''Dead on Target'' (also titled ''Our Man Flint: Dead On Target'') is an American television film. The film originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on March 17, 1976, and was shot in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The film was a

backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

for a possible weekly series, but it was not picked up to series, and it became the last Derek Flint movie.

Ray Danton Ray Danton (born Raymond Caplan; September 19, 1931 – February 11, 1992) was an American radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies ''The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamo ...

replaces

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

Derek Flint Derek Flint is a fictional world adventurer and master spy featured in a series of movies and comic books. Flint, a parody of James Bond and Doc Savage, is an agent for Z.O.W.I.E. (Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage). Origins In 1965 ...

, who is now a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

and former Z.O.W.I.E. government agent. The cast also includes

Sharon Acker Sharon Eileen Acker (April 2, 1935 – March 16, 2023) was a Canadian film, stage, and television actress and model. She appeared mostly on television in Canada and the United States from 1956 to 1992. She played Della Street, Perry Mason's loyal ...

Susan Jane Sullivan, AKA Susan O'Sullivan Susan is a feminine given name, the usual English version of Susanna or Susannah. All are versions of the Hebrew name Shoshana, which is derived from the Hebrew ''shoshan'', meaning ''lotus flower'' in Egyptian, original derivation, and several ...

Lawrence Dane Lawrence Joseph Zahab (April 3, 1937 – March 21, 2022), known professionally as Lawrence Dane, was a Canadian actor and film producer, best known for his role as Lt. Preston in ''Bride of Chucky''. Life and career Born in Masson, Quebec, Dane ...

, Gay Rowan,

Linda Woods Linda is an English feminine given name, derived from the Spanish word , meaning "pretty." Linda may also refer to: Names * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) ...

Donnelly Rhodes Donnelly Rhodes Henry (December 4, 1937 – January 8, 2018) was a Canadian actor. He had many American television and film credits, probably best known to American audiences as the hapless escaped convict Dutch Leitner on the soap opera spoof ' ...

, and

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British, Canadian, and American actress. She is known for her portrayal of Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Primetime Emmy Award nominati ...

Plot

Derek Flint agrees to teach a pretty young woman named Benita Ryders how to be a private eye. Their first mission together has them facing a group of terrorists called B.E.S.L.A. ("Bar El Sol Liberation Army"), who have kidnapped an oil executive. They rescue him and put B.E.S.L.A. out of business.

Home media

''Dead On Target'' was released by Fox as part of the "Ultimate Flint Collection" DVD set on November 7, 2006.

Reception

In ''Crime and Spy Jazz on Screen'', Derrick Bang finds Danton's performance "unpersuasive". Most commentators find the film disappointing compared to Coburn's

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

, one review explaining that the original title was not referring to ''Our Man Flint'' being because the two had so little in common.

References

External links

* Derek Flint 1976 television films 1976 films American Broadcasting Company original films American television films Films shot in Vancouver Television pilots not picked up as a series Films directed by Joseph L. Scanlan 1970s English-language films {{US-tv-film-stub