Classic Horrors Club

Instead of three lovely ladies like Charlie’s Angels (1976-81), Cover Girls (1977) has only two. It seems to have sacrificed one actor in exchange for a higher travel budget. The adventures of models Linda Allen (Cornelia Sharpe) and Monique Lawrence (Jayne Kennedy) happen around the world. It’s been a long time, but if I recall, the Angels stayed stateside and the most exotic they got was a trip to Hawaii (Angels in Paradise.)

The identity of the women’s boss is not a mystery in Cover Girls. Although we at first think he’s a politician riding in the back of a limo in Washington, D.C., we learn it’s James Andrews (Don Galloway), who employs them on behalf of an unknown intelligence agency. (Are there others beside the CIA?) He interacts with them in person, but there’s a similar repartee among them, much of it revolving around their beauty and their other career as models.

There are different levels of bad guys in the plot and they need one or the other of them to help them get other the big bad, Michael (George Lazenby.) I’ll be honest, I left in the middle to fix a quick dinner and did not pause the movie. Although I may have missed some finer details, it had no impact on my overall understanding of what was happening. The one thing I missed was learning how Johnny Wilson (Don Johnson) entered the picture.

He’s suddenly there providing back-up for the women. Maybe he comes in for the kill after they put all the pieces in place with their allure. However, as lovely women sometimes do, one of them falls in love with one of the villains. As she gets close to Bradner (Vince Edwards), Linda is shares with Monique that he has so many sides to him… she can’t help but have feelings for a man. It can’t work out for them, though, and she apologizes for turning him over to the police.

Cover Girls has energy, some natural and some driven by an overenthusiastic score. It can’t be taken too seriously. The resolution of every subplot ends with a witty comment by one of the women. For example, Monique says, “It’s a beautiful car and I know it’s fast, but I think you’re out of the race.” It’s harmless fluff so light that I can’t say if it entertains or not. It also screams “failed pilot,” but I can find no evidence that it wasn’t intended to be a one-and-done-production.

You can watch Cover Girls by visiting @ClassicHorrorsTV on YouTube, then navigating to the TV Terror Guide: 70’s TV Movies playlist.