This wraps up my look at three of Tom Selleck’s early starring roles in turkeys.
Unlike The Chinese Typewriter and The Gypsy Warriors, both of which were tv pilot movies for shows that did not get picked up as a series, The Washington Affair was a theatrical film made in 1977 but was so bad it didn’t get released until the 1980s, after Selleck became a big star.
THE WASHINGTON AFFAIR (1977) – Also released as A Very Intimate Washington Affair, and for all I know as A Very Brady Washington Affair, this movie was a remake of director Victor Stoloff’s own 1966 film Intimacy. Neither version was very successful, but trivia buffs remember the original and the remake for Barry Sullivan playing the exact same character in both.
Sullivan portrayed dishonest businessman Walter Nicholson. In 1977 Tom Selleck costarred as Jim Hawley, a hunky engineer in charge of deciding what company gets a lucrative government contract – Nicholson’s or one of his competitors.
The 1966 flick at least had the advantage of shocking audiences of the time with its depiction of corrupt government figures, dirty businessmen and bribery – both monetary and sexual. Not so for 1977’s The Washington Affair.
By ’77 even the production’s attempt to cash in on Watergate and other government scandals was a bit too late and the sexual angle would barely disturb a contemporary grandma. Add the facts that the script sucks, there are literally only two sets for the entire film, and the central camera gimmick is absurd. Continue reading
THE GYPSY WARRIORS (1978) – Yesterday I reviewed the godawful 
This 1978 tv-movie starts out by turning “show, don’t tell” on its ear. As bad as the opening of The Chinese Typewriter was, the opening to this World War Two snoozer is even worse. The beginning devotes FOURTEEN entire minutes of the 76-minute runtime to a portentous announcer merely narrating as we see mismatched footage of hands, arms and the backs of heads plus second unit film of buildings, airplanes and vehicles.
THE CHINESE TYPEWRITER (1979) – It’s tough to remember the time before Tom Selleck was a tv megastar. His looks made him stand out and he had “future success” written all over him. He even showed he had a knack for comedy when he made two appearances on The Rockford Files as the annoyingly perfect and cliche-ridden detective Lance White. (“I’m okay, Jim. It’s just a flesh wound.”) 
With those writing and directing pedigrees behind the project you should have been able to smell several seasons, big money and some Emmy Awards in the offing. 
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