Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
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| Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze | |
|---|---|
 Doc Savage (Ron Ely) |
|
| Directed by | Michael Anderson |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Written by | Lester Dent (novel) Joe Morhaim |
| Narrated by | Paul Frees |
| Starring | Ron Ely |
| Music by | Don Black (lyrics) Frank De Vol |
| Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| Editing by | Thomas J. McCarthy |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) |  June 1975 |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze is a 1975 camp action film starring Ron Ely as pulp hero Doc Savage. This was the last film completed by pioneering science-fiction producer George Pal.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Doc Savage (Ron Ely) returns to New York City following a visit at his arctic hideaway to learn that his father has died under mysterious circumstances while exploring in the Central American republic of Hidalgo. While examining his father's personal papers, Doc finds himself the target of an assassination attempt.
Doc Savage gives chase and corners the sniper on the nearby Eastern Craymore Building, but the would-be assassin loses his footing and falls to his death. Examing the body, Doc discovers that his assailant is a Native American with peculiar markings; his fingertips are red, as if dipped in blood, while his chest bears an elaborate tattoo of the ancient Mayan god Kukucan.
Returning to his penthouse headquarters, Doc finds his father's personal papers have been destroyed by intruders. Vowing to solve his father's murder, Doc Savage flies to Hidalgo with the The Fabulous Five, his brain trust.
Waiting for Doc Savage's arrival is the international criminal and smuggler Captain Seas (Paul Wexler) who repeatedly attempts to kill Doc and his friends, culminating in a wild melee onboard his yacht, the Seven Seas.
Doc's investigation uncovers that, years ago, Professor Savage received a vast land grant in the unexplored interior in Hidalgo from the Quetzamal, a Mayan tribe that disappeared 500 years ago. However, Don Rubio Gorro (Bob Corso) of the local government informs Doc that all records to the land transaction are missing. Doc receives unexpected help from Gorro's assistant, Mona (Pamela Hensley), who saw the orginal papers and offers to lead Doc and his friends to the land claim.
Following clues left by his father, Doc and his friends locate the hidden entrance into a valley where the lost Quetzamal tribe lives. Doc separates from the group and finds a pool of molten gold mine. Doc also learns that Captain Seas is using the Quetzamal natives as slave labor to extract the gold for himself.
Menwhile, Captain Seas' men capture Mona and The Fabulous Five, and Captain Seas unleashes the Green Death, the same airborne plague that killed Doc's father and keeps the Quetzamal tribe under his control.
Doc overpowers the Captain after a protracted clash of different fighting styles and forces Seas to release his friends whom Doc treats with a special antidote. Seeing their leader captured, the Captain's men try to escape with the gold, but exploding dynamite causes the pool of gold to erupt, covering the henchmen, including Don Rubio Gorro, in molten metal.
Freed from Captain Seas, Chief Chaac (Victor Millan) offers the gold and land grant to Doc, who replies, "I promise to continue my father's work... His ideals. With this limitless wealth at my disposal, I shall be able to devote my life to the cause of justice."
Doc Savage returns to the United States and performs acupuncture brain surgery on Captain Seas to cure him of his criminal behavior. Later, during Christmas season, Doc Savage encounters the former supervillian, who is now a band leader for the Salvation Army.
Arriving back at his penthouse from shopping, Doc hears an urgent message about a new threat that could cost millions of lives. Doc Savage leaps in to action and speeds to his next adventure.
[edit] Cast
- Ron Ely as Clark "Doc" Savage Jr.
