Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975)

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

Lester Dent (novel)
Joe Morhaim (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

Doc and the Amazing Five battle Captain Seas and "the green death" for control of a fabulous resource.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Murder | Based On Pulp Magazine | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ron Ely	...	Clark 'Doc' Savage Jr.
Paul Gleason	...	Maj. Thomas J. 'Long Tom' Roberts
William Lucking	...	Col. John 'Renny' Renwick (as Bill Lucking)
Michael Miller	...	Lt. Col. Andrew Blodgett 'Monk' Mayfair
Eldon Quick	...	William Harper 'Johnny' Littlejohn
Darrell Zwerling	...	Brig. Gen. Theodore Marley 'Ham' Brooks
Paul Wexler	...	Capt. Seas
Janice Heiden	...	Adriana
Robyn Hilton	...	Karen
Pamela Hensley	...	Mona
Bob Corso	...	Don Rubio Gorro
Carlos Rivas	...	Kulkan
Chuy Franco	...	Cheelok
Alberto Morin	...	José
Victor Millan	...	King Chaac

Runtime:

112 min | USA:100 min | UK:100 min | 94 min (Fan Edit)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | USA:G | Germany:12

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

It was reported in contemporary news accounts that a sequel had been filmed in the Lake Tahoe area simultaneously with the principal photography for the first Doc Savage, but the sequel was never completed because of the poor box office for that first film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the scene where Doc Savage and his comrades are pursuing the sniper, modern (1970s vintage) automobiles can be seen in one of the aerial shots. The film is set in 1936.

Quotes:

Doc: Do a Barney Oldfield, Long Tom.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XIV (#15.1)" (2003)

Disappointing, and I know why...

I was fortunate enough to meet George Pal (and still have my DS:TMOB poster autographed by him) at a convention shortly after the release, and asked him why he chose to do the film "camp". Before he could answer, two studio flacks intercepted and lectured me on how the studio "knew best" and how "no one will take such a film seriously". I had been reading the Bantam reprints for a couple of years thanks to a friend (ComiCon attendees of the 1970s will recall Blackhawk and his band? I was in a couple of years of that with him), and had higher hopes than what we got.

The flacks insisted that no high adventure would ever be done seriously, and so doing 'camp' was the only way. Several other fans jumped in on my side, with Pal listening as best he could. At the end of the little event, Pal came up to us and apologized, wishing he could have done more and better.

STAR WARS put the lie to the flacks, and a year after Pal's death, Spielberg and Lucas proved that Doc Savage could have easily been the next major movie franchise...if it hadn't been for the flacks.

Tear out the memory or history of Doc, and the film would have been worth a 6/10 rating as nothing more than a mindless popcorn seller.

But destroying the legacy like that was no less an abomination than killing a baby in the crib.

Doc Savage can still come to the screen, and survive the inevitable comparisons by the ill-informed to Indiana Jones, but it would have to be done in all seriousness and earnest to reclaim the glory that we should expect from the First American Superhero.

SIDENOTES: Yes, there was a second script for ARCHENEMY OF EVIL, and it's a lot more serious. Yes, there was simultaneous footage shot, but mostly establishing shots and very little with actors. And, yes, there _is_ a one-sheet of Ron Ely leaping over a brick wall and blasting at something over his shoulder with a specially built bronze pistol. Ely's wearing a duster over a button down white shirt with a bronze tie, and the words "DOC SAVAGE: ARCHENEMY OF EVIL...Coming Next Summer!" POSTSCRIPT: If anyone knows who the studio flacks were that accompanied George Pal in 1975 to San Diego for the convention, smack the idiots up the side of the head and call them the idiots that they are. At the time, they were doing dorkknobs and Fu Manchu in stripes and baggy canvas pants, and carrying Paramount portfolios.