I just watched this Warner Brothers Archive Collection DVD. Definitely a bad/silly movie, but not as bad as I thought it was the first time I saw it about 30 years ago. Ron Ely was a decent choice to play Doc, but the rest of the casting is uneven. The biggest surprises were the appearances of (I forgot these guys were in this movie!):
* ROBERT TESSIER
(http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTUzMDA4OTY2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDAxMjI0MQ@@._V1._SX450_SY253_.jpg)
* MICHAEL BERRYMAN (with a dubbed British accent?)
(http://www.hahahaimontheinternet.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/michael-berryman.jpg)
Another co-star was:
* PAUL GLEASON (the principal from THE BREAKFAST CLUB!)
(http://americancopywriter.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/breakfastclub7.jpg)
I haven't see that movie in forever it seems. I rather enjoyed it for the sheer cheesiness of it. Glad to hear it is out on DVD, might tell my wife to look into ordering it for me form Amazon for Christmas.
Quote from: meQal on November 05, 2009, 10:09:53 AM
I haven't see that movie in forever it seems. I rather enjoyed it for the sheer cheesiness of it. Glad to hear it is out on DVD, might tell my wife to look into ordering it for me form Amazon for Christmas.
It's expensive on Amazon - $25.99. I got it through the TCM Archive website for $17.99 . . . you can probably get it even cheaper if you look around.
George Pal was the producer on this, and I've always thought he was one of the most underrated producers/directors out there, liking about 90% of the films he's directed and/or produced, but this one . . . It's the only film of his that I've seen, that I disliked.
That may be because I never could get into "Doc Savage." I once had a college roommate, who seemed to have had every "Doc Savage" paperback ever printed, and I tried to read 'em. Just couldn't get into 'em.
Ozzymandias speaks: Lester Dent, who created Doc Savage, lived for many years in Missouri (I believe he was born here too). He was also involved with helping the state of Missouri progress in many positive ways. Sadly, he nor Doc Savage is rarely mentioned in connection to the state of Missouri. On the other hand there is too much emphasis on Laura Ingles Wilder in the state, by folks who want to "return to the gold old days." Ugh!
Ozzymandias has spoken!!!
Quote from: BoyScoutKevin on November 05, 2009, 06:59:27 PM
I never could get into "Doc Savage." I once had a college roommate, who seemed to have had every "Doc Savage" paperback ever printed, and I tried to read 'em. Just couldn't get into 'em.
I have the entire paperback collection and I'm leisurely working my way through it. I've read the first 36 or 37 books (for some reason, they published the paperback books in a completely different order than the original pulp magazine stories . . . so you end up reading a story from 1937, followed by a story from 1939, followed by a story from 1936 . . . luckily, the order doesn't matter too much . . . they rarely make reference to an earlier story . . . each story is essentially a "stand alone"). I can easily see why many people can't get into these books. The writing is obviously rushed and very basic . . . written at about a 13-year-old reading level. Plus, Lester Dent, the creator, didn't write all the stories. Many were written by a stable of ghost writers using the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson. Some of these writers were worse than others (the differeing writing styles are obvious when you read the books). I'm sure many people can't get past the first few pages. But, hey, this is classic 1930s and 40s pulp fiction!