Todd’s Serial Blog

For my next Greatest Serial Never Made, I have chosen to do a character that for some unknown reason was never been adapted to the serial screen despite a popular fan base and a cast of characters perfect for the genre. I have also decided to run them weekly here on the Blog section and then after a week move them over to the Pages section so that they will be easier to find. So lets travel back to the early forties where Columbia Pictures decides to adapt Doc Savage to the serial screen.

Following the success of The Shadow (1940) the powers that be at Columbia decide to get Street and Smith’s other pulp superhero character and a deal is quickly worked out with the publishing firm. Columbia sets an early release date for 1941. Basil Dickey, George Plympton, and Wyndham Gittens peruse a few issues and then quickly hammer out a script for director James Horne.

Most of the cast is quickly assembled with James Craven and Veda Ann Borg cast as the villains. Horne regulars Ray Teal, Al Ferguson, Jack Ingram, and George Magrill sign on as henchmen. Doc’s Fab Five are also easily cast with some surprising choices including Roy Barcroft, Tristram Coffin, and Charles King. Iris Meredith agrees to the role of Pat Savage.

The production hits trouble in the casting of Doc. Columbia first approaches Larry “Buster” Crabbe for the role. Having just completed his final Flash Gordon serial for Universal and now a free agent, Crabbe doesn’t relish getting his hair dyed blond again and turns the offer down. Next Columbia approaches Herman Brix. The former serial star had recently changed his name to Bruce Bennett as way of distancing himself from his serial past and to hopefully get roles in bigger films. He flatly refuses the offer. After a few disappointing auditions with some unknown rookie actors, Columbia re-approaches Crabbe with more money. After some deliberation, Crabbbe reluctantly agrees to take the part.

Production starts January 5th, 1941 and wraps on January 27th. Hastily edited to follow Buck Jones’ White Eagle (1941) into the theaters, it gets summarily pushed back a few months and comes out in late 1941, debuting on October 4, 1941 after The Iron Claw (1941) has almost finished it’s run and before Holt of the Secret Service (1941) is set to begin at the end of the year. Reaction is mixed. Die hard action fans feel that it is a typical Columbia serial too silly to waste money on, while fans of the character think it is a dead on adaptation of Doc Savage (though many voice disappointment that Ham and Monk’s pet chimp and pig were left out). Regardless of the vocal criticisms the serial is a financial success for the company. Plans for a sequel are bandied around but nothing definite is ever decided.

NEXT WEEK—DOC SAVAGE: CHAPTER 1 THE MAN OF BRONZE