Superhero Film Week: Doc Savage The Man of Bronze

Comin’ back atcha kiddies with another helping of Superhero Film Week and I found something a little campy, dated and still an impressive feat for its time. As I mentioned earlier, that I would be including Pulp Fiction heroes in this week and I gots us a doozy here.   So without blowing yer skirts up too much and diving in the Way Back machine, I present to you Doc Savage Man of Bronze.

 

Strange growth under my groin. Oh wait that is the title card.

Monk: Have no fear! Doc Spoiler is here!

With his brilliant father Clark Savage ever pushing young Clark Savage Jr., our young lad was trained both mind and body by a team of scientists to create a nearly superhuman man since his birth.  Doc Savage (Ron Ely of South Pacific, The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker, The Aquanauts, The Night of the Grizzly, Fantasy Island and Sheena) is a jack of all trades being a scientist, surgeon, physician, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher and musician.  The Nietzschean package of brain and brawn has amazing strength, agility and endurance, a photographic memory, a master of at least 12 martial arts, and a limitless knowledge of the sciences.  Heck the man is also a master of disguise and voice mimicry. 

Chief Wild Eagle finally snaps!

After World War I, Doc found camaraderie with five men who become adventurers with Doc and each from a different walk of life.  Monk (Michael Miller of Rockys Messer, Coming Attractions, Saturday the 14^th and Space Raiders) the industrial chemist, electrical engineer Long Tom (Paul Gleason of All My Children, The Breakfast Club, Die Hard, Social Misfits and The Passing) attorney and adapted swords master Ham (Darrell Zwerling of Chinatown, Grease, Joe versus the Volcano and Wild at Heart), archaeologist/geologist and living lexicon Johnny (Eldon Quick of In the Heat of the Night, How Come Nobody’s on Our Side? And The Big Bet) and of course constructional engineer and bare knuckle boxer Renny (William Lucking of Force Five, Danger in Paradise, Coast to Coast, Erin Brockovich, Red Dragon and Sons of Anarchy) and became his Fabulous Five. 

The boys gather up and bang their heads together on how to break this horrible news to the Doc as they wait in his swanky, plush penthouse in the Empire State Building.  Returning from his Arctic hideaway the fellas have to bare the news of Doc’s father dying under mysterious circumstances while exploring Central America.   No sooner has Doc gone through his father’s safe to examine his papers he too is being targeted by an assassin.  Savage chases down would be killer only to cause him to fall to his death. 

 After a detailed examination and more political and social reach than a giraffe running for mayor, Savage examines his assailant and explains in Holmes’ like detail where he hails from, what tribe he belongs to and how he came to be here.   Yeah he will continue to blow your mind like that but you don’t sweat him because he is a good egg, see?

Pin yer ears back I gots more yacking.  Director Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters, 1984, Around the World in 80 Days, Logan’s Run and Orca) was up to bat as this was his biggest invested film since Around the World in 80 Days and producer George Pal’s (tom thumb, The Time Machine, Atlantis, The Lost Continent and The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm) last film he ever produced giving it his all to get this to a screen debut.  Due to poor box office the sequel never came but every 10 years or so some ninny hammer has to bring it up as a reboot or brilliant sequel idea.   Given the time period this character hails from that writer better do his or her homework.