His body... a physical phenomenom. His mind ...a mental marvel. His fight...to right all wrongs. His name...enough to strike terror into the hearts of the most hardened criminals.


George Pal's final film is a kiddie action saga based on the popular comic strip and action book series by Kenneth Robeson. Ron Ely is all flash and charmless brawn as the blonde-haired superhero Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. When his father is mysteriously murdered, Savage gathers together five of his cronies -- The Amazing Five -- to head off on an expedition to South America to find some answers. There he battles Captain Seas (Paul Wexler) and "the green death." Along the way, he charms native girl Mona (Pamela Hensley), who immediately falls for the blonde chiselhead. ~


Producer George Pal secured the film and television rights from Norma Dent with the intention of launching a film franchise like the James Bond movies. Ever the businessman, Pal envisioned marketing and production savings from such a series, with an eventual sell to television to recoup any back-end costs, followed by an eventual television series, just as Sy Weintraub had done with Tarzan and Irwin Allen with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. However, to make a franchise work, the first movie had to be successful. Pal originally contacted Steve Reeves for the role of Doc but when filming was about to begin a Hollywood writers strike put the film on hold with Reeves and the original director replaced.[1]
George Pal and Joe Morhaim wrote the screenplay based on The Man of Bronze, the first Doc Savage adventure, with additional story elements from other Doc Savage adventures, such as the November 1938 novel The Green Death and the January 1935 novel The Mystic Mullah.
The villainous Captain Seas, played by Paul Wexler, was based on the flamboyant and brutal Captain Flamingo from the February 1936 pulp novel Mystery of the Sea. This should not be confused with the Canadian television character Captain Flamingo. English director Michael Anderson would helm the first Doc Savage movie. His specialty was action-adventure films, such as Dam Busters, Battle Hell, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, and Operation Crossbow. His most noteworthy effort had been Around the World in Eighty Days, the Best Picture of 1956.
Although there were reports that Pal planned to do location filming in Central America, principal photography was confined to southern California. Scenes involving the fictitious Eastern Cranmoor Building in New York City were filmed underneath the clock tower of the art deco Eastern Columbia Building in downtown Los Angeles.
Ron Ely's involvement extended beyond starring in the lead role. He reportedly directed several second unit sequences, including staging the fight onboard Captain Seas' yacht Seven Seas, which featured stuntman Dick Durock who later starred in the Swamp Thing films and television series. Also, the portrait of Professor Clark Savage, Sr., in Doc's penthouse headquarters actually shows actor Ron Ely wearing a vintage safari outfit and pith helmet, with a handlebar moustache.
Pamela Hensley made her film debut in this motion picture.
Darrell Zwerling and Federico Roberto appeared in another 1930s nostalgia film, the 1974 film noir retro classic Chinatown, with Zwerling playing Hollis Mulwray, the murdered water commissioner.
Paul Frees, who provided the uncredited voice-over narration for the opening title sequence, also made a rare on-screen appearance in the 1953 version of War of the Worlds as well as performing the narration and other voice work for the 1960 fantasy film Atlantis, the Lost Continent, both produced by George Pal.
The film features a rare Cord Model 810 convertible coupe (license number NY 36 486-539) and a vintage Lockheed L-12A Electra aircraft (no registration or tail number).


Producer George Pal reported to Edward Felipe in the magazine Castle of Frankenstein that "We made it too good." However, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze proved to be inferior in every production category – set design, art direction, costuming, hair style – to Chinatown, The Sting, Murder on the Orient Express, and other 1930s nostalgia films released during this period. Even Pal's trademark visual effects and matte paintings were mediocre, with the depiction of the Green Death as animated serpentine vapors being particularly unconvincing (pictured).
The decision by Warner Brothers to shift the release date from the Spring of 1974 to Easter 1975 denoted a lack of confidence in the production and its box office potential. However, a 16-page press kit was prepared, and Ron Ely participated in a press junket that included an appearance in the WSB-TV annual Fourth of July parade in Atlanta, Georgia.
Reviews were scathing, with Daily Variety noting: "Execrable acting, dopey action sequences, and clumsy attempts at camp humor mark George Pal's Doc Savage as the kind of kiddie film that gives the G rating a bad name."
The movie proved to be a disappointment for both die-hard Doc Savage fans and the general public. The film did not do well at the box office, and it soon disappeared in a summer dominated by the blockbuster box office of Jaws

Release Date: June 1975

Distrib: Warner Brothers