Todd’s Serial Blog

DOC SAVAGE: A COLUMBIA SERIAL IN 15 CHAPTERS

Producer: Larry Darmour
Director: James W. Horne
Photography: James S. Brown, Jr.
Script: Basil Dickey
George H. Plympton
Wyndham Gittens
Music: Lee Zahler

Cast:

Doc Savage: Larry “Buster” Crabbe
Pat Savage: Iris Meredith
Tarnack: James Craven
Natalia: Veda Ann Borg
Renny: Roy Barcroft
Ham: Tristram Coffin
Monk: Charles King
Long Tom: Guy Wilkerson
Johnny: William Bakewell
Brown: Ray Teal
Taylor: Al Ferguson
Butch: Jack Ingram
Karl: George Magrill
Wheeler: Dick Botiller
Meeks: Kit Guard
Lyle: Lester Dorr
DA Warwick: Forbes Murray
Inspector Nolan: Robert Fiske
Judge Watkins: Selmer Jackson
Tuka: Al Kikume
Narrator: Knox Manning

Recap: “Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze, and Champion of Justice, having deduced that master criminal Tarnack has located Doc’s famed Fortress of Solitude at the North Pole, pursues the evil mastermind, unaware of the treachery being planned against him!”

CHAPTER 5: THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE

Doc and his men come to an Eskimo village and prepare to greet the villagers. Meanwhile Tarnack has Butch and Karl sneak in around the side and plant a bomb on the village’s sacred idol. After Doc and the Fab Five pass the idol it explodes. Tuka, chief of the tribe, immediately comes to the erroneous conclusion that Doc has done the sacrilege and orders his men to attack. Doc and his friends take cover behind some rocks and use their non lethal dart guns to defend themselves, but the Eskimos converge on them and bind the heroes. They are marched to a smoking pit where Tuka prepares to push them in to their death to appease the wraith of their god.

Johnny, who has been listening to the natives speak, recognizes the unusual dialect of the tribe and starts to speak to them in their own language. He explains that they are innocent of the idol’s destruction and points with his head to the skulking forms of Butch and Karl trying to sneak away. The two miscreants prove their guilt by simultaneously jerking upright in surprise at being spotted, then crying out in fear and running away. The village warriors give chase, but lose them among the frozen mountainside.

Tuka apologizes to Doc and his friends through Johnny. Doc graciously accepts the apology as they are being untied, and revives the warriors hit by his men’s dart guns. Doc wants to push on immediately but Tuka insists on a feast first, to acknowledge his new friends. Desiring to avoid insulting the chief, Doc and the gang graciously accept the invitation and enjoy a fine meal complete with dancing entertainment, the dancers all clearly smitten with Doc. They push on the next day.

Tarnack locates the frozen dome of the Fortress of Solitude and laughs in maniacal triumph, until he realizes he can’t find an entrance to the seemingly solid structure. Wheeler suggests blowing a hoe in the wall with dynamite, and Tarnack berates him for being an idiot, the structure is obviously defended against such attacks. Natalia asks him how they are going to get in, sarcastically calling him Mr.Big Shot. Tarnack cryptically answers, “Oh, there are ways.”

Doc and the Fab Five arrive at the Fortress. He presses his hand against a panel, explaining that only his hand print can open the hidden door to the Fortress. Once it is open and the men enter, Tarnack and his men rush into the opening before it can close and engage in furious battle. Surprisingly, for once, the henchmen overpower the good guys, and they are all knocked unconscious. Tarnack has his men gather up several devices, then he has Doc and his friends dragged to Doc’s lab. Tarnack mixes up a deadly gas, then releases it in the lab. Laughing in triumph, Tarnack leaves, locking the door behind him.

“Has Tarnack won at last? Can anyone stand against him now that he has stolen Doc’s inventions? And what fiendish use is he making of this infernal device? For the startling answers, see PLUNGE TO DESTRUCTION! The Sixth action packed episode of DOC SAVAGE, at this theater next week!”