- Paul Gleason as Major Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts
- William Lucking as Colonel John "Renny" Renwick
- Michael Miller as Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair
- Eldon Quick as Professor William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn
- Darrell Zwerling as Brigadier General Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks
- Paul Wexler as Captain Seas
- Pamela Hensley as Mona
- Bob Corso as Don Rubio Gorro
- Federico Roberto as El Presidente Don Carlos Avispa
- Janice Heiden as Adriana
- Robyn Hilton as Karen
- Victor Millan as King Chaac
- Paul Frees as Narrator (uncredited)
Doc Savage and his brain trust -- The Fabulous Five
Ron Ely as Doc Savage (foreground), with (left to right in background)
Eldon Quick as Johnny, Darrell Zwerling as Ham, William Lucking as Renny,
Michael Miller as Monk, and Paul Gleason as Long Tom
Other noteworthy casting included:
- Cult actor Robert Tessier as one of Captain Seas’ henchmen.
- Cult actor Michael Berryman as Juan Lopez Morales, Hidalgo's chief coroner.
- Legendary stuntman Dar Robinson as the would-be Mayan assassin.
- Carlos Rivas, who played the renegade Mayan shaman Kulkan, also appeared in episodes "The Ultimate Duel" and "Perils of Tanga" of the 1966 TV series NBC series Tarzan starring Ron Ely.
- Grace Stafford, the wife of animation producer Walter Lantz, played an elderly woman who was helped across the street by a boy scout near the end of the film. George Pal and Lantz were good friends, and Lantz’s most famous creation, Woody Woodpecker, often made a cameo appearance in Pal's films. Ms. Stafford did the voice for Woody Woodpecker.
[edit] Production background
[edit] Goodson-Todman Aborted 1966 Film
As co-creator of Doc Savage, author Lester Dent retained the radio, film, and television rights to the character as part of his contract with Street and Smith Publications, publishers of the Doc Savage pulp magazine. Although Dent succeeded in launching a short-lived radio program, he was never able to interest Hollywood in a Doc Savage film. Upon Dent's death in 1959, his widow, Norma Dent, acquired the radio, film, and television rights to Doc Savage.
The production team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman announced the intention to produce a Doc Savage to cash in on the popularity of the re-issued pulp novels by Bantam Books and the James Bond craze sweeping the movies. The film would be based on the July 1934 pulp novel The Thousand-Headed Man, with Chuck Connors as Doc, for a 1966 release.
Unfortunately, the producers and Condé Nast Publications, the new copyright owner to Doc Savage brand, failed to secure the film rights from the estate of Lester Dent. By the time the legal issues had been resolved, the production team and cast had moved on to do the off-beat western Ride Beyond Vengeance. Only the now-rare, one-shot comic book movie tie-in published by Gold Key, with cover artwork by James Bama, remains to mark this aborted film undertaking.
1966 Gold Key comic book with cover by James Bama
[edit] George Pal's 1975 Theatrical Film
Producer George Pal secured the film and television rights from Norma Dent with the intention of launching a film franchise like the James Bond movies. . Ever the businessman, Pal envisioned marketing and production savings from such a series, with an eventual sell to television to recoup any back-end costs, followed by an eventual television series, just as Sy Weintraub had done with Tarzan. However, to make a franchise work, the first movie has to be successful.
George Pal and Joe Morhaim wrote the screenplay based on The Man of Bronze, the first Doc Savage adventure, and would also include story elements from other Doc Savage adventures, such as The Green Death and The Mystic Mullah. Captain Seas was based on the flamboyant and brutal Captain Flamingo from the February 1936 pulp novel Mystery of the Sea. This should not be confused with the Canadian TV character Captain Flamingo.
Director Michael Anderson, star Ron Ely, and Producer George Pal
English director Michael Anderson was tapped to helm the first Doc Savage movie. His specialty was action-adventure films, such as Dam Busters, Battle Hell, The Wreak of the Mary Deare, and Operation Crossbow. And his most noteworthy effort had been Around the World in Eighty Days, the Best Picture of 1956.
Although there were reports that Pal planned to do location filming in Central America, principal photography appeared to be confined to southern Caifornia. Scenes involving the ficitious Eastern Cranmoor Building in New York City were filmed underneath the clock tower of the art deco Eastern Columbia Building in downtown Los Angeles. Like Ice Station Zebra, arctic scenes were filmed in Colorado.
