James McAdams Movies

Seven years after the cancellation of the CBS TV series Kojak, the network attempted to revive the property with this adaptation of John Loftus' novel The Bellarus Secret. Telly Savalas returns to the role of lollipop-sucking New York police detective Lt. Theo Kojak, with George Savalas, Vince Conti, and Mark B. Russell likewise reprising their Kojak characters of Stavros, Rizzo, and Saperstein (conspicuous by his absence was Kevin Dobson as Bobby Crocker, who had by this time signed on as a regular on Knot's Landing). This time around, Kojak tried to solve the murders of three elderly Russians, who may or may not have been Nazi war criminals. The answer to the mystery lay in "The Belarus File," a top-secret document in the possession of the State Department. At first stymied by the government's lack of cooperation, Kojak receives unexpected assistance from compassionate bureaucrat Dana Sutton (Suzanne Pleshette). Originally telecast February 16, 1985, Kojak: The Belarus File (aka The Return of Kojak) did not immediately spark a wholesale Kojak revival, though the property did return to TV on an irregular basis as a component of the ABC "Mystery Movie" in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In his first major TV project since Kojak, Telly Savalas stars as maverick Philadelphia criminal lawyer Nick Hellinger. He heads to Houston to defend a syndicate accountant accused of murder. The government seems inordinately interested in the case, as well it should be: The accountant is actually an undercover agent. Mob boss (Rod Taylor) also puts pressure on Hellinger in regards to the case. Hellinger's Law was the pilot for a series that looked as though it was an easy sell; but when it came down to the line, CBS, despite allegedly ordering several scripts to be written, decided not to go with the show. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second and last TV pilot film to bear the Crime Club title, the 1975 Crime Club once again involves a state-of-the-art crime solving organization whose members are professional investigators from various public and private sectors. The principal characters are a detective (Scott Thomas), a reporter (Eugene Roche) and a criminal lawyer (Robert Lansing). The crime in question in this pilot concerned a social outcast who seeks public notoriety by confessing to a series of grisly ice pick murders. The three protagonists combine their brain power to solve the case, but their efforts failed to convince any network to pick up the project. Crime Club joined its 1973 predecessor in Universal's syndicated package of made-for-TV movies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi