''The Owl'' is a

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

American action television film inspired by the 1984 novel of the same name''The Owl'', Pinnacle Books, August 1984; by

Bob Forward Bob Forward (born 1958) is an American writer, producer, and director. Forward is the production director and president of his independent company, Detonation Films. Forward has been the writer of many animated television series, as well as a f ...

. The film, intended as a pilot for a series on CBS, was written and directed by Tom Holland, who chose to be credited as "

Alan Smithee Alan Smithee (also Allen Smithee) is an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project. Coined in 1968 and used until it was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild o ...

" on the later extended home video release. The film starred Adrian Paul, Patricia Charbonneau,

Brian Thompson Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film ''The Terminator''. He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film '' Cobra''. His first named role was on ''Werew ...

, and

Erika Flores Erika Flores (born November 2, 1978 in Grass Valley, Nevada County, California) is an American former child actress and former actress, and sister of Melissa Flores, also a former child actress. Career She is known for her role as the first ...

Plot

Alex L'Hiboux, a ruthless mercenary-cum-vigilante, is known as "the Owl" because he never sleeps. His insomnia comes from a combination of a medical disorder and recurring nightmares of the murder of his wife and daughter. Alex is approached by Lisa, a young girl whose father is missing. She awakens painful memories of his own child, but after some persuasion from a policewoman friend, he agrees to help her.

Cast

* Adrian Paul as The Owl * Patricia Charbonneau as Danny Santerre *

as Barkeeper *

as Lisa * Jacques Apollo Bolton as Cool Ice * David Anthony Marshall as Bobby B * Billy "Sly" Williams as Gullett *

David Selburg David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

as Dr. Clements *

Mark Lowenthal Mark M. Lowenthal (born September 5, 1948) is an author and Adjunct Professor at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD He has written five books and over 90 articles or studies on intelligence and nat ...

as r. Miller * Alan Scarfe as Hutchins *

Thomas Rosales Jr. Thomas Rosales Jr. (born February 3, 1948) is an American actor and stuntman who has appeared in more than 100 films. His first known appearance as a stuntman was in ''Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' in 1973. Rosales' filmography includes ...

as Morito *Alejandro Quezada as Gossett * Gregory Scott Cummins as Trash *

Rick Zumwalt Richard Lee Zumwalt Jr. (September 24, 1951 – March 19, 2003) was an American professional arm-wrestler and actor. He is known for playing the character of Bob "Bull" Hurley in the 1987 Sylvester Stallone movie ''Over the Top''. Career In add ...

as Packer *

Bridget Klappert Bridget is an Irish female name derived from the Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of ...

as Six-year-old *

Jill Pierce Jill is an English feminine given name, a short form of the name Jillian (Gillian), which in turn originates as a Middle English variant of Juliana, the feminine form of the name Julian. People with the given name *Jill Astbury, Australian res ...

as Dark Haired Lady *

Sondra Spriggs Sondra is a feminine Greek given name meaning protector of man. By 2013, the name reached the verge of extinction in the United States; it had reached a peak of usage in 1939. The name may refer to: People: * Sondra Erickson (born 1942), America ...

as Black Chick *

Chris Hendrie Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

as Wolpert * Josh Holland as Mark Wolpert * Tom Holland as Mugger (uncredited)

Broadcast and home media

The film was broadcast as a television pilot on CBS from 10:45 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. (

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

) on Saturday, August 3, 1991, but was not picked up as a series. The TV broadcast ran 48 minutes, while the later home video release runs 84 minutes. Reviewer Eoin of theactionelite.com explained this difference, writing, "The length was doubled by padding it with deleted scenes (including Holland’s cameo as a rapist), and tedious montages were created utilizing every bit of alternate footage imaginable. Holland was so disgusted by the extended version that he had his directorial credit switched to Alan Smithee – though many video boxes still touted him as the director."

Reception

In a critical review of the film, David Bushman of '' Variety'' wrote, "unfortunately, it can't resist the temptation to be cute and sentimental, and thus it often loses momentum."

References

External links

* 1991 films American television films 1990s action films American vigilante films Films directed by Tom Holland Films credited to Alan Smithee Films scored by Sylvester Levay Television pilots not picked up as a series 1990s American films {{US-tv-film-stub