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Hollywood’s interest in Doc Savage has hardly languished since the character’s debut in 1933. But it wasn’t until 1975 — more than 40 years after he first appeared on news stands — that Doc Savage made it to the screen.

Numerous attempts have been made over the years to get Doc to the screen. In the 1930s or ’40s, the idea of a Doc Savage serial was floated, but failed because author Lester Dent insisted on writing the script though he had no screenwriting experience, according to Doc authority Will Murray. Plans for a 1950s TV series died for a similar reason.

In the 1960s, Doug Wildey, who created The Adventures of Jonny Quest, roughed out an idea for a Doc Savage animated series. Millennium Publications’ Doc Savage: Manual of Bronze, published in 1992, included a couple of preliminary drawings from this Doc project.

Wildey had a pet peeve when it came to updating vintage characters to contemporary times, according to Murray in a 2004 article in Comic Book Marketplace. Previously he had abandoned a Tom Swift cartoon project for this reason.

“I hired a young guy named Dave Stevens,” Wildey is quoted by Murray. “At the time, he was a Doc Savage freak. I had never personally read Doc Savage. Dave explained who the characters were and what they did. I felt that Doc Savage had enough strength and I went ahead and did it in my off hours. I brought it in to Joe Barbera (of Hanna-Barbera Studio, the producers of Jonny Quest) and said, ‘What do you think?’ But he wanted to update it. The charm was gone.”

Finally, under the guidance of George Pal, who produced such science fiction classics as Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide and War of the Worlds, Doc hit the big screen. Unfortunately, the completed film led Doc down the road of campy humor popularized nearly a decade earlier with television’s Batman series.

Who is to blame — Pal or the studio — is uncertain. Either way, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze was neither a popular nor critical success.

Pal wrote the screenplay with Joe Morhaim, using the pulps as only a passing guideline and imbuing Doc Savage with “psychic” powers and a strong urge to personalize everything. Doc’s aides fared worse, with more comic relief than scientific talent. As fluff, the movie can be somewhat enjoyable, but most true Doc fans will be cringing in their seats.

Actor Ron Ely swapped his Tarzan loincloth for the Man of Bronze’s riding pants in what was touted as the first of at least two films. In fact, the final sequence of the movie teased to the never-produced sequel, Doc Savage: Arch Enemy of Evil. Two scripts apparently were written for the sequel: one by Philip Jose Farmer; and a second by Morhaim. It was the Morhaim version that was posted on the Web, but has since been removed.

In 1996, a pitch for a new Doc Savage animated series was made to Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks SKG’s TV division. Veteran comic book artist Frank Brunner drew several scenes, based on the 1960s Bantam cover Doc, for the presentation. The project never moved beyond the pitch.

In 1999, rumors began circulating that a new movie might be possible, with names such as Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Frank Darabont and James Cameron attached to it. Warner Bros. went so far as to reserve Internet domain names for the possible movie. Troubles with the script and Schwarzeneggar’s election as governor of California appear to have stalled that project.

Since early 2005, there has been talk of another possible Doc Savage movie project. As more becomes available on these latest rumors, we’ll certainly let you know.

Sources: IMDB.com; Doc Savage: Manual of Bronze; Comic Book Marketplace; Eyes of Light: Fantasy Drawings of Frank Brunner; other Web sources.

Updated: Wednesday, April 30, 2008