Derek Flint, a former secret agent turned private eye, works on a kidnapping case.
Created by American screenwriter Hal Fimberg (The Big Store), Derek Flint first appeared on the big screen as a superspy played by James Coburn in the 20th Century Fox James Bond spoof Our Man Flint (1966) and its sequel In Like Flint (1967). In 1972, author and scriptwriter Harlan Ellison (The Outer Limits, Star Trek) wrote an unproduced pilot for a proposed Our Man Flint series. The Flint property resurfaced on television in 1975 when U.S. network ABC decided to make it part of its Wide World of Entertainment.
ABC's Wide World of Entertainment (1973-1976) was a late night block of programmes composed of variety or comedy specials, talk shows, mystery/suspense made-for-TV movies (some under the Wide World Mystery banner) and documentaries. Fictions of the Wide World of Entertainment/Wide World Mystery included Thriller (1973-1976), a British anthology by scriptwriter and producer Brian Clemens (The Avengers). During spring 1975, ABC announced that "multipart suspense concepts with continuing characters as in The Quiller Memorandum and Our Man Flint" (1) would be added to its late night line-up.
The network ordered two TV movies, Our Man Flint - Dead on Target and Our Man Flint - Ultimatum, due to be made back-to-back in Vancouver, Canada by Canawest Film Productions for 20th Century Fox. 11 days of shooting on 16mm film in October 1975 were scheduled for each movie. Founded in 1963, Canawest initially produced animated and live commercials. In 1967, the studio got a subcontract with Hollywood animation giant Hanna-Barbera. Canawest Film Productions made documentaries and industrial films too. In 1973-1974, Canawest worked on a 35mm film pilot project for Four Star Entertainment titled The X Factor (starring William Shatner).
New York state-born Stanley L. Colbert, an ex-journalist and literary agent turned producer, exec produced the Flint TV movies for the Toronto subsidiary of 20th Century Fox while Canawest vice president R.H. "Andy" Anderson produced. Before Dead on Target, Colbert produced the film Private Property (1960) (2). As the head of production of Ivan Tors Studios, he oversaw Flipper (1964-1967) and the film Gentle Giant (1967) amongst others. He was a consultant on Salty, a 1974 Canadian series syndicated by 20th Century Fox Television. The 77-minute Dead on Target was penned by Canadian scriptwriter Norman Klenman (story by Jim McGinn).
Norman Klenman previously wrote for U.S. series The Felony Squad (1966-1969) and Harold Robbins' The Survivors (1969). In 1973, he was hired to be the story consultant of The Starlost, a Canadian sci-fi series created by Harlan Ellison (credited "Cordwainer Bird") and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television. Joseph L. Scanlan (Salty, The Starlost), an American director living in Toronto, was chosen by Stanley Colbert to helm Dead on Target and Ultimatum. American actor Ray Danton was cast as "Our Man Flint" (3). This familiar face to viewers and moviegoers played secret agents in Eurospy films such as Super Agent Super Dragon (New York chiama Superdrago, 1966) or Lucky, the Inscrutable (Lucky, el intrepido, 1967).
Our Man Flint - Dead on Target starts with the kidnapping of Wendell Runsler, the president of an oil company, by a radical group called BESLA (Bar El Sol Liberation Army) and Runsler's personal assistant Sandra Carter. P.I. Derek Flint is hired to serve as an intermediary for his release. A young woman named Bonita Rogers wants to be Flint's apprentice. Similarly to Matt Helm in the eponymous ABC 1975-1976 series (4), Derek Flint switched jobs from spy to private investigator. Ray Danton's jaded detective drives a Mercedes-Benz 600 in Vancouver doubling as a big American city. The Canadian guest cast is led by actors recognizable on the U.S. side of the border.
Sharon Acker (Sandra Carter) appeared in many American series and co-starred in The New Perry Mason (1973-1974), Executive Suite (1976) and Texas (1982). Lawrence Dane (Runsler) guest starred in The Felony Squad, Mission: Impossible, The Virginian or Mannix. In the United States Donnelly Rhodes (Lahoud) had roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and several series. Between 1974 and 1975 he played Phillip Chancellor II in The Young and the Restless. He was Dutch Leitner in Soap (from 1978 to 1981). In his country, Rhodes co-starred in season 2 to 4 of Sidestreet (1975-1978), starred in Danger Bay (1985-1990) and was one of the regulars of Da Vinci's Inquest (1998-2005).
Bonita Rogers is played by Gay Rowan (The Starlost). Kim Cattrall, in one of her first roles (uncredited), plays a secretary. Except for the use of an alarm system watch, a tracking device and a model plane by the main character, Dead on Target is standard 1970s cop-show fare. The title sequence is reminiscent of the first Flint feature. The music composer is not credited, only music editor Lew Lehman (as Lou Lehman). Lehman was a musician and composer but also a scriptwriter (Phobia), producer and director (The Pit). He composed library music for Score Productions Canada, which was used in Dr Simon Locke/Police Surgeon (1971-1975), The Starlost or The Swiss Family Robinson (1974-1976).
Kelly Duncan, the cinematographer of Dead on Target was Canawest's resident director of cinematography. He helmed commercials and industrial films for the company. Christopher Dew — supervising producer of the 1979 version of The Littlest Hobo — and Stan Cole edited the TV movie. Dead on Target was completed in nine days (5). The filming of Ultimatum, written by Canadian screenwriter Harry W. Junkin (The Saint), was to follow but Ray Danton couldn't continue because of a strep throat threatening his voice if he used it further. Danton went back to California, like guest stars Lloyd Bochner and Barry Morse. They were to come back after a two-week break but mid-december Danton hadn't recovered yet (6) so the production was cancelled.
In an interview for a book, director Joseph L. Scanlan declared that Ray Danton was "difficult", that he was "very disrespectful to some of his fellow actors" and made one of the actresses cry (7). Danton quit acting in 1977 to become a television director (Quincy, Tales of the Unexpected, Mike Hammer...) He passed away in 1992, aged only 60. Joseph Scanlan continued to work in both Canada and the United States, where he returned in the 1980s, directing episodes of Land of the Lost, Matt and Jenny, The Littlest Hobo, Falcon Crest, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knots Landing, etc.
Wendy Riche, the associate producer of Dead on Target, started her career at ABC as a secretary in children's programming. Riche was quickly promoted coordinator of the network's late night programmes. She became a multi-awarded executive producer on soap operas General Hospital, Port Charles and The Bay. Our Man Flint - Dead on Target aired on ABC on March 17, 1976. It was a bonus in the 2006 Ultimate Flint Collection DVD boxset. Canawest Film Productions closed in 1977.
(1) Broadcasting (June 2, 1975). Quoted in the book A THRILLER in Every Corner by Martin Marshall (Lulu, 2020). The Quiller Memorandum mentioned by ABC was actually Quiller, the BBC 1975 series.
(2) Written and directed by Leslie Stevens, the creator of The Outer Limits (1963-1965).
(3) Credited as such in the title sequence.
(4) Based on the creation of novelist Donald Hamilton and starring Tony Franciosa. Dean Martin played Matt Helm in the 1960s film series.
(5) Cinema Canada #24 (December 1975-January 1976).
(6) Motion Magazine (1975).
(7) Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up by Tadhg Taylor (McFarland, 2015).
