The Six Million Dollar Man - The Solid Gold Kidnapping (3rd telefilm)

Air Date: 11/17/73   written by Larry Alexander    Directed by Russ Mayberry

The 3rd Six Million Dollar Man telefilm was even more blatant in copying elements from the James Bond films, with a sinister organization called The Company aping the whole set-up of SPECTRE, such as a corporate-style meeting of all the division heads, headed by a Blofeld-type played by Maurice Evans. This organization was less flamboyant - it behaved like a typical corporation and one wouldn't know they were into extortion and such unless one listened to the details. John Vernon plays the #2 of this crooked company - he diverts all his attention to finding out more about Steve Austin after witnessing some of his feats in the 1st sequence of the film.
The story begins at a Mayan archaeological dig, where an ambassador (David White) is being held hostage. Austin, typically, is the lone agent sent in to rescue him and he succeeds. The main plan of The Company then turns out to be another kidnapping, that of a bigshot negotiator (Leif Erickson). Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson), Rudy Wells (Alan Oppenheimer) and OSI hatch their counterplan - a radical scientist (Elizabeth Ashley) gets herself injected with the brain cells of a dead Company operative; following her 'new' memories, Austin begins globehopping with her, starting in Switzerland. Of course, her memories are problematic and may even cause her distress..
Besides the style and plot emulating the Bond films - Austin is romancing a lady in an early scene before being called to this latest mission - this even throws in a role for actress Luciana Paluzzi, best known as the bad girl in Thunderball (1965). However, as with the previous 2nd telefilm, the main fault for me is a slow pace; nothing really exciting happens and this crawls along for much of its length. The key action bit is about an hour in, of Austin leaping through the windshield of an automobile - there was no slow-mo at this point and it's very quick. BoG's Score: 5 out of 10