Savage

1973

Drama / Thriller

6
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 513 513

supreme court failed tv pilot

Director

Steven Spielberg Photo
Steven Spielberg

Top cast

Warren J. Kemmerling Photo
Warren J. Kemmerling as Lieutenant Chambers
Richard Stahl Photo
Richard Stahl as Photographer
Carl Gottlieb Photo
Carl Gottlieb as Floorman
Louise Latham Photo
Louise Latham as Marian Stern
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
741.45 MB
1280*690
English 2.0
NR
us  
24 fps
1 hr 20 min
Seeds ...
1.34 GB
1920*1036
English 2.0
NR
us  
24 fps
1 hr 20 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by sean-ramsden 6 / 10

Interesting early Spielberg project with some fatal screenplay downfalls

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.
Reviewed by LeonLouisRicci 7 / 10

SPIELBERG'S UNSOLD TV-PILOT...ABOUT INVESTIGATIVE TELEVISION JOURNALIST

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.
Reviewed by Cheyenne-Bodie

Steven Spielberg directs Martin Landau in an unsold pilot from Levinson/Link ("Columbo")

"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.
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