Dr. Strange: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Doctor Strange]] |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}} |
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{{Refimprove|article|date=December 2010}} |
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{{Redirect category shell| |
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{{Infobox television |
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{{R from short name}} |
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| show_name = Dr. Strange |
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| image = Doctor Strange film.jpg |
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| image_size = |
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| caption = |
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| genre = {{Plainlist| |
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* Action |
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* Fantasy |
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}} |
}} |
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| director = Philip DeGuere |
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| executive_producer = |
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| producer = {{Plainlist| |
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* Alex Beaton |
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* Philip DeGuere |
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* Gregory Hoblit |
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}} |
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| writer = Philip DeGuere |
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| based_on = {{Based on|[[Doctor Strange]]||[[Steve Ditko]]|[[Stan Lee]]}} |
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| starring = {{Plainlist| |
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* [[Peter Hooten]] |
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* [[Jessica Walter]] |
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* [[Anne-Marie Martin|Eddie Benton]] |
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* [[Clyde Kusatsu]] |
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* Philip Sterling |
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* [[John Mills]] |
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}} |
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| music = [[Paul Chihara]] |
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| cinematography = Enzo A. Martinelli |
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| editor = Christopher Nelson |
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| company = [[Universal Television]] |
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| distributor = [[NBCUniversal Television Distribution]] |
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| network = [[CBS]] |
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| released = {{Film date|y=TV|1978|9|6}} |
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| runtime = 93 minutes<ref name="DVDRelease" /> |
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| country = United States |
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| language = English |
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| budget = |
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| gross = |
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}} |
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'''''Dr. Strange''''' is a 1978 American [[television film|made-for-television]] [[superhero film]] based on the [[Marvel Comics]] fictional character [[Doctor Strange|of the same name]], co-created by [[Steve Ditko]] and [[Stan Lee]]. Philip DeGuere directed the film and wrote it specifically for television, and produced the film along with Alex Beaton and [[Gregory Hoblit]].<ref name="DVDRelease" /> [[Stan Lee]] served as a consultant on the film, which was created as a pilot for a proposed television series.<ref>{{cite news|title= MARVEL IN THE 1970'S: DR STRANGE AND CAPTAIN AMERICA|work= [[Twitch Film]]|url= http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/10/marvel-in-the-1970s-dr-strange-and-captain-america.php|accessdate= October 6, 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111006032408/http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/10/marvel-in-the-1970s-dr-strange-and-captain-america.php|archive-date= October 6, 2011|url-status= dead}}</ref> ''Dr. Strange'' stars [[Peter Hooten]] in the title role, along with [[Jessica Walter]], [[Anne-Marie Martin|Eddie Benton]], [[Clyde Kusatsu]], Philip Sterling and [[John Mills]]. The film aired on September 6, 1978, in a two-hour block from 8pm to 10pm on [[CBS]],<ref name="sanctumsanctorum">{{cite web |url=http://sanctumsanctorumcomix.blogspot.com/2009/01/magic-of-video-part-i-dr-strange-1978.html |title= The "Magic" of Video - Part I-A: DR. STRANGE - the 1978 TV Movie Promos, Design Art and Swag |publisher=Sanctum Sanctorum Comix |date=January 25, 2009 |accessdate=January 9, 2014}}</ref> the same network that, at that time, aired ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man (TV series)|The Amazing Spider-Man]]'' and ''[[The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)|The Incredible Hulk]]''; CBS [[List of unproduced Marvel Comics projects|did not pick up ''Dr. Strange'' as a series]]. |
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==Plot== |
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{{plot|date=April 2016}} |
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Somewhere, an evil entity tells [[Morgan le Fay (Marvel Comics)|Morgan le Fay]] that she has been prevented from breaking through to the earthly realm by a great wizard, and that she has three days either to defeat or kill the wizard and win over his successor to her master's side. |
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Le Fay [[Spirit possession|possesses]] a young woman named [[Clea|Clea Lake]] and uses her as a weapon against Thomas Lindmer, the "Sorcerer Supreme". She pushes him off a bridge to his death, but instead of dying, he slowly gets up and magically heals himself. His friend, [[Wong (comics)|Wong]], looks after him and locates Lake for him. Suffering from psychic aftereffects of the possession and haunting dreams of le Fay, Lake is under the care of [[psychiatrist]] Dr. Stephen Strange at a psychiatric hospital. Strange has the potential to become Lindmer's successor by virtue of abilities and items inherited by from his father, including a [[signet ring]]. Strange intuitively senses something very wrong, sharing Lake's nightmare about the previous day's events, but does not understand what is going on. |
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Lindmer contacts Strange at the hospital and tells him that Lake needs more help than what can be offered by medical science. Strange takes Lindmer's card and is intrigued by the fact that Lindmer's card bears the same symbol as his ring. Meanwhile, le Fay possesses a cat and tries to have it enter Lindmer's house, but magical barriers repel it. |
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At the hospital, the head of Strange's department sedates Lake against his directions, and she appear to slip into a [[coma]] from which Strange is unable to revive her, Strange goes to visit Lindmer. Le Fay sees an opportunity to kill Strange, but hesitates, and he survives. |
