Paper Man

Paper Man

12/11/1971 1h 15m 5.8/10

Overview

A prank that starts with a group of college students creating a fictitious person so they can get a credit card develops into a plot that leaves three of them dead.

Director

Walter Grauman

Top Billed Cast

Elliott Street

Elliott Street

Joel Fisher

James Olson

James Olson

Art Fletcher

Dean Stockwell

Dean Stockwell

Avery Jensen

Stefanie Powers

Stefanie Powers

Karen McMillan

James Stacy

James Stacy

Jerry

Tina Chen

Tina Chen

Lisa

Reviews

Wuchak

3/9/2022

7/10

_**Killing Machine**_ After a credit card is mistakenly issued to someone who does not exist, four college students (Stefanie Powers, James Stacy, etc.) take advantage by using the university’s computer to create a fictitious person and partake of the benefits thereof. An introverted computer wiz (Dean Stockwell) helps them get away with it. Then cryptic things start happening. James Olson is on hand as a technician who objects to the proceedings. "Paper Man" (1971) was initially released to theaters, but quickly pulled and cut by 15 minutes, then released to television as a 75-minute movie. It’s a cautionary techno-thriller with bits of horror ahead of its time, predicting a world of computer fraud and identity theft at least 25 years before they came into vogue. The inspiration for the story was likely taken from the 1969 episode of Journey to the Unknown “The Madison Equation” and maybe "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). But it’s different enough to stand on its own and no doubt influenced the future “Demon Seed” (1977). There’s an interesting plot twist that I didn’t see coming and Stockwell’s character is interesting, as are James Stacy’s fiery Vietnam vet and Olson’s concerned tech. On the female front, Stefanie appears as a redhead and sure was a looker back then. William Shatner’s beautiful raven-haired wife, Marcy Lafferty, also shows up for a brief bit as a secretary in the last act (they were married from 1973-1996). The film runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, with the television cut being 1 hour, 15 minutes (I advise seeing the longer version as it fleshes out the characters more). It was shot in Los Angeles. GRADE: B-/B

Similar Movies

The Godfather Part II

8.6

The Godfather Part II

1974

Minority Report

7.3

Minority Report

2002

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

6.6

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

1969

Diamonds Are Forever

6.4

Diamonds Are Forever

1971

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

6.4

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

2014

The Spy Who Loved Me

6.8

The Spy Who Loved Me

1977

The Last Emperor

7.6

The Last Emperor

1987

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

6.5

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

2002

Lucky Number Slevin

7.5

Lucky Number Slevin

2006

On the Waterfront

7.9

On the Waterfront

1954

The Interpreter

6.3

The Interpreter

2005

Boys Don't Cry

7.4

Boys Don't Cry

1999

The Good German

5.8

The Good German

2006