1974 Wonder Woman TV Movie Review

I watched the 1974 Wonder Woman TV Movie recently. (I did not see it when it was originally broadcast.) I have mixed feelings about this version of Wonder Woman. Blonde Cathy Lee Crosby did not fit my image of Wonder Woman. It did not seem as though she had much of a secret identity. Almost everyone knew she was Wonder Woman even when not dressed as Wonder Woman.

A major plus in the casting was having the always wonderful Ricardo Montalban as the villain, Abner Smith. I don’t know if his role as the villain was supposed to be a surprise (we do not actually see his face for quite some time), but he had an extremely distinctive voice so it was no surprise when we saw his face.

The movie opens with Wonder Woman saying good bye to her mother and her Amazon sisters. In the United States, other than having amazing athletic abilities, she has no super powers. Repeated attempts on her life fail. I was hoping for at least one round of bullets and bracelets, but no such luck.

Smith’s henchmen have stolen books that when all gathered together, contain information that would compromise all the U.S. Agents in the world.  Diana Prince informs her boss, Steve Trevor, that she is going to a dentist in France, which just happens to be one of the places Smith may be located... Meanwhile, Steve follows the instructions for delivering the ransom money for return of the books.

One worthy opponent appears – a fellow Amazon who was hired by Smith. Wonder Woman has been warned about her arrival. They meet and Wonder Woman easily defeats her. She shows mercy to her defeated opponent. She, however, tells Wonder Woman that next time they meet, if she wins she will kill Wonder Woman. She is never seen again in the movie. My guess is that if the TV movie had led to a TV series, she would have been a recurring villain.

After the ransom has been delivered successfully, Smith hands the books over to Wonder Woman. He sets a trap for her that he believes will finally be the end of her.

After all of Smith’s minions have been disposed of and he believes Wonder Woman has died, he believes he is free to leave with the money. His plan is foiled when Wonder Woman rises out of the sea and stops him. His parting comment before he is taken away is, “Wonder Woman, I love you.”

Will I ever watch this movie again? The jury is still out on that one.