Pray for the Wildcats (1974)

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!

Most of the previous reviews are accurate: Griffith plays a thrill-seeking tycoon and has plenty of rewind-and-see-that-again moments ("Come on, Hippy," "YAAAAA-HOOOOOOOO!!!!!," "Now we're getting' it on, baby," and the split leg "Hoooot Daaaammnn!!!"); Shatner is pretty restrained until the "There is no myself" speech; Robert Reed plays a boring character boringly (if you look for gay subtext, I guess it's more interesting); Dickinson does nothing except gripe (her "You've KNOWN and you've let it go ON?!?" would sound just like Monty Python if done with a British accent); and Gary does nothing but look like the doe-eyed cow that her character is (a dense Ellen Brody, pretty much).In addition to the Trek-like biking shirts, the Mexican police Captain swaggers just like Barney Fife and wears a similar-looking uniform. These must've been deliberate, but the subtlety makes it more effective than a spoken-word in-joke.I just love the badness of Pray For The Wildcats. Five actors who I recognize and like, all of them embarrassing themselves.Just like Impulse, this movie is perfect for your next beer-and-pizza get-together. Grab a copy of this hard-to-find diamond, and NOW WE'RE GETTING IT ON!!!

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!!!

I agree with Teresa. This movie is a cheesy. But, on the other hand, I thought Andy Griffith did a fine job of being a bad guy for once. William Shatner, of course, played the part of William Shatner, but then, I just like him because he's Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise. Robert Reed was pretty good, too, and if you see this film, check out the interior of his house--I swear it's the same house as the one in the Brady Bunch! And sure, the film is completely dippy, and the plot's weird, and the effects are royally hand-made, but I still think this is a film worth watching, if only for the interaction between the well-known television personalities. Besides, where else do you get a chance to see William Shatner referring to someone else as "The captain?" The don't make 'em like this anymore...maybe that's a good thing. But see it anyway!