''Paper Man'' is a 1971 American
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
transmitted as one of the "Friday Night Movies" which
CBS-TV
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
was then including in its prime-time programming. It also had a brief theatrical run with a longer version. It was directed by
Walter Grauman
Walter E. Grauman (March 17, 1922 – March 20, 2015) was an American director of stage shows, films and television shows.
Early life
Grauman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Jacob and Irene Grauman, both children of German immigrants who ...
, and dramatized for television by James D. Buchanan and Ronald Austin, both of whom were working from a story written by Anthony Wilson. It starred
Dean Stockwell
Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...
,
Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...
,
James Stacy
Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936 September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV western ''Lancer''.
In 1973, Stacy was hit by a drunk driver while rid ...
,
James Olson, Elliott Street, and
Tina Chen
Tina Chen (; born November 2, 1943) is a Chinese-American stage, film, and television actress, director, and producer, who starred in the films ''Alice's Restaurant'', ''Three Days of the Condor'', and ''The Hawaiians''. She has been nominated f ...
.
Plot
Four college students (
Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...
,
James Stacy
Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936 September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV western ''Lancer''.
In 1973, Stacy was hit by a drunk driver while rid ...
, Elliott Street, and
Tina Chen
Tina Chen (; born November 2, 1943) is a Chinese-American stage, film, and television actress, director, and producer, who starred in the films ''Alice's Restaurant'', ''Three Days of the Condor'', and ''The Hawaiians''. She has been nominated f ...
) take advantage of a credit card mistakenly issued to someone who does not exist by using their university's computer to counterfeit an entire identity and erase the charges they run up on it – done by Avery (
Dean Stockwell
Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...
), a computer wiz to fix everything for them. None of them count on the computer seeming to have some ideas of its own, or on it commencing to murder them.
Ultimately, a man employed at the university (
James Olson) proves to have stolen the identity which the students had counterfeited and to have been using it to commit the offenses which the students had blamed on the computer.
''Paper Man'' was produced at a time when
identity theft
Identity theft, identity piracy or identity infringement occurs when someone uses another's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. ...
was neither as common a crime, nor as difficult to commit, as it later became.
Cast
*
Dean Stockwell
Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...
as Avery Jensen
*
Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers (born November 2, 1942) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jennifer Hart on the mystery television series ''Hart to Hart'' (1979–1984), for which she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards an ...
as Karen McMillan
*
James Stacy
Maurice William Elias (December 23, 1936 September 9, 2016), known professionally as James Stacy, was an American film and television actor who starred in the late 1960s TV western ''Lancer''.
In 1973, Stacy was hit by a drunk driver while rid ...
as Jerry
*
Tina Chen
Tina Chen (; born November 2, 1943) is a Chinese-American stage, film, and television actress, director, and producer, who starred in the films ''Alice's Restaurant'', ''Three Days of the Condor'', and ''The Hawaiians''. She has been nominated f ...
as Lisa
*Elliott Street as Joel Fisher
*
James Olson as Art Fletcher
References
External links
*
1971 television films
1971 films
1971 horror films
American horror television films
American science fiction horror films
CBS films
Films about computer security
Films about identity theft
20th Century Fox Television films
Films directed by Walter Grauman
1970s American films
1971 science fiction films
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