Ron Ely reportedly directed several second unit sequences, including staging the fight onboard Captain Seas' yatch Seven Seas, which featured stuntman Dick Durock who later starred in the Swamp Thing films and TV series.
The portrait of Professor Clark Savage, Sr., in Doc's penthouse headquarters actually shows actor Ron Ely wearing a vintage safari outfit and pith helmet, with a handle-bar moustache.
The film features a rare Cord Model 810 coupe and a vintage Douglas DC-3 aircraft.
Paul Frees, who did the uncredited voice-over narration for the opening title sequence, also made a rare on-screen appearance in the 1953 version of War of the Worlds as well as performing the narration and other voice work for the 1960 fantasy film Atlantis, the Lost Continent, both produced by George Pal.
[edit] Thematic issues
[edit] Homage to the pulps
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze was visually faithful to the novels and characters, which included such elements as:
- Doc's trilling
- Bickering between Monk and Ham
- Renny's signature expletive" "Holy Cow!"
- Renny's busting doors open with his fists
- Monk's pet pig, Habeus Corpus
- Doc's Fortress of Solitude
- The penthouse headquarters
- The Crime College and Doc's brain surgery techniques
- Doc's dramatic descent down a skyscraper elevator shaft
- Doc's daily exercise regime
- Johnny's use of long, obscure words
- A plethora of retro gadgetry such as heat detector, globes of fire-fighting chemicals (extinguisher globes), phonograph-based recording machine, remote-controlled aircraft, a ray gun disguised as a cigarette lighter, lightweight bullet-proof vests, mintiaturzed SCUBA-type underwater breathing gear, and the Whizzzer, a prototype helicopter
Some aspects of the Doc Savage mythos were modified for the movie, including:
- The flm takes place in 1936, but the original pulp novel was published in March 1933. Most Doc Savage chronologies place the events in The Man of Bronze in early 1931 prior to the offical opening of the Empire State Building, the implicit location of Doc's 86th floor penthouse headquarters.
- The film does not mention that Doc's father, Professor Clark Savage, Sr., was instrumental in raising his son from the cradle to become the supreme adventurer under the tutelage of a blue-ribbon group of distinguished scientists.
- Seven Seas is actually the name of Doc Savage's private motor yatch in the pulp novels written by Lester Dent'
Finally, Long Tom (Paul Gleason) mentions that Monk, Ham, Renny, Johnny, and he first met Doc Savage while fighting in the trenches during World War 1 and vowed to work together against evil-doers after the war. The 1991 novel Escape From Loki by Philip José Farmer subsequently tells the story of how Doc first met the The Fabulous Five in a high-security German POW camp in 1918.
Iconic Image: Doc Savage on the running board of his Cord Model 810 coupe
[edit] High camp
Debate continues who was responsible for the camp content of Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, the studio or George Pal and his production team. Among the many examples of over-the-top camp are:
- Don Rubio Gorro (Bob Corso) rocking himself to sleep in an adult-sized baby crib, with Beautiful Dreamer as its musical cue.
- The animated twinkle in the eye of Doc Savage (Ron Ely) at the beginning of the film and later when Doc tells Mona (Pamela Hensley) that she was a brick.
- Using la cuca Racha, played by a flute in an up-tempo musical cue, during the attempted escape of Captain Seas's henchmen.
- Adding an applause soundtrack following Doc's recitation of his personal code (see Selected Quotes below for the text).
Twinkle in his eye?
[edit] Music
The film is remembered for its theme song arranged by Frank De Vol around John Philip Sousa's The Thunderer. Sousa’s music was intended to envoke a patriotic theme for Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze and emulate the success that director George Roy Hill had achieved when he used the ragtime music of Scott Joplin for his 1975 caper film The Sting. Both Sousa and Joplin were turn-of-the-century contemporaries, and their music were not contemporaneous to the period that these 1930s nostalgia films were set.
The credit acknowledging Sousa's score has the letters "USA" of his last name highlighted in red, white, and blue.
