Pray for the Wildcats

1974 | 100 minutes | 6.4 ★ (8)

Pray for the Wildcats
  • Overview

    Three ad agency executives are pressured into taking a motorbike trip to Baja by a big-ticket client. Along the way, the client is spurned by a young woman whose boyfriend sticks up for her. The client later disables their van, leading to their deaths in the desert. When the executives piece together what has happened, it leads to a showdown.

  • Release Date

    23 January 1974

  • DirectingRobert Michael Lewis
  • Budget

    $0.00

  • Revenue

    $0.00

  • Stars

Videos

User Reviews

See more
W

Wuchak

26 February 2022

_**An excellent TV adventure/drama with a great cast**_ Four businessmen (Andy Griffith, William Shatner, Robert Reed and Marjoe Gortner) who take a trip through the desert wilderness of Baja California on dirt bikes. Griffith plays Sam Farragut, an arrogant mogul who thinks money is power and anyone can be bought if the price is right; and, if they can't, well, they'll just have to be discarded one way or another. Needless to say, the trip doesn't go as pleasantly as planned. If you didn't think it was possible for Griffith to play a robust villain you need to see film. Andy just eats up the role of the dastardly Farragut. Not only is his performance a pleasure to behold, it rings true! All the other actors are perfectly cast, as are the wives and girlfriend of the three subordinate bikers, Lorraine Gary, Angie Dickinson and Janet Margolin respectively. Released to TV in 1974 as a "movie of the week, "Pray for the Wildcats" is a morality tale in the manner of "Deliverance," except that the crime is inverted and the trip takes place in the SW desert/coast rather than a wild river in Georgia. Although a television movie, it is every bit as good as "Deliverance" and perhaps even better. And, thankfully, it doesn't contain anything as hard to watch as that infamous "squeal like a pig" scene. Judging from the reviews, many will ridicule such commendations. In fact, for reasons that elude me "Pray for the Wildcats" is often mocked as "campy" and "unintentionally funny." Really? Anyone who thinks it's campy doesn't know what camp is. This is a serious drama/adventure/thriller with the requisite soap operatics, but nothing overkill and definitely within the realm of believability. Another overdone criticism is Shatner's hairpiece, which is odd since it definitely LOOKS like his natural hair (not that it is). The real reason reviewers make fun of "Pray for the Wildcats" is because (1) it's a TV movie and (2) three of the stars had well-known TV shows -- The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek and The Brady Bunch -- and, gee, I guess there's no way they could really act and break away from their typecast roles. But they can and do superbly here. Another thing I love about this film is the powerful message: ***SPOILER ALERT*** One man sins greatly, but has zero remorse and tries to cover it up through his power and money; another man also sins, but realizes his mistake and ultimately proves his character; the other two show that they believe money and position are more important than justice and therefore prove their lack of character. ***END SPOILER*** The film was shot in Arizona and Baja California and runs 100 minutes. GRADE: A+

More Like This

Open Hearts

Open Hearts

Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the...

See more
Road Kill

Road Kill

Two strangers find themselves trapped in a car on a fateful night. As secrets unravel and tension builds, the story leads to a chilling climax...

See more
Stand by Me

Stand by Me

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys decide to go see the body. On the way...

See more
Young Adam

Young Adam

A young drifter working on a river barge disrupts his employers' lives while hiding the fact that he knows more about a dead woman found in the...

See more
Stolen Kisses

Stolen Kisses

The third in a series of films featuring François Truffaut's alter-ego, Antoine Doinel, the story resumes with Antoine being discharged from...

See more
Bed and Board

Bed and Board

Parisian everyman Antoine Doinel has married his sweetheart Christine Darbon, and the newlyweds have set up a cozy domestic life of selling flowers...

See more
Transamerica

Transamerica

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

See more
Secret Beyond the Door...

Secret Beyond the Door...

After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly a second thought. She finds his New York home...

See more
Wag the Dog

Wag the Dog

During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the...

See more
The Grapes of Wrath

The Grapes of Wrath

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his...

See more
Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries

Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to...

See more
Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her various imperfections. As a New...

See more
No Vacancies

No Vacancies

James has a good job, a good home, a good wife, but it isn't enough. Ali is single, single-minded, singularly focused on James. They meet in the...

See more
In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love

In Hong Kong of 1962, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow, a journalist, move into neighbouring apartments on the same day. Their encounters are formal and...

See more
2046

2046

Women enter and exit a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years after the author loses the woman he considers his one true love.

See more
Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds Are Forever

Diamonds are stolen only to be sold again in the international market. James Bond infiltrates a smuggling mission to find out who's guilty. The...

See more
For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only

A British spy ship has sunk and on board was a hi-tech encryption device. James Bond is sent to find the device that holds British launching...

See more
Tomorrow Never Dies

Tomorrow Never Dies

A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil...

See more
Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine

A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant.

See more
Perilous Holiday

Perilous Holiday

A tale of an international counterfeiting-ring operating in Mexico starts with Patrick Nevil viewed as a suspicious character by newspaper woman...

See more