Savage

Very Good but Unsold Pilot about Paul Savage (Landau) an Investigative On-Air Broadcast Journalist and Assistant Barbara Bain.

Steven Spielberg Directs with a Flashy, Showy Style.

A lot of Camera Movement and Inside the Studio Machinations.

Even the Climax Features a TV-Camera and Set Surroundings Trapping an Assassin.

The Teleplay Focuses Exclusively on the Investigation and Only Uses the Savage "Show" as a Lead In and Out.

No Actual Broadcasts are Considered and there is Very Little Action.

A Good Supporting Cast of Will Greer and Barry Sullivan make for some Intrigue.

Although the Story seems like a Typical Weekly Lawyer Series and Aside for some Fancy Studio Insights that are Minimal, its Rather Routine.

The Gimmick...in the Opening and Closing Savage Races to the Studio to Meet His On-Air Deadline and Slides into His Chair with but a Second to Spare.

Nothing Extra-Ordinary.

But Worth a Watch if You can Find it.

Martin Landau plays TV-reporter Paul Savage in this TV-pilot that was never picked up as a series. This was the final TV-film directed by Steven Spielberg, before his first theatrical feature film came out in 1974, 'The Sugarland Express'.

I like the opening sequence, because it sets up the main character in a campy, yet flashy way and sets the tone for the rest of the news-oriented 'film'. Landau is a good fit for the smart, confident (sometimes arrogant) Savage. It takes a while for the story to pick up steam, but once it gets going, 'Savage' is an interesting combination of politics, ethics and crime.

If you can find it, 'Savage' is certainly worth a viewing, especially for Spielberg-fans/collectors. If you can't find it, watch 'Duel' instead, an early Spielberg-classic (1971, available on DVD).

"Savage" was a pilot with enormous potential that didn't really deliver. Jose Ferrer did a much better job with a similar hero as director/co-writer/star of "The Great Man" (1956).

Martin Landau played an investigative reporter named Paul Savage with a TV show called "The Savage Report". Paul Savage was a combination of Edward R. Murrow, Mike Wallace and Jeff Dillon. Barbara Bain played Savage's producer. Dabney Coleman was a network vice president. Paul Savage had a young genius cameraman/director named Jerry who Levinson/Link clearly modeled on Spielberg.

Richard Levinson and William Link's script, based on the first "Name of the Game" episode, was about a Supreme Court nominee (Barry Sullivan) who may have sexual skeletons in his past. Paul Savage investigates. Unfortunately the script was nowhere near as compelling as the later Clarence Thomas hearings (or the Monica Lewinsky affair).

Martin Landau should have been superb in the lead, but he was too smug, too successful, too well-dressed and smiled too much for my taste. Barbara Bain's producer character was a cipher. It looked like Landau and Bain were just asked to play themselves.

I had been a big fan of "The Senator" (1970-71) with Hal Holbrook, and I hoped "The Savage Report" could be a successor to that fine show. But the story and the main characters, at least in this pilot, just weren't vivid enough.

Steven Spielberg's direction is predictably stylish, but this is one of his lesser early TV efforts. Spielberg had already done "Duel", and he tried as hard as he could to get out of doing this banal script. But the head of Universal, who was his mentor, insisted. (Spielberg's best TV work were his two brilliant episodes of "The Psychiatrist", his Columbo" episode with Jack Cassidy and "Duel.) "Savage" turned out to be Spielberg's last TV project before "The Sugarland Express" and "Jaws".

John Badham might have been a better choice to direct "Savage". He could have used the semi-documentary approach he used so well on "The Senator" and later on "The Law".

Even though the "Savage" pilot wasn't strong, a resulting series might have been better. The basic premise was solid and Landau is a terrific actor. Maybe if producer David Levinson ("The Senator") had been brought in, he could have found more compelling stories and a more suitable style. And maybe Landau could have made his character a little darker and a little less perfect. This show could have made a good alternating 90-minute segment on one of NBC's mystery wheels.

The next year producer David Gerber ("Police Story") made another pilot movie with the same premise. The pilot was called "The Girl on the Late, Late Show". Don Murray played a TV investigative reporter and Laraine Stephens was his lovely boss. The writer was Mark Rodgers, who had written the "Name of the Game" episode that "Savage" was based on. It was a rather fascinating effort, but again NBC wasn't buying.

For those of us who have forgotten or were not around to see why Spielberg was such a sensation in the 70s, this gem is a reminder.

From the opening credits, we are drawn into the streamlined and fast-paced story that never lets up. Much like Jaws, there is not a single wasted frame anywhere in this film. If anything, it's a bit over-edited, but that's likely to make it fit into the running time limit.

Martin Landau and Barabara Bain have never been more engaging or dynamic, together or separately, befofe or since. They are the epitome of a true power couple. There is no direct hint at a romantic affiliation, no doubt on purpose to build and maintain tension as the would-be series advances through its episodes. From what I have read, the network was enthusiasitc toward greenlighting the series. So I speculate that it wasn't launched because Landau and Bain opted to go with ITC's Space:1999 instead. In retrospect, that's a shame. I think a Savage series would have been sensational, and Space: 1999 would have been just fine with another pair of actors in the lead.

You don't have to be a Spielberg fan to admire this film's bold and visionary style which must have seemed all the more so in 1973.

I encourage you to give this one a try. Available on YouTube in glorious VHS quality!

Savage is Spielberg's final TV movie before moving into features with 'The Sugarland Express'. He made 3 films for TV and I may argue that they got gradually worse. 'Duel' 8/10 thriller that takes a simple concept and sustains it for 90 minutes. 'Something Evil' 7/10 horror with a basic haunted house plot that manages to entertain without inspiration. 'Savage' 6/10 crime drama with an intriguing story that is beaten down by the lack of character depth and reason to be invested in the plot.

From the get go the personalities in this TV movie are very cliche and 2 dimensional. I feel I know as much about the characters at the end of the film as I did at the beginning. They are on a constant monotone line which kills any entertainment we may get from the story. Why do these people need to solve this case? What is on the line for them if they fail to uncover the truth? I do not know.

The screenplay does have some potential but it is let down by a poor set up to the story which introduces the characters poorly. However, there are a few nice moments in this picture. The strange death does lead to some intriguing mystery which finalises with a skilfully shot scene in the TV studio. We watch these silhouettes as though we are seeing something that we shouldn't have access to. Almost a cliche today is hiding the camera behind parts of the set to give a feeling of something secret taking place, but Spielberg switches this into an almost film-noir style encounter between the helpless and the powerful.

Overall, a good basis for a story but poorly executed in the screenplay. However, Spielberg still manages to form a couple of well shot and intriguing scenes with what he's got.