THE FILM & WATER PODCAST
Episode 79: DOC SAVAGE: MAN OF BRONZE
Rob welcomes back Doctor G, Man of Nerdology to discuss 1975’s DOC SAVAGE: MAN OF BRONZE, the final film produced by George Pal!
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I can’t decide if I ever saw this or not. If I did, it was with my pal Grover, who was a big fan of Doc’s paperbacks, and I wasn’t paying much attention. Somehow in the intervening years, I’ve never gotten around to it.
Having not seen it (or at least not remembering it), I have to say the type of parody/satire/camp of the 60s Batman is a VERY delicate tightrope, and from what I’ve seen and heard, they fell off several times.
If Warners has this to put out on Blu, then maybe it will show up on TCM eventually, and I can give it a look.
Agree that the Rock’s casting as Doc is interesting, and I also agree DC/WB is really thick-headed for not casting him as Captain Marvel instead of Black Adam. This is no doubt due to Geoff John’s obsession with that character. Oh, and I’d be SOOOO behind that Rocketeer reboot, especially if you could get Billy Campbell back as Cliff for at least a cameo.
Chris
Great episode guys! This is one of the few comics-related films I’ve never seen. Back in the 1990s, I did go see The Shadow, Phantom, Dick Tracy, etc and liked them to varying degrees (with Tracy being my favorite). One problem is that even then modern mass audiences were largely unfamiliar with these pulp era heroes.
FYI: The Browne Popular Culture Library at BGSU (see website link) has a ton of Doc Savage materials for anyone interested.
There was a time when I sought out all comic book related films. And there were times I regretted it.
This was one of those times.
But great show! And let’s hear more about that “DAG” guy.
According to the Hollywood Reporter: Doc Savage will be teaming up with Amelia Earhart for a new comic book miniseries, I’m assuming it will be better than that miniseries where The Shadow teamed up with Eleanor Roosevelt.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/doc-savage-teams-amelia-earhart-comic-book-series-966763
In spite of how not-very-good this sounds, I going to have to look this movie up. I grew up with Ron Ely as “my” Tarzan, and I’m also a sucker for the pulp heroes. I was glad to hear I’m not the only one who has affection for The Shadow and Dick Tracy movies.
I would recommend it if you are a Doc Savage completest like me. Otherwise Buckaroo Bonzai is a pastiche of Doc that pulls it off with better cult film aplomb.
Very interesting episode! I know of this movie but I’ve always been afraid to watch it because I hear it’s not very good.
I got into the Doc Savage stories WAAAAAY late in the game! I remembered him from ads in my comics where he and The Shadow were gonna cross over and I also remember getting a thick tome of Previews magazine where they advertised Doc Savage stuff, but it wasn’t until like 2003 that I actually got into Doc Savage and that started with a pastiche of Doc over in Planetary. Then I learned about the Wold Newton Universe and what a huge part Doc plays in that and it got me interested. I picked up a copy of the first story, The Man of Bronze and liked it, so I looked for more Doc Savage stuff. Because of the reputation of this movie, I’ve never seen it and listening to the episode…that might be for the best.
Funny enough, Ron Ely also has another historical landmark. He’s not only the first guy to play both Doc and Tarzan, he’s also the only man to play both Doc Savage and Superman…kind of. He guest starred on an episode of Superboy where Superboy went to a parallel universe where a much older version of himself has pretty much gotten rid of crime in his time and his world is almost a utopia. I’m guessing for legal reasons they couldn’t outright say he was Superman, but since he’s an older version of Kal-El, yea, it counts.
Great episode! I agree with my podcasting partner in crime, Dr. G, that the audience for the pulps is niche and aging, but the same thing was true about the comic book collecting audience prior to 2008. Iron Man changed everything. Comics went from a dying art to the dominant art in the country. A great pulp movie or show (and you could argue that the Marvel Netflix shows are a good medel for pulp done well) could turn it all around. Now, the Doc Savage movie is not the model, but there is hope.
Great show guys!
Sean
A great, awesome show!
Thank you for covering it and filling in a lot of blanks that I didn’t know such as Connors and the pre and production notes. I had no idea Paul Gleason was in the film if it wasn’t mentioned.
I saw this movie at the Village Cinema in Memphis in 1975 when I was 8 years old. I thought it was great and loved every bit of it. Well, being 8 years old, I’m sure I was in the target audience. I saw it again within a year or two later on tv while I was very sick in bed; I think it aired on NBC on a Saturday night.
My first comic book exposure with Doc Savage was either when he appeared in Giant Size Spider-Man #3 or Giant Size Doc Savage #1 which was like an adaptation of the movie. I had both; but I’m not sure which came out first.
Thanks for bringing back some personal memories and keep up the great work!