Captain America II: Death Too Soon is a 1979 American made-for-television superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America, directed by Ivan Nagy and starring Reb Brown. The film was preceded by Captain America earlier the same year.[1] It was aired on CBS in two one-hour slots. The first part aired on November 23, 1979, and the second aired the next night, leading into the conclusion of Salem's Lot.[2]
| Captain America II: Death Too Soon | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Wilton Schiller |
| Directed by | Ivan Nagy |
| Starring | Reb Brown Connie Sellecca Len Birman Christopher Lee Katherine Justice Christopher Cary Bill Lucking Stanley Kamel Ken Swofford Lana Wood |
| Theme music composer | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Allan Balter |
| Producer | Martin M. Goldstein |
| Cinematography | Vincent A. Martinelli |
| Editor | Michael S. Murphy |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Production company | Universal Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | November 23, 1979 |
Plot
editSteve Rogers (Reb Brown) is first shown sketching a portrait of a Mrs. Shaw (Susan French), who complains to him about a gang of muggers who have been stealing the proceeds from cashed Social Security checks; she denies having cashed hers. He bids her to do this in order to set a trap for the muggers and springs the trap as Captain America.
In the meantime, a free-lance revolutionary terrorist calling himself General Miguel (Christopher Lee), planning to fight an unspecified war, kidnaps a Professor Ian Ilson (Christopher Cary) and forces him to resume his research in manipulative gerontology. Ilson has managed to formulate both a chemical that accelerates aging and the antidote to the same chemical, and Miguel, posing as the warden of a prison in Oregon near Portland, plans to use the chemicals in question to hold Portland hostage for a multimillion-dollar ransom.
Ultimately Rogers and Miguel directly clash face-to-face, and when Miguel throws a glass bottle of the aging accelerant into the air, hoping it will shatter against Captain America's body, the Captain throws his shield to stop the attack, where it shatters the bottle in such a manner that the aging accelerant splashes them both. However, the Captain only receives a minor amount and thus only ages a month. Miguel, on the other hand, ages to death in less than a minute.
Cast
edit- Reb Brown as Steve Rogers / Captain America
- Christopher Lee as General Miguel
- Connie Sellecca as Dr. Wendy Day
- Len Birman as Dr. Simon Mills
- Katherine Justice as Helen Moore
- Christopher Cary as Professor Ian Ilson
- William Lucking as Stader
- Stanley Kamel as Kramer
- Ken Swofford as Everett Bliss
- Lana Wood as Yolanda
- Susan French as Mrs. Shaw
Release
editThe film was released theatrically in France in 1980 and had a special film festival screening in Finland in 2014.[3]
References
edit- ^ Cord Scott, Robert G. Weiner (2009), Captain America and the struggle of the superhero, p. 221, ISBN 978-0-7864-3703-0
- ^ "Vintage TV Guide Ads: Captain America, Salem's Lot & More! Part 1". Cool Ass Cinema.
- ^ McEniry, Matthew J.; Peaslee, Robert Moses; Weiner, Robert G. (30 March 2016). Marvel Comics into Film: Essays on Adaptations Since the 1940s. McFarland. ISBN 9780786443048 – via Google Books.
