A set of code books revealing the identities of all of America’s secret agents has been stolen. Because the agents are all in deep cover, the government has no way to contact them and warn them that their identities have been compromised. Government agent Steve Trevor (Kaz Garas) has received a ransom demand. Rather than just pay, he assigns the case to his best operative, Diana Prince (Cathy Lee Crosby). Most people think that Diana is Steve’s secretary, but actually she’s an Amazon from Paradise Island who has been sent to America to show the world the value of women. Diana heads to Paris to investigate the mysterious Abner Smith (Ricardo Montalban) and his main operative, George (Andrew Prine).

Before Gal Gadot and Lynda Carter, there was Cathy Lee Crosby. The former tennis player turned actress was the first to play Wonder Woman in a made-for-television movie that was a pilot for a possible series. Cathy Lee Crosby’s Wonder Woman did not wear the famous costume, she did not carry a golden lariat, and she never flew in an invisible plane. Her only superpower was that she was athletic. She was also blonde. In fact, if not for the title of the movie, you wouldn’t know she was Wonder Woman at all. She’s a female James Bond. When the movie aired, it got respectable ratings, but it wasn’t the hit that some expected. Later, another made-for-TV movie was produced with Lynda Carter in the role. That movie stayed true to the comic-book version of the character and led to the fondly remembered television series.

As for this first version of Wonder Woman, it’s an acceptable spy thriller if you can ignore that it’s being sold as a Wonder Woman show. Cathy Lee Crosby had just the right mix of spunky but serious attitude to play a spy in a cheap 1970s production. I liked Ricardo Montalban and Andrew Prine as the villains, though I thought it was funny that they kept trying to hide Montalban’s face. As soon as I heard his voice, I knew it was him. Diana also faces off against Ahnjayla (Anitra Ford), an Amazon gone bad. The funniest scene in the movie is when Diana is approached on a city street by an Amazon messenger who tells her that Ahnjayla has left Paradise Island. None of the people walking nearby seem to think it’s strange that a woman in a blue toga has suddenly appeared.

Cathy Lee Crosby did her best, but Lynda Carter is still the definitive Wonder Woman.