[edit] Doc Savage March
Lyrics of the Doc Savage March by Don Black are as follows:
Have no fear the man of bronze is here! Peace will come to all who find --
Doc Savage! Doc Savage!
He's a friend to all mankind, pure of heart and mind! Who will make crime disappear?
Doc Savage! Doc Savage!
Conqueror and pioneer. Thank the lord he's here!
Doc made a vow that helps us all, so let's recall it now!
The oath that he swore said life would be so sweet and free once more!
Our hero has come! Let's all join in as we begin the big parade!
So bang on your drum and raise your flag 'cause history is being made!
[edit] Reaction
Producer George Pal reported to noted science fiction author Philip José Farmer that "We made it too good." However, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze proved to be inferior in every production category - set design, art direction, costuming, hair style - to Chinatown, The Sting, Murder on the Orient Express , and other 1930s nostalgia films released during this period. Even Pal's trademark visual effects and matte paintings were mediocre, with the depiction of the Green Death as animated serpentine vapors being particularly unconvincing.
The Green Death claims anoher victim
The decision by Warner Brothers to shift the release date from the Spring of 1974 to Easter 1975 denoted a lack of confidence in the production and its box office potential.
However, a 16-page press kit was prepared, and Ron Ely participated in a press junket that included an appearance in the WSB-TV annual Fourth of July parade in Atlanta, Georgia.
Reviews were scathing, with Daily Variety noting: "Execrable acting, dopey action sequences, and clumsy attempts at camp humor mark George Pal's Doc Savage as the kind of kiddie film that gives the G rating a bad name."
The movie proved to be a disappointment for both die-hard Doc Savage fans and the general public. The film did not do well at the box office, and it soon disappeared in a summer dominated by the blockbuster box office of Jaws.
[edit] Future productions
[edit] Sequel to the 1975 film
A sequel, Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil, was announced based on a screenplay by Joe Morhaim, and according to contemporary news accounts, had been filmed in the Lake Tahoe area simultaneously with the principal photography for the first Doc Savage.
According to the screenplay that was posted on the Internet, the sequel was based very loosely on the October 1934 pulp novel Death in Silver, which also featured a deformed, German-speaking supervillian and a man-eating octopus found in the September 1937 pulp novel The Feathered Octopus. However, due to the poor reception of the first film, Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil was never completed or released.
Another script was written by Philip José Farmer, and included a meeting between Doc and a retired Sherlock Holmes in 1936, but it was never filmed.
[edit] Possible remakes
Following the box-office of the 1999 remake of The Mummy, Castle Rock Entertainment announced plans to produce a new Doc Savage movie with Warner Brothers and Universal Studios. Film-makers Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell would supervise the producion, based on a screenplay by Brett Hill and David Johnson, with Arnold Schwarzenegger attached to play Doc.
However, with Schwarzenegger now serving his second term as governor of California, and both Darabomt and Russell involved in other projects, this remake appears to be dead in the water.
In late 2006, director-producer Sam Raimi announced plans to do a film involving several Street and Smith pulp heroes, including The Shadow, The Avenger, and Doc Savage. A screenplay is being written by Siavash Farahani (Ruse) but no plot details were available.
[edit] Awards
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze received the 1974-1975 Golden Scroll for Best Fantasy Film from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.
[edit] Home Video
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze was initially released by Warner Home Video in a clampshell box, at the time denoting a family film, with cover art designed to capitalize on the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although the film was also released onto laserdisc, but to date, not onto DVD.
[edit] Selected quotes and dialogue
Johnny Littlejohn: An absolute absence of ambulation.
Doc Savage: Do a Barney Oldfield, Long Tom!
Monk Mayfair: Have no fear! Doc Savage is here!
Johnny Littlejohn: Well, I'll be superamalgamated! I thought I knew the markings of every tribe on earth, but I've never seen anything like this before.
