There have been some mention about Doc Savage headed to the big screen over the years, but nothing ever really seems to pick up any steam. I remember Arnold Schwarzenegger being mentioned for the role years ago, and more recently The Rock has been suggested to take it on. Alas, Ron Ely remains the only live action Doc Savage that I know of. If handled properly, it could be a great cross between superhero movies and Indiana Jones-style cliffhangers.
That's the catch...if handled properly. And you're right. Ron Ely is Doc Savage to me as well. Several years ago, I tutored a boy with the last name Ely. I brought up to him about Ron. He mentioned that Ron was his uncle. I was surprised and asked if he would say hi. I remembered Ron as Tarzan and Doc. He did and mentioned that his uncle thought people had forgotten about him. No. Many still remember.
ReplyDeleteHe was Tarzan too!
ReplyDeleteI believe he also played Kal-el on the Superboy series. One of the parallel Earth stories had him as an older Kal-el.
ReplyDeleteDoc Savage was, indeed, the trend-setter for many of today's comic superheroes. Not only Superman. But, also Golden Agers like the now-public domain Tom Strange (nee Hugo) and Capt. Battle (imagine Nick fury dressed like Captain America...but with Doc's IQ).
ReplyDeleteRon has also ben on
ReplyDelete1991Superboy (TV Series)
Superman
- The Road to Hell: Part 2 (1991) ... Superman
Wonder Woman (TV Series)
Bill Michaels
- The Deadly Sting (1978) ... Bill Michaels
ain't info data bases great?
I was looking to see if the Man of Bronze had been featured with the Man of Steel, and I found it rather quickly (#2329 ). Then I also saw the Phantom and the Shadow, and I thought, what if all three of them (Doc Savage, the Phantom, and the Shadow) were to share an adventure together? Throw in Tarzan and the Green Hornet, and you have a team of the greatest heroes of the pre-superhero era.
ReplyDeleteBack before he became so overexposed, The Rock probably would have made a decent Doc. Now everybody would be expecting another "Rock bulls his way through Yet Another Disaster to save his kids" movie, which isn't what a Doc Savage movie should be.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to find an actor that could handle the personality of Doc (competent but modest, extremely well educated and well spoken, unbelievably uncomfortable around sexy women) and then CGI him into the near-giant perfect physical specimen that was on all the covers.
And the Amazing Five (plus Pat) need to be given something to do besides comic relief, needing to be rescued, and procuring and setting up Doc's equipment. The worst stories were the ones where
it was obvious the ghost writer didn't know enough science or law
to make the Five look like masters of their respective subjects.
A TV series would be even better (if done right). Gives greater chance for character development -- important with Doc's fairly large roster of assistants.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note: how about BTVS and Fairchild vs. Evil Ernie?
ReplyDeleteWhy not? Ross is the genealogy buff. So he could all too easily render Gen13's resident redheaded powerhouse and Lady Death's one-time enforcer as estranged siblings.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that Doc Savage movie was horribly bad!
ReplyDeleteThe studio heads probably thought it wouldn't appeal to anybody but the post-BATMAN'66 crowd.
ReplyDeleteI finally figured out what's bugging me about this cover: Omac's response. He's all Doc Savage needs, BECAUSE he's a One Man Army Corps, but how many readers would know that's what OMAC stands for?
ReplyDeleteI figured that out with the first Jack Kirby-drawn issue ever mass marketed back in the early Seventies!
ReplyDelete