The late Lee H. Katzin specialized in directing episodic television as well as made-for-television features during his 38-year career in Hollywood. He helmed a handful of big-screen features, including "Heaven with a Gun," "What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice," "Le Mans," "Restraining Order," "The Phynx," "The Break," "World Gone Wild," and "The Salzburg Connection." A suspenseful saga about survival in the desert, "Savages" qualifies as one of Katzin's more memorable made-for-television movies. Writer William Wood adapted Robb White's award-winning novel "Deathwatch" that received the 1973 Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery from the Mystery Writers of America. Casting is everything in this taut, 74-minute, ABC-TV melodrama about a wealthy lawyer out to bag himself a bighorn sheep. Affable Andy Griffith is surprising as this mendacious killer whose impetuosity lands him between a rock and a hard place. Co-star Sam Bottoms is a twentysomething gas station attendant who serves as his guide and helps him find his quarry. Somewhere along the way, Griffith shoots a man quite by accident, and then he struggles to clear himself of manslaughter by framing his guide for the man's unfortunate demise.After Griffith gave up playing a widowed North Carolina sheriff with a son in "The Andy Griffith Show" between 1960 and 1968, he broadened his repertoire and played villains. The first time he portrayed a criminal was on "Hawaii 5-0" when he was cast as a con artist. Later, he played unsavory roles in at least five made-for-television outings: "Crime of Innocence," "Under the Influence," "Savages," "Pray for the Wildcats," and "Murder in Coweta County." In "Savages," Griffith plays the Machiavellian Horten Madec who wears spectacles and walks with a slight limp. Madec boasts about his wealth and influence, and he has fooled himself into thinking he knows everything about everything. He hires a young nature lover, Ben Campbell (Sam Bottoms of "Apocalypse Now"), who knows something about desert survival, as a guide to take him into the desert. As it turns out, before they become adversaries, Ben and Horten spot bighorn sheep. The reckless Horten shoots on impulse, misses the sheep, but winds up killing a desert vagrant. The sympathetic Campbell is willing to report the death as an accident. This accident, Madec realizes grimly, may exert harsh repercussions on his career. He shoots the vagrant with Campbell's rifle to implicate the youth, and then he orders Campbell at gunpoint strip down to his jockey shorts and wander in the desert. Madec keeps track of Campbell's every move by stalking him in a Campbell's own jeep. The attorney relies his high-powered rifle to prevent Campbell from drinking or hiding out from the sun. Madec hopes that Campbell will perish from dire exposure to the sun before he can reach town.Shrewdly, Campbell exploits his knowledge of the desert and his ability to conceal himself and gets the drop on Madec. He wields a sling-shot and disarms the murderous Madec. When he escorts Madec to the local sheriff's office, the wily lawyer manages to appropriate the one piece of evidence that anchors Campbell's improbable story about what happened in the desert. Sheriff Bert Hamilton (James Best of "The Killer Shrews") seems to believe the slick-tongued Madec over the sincere Campbell. For a while, it appears like Madec will give Hamilton and the others the slip. Fortunately, things don't work out entirely as Madec has planned it. A piece of incriminating evidence—a slingshot--is recovered, and Madec's studiously orchestrated alibi collapses. "Savages" ranks as an above-average, unpretentious, tale of tension. Griffith looks like he relished playing a sleazy dastard. During his screen debut back in the 1950s, Griffith played an unscrupulous personality in director Eli Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd," but afterward, he went on to play sugar-coated heroes. The game of cat and mouse that ensues between Madec and Campbell is memorably handled on a small budget. Although "Savages" lacks the budget of director Jean-Baptiste Léonetti's film "Beyond the Reach," ostensibly a big-screen remake of "Savages," with money to blow, it emerges as superior to its polished remake that cast Michael Douglas as the big-game villain.

Horton Madec (Andy Griffith) is an out of towner with a lot of money. He's out to bag some bighorn sheep but needs a guide...so he asks Ben (Sam Bottoms) to show him about the southwest desert in search of his prey. However, soon Horton is being sloppy and shoots at something without a clear idea what it is...and it turns out to be a man. Instead of owning up to this, he quickly buries the guy. But Ben discovers the corpse and cannot allow Horton to just walk away from this. However, Horton has the trump card...he's got the rifle. So, he strips Ben down to just his pants and sends him into the desert to die. But, just to make sure, he tags along behind him and hunts for Ben! Nice guy, huh...and quite the sadist as Horton REALLY enjoys the hunt.This is yet another film where Andy Griffith seemed to be trying to exorcise his nice-guy demons (after all, he was the sweet and affable sheriff on TV for many years). So with films like "Pray for the Wildcats" and "Savages" he clearly was playing against type...deliberately choosing the most vicious sorts of characters! As far as the plot goes, the first two thirds of the film is best. After Ben returns home...well that's where, occasionally, the film makes less sense. Why the cops didn't believe Ben's story (especially in light of his exposure injuries) is inexplicable. Still, it's well made and well worth seeing...especially to see Andy Griffith's 'evil twin' at work!!

This atypical and highly suspenseful battle of wits in the high desert features Andy Griffith cleverly cast against type as a menacing and creepy villain who keeps you (and the protagonist) guessing to the end. Essentially one extended chase / battle between two people, SAVAGES eschews intervention from the outside world until late, which keeps the story simple and focused on the two's mortal (and mental) combat. Several cat and mouse exchanges are intriguing but the piece is most compelling because of its unusually personal narrative. Similar in theme to HELL IN THE PACIFIC, Spielberg's DUEL and THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, SAVAGES is still its own movie and is difficult to turn away from once you start watching, though it isn't always pleasant.Better than many features and way above average for television, SAVAGES is an excellent neglected thriller with many surprises and a literate, well-reasoned script. Based on the dynamite novel DEATH WATCH by longtime William Castle horror scribe Robb White (possibly his best work.) 9/10

I saw this movie a couple times and enjoyed it. Andy Griffith plays a a great role as a psychopath stalking a young man through the desert and mountains. This is the only time I have seen Andy Griffith play a bad guy, and he did it to a tee. I would highly recommend this film if you can ever catch it on TV.