Code Name: Diamond Head (film)

Code Name: Diamond Head
Newspaper ad
aka	Another Name for the Film
Year	1977
Directed by	Jeannot Szwarc
Produced by	Quinn Martin
Written by	Paul King
Music by	Morton Stevens
Studio	Quinn Martin Productions
Cast	Roy Thinnes Ian McShane France Nuyen Zulu Ward Costello
Run time	78 minutes
Riffed in	Experiment #608 The Mindless Summer: Livestream V

“	The world is run by politicians who demand respectability without virtue, pleasure without payment, and blind men to bury their honorable dead. I just balance the scales a little.	”
	- Tree

For the MST3K episode, see MST3K 608 - Code Name: Diamond Head.

Code Name: Diamond Head is a 1977 made-for-TV movie that was intended to be the pilot episode for an ongoing series. The series was not produced.

Plot

The hero of Code Name: Diamond Head

Johnny Paul arrives in Oahu disguised as a flashy gambler and ladies' man. However, he is actually on a mission to stop the theft of a deadly new gas, which has the potential to cause instant death upon contact. The substance was being secretly created by a top battalion of Marines at the request of a Pentagon official.

Ian McShane as Tree

A double agent had infiltrated the unit, killed the executive, and assumed his identity. Paul uses his image to get close to the double agent, who is known by the pseudonym "Tree". However, once his cover is blown, it's a race against time to stop Tree from selling the secrets to an unnamed foreign power.

Cast

• Roy Thinnes as Johnny Paul
• Ian McShane as Tree
• France Nuyen as Tso-Tsing
• Zulu as Zulu
• Ward Costello as Captain Macintosh
• Eric Braeden as Ernest Graeber

Notes

• Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic landform on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu. It became a U.S. National Natural Landmark in 1968.
• An unsuccessful Quinn Martin pilot, this movie eventually aired as an NBC Monday Movie.
• France Nuyen played the title character in the classic Star Trek episode "Elaan of Troyius."
• Eric Braeden is probably best-known for his roles on the TV series Rat Patrol and The Young and the Restless. He also appears in Colossus: The Forbin Project.
• Ian MacShane played the title character on the TV mystery series Lovejoy, and more recently co-starred as Al Swearengen in the HBO series Deadwood.

MST3K Connections

• Roy Thinnes also portrayed Dr. Phil Brewer in General Hospital.
• Ward Costello also portrayed Dr. Robert Hedges in Terror from the Year 5000.
• Dennis Patrick (Commander Yarnell) also portrayed Councilman Willard in The Time Travelers.
• Set decorator George R. Nelson was also set decorator for The Magic Sword.
• First assistant director Robert Enrietto was also first assistant director for SST- Death Flight.