DOC SAVAGE
With the success of the Shadow in the pulps (and on the
radio), Street & Smith Publications went looking for someone
to write a high adventure counterpart to the Shadow's gritty
mystery stories. Lester Dent, a telegrapher and occasional
pulp writer (contributing mainly to mystery series) was chosen
to write the adventures of Doc Savage, a scientific adventurer
who solved problems all over the world, under the penname of
Kenneth Robeson. Dent was not alone in this. In fact, he hired
several ghostwriters throughout the years, but Dent set the
style of Doc and, while he hated writing under a pseudonym,
created an adventure series that succeeded from 1933 through
1949 and inspired many great comicbook characters like
Superman, Batman, and James Bond.
Doc Savage, his real name being Clark Savage, Jr., was raised
by a group of scientists to become a genius in many fields
including engineering, law, physics, archaeology, chemistry,
and medicine (this last giving him the nickname "Doc"). But
Doc wasn't all brains. Using a series of exercises (performed
two hours everyday), Doc made his physical and sensory skills
to human perfection. He wore a gadget vest (filled with items
that helped him in his quests), bulletproof undergarments, and
could do just about anything that was possible by a human
being (and a few things that weren't).
With Doc were five aides, top members of their own fields,
that aided him on his adventures. Tom "Long Tom" Roberts is an
electrical expert that was small in stature. He received his
nickname from defending a town (in WW I) by filling scrap iron
into an old "Long Tom" cannon.
John "Renny" Renwick, one of the world's foremost engineers,
is a huge man with giant fist that have a penchant for
pounding panels out of doors with one punch. When surprised,
he has a tendency to use his favorite phrase "Holy Cow!" He
normally has a puritanical expression on his face which
becomes more dour when he is enjoying himself in the
excitement of the group's escapdes.
The monocle-wearing William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn, the
smallest and frailest looking member of Doc's group, is a
world reknown geologist and archaeologist. Though appearing as
the weakest member of the crew, he may in fact be the
toughest. He's shown that he can take (and give) tremendous
amounts of punishment. A major source of frustration to his
friends, though, is Johhny's habit of using large words
regularly in his conversations (at least until the action
starts). His pet phrase is "I'll be super-amalgamated!"
Anyone who would consider simian Andrew Blodgett "Monk"
Mayfair to be unintelligent from his looks or usually unkempt
appearance would be sadly mistaken. One of the best chemists
in the world, said to be second only to Doc's skill, was as
brainy as he is eager for action. (It is said, with some
justification, that Monk is the most bloodthirsty of the lot,
sometimes going against the crew's code against killing. When
he yells "Blazes!" and roars into battle, you had best be on
his side.) He has a longtime feud with the remaining member of
the group, Ham, that started in the war. In fact, he keeps a
long-eared pig named "Habeus Corpus" just to annoy Ham.
Theodore Marley Brooks (the aformentioned "Ham"), a lawyer
with knowledge that could put Perry Mason to shame, appears to
be the exact opposite of Monk. Handsome and dapper in
appearance, carrying a sword cane tipped with an anaesthetic
to knock out his enemies is constantly argueing with Monk (or
competing with Monk for the attention of the winsome females
that were the focus of many of the stories). His nickname came
from WW I, where some hams were stolen and the frame was
placed on Brooks. Although Ham always suspected Monk of doing
the deed, his sharp legal mind was never able to prove that
Monk did the deed. Of course, while their squabbling appears
to be on the edge of hatred, the two men are the closest of
friend, willing to lay down their lives for the other.
Also included in some of the stories was Doc's beautiful,
bronze cousin, Pat Savage. This gun-toting woman is the owner
of a boutique in New York, but has a penchant for adventure
that matches any of Doc's crew.
Doc's crew served a couple of important purposes in the
stories. As often happens to the fellows of heroes, they were
often captured and needed to be rescued by Doc. More
importantly, they added a large amount of color to the
stories. Doc, the epitome of the strong, silent hero, was
pretty straightforward and the other characters (especially
Monk and Ham with their constant fighting) kept the stories
interesting and worth following.
But this isn't a column about the pulp magazine, this is a
commentary of the characters on the radio. There are three
different series that have appeared over the airwaves
featuring this crew. The first two, sadly, are lost to the
mists of time, but the third, while not exactly old-time
radio, is still available.
Very little is known about the first series, including the
actors who played the parts, except that it aired on the Don
Lee Mutual Network in 1934 and was written by Lester Dent
himself. Lester Dent was not a complete newcomer to the world
of radio drama, having written an occasional episode of
Scotland Yard. Twenty-six episodes were recorded, though no
copies of the show survive. Unlike many radio shows, these
were not transcriptions of Doc's stories in the magazine, but
were brand new adventures of Doc created just for the radio
show (and including only Monk and, occasionally, Ham in his
crew). In fact, the only thing that remains are 14 of the
original scripts that can be found on various sites around the
Internet. The show was not renewed due to its sponser, a
patent medicine by the name of Cystex, being put out of
business by new legislation regarding patent medicines that
came out in that year.
The second show also has no existing copies. In 1943, a radio
show based on the comic book version of Doc Savage also had 26
episodes recorded. This version gave him a ruby-decorated blue
cowl that gave Doc super-strength and hypnosis abilities. Most
of the scripts were published though I am unaware of any
copies on the Internet at this time.
The third version was two of the published stories by Lester
Dent and adapted for radio. The first was "Fear Cay",
originally published in September, 1934. It was adapted by
Roger Rittner (who was the director and producer for both
stories). The second, "The Thousand Headed Man" was adapted by
Will Murray (author of many "Destroyer" novels and biographer
of Lester Dent as well as author, based on incomplete outlines
of old Dent stories, of several Doc Savage stories that were
published in the 90s). This was a spectacular show (with all
of its campiness) with a superb cast. In fact, if the stories
had any flaw in bringing them to the radio, it was in the fact
that the normally silent Doc had to give so much exposition in
the stories. Still, it hardly took the excitement away from
the Dent stories and the show truly tickled the imagination of
its listeners.
Cast Members:
==========
Doc Savage - Daniel Chodos
Monk - Robert Towers
Ham - Art Dutch
Renny - Bill Ratner
Johnny - Kimit Muston
Long Tom - Scott McKenna
Pat Savage - Robin Riker
Additional Voices - Douglas Coler, William Irwin, Bob Farley,
Michael McConnohie, Glen Shadix, Bob Lines, Marcia Kramer, and
Ann Ross
Sound Effects:
==========
David Surtees, assisted by Jerry Williams
Production Assistants:
==============
Samantha Kimmel and Doris Christie
Engineering:
========
Denny King