''The Love War'' (1970) is a science fiction

ABC Movie of the Week ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

starring

Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...

as an alien warrior 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 ...

as the woman he befriends. It was originally advertised and broadcast under the title ''The Sixth Column''.

Plot

Two warring planets choose to settle their conflict over which of them will take over the planet Earth, each sending a trio of soldiers to Earth to fight to the death. The combatants, disguised as human beings, can only identify each other by using special visors. Kyle, one of the combatants, falls in love with Sandy, a woman he meets during his stay in a small town. In the end, despite cheating by the other side, Kyle is the sole survivor, but before he can signal his people he has won, Sandy shoots him with one of the alien weapons. A dying Kyle then learns that Sandy is also an alien; the other side has cheated twice. She chose duty to her people over her love for him. Weeping as she watches him die, she asks him what their half-breed children would have been. The film's closing shot shows Sandy through the visor as she really is — a hideously scarred humanoid. Earth faces an orgy of destruction and the extermination of humanity.

Setting

The setting is north-central California, as the final showdown is held in a small town described as being near the city of

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. Much of the action was filmed in and around the town of Piru near Los Angeles.

Reception

Moria gave the movie three stars finding it good for its time, although noting it is not "hard" sci fi.

Cast

as Kyle *

as Sandy *

Harry Basch Harry Leo Basch (January 16, 1926 – June 23, 2020) was an American actor and author. In 1951 he appeared in "Mr. Roberts" at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco. He is possibly best known for his role as Vince Caproni in the 1980s television se ...

as Bal *

Daniel J. Travanti Daniel J. Travanti (born Danielo Giovanni Travanti; March 7, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for playing police captain Frank Furillo in the television drama series '' Hill Street Blues'' (1981–1987) for which he received a Gol ...

as Ted (as Dan Travanty) *Allen Jaffe as Hort *Bill McLean as Reed *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of four ...

as Will *

Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning ab ...

*Bob Nash as Limo Driver *Art Lewis

Home media

The movie was released on VHS cassette tape in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by Guild Home Video.

References

External links

* * 1970 films 1970s science fiction war films ABC Movie of the Week American science fiction war films 1970s English-language films Films about death games Films directed by George McCowan 1970s American films English-language science fiction films English-language war films {{US-tv-film-stub