The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War (1973)

After Colonel Steve Austin fails to retrieve the contents of a safe owned by arms dealer Arlen Findletter, he takes up a friendly offer of a vacation in the Bahamas. There, he runs into ... See full summary »

Director:

Russ Mayberry

Writers:

Martin Caidin (novel), Glen A. Larson

Stars:

Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Alan Oppenheimer

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Majors	...	Col. Steve Austin
Richard Anderson	...	Oscar Goldman
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Dr. Rudy Wells
Britt Ekland	...	Katrina Volana
Eric Braeden	...	Arlen Findletter
Earl Holliman	...	Harry Donner
David McCallum	...	Alexi Kaslov
Michele Carey	...	Cynthia Holland
Lee Bergere	...	Masaha
Simon Scott	...	Capt. Dawson
Robert F. Simon	...	Capt. Walker
Dennis Rucker	...	First Officer Meade
George Keymas	...	Patrol Boat Commander
Joseph Hindy	...	Radar Man
Don Hanmer	...	Airline Passenger

Storyline

After Colonel Steve Austin fails to retrieve the contents of a safe owned by arms dealer Arlen Findletter, he takes up a friendly offer of a vacation in the Bahamas. There, he runs into Soviet Agent Alexi Kaslov and his lovely assistant Katrina Volana, who also happen to be out to find Findletter. Is it a coincidence, or was Steve's trip all part of one of Oscar Goldman's missions?

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Plot Keywords:

woman wearing a gas mask | arms dealer | safe | bahamas | gas mask | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wine, Women and War

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some changes to the show's premise were made between The Six Million Dollar Man (1973) movie and the sequel. In the first film, Austin is described in dialogue as being a civilian, but in this film this is changed to him being an Air Force Colonel (and dialogue confirms this version of the character was a Colonel at the time he walked on the moon). As noted above, Oliver Spencer (Darren McGavin) was replaced by Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) (a character from the original Cyborg novels) and a new actor plays Dr. Rudy Wells. In addition, the organization, for which Colonel Austin works, is now the OSI, not the OSO.

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Goofs

The scenes of Steve's examination and repairs are obviously just re-used footage of Steve's original bionic surgery; he didn't need his eye bandaged again or the tube in his nose because those parts weren't damaged during his escape from the villain's boat.

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Quotes

Col. Steve Austin: Alexi, I didn't realize they paid you Russians enough for this kind of a life.
Alexi Kaslov: Well it's an American shortcoming to believe your own propaganda.

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Connections

Followed by The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping (1973)

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Soundtracks

Six Million Dollar Man
Words and Music by Glen A. Larson (as Glen Larson)
Sung by Dusty Springfield

User Reviews

The second Six Million Dollar Man pilot...

"The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War" is the second pilot movie for the upcoming series. This is because the first made for TV movie turned out to be a hit and ABC decided to try another film to see if fans still were interested. Well, opinions must have been a bit mixed, as ABC made yet one more movie before ultimately green lighting the series.

The film begins with Steve (Lee Majors) on a secret mission in Egypt. However, it turns out to be a bust due to bad intelligence information and Steve barely gets out alive. A lady who helped him isn't so lucky. As a result, Steve is bummed and not exactly in the mood for another mission. However, an old Air Force buddy (Earl Holliman) offers to left him use his luxury vacation villa in the Bahamas and Steve disappears from the OSI compound to enjoy some much needed R&R. Little does he know that all this has been arranged and he's actually going on his next mission!

This second pilot has a few changes. In addition to Austin now being an Air Force colonel, the man playing Rudy Wells is a different actor AND the scumbag playing Austin's boss is not only a different actor but a different character entirely. I miss the original boss, as Darren McGavin was truly amoral and a jerk--Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) was much more genial. Apart from these changes and a funky intro song, the movie is pretty much what folks would soon see in the TV series...which is very good, though I liked the first pilot better partly because of McGavin's character and partly because it was less an action film and more about science and how the man was created. Still worth seeing.

By the way, the villain in this one is much like a Bond Villain and even has a secret lair in the Bahamas...much like Largo from "Thunderball"...and ALSO a guy with stolen nuclear bombs.