The Bait (1973 film)

Last updated
The Bait
GenreDrama
Written by Gordon Cotler
Don Mankiewicz
Directed by Leonard Horn
Starring Noam Pitlik
Donna Mills
Music by Jack Elliott
Allyn Ferguson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers Leonard Goldberg
Aaron Spelling
Producers Peter Nelson
Robert Monroe (associate producer)
Production locations20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California
Downtown, Los Angeles, California
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles County Music Center - 135 N. Grand Avenue, Downtown, Los Angeles, California
City National Plaza, 525 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, California
5th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California
1326 Londonderry View Dr, Los Angeles, California
560 South Los Angeles Street, Los Angeles, California
W. Pico Blvd. and Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, California
Cinematography Gert Andersen
Editors Leon Carrere
Neil Travis
Running time78 minutes
Production companies ABC Circle Films
Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Release
Original networkABC
Original releaseMarch 13, 1973 (1973-03-13)

The Bait is a television film about LAPD Detective Tracy Fleming, who is out to catch a serial killer preying on women in Los Angeles. Filmed in 1971 and released in 1973, it stars Donna Mills. [1] The film was based on former police officer Dorothy Uhnak's first novel, also titled The Bait, which won the MWA's Edgar for Best First Novel. She was reportedly embarrassed over the liberties taken with her work by this film. The film itself was the pilot for an unlaunched weekly TV series. [2]

Contents

The Ledger, a later book by Ms. Uhnak featuring the same character, NYPD Detective Christie Opara, was adapted into the TV-film Get Christie Love! It also took liberties with the source material, but was, nonetheless, successfully turned into a TV series the following season.

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References

  1. Terrace, Vincent (2019). Encyclopedia of Television Pilots: 2,470 Films Broadcast 1937-2019, 2d ed. McFarland p. 136. ISBN   978-1-4766-7874-0.
  2. Carlson, Michael (July 26, 2006). "Dorothy Uhnak". The Guardian . Retrieved December 11, 2019.