C.H.O.M.P.S.
(1979, U.S.) color 90 minutes
With: Wesley Eure (Brian Foster), Jim Backus (Mr. Gibbs), Conrad Bain (Ralph Norton), Valerie Bertinelli (Casey Norton), Chuck McCann (Brooks), Red Buttons (Bracken), Hermoine Baddeley (Mrs. Flower), Robert Q. Lewis (Merckle)
Plot Outline (IMDb): A young man invents a robot dog that has super strength, X-ray vision and can detect crimes being committed. A greedy businessman tries to steal the boy's invention from him.
***
Ultra-weird kiddy Sci-Fi about a robot canine has "cheap" written all over it. This ill and tawdry co-production between American International Pictures and Hanna-Barbera suffers from a faux-goofy script and low production values, making it possibly the oddest example of the "super dog" craze of the 1970's.
Teenage heartthrobs Valerie Bertinelli ("One Day at a Time") and Wesley Eure ("Land of the Lost") were big TV stars at the time. They receive strong support from comedic veterans Jim Backus, Red Buttons and Chuck McCann.
The robot dog is hastily sketched, and the f/x are strictly of the Saturday-Morning TV variety. Indeed, one wonders if this was a failed TV pilot, so shoddy is the concept and photography.
As with many of these youth-oriented productions, there was a tie-in paperback, which was just a rehash of the hurried screeplay.
Video/DVD availability: VHS (Vestron Video, oop; MGM Home Video)
American International Pictures / Hanna-Barbera Productions
Story: Joseph Barbera
Screenplay: Joseph Barbera, Duane Poole, Dick Robbins
Music: ???
Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler
Produced by: Samuel Z. Arkoff, Joseph Barbera
Directed by: by Don Chaffey