Voicing support for Doc's code
Johnny Littlejohn: That's precisely the point. Here's an indefectable opportunity to use our skills for something more important than just our own selfish gain.
When asked about the dead Mayan's identity
Monk Mayfair: One thing's for sure: he ain't no native New Yorker.
Ham Brooks: The word is isn't.
Monk Mayfair: Isn't, ain't, what's the difference?
Doc Savage's Code
Doc Savage: Before we go... let us remember our code. Let us strive every moment of our lives to make ourselves better and better to the best of our abilities so that all may profit by it. Let us think of the right and lend our assistance to all who may need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let us take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let us be considerate of our country, our fellow citizens, and our associates in everything we say and do. Let us do right to all - and wrong no man.
When asked about his business
Captain Seas: It changes from day to day... But basically, what I do is recognize opportunities and seize them.
Monk Mayfair: That why they call you Captain Seas?
Captain Seas: Very good! (laughter) No. I've made so many voyages to all corners of the world, that I adopted the name Seas. S-E-A-S. My real name is absolutely unpronounceable.
On the sacrifices that Doc made
Mona: But I want to go with you. I'm not afraid, Doc.
Doc Savage: Well, I know you're not... But for your own safety, I think it's best you remain here, this village with your own people.
Mona: I love you.
Doc Savage: Ah, there's no room in my life for love, Mona. There was a girl once. We were to be married. She was kidnapped by the men I had been pursuing. They threatened to kill her if I didn't drop the chase. I gave in. I had to. Later, when she was returned safely to me, I realized there could never be a future for us. I realized if I were to do what I had chosen with my life, there could never be a loved one who could be used against me... Or harmed because of me. Do you understand?
Mona: I suppose so.
Doc Savage: Mona, you're a brick!
[edit] Trivia
- Pamela Hensley made her film debut in this motion picture.
Pamela Hensley as Mona and Ron Ely as Doc Savage
- Darrell Zwerling and Federico Roberto appeared in another 1930s nostalgia film, the 1974 film noir retro classic Chinatown, with Zwerling playing Hollis Mulwray, the murdered water commissioner.
[edit] References
“Remember The Doc Savage Movie Disaster?” by Will Murray. The Bronze Gazette (Vol. 1, No. 1) March 12, 1992.
"The Doctor is in! Doc Savage" by Michael A. Beck. Baby Boomer Collectibles (April 1996)
“The Bronze Age” by Will Murray from James Van Hise, ed., Pulp Heroes of the Thirties, 2nd edition (Yucca Valley, CA: self-published, 1997).
Philip José Farmer. Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1975).
[edit] External Links & Sources
- Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze at the Internet Movie Database
- Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze at All Movie Guide
[edit] 1975 Film
- [1] Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze - Trivia - IMDb
- ThePulp.Net's Doc Savage movie page
- Superheroes Lives! Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze
- Retroland's Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze page
- Hidalgo Trading Company website - Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze page
- Doc Savage The Man of Bronze - On-line Movie Graphic Novel
- Moria: Doc Savage Movie Page
- Weird Sci-Fi – Doc Savage Movie Review
- Listing of George Pal Papers, 1937-1986
- [2] Daily Variety review - January 1, 1975
- [3] Movie trailer (1:02)
- [4] Obscure Facts about George Pal
- [5] DVD Late Show: Twenty MIA Movies I Want on DVD
- Jim Gould's Doc Savage Movie Memorabilia Web Site
- [6] Cinema.de (German)
- [7] Ron Ely at Brian’s Drive-In Theater Web Site
[edit] Sequels & possible remakes
- Doc Savage 2005
- Mania.com Development Hell – Doc Savage
- Mania.com – Sam Raimi finds more superheroes?
- Wold Newton Universe
- A Lester Dent Bibliography by Will Murray
- Philip Jose Farmer's Basement: Original Manuscripts
- [8] Ain't It Cool Cool News - July 7, 1999
- Doc Savage The Man of Bronze
- [9] Doc Savage Bibliography - Movies
