Starring Sammy Davis Jr., Christopher Lee, Jack Klugman, Adam West, Gino Conforti
Directed by Robert Scheerer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Sammy, consigned to the lower levels of hell, tries to convince Lucifer to give him the chance to sign a disgruntled accountant's soul to a contract, in order to move up from his lowly position.
Per Wikipedia, this was a television movie intended as a pilot for a TV series, and it's easy to see why the network passed, as its humor is not sharp enough for a comedy, and there's too many absurdities in the film to succeed as a drama. Nonetheless, Davis is charming, and I liked the filmmakers' vision of hell as in the style of a 1970s discotheque, and the catchy theme music. The movie is amiable despite its failings, with a good performance by Klugman as the accountant convinced he's been passed over after a 25 year career. Lee plays Lucifer, the devil himself, in familiar casting for the Dracula veteran, clad in a turtleneck and sports jacket in a hip rendition of the dark lord. He's fun to watch but fans may be somewhat disappointed he's not more integrated into the storyline. Davis and Klugman keep things interesting if not amusing, so I enjoyed the film on that level, but it's still quite lacking.
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