Pray for the Wildcats

1974 "They're off on a wild motorcycle trip into hell... a bully... a coward... a survivor... and a man who faces his own death and finds a courage he never knew he had."
6.2| 1h40m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 23 January 1974 Released
Producted By: ABC Circle Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

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.

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Reviews

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.
MartinHafer Sam Farragut (Andy Griffith) is a rich jerk who fully realizes how powerful this makes him. Instead of just allowing the advertising agency to handle his company, he controls them--insisting the three execs working for him MUST go on a long, long motorbike ride across Baja...or no contract. Once on the trip, Sam turns out to be a real piece of work...an amoral guy who drinks, brawls and womanizes-- acting nothing like the Andy Griffith we've all grown to love. He's a lot like Satan on a cycle!Among the three execs are Warren (William Shatner), Paul (Robert Reed) and Terry (Marjoe Gortner). All three are extremely flawed men and only Terry seems excited about making this trip. Paul is hiding a secret but Warren's is the darkest of all...he knows he's being terminated from his job and is showing hints that he might use this trip as a way to kill himself! What does come of all this? This is certainly one of the strangest made for TV movies of its era. That's saying a lot since "The ABC Movie of the Week" often featured weird plots--such as women impregnated by aliens, monsters living in the chimney and reincarnated witches! But this strange is because the folks play so against type...especially Griffith! But is this strangeness any good? Well, yes. Despite the plot being extremely difficult to believe and the actors playing so against type, the basic issues going on in the film are compelling-- especially when Griffith's character does some very horrible things. The only BIG bad thing about all this is the ending with Shatner in the surf--not THAT is amazingly stupid! All in all, well worth seeing just because of its novelty.By the way, if you are curious who Marjoe Gortner is, read him IMDb biography. This guy was VERY prolific on TV in the 70s but his life before this is really, really interesting. He's not particularly good in this film, however. Also, I think it is very likely NOT unintentional that the four men all sport shirts that look almost exactly like "Star Trek" shirts--red, blue and yellow! You really notice their Trekkiness in the cantina scene...complete with the black collars! Apart from missing the Enterprise emblem, they are almost dead ringers!
Wuchak "Pray for the Wildcats" is a TV "movie of the week" from 1974 about 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 this 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."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 TV movie, "Pray for the Wildcats" 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? I don't see this at all; and anyone who thinks it's campy obviously doesn't know what camp is. This is clearly 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 in "Pray for the Wildcats." 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+
Woodyanders Three advertising industry agents -- worn-out washed-up has been Warren Summerfield (a surprisingly subdued William Shatner), passive yes man Paul McIlvain (a nicely wimpy portrayal by Robert Reed), and swaggering hipster hustler Terry Maxon (the always awesome Marjoe Gortner) try to win over the favor of wealthy and powerful mogul Sam Farragut (robustly essayed with lip-smacking wicked relish by Andy Griffith) during a perilous motorcycle trip through Baja. However, said excursion into the dessert doesn't go as smoothly as planned. Director Robert Michael Lewis and writer Jack Turley treat this heavy-handed morality tale about the abuse of power, compromising one's values, and personal integrity (or the lack thereof) with gut-busting seriousness, thereby resulting in a total campfest of exceptional unintentional hilarity. Shatner's typically hideous hairpiece and show-stopping "There is no me" monologue, the hysterically dated "cool" slang-ridden dialogue ("Now, we're getting' it on, baby!"), a sidesplitting surplus of soap opera-ish subplots (Warren's lost his job, Terry's girlfriend is pregnant, and so on), and the corny voiceovers all further enhance the overall goofy charm of this unsung kooky gem. Of course, Griffith playing a rare full-blown villain part gives this honey an additional uproarious kick, as good ol' Andy is clearly having the time of his life portraying one really mean, evil, and arrogant bully of a rich jerk. Angie Dickinson as the tart-tongued Nancy and Lorraine Gary as Warren's concerned spouse Lila do their best with their thankless roles. Fred Myrow's groovy score makes great use of a burning fuzztone guitar. The cinematography by John Marley Stephens offers plenty of breathtaking shots of the beautiful wide open scenery. An absolute hoot!
Teresa Are you a Marjoe fan? A Brady on a Silver Platter? A Cracker Eater? A Shatnerologist? Look no further! There's "Pray for the Wildcats": A cheesy TV movie where Marjoe, Robert "Brady Bunch dad, later 'Pat' the sex-change doctor on Medical Center" Reed, Andy "Cracker Boy" Griffith and William the "One True" Shatner (OTS) play four yuppies who take a motorcycle ride down Baja. Kind of like "Deliverance" on dirt-bikes.This film is dominated by a superlatively bad performance by Mr. Griffith. No doubt trying to overcome his wholesome (good cracker! GOOD cracker!) image, he administers a real Deep Hurting in a non-stunning role-reversal of "Deliverance". He tries to score with a traveling hippie's main squeeze in a cantina, but fails miserably. After a few minor brawls and scuffles, he resorts to bribery after catching up with them outside of town ("I'm sort of a hippie myself! A hippie with MONEY!!"). Failing again, he trashes their vehicle in the middle of the desert, condemning the poor young couple to a slow death by starvation and dehydration.From there the plot goes downhill, literally. The toupeed one (Shatner) naturally saves the day by running Mr Ritz, er Griffith, off of a cliff (from which he drops in ever-so-slow-motion to his fiery demise on the rocky beach below. Oh the pain!!) Shatner then runs his own dirt-bike into the ocean, and follows with his usual over-acted agony dance around the burning wreckage. The end.....or IS it!?!?! It's probably out of print. Find it if you can!!!