He inhabits the role, a hypermanic, stuttering Type A personality. I keep calling him "Kolchak" instead of "Darren McGavin" because it's hard not to. She's startled and asks, "Okay, what's going on, Father." All of this is underplayed, not stressed. He arranges for a visit from a hooker he's identified as a vampire and when she enters his darkened hotel room, he suddenly switches on the light and lunges toward her, holding a big crucifix in front of him. He passes himself off to a reluctant informant as an agent of the "I.N.S.", which sounds terrifying but only stands for International News Service. Now known simply as "The Guardian," it's one of the most famous and respected newspapers in the world. Kolchak makes a pest of himself with the police lieutenant (the splendid William Daniels) and when the lieutenant asks angrily what paper Kolchak works for, he answers blithely, "The Manchester Guardian", tips his hat and makes a hasty exit. But then there is generally more humor sprinkled through the narrative, often no more than one liners. It's the sort of thing that's completely lacking in the 1972 movie. It isn't much, but it's evidence that some work had gone into the writing. One of the writers had to plant that joke, and to do it they had to take the context of the entire story into account. And Kolchak is teetering on the brink of unemployment.
Three luscious bedrooms, an adobe gazebo, and so forth. Pretty good, eh? But no, it's not! shouts Oakland. Back in Chicago, Oakland gets the report and calls Kolchak. The pretty agent works hard at putting the reports together, although Kolchak has to warn her against using "oft" and "nary" in a news report. And so what? But here's what I mean by structure. She will write stories about the guru under his name, while he pursues the vampire. Still, in order to file his story about the interview and satisfy his boss, Kolchak visits the guru's now empty house, where a pretty real estate agent who majored in journalism tries to sell him the mansion. Meanwhile Kolchak has picked up the scent of a local vampire. Kolchak is sent from Chicago to Los Angeles to interview a famous guru, similar to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that the Beatles were enthralled by.
More thought has been woven into the script. For another, and this may be a little difficult to grasp, the story is better structured.
For one thing, there is more of Simon Oakland as Kolchak's boss at the news service.
#SIMON OAKLAND KOLCHAK VAMPIRE MOVIE#
In many ways this episode is an improvement over the full-length television movie that appeared two years earlier in 1972, although the monsters are the same - vampires.
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