''The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler'' is a 1971

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

directed by Bob Wynn and starring

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

Bradford Dillman Bradford Dillman (April 14, 1930 – January 16, 2018) was an American actor and author. Early life Bradford Dillman was born on April 14, 1930, in San Francisco, the son of Dean Dillman, a stockbroker, and Josephine (née Moore). Bradford's pa ...

and

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

. This was one of the earliest films to depict medical exploitation of

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, cl ...

, even though the term was not used. It was shot on

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...

and transferred to film for theatrical and TV release. Gold Key Entertainment commissioned this film at the same time as it commissioned the film ''

The Day of the Wolves ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', and tried to persuade Ferde Grofe to film that on video because of the cost savings, but he declined.

Plot

Reporter Harry Walsh ( Nielsen) witnesses an auto accident in which two people are killed. Recognizing the survivor as Senator Clayton Zachary Wheeler, ( Dillman) he rides with him in the ambulance. After he reports Wheeler's accident from the hospital, the staff tells him there is no such person admitted. Walsh's editor orders him to retract his story, which he refuses to do, at the cost of his job. Some detective work leads him to

Alamogordo, New Mexico Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...

. Meanwhile, Wheeler wakes up in a secret hospital run by Dr. Redding (

Daly Daly or DALY may refer to: Places Australia * County of Daly, a cadastral division in South Australia * Daly River, Northern Territory, a locality * Electoral division of Daly, an electorate in the Northern Territory * Daly, Northern Territory, ...

) and Dr. Layle Johnson ( Dickinson). He finds out he is the recipient of an incredible transplant, utilizing organs harvested from "somas". These somas are bodies artificially grown from his own DNA. Walsh has to elude two less-than-brilliant agents on his way to Alamogordo, finally escaping them, traveling with some migrant workers. Wheeler learns that the "fee" for his surgery is to do whatever he can do as Senator, for the Committee—a form of medical blackmail. Fielding (

Wilke Wilke is a surname of German origin, which is medieval pet form of the personal name Wilhelm.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Wilke Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 15 January 2016. A related English surname is Wil ...

), the Committee chairman, refers to it as "a new type of money." Wheeler refuses to cooperate and threatens to turn the whole operation in. Fielding warns him he will never win a presidential nomination if news of his heart transplant gets out. In Alamogordo, Walsh deduces that Wheeler's plane must have gone to Los Alamos, site of the old

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

. With the help of a newspaper buddy, he lands at the base and discovers an extra soma of Wheeler. Thinking it to be the senator, he breaks it out and commandeers Dr. Johnson's car. The car wrecks when Walsh swerves to avoid hitting several somas wandering around. Johnson is injured, and Fielding tries to use the situation to change Wheeler's position, threatening not to save her. As Wheeler has grown fond of her, his resolve is weakening, but Redding assures him she is not badly injured. Walsh and Wheeler finally meet, and agree to expose the Committee together, even as Fielding and Redding discuss a new "client" they have been hoping for.

Cast

... Harry Walsh *

... Sen. Clayton Zachary Wheeler/Soma * James Daly ... Dr. Redding *

... Dr. Layle Johnson *

Robert J. Wilke Robert Joseph Wilke (May 18, 1914 – March 28, 1989) was an American film and television actor noted primarily for his roles as villains, mostly in Westerns. Early years Wilke was a native of Cincinnati. Before going into acting, he h ...

... Hugh Fielding * Jack Carter ... Dwight Chiles *

Don Haggerty Don Haggerty (July 3, 1914 – August 19, 1988) was an American actor of film and television. Early life and education Before he began appearing in films in 1947, Haggerty was a Brown University athlete and served in the United States Army f ...

... Jake * Lew Brown ... Collins * Richard Schuyler ... Bates *

Dick Simmons Richard Simmons (August 19, 1913 – January 11, 2003) was an American actor. Early life Simmons was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his family later moved across the Mississippi River to Minneapolis. There, he attended West Side High Sc ...

... Adams * William Bryant ... Craig Harmon *

Tris Coffin Tristram Chockley Coffin (August 13, 1909 – March 26, 1990) was a film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s, usually in westerns or other B-movie action-adventure productions. Early years Coffin's mother was actre ...

... Dr. Keating *

Peter Mamakos Peter Mamakos (December 14, 1918 – April 27, 2008) was an American film and television actor. Early life Mamakos was of Greek descent. Mamakos' father owned Pilgrim restaurants in New England. Mamakos was sent to California to scout lo ...

... Premier Mabulla * Ruben Moreno ... General Muñoz * Steve Cory ... Carson *

Steve Conte Steve Conte is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist, music producer, and lead singer of the band Steve Conte NYC. He has worked with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno on a variety of anime soundtracks including ''Wolf's Rain'', '' Cowboy Bebo ...

... Radio Opr. #2

Production

Tom Rolf Ernst Ragnar Rolf (December 31, 1931 – July 14, 2014), better known as Tom Rolf, was a Swedish-born American film editor who worked on at least 48 feature films in a career spanning over fifty years. Most notable among these films are Marti ...

got the idea for the film reading about organ transplants in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''. At the time he was

production coordinator A production coordinator (officially called production office coordinator and abbreviated POC) is a unionized position in stagecraft under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and is governed in Los Angeles by Local 871 ...

on the TV series ''

The Big Valley ''The Big Valley'' is an American Western drama television series that originally aired from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 on ABC. The series is set on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The one-hour e ...

''. Rolf told his friend Jay Simms, a writer on the series, about his idea. Together they wrote the film in about three weeks. They gave the script to Simms' agent, who liked it. Rolf felt that despite the low budget, the film was ahead of its time, and was pleased with it. Rolf was normally an editor and this film was his only writing credit. The name used for the clones, soma, is Greek for "body".Soma
a
Dictionary.com
/ref> They share the name with the hallucinogenic drug used by the urbanites in

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

's 1932 novel, ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarch ...

''.Brave New World
Aldous Huxley, 1932 page 54. The film is noted as possibly the earliest to depict surgical transplants using clones for parts. According to ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', this was the first American film to be shot on

and transferred to film for release. Actually, there had been others, such as ''

T.A.M.I. Show ''T.A.M.I. Show'' is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civ ...

'', before it.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler 1971 films American science fiction films Films about organ transplantation Films about cloning 1970s English-language films 1970s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links