This film begins at an advertising agency with three employees named "Warren Summerfield" (William Shatner),"Terry Maxon" (Marjoe Gortner) and "Paul McIlvan" (Robert Reed) trying their best to retain the account of a wealthy businessman by the name of "Sam Farragut" (Andy Griffith). The problem is that Sam Farragut is not a nice man to do business with as he is both arrogant and extremely cruel. In fact, he is so arrogant and cruel that, in order to flaunt his power over them, he demands that they accompany him on a 600-mile dirt bike ride through the Baja Desert to an isolated site where he is setting up his next business venture. Needless to say, this long hard ride through the desert is not what any of them really want to do but for the sake of their careers they all reluctantly agree. What they are soon to find out, however, is that there is an even worse side to Sam Farragut than any of them could imagine and that all of them will soon be faced with a decision that might weigh heavily upon their consciences for the rest of their lives. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a decent made-for-television movie which suffered somewhat because of that format. It also had Andy Griffith acting in a role that was totally uncharacteristic of him-at least for that particular time. It also had several different sub-plots which, in some cases, could have used a bit more depth as well. Be that as it may, this turned out to be a solid film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Three advertising industry agents -- worn-out washed-up has been Warren Summerfield (a surprisingly subdued William Shatner),passive yes man Paul McIlvain (a nicely wimpy portrayal by Robert Reed),and swaggering hipster hustler Terry Maxon (the always awesome Marjoe Gortner) try to win over the favor of wealthy and powerful mogul Sam Farragut (robustly essayed with lip-smacking wicked relish by Andy Griffith) during a perilous motorcycle trip through Baja. However, said excursion into the dessert doesn't go as smoothly as planned. Director Robert Michael Lewis and writer Jack Turley treat this heavy-handed morality tale about the abuse of power, compromising one's values, and personal integrity (or the lack thereof) with gut-busting seriousness, thereby resulting in a total campfest of exceptional unintentional hilarity. Shatner's typically hideous hairpiece and show-stopping "There is no me" monologue, the hysterically dated "cool" slang-ridden dialogue ("Now, we're getting' it on, baby!"),a sidesplitting surplus of soap opera-ish subplots (Warren's lost his job, Terry's girlfriend is pregnant, and so on),and the corny voiceovers all further enhance the overall goofy charm of this unsung kooky gem. Of course, Griffith playing a rare full-blown villain part gives this honey an additional uproarious kick, as good ol' Andy is clearly having the time of his life portraying one really mean, evil, and arrogant bully of a rich jerk. Angie Dickinson as the tart-tongued Nancy and Lorraine Gary as Warren's concerned spouse Lila do their best with their thankless roles. Fred Myrow's groovy score makes great use of a burning fuzztone guitar. The cinematography by John Marley Stephens offers plenty of breathtaking shots of the beautiful wide open scenery. An absolute hoot!

"Pray for the Wildcats" is a TV "movie of the week" from 1974 about four businessmen (Andy Griffith, William Shatner, Robert Reed and Marjoe Gortner) who take a trip through the desert wilderness of Baja California on dirt bikes. Griffith plays Sam Farragut, an arrogant mogul who thinks money is power and anyone can be bought if the price is right; and, if they can't, well, they'll just have to be discarded one way or another. Needless to say, the trip doesn't go as pleasantly as planned.

If you didn't think it was possible for Griffith to play a robust villain you need to see this film. Andy just eats up the role of the dastardly Farragut. Not only is his performance a pleasure to behold, it rings true! All the other actors are perfectly cast, as are the wives and girlfriend of the three subordinate bikers, Lorraine Gary, Angie Dickinson and Janet Margolin respectively.

"Pray for the Wildcats" is a morality tale in the manner of "Deliverance," except that the crime is inverted and the trip takes place in the SW desert/coast rather than a wild river in Georgia. Although a TV movie, "Pray for the Wildcats" is every bit as good as "Deliverance" and perhaps even better. And, thankfully, it doesn't contain anything as hard to watch as that infamous "squeal like a pig" scene.

Judging from the reviews, many will ridicule such commendations. In fact, for reasons that elude me "Pray for the Wildcats" is often mocked as "campy" and "unintentionally funny." Really? I don't see this at all; and anyone who thinks it's campy obviously doesn't know what camp is. This is clearly a serious drama/adventure/thriller with the requisite soap operatics, but nothing overkill and definitely within the realm of believability. Another overdone criticism is Shatner's hairpiece, which is odd since it definitely LOOKS like his natural hair (not that it is).

The real reason reviewers make fun of "Pray for the Wildcats" is because (1.) it's a TV movie and (2.) three of the stars had well-known TV shows -- The Andy Griffith Show, Star Trek and The Brady Bunch -- and, gee, I guess there's no way they could really act and break away from their typecast roles. But they can and do superbly in "Pray for the Wildcats."

Another thing I love about this film is the powerful message: ***SPOILER ALERT*** One man sins greatly, but has zero remorse and tries to cover it up through his power and money; another man also sins, but realizes his mistake and ultimately proves his character; the other two show that they believe money and position are more important than justice and therefore prove their lack of character. ***END SPOILER***

The film was shot in Arizona and Baja California and runs 100 minutes.

GRADE: A+