Slow Talking and Hugely Mustachioed

Ah, Sam Elliot - slow talking and hugely mustachioed and here in a double bill of TV movies from the eighties.  I actually recently watched The Blue Lightning (1986) , which is actually an Australian made TV movie, albeit with two US stars in the form of Elliot and Robert Culp, (the latter sporting an Irish accent).  It also features a number of familiar Australian faces in support, including Rebecca Gilling, John Mellion and even Alf Stewart from Home and Away.  The latter plays one of the villain's heavies who proves to be no match for Elliot's moustache, let alone his .44 magnum.  The interesting thing about The Blue Lightning is that it seems to be an attempt to make a film which is as similar to the Travis McGee novels as possible, without having to pay the estate of John D MacDonald royalties.  Of course, Elliot actually does play Travis McGee in the eponymous TV movie, which was itself a pilot for a series that never came about.  While I've never seen Travis McGee, (a 1983 adaptation of The Empty Copper Sea), I do know that it departs significantly from the established scenario of the novels, shifting McGee from Florida to California and turning 'The Busted Flush' from a houseboat into a yacht.  (It also gives him a moustache, as played by Elliot).  The film had a troubled history and Elliot - a fan of the books - was reportedly none too happy with the finished product.

The Blue Lightning features Elliot playing Harry Wingate, who lives on a yacht in California and, like McGee, recovers stolen or misappropriated property for a fee.  In this case, he's sent to the Australian outback to recover an opal ('The Blue Lightning') on behalf of a millionaire collector who has paid ex-IRA terrorist Robert Culp (who runs the local town as his own fiefdom), to whom he has already paid $400,000 without receiving the stone.  Also like McGee, Wingate takes a very direct approach to the problem, facing down Culp in his underground, Bond-like, lair, but ends up wounded and has to withdraw to recuperate.  Bonding with some Aborigines, he leads them on another full frontal assault on Culp, this time killing the villain and recovering the opal.  Along the way there's a touch of mysticism, some romance and a lot of nice location photography.  It's actually a pretty entertaining ninety minutes or so - surprisingly violent for a TV movie, but well paced and well performed by the cast.  It feels very much like a prospective pilot for a series, although none subsequently emerged.  As I say, it all feels very McGee-lite. 

The Travis McGee novels, of course, have never been successfully transferred to the screen, despite their popularity.  Aside from the Sam Elliot TV movie, the only other screen adaptation was 1970's Darker Than Amber, with Rod Taylor as McGee.  I have to admit that I've never really got on with the source novels, always having found them hard going.  That said, I recently found that I owned half a dozen of them (some of which I don't remember buying, let alone reading), so I've obviously made several attempts at reading them.  Anyway, with time on my hands during this lockdown, I've decided to give them another chance and make a concerted effort at re-reading all six of the McGee novels I own.  The trouble is that after watching The Blue Lightning, with its faux McGee, I'm going to visualise him as Sam Elliot, complete with that moustache...