we've previously discussed a ways back, was spun out of an ABC Movie of The Week, which, in turn, was adapted from a novel by James Gunn (not the filmmaker).

Race car driver Ben Richards (Christopher George, a year removed from The Rat Patrol) has Type-O Negative blood, which, after a transfusion given to eccentric millionaire Jordan Braddock (Barry Sullivan, ex-The Tall Man), prompts Braddock to insist on keeping Richards imprisoned so he can live forever at Richards' expense.

Our cast also includes Carol Lynley, Jessica Walter, Ralph Bellamy, and Garry Walberg.


When the series began a year later, Bellamy had moved on to The Most Deadly Game. Paramount moved Walberg over to The Odd Couple in a recurring role, and narrator Paul Frees (ex-The Millionaire) also took over voicing Braddock, despite the fact that Sullivan returned for one episode. As we've noted, the series lasted 15 episodes before being cancelled.

Rating: B.

2 comments:

Mike Doran said...

Lynda Day, who didn't marry Chris George until after The Immortal began production, isn't in the pilot.
You've got her mixed up with Carol Lynley, who's the damsel-in-distress here.
Post-wedding, Lynda did appear in a subsequent series episode, but that was later.
Also, Barry Sullivan did appear in a followup episode , which killed off his bad guy and set up Don Knight's chaser figure.

hobbyfan said...

I'll fix it, Mike.