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Lindmer tells Strange that his ignorance is a form of protection, and asks him whether he wants to know the truth or remain ignorant. Strange demands to know the truth, and Lindmer says that he knows about how Strange's parents died when he was eighteen. He says Strange is special, and that his parents died protecting him. He says there are different realms, and that Lake is trapped in them and only Strange can save her. Strange is dispatched to the [[Astral plane#Marvel Universe|astral plane]] and confronts and defeats the demon Balzaroth, who had been sent by le Fay to stop Strange from rescuing Lake. Strange and Lake return to the physical world. |
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The evil entity asks le Fay why she spared Strange. She confesses to being attracted to him, and the demon threatens to make her suffer eternity as an old woman. She vows that she will not fail. Strange checks on Lake, and agrees to dinner with her later. He goes to see Lindmer and rejects the reality of magic despite his recent experiences. As he leaves, he tries to remove his father's ring and finds he cannot. Without meaning to, he lets the possessed cat into the house. The cat transforms into le Fay and defeats Wong, seemingly killing him. She then defeats Lindmer, but she cannot kill him in this world, so she summons Asmodeus to transport Lindmer to the demon realms. |
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Strange visits Lake, but le Fay interrupts, promising him that she will not harm Lake so long as he comes with her to the demon realm. He agrees. Once there, he appears to be under her command. She offers him love, wealth, power, and knowledge. She attempts to seduce him, and on the verge of success, asks him to remove his ring. He protests that only Lindmer can remove it, but she counters that he can do it if he tries. He refuses, defying her. She attacks him, but he defeats her, rescues Lindmer, and returns them both to the earthly realm where he also revives Wong. The evil entity transforms le Fay into an old hag. |
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Lindmer explains that Strange must choose whether to remain mortal, or to become the Sorcerer Supreme, forgoing ignorance, offspring, and an easy death, but promises that he will, at least, have love. Strange chooses to protect humanity, and Lindmer's power is transferred to him. Lindmer passes out. Wong then warns him that, while he now has Lindmer's powers, he does not yet have the knowledge or the wisdom to use them correctly, and that, if he is not extremely careful, he can harm himself or others. Strange then carries Lindmer in his arms, and puts him to bed to recover. |
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Strange is then shown at the hospital, where many patients have been discharged. He leaves with Lake, who seems to have no memory of what happened, other than as a bad dream. Le Fay is shown on television, young again, posing as a self-help guru. Lake fails to recognize her. Strange agrees to meet Lake later, and the film closes with him playing a trick on a street magician, turning the flowers the magician was going to produce using sleight-of-hand into a dove. |
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==Cast== |
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* [[Peter Hooten]] as [[Doctor Strange|Dr. Stephen Strange]], a psychiatrist, who becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme to safeguard the Earth from Morgan Le Fay.<ref name="DVDRelease" /> |
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* [[Jessica Walter]] as [[Morgan le Fay (Marvel Comics)|Morgan Le Fay]], an evil sorceress from the "fourth dimension", who plans to invade Earth.<ref name="DVDRelease" /> |
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* [[Anne-Marie Martin|Eddie Benton]] as [[Clea|Clea Lake]], Strange's patient.<ref name="DVDRelease" /> |
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* [[Clyde Kusatsu]]<ref name="DVDRelease" /> as [[Wong (comics)|Wong]] |
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* Philip Sterling<ref name="DVDRelease" /> as Dr. Frank Taylor |
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* [[John Mills]] as Lindmer, Dr. Strange's mentor and the original Sorcerer Supreme.<ref name="DVDRelease" /> |
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* June Barrett<ref name="DVDRelease" /> as Sarah |
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* [[Sarah Rush]]<ref name="DVDRelease" /> as Nurse |
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* Diana Webster as Head Nurse |
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* [[Bob Delegall]] as Intern |
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* [[Larry Anderson (actor)|Larry Anderson]] as Magician |
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* Blake Marion as Department Chief |
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* [[Lady Rowlands]] as Mrs. Sullivan |
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* Inez Pedroza as Announcer |
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* Michael Clark as Taxi Driver |
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* [[Frank Catalano]] as Orderly |
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* [[Michael Ansara]] as the voice of [[Ancient One]] ''(uncredited)'' |
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* [[Ted Cassidy]] as the voice of Demon Balzaroth ''(uncredited)'' |
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* David Hooks as The Nameless One ''(uncredited)'' |
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==Production== |
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Philip DeGuere was given an ample budget for ''Dr. Strange'', which he wrote, directed and produced. The film was shot on [[Universal Studios|Universal]] sets in Los Angeles, going over-schedule by several days because of the special effects, which included a lot of the era's [[green screen]]. Friend and composer Paul Chiraha was encouraged to produce an electronic score. Chirara, interviewed in 2016, said that DeGuere had high hopes for the film, and was crushed when it "tanked".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Couch|first1=Aaron|title='Dr. Strange': The Untold Story of the 1978 TV Movie Everyone "Had Great Hopes For"|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=November 1, 2016}}</ref> |
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In January 1985, [[Stan Lee]] recounted the largely positive experience of working on ''Dr. Strange'', compared with the other live-action Marvel Comics adaptations under the publisher's development deal with CBS and Universal in the late 1970s, saying, "I probably had the most input into that one. I've become good friends with the writer/producer Phil DeGuere. I was pleased with ''Dr. Strange'' and ''[[The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)|The [Incredible] Hulk]]''. I think that ''Dr. Strange'' would have done much better than it did in the ratings except that it aired opposite ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]]''. Those are the only experiences I've had with live action television. ''Dr. Strange'' and ''The Hulk'' were fine. ''[[Captain America in other media#The 1970s live-action television movies|Captain America]]'' was a bit [of a] disappointment and ''[[The Amazing Spider-Man (TV series)|Spider-Man]]'' was a total nightmare."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Comics Feature|issue=33A|date=January 1985|title=A Talk With The Man, Stan Lee|page=40}}</ref> |
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==Reception== |
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''Dr. Strange'' got very low ratings. Kieran Shiach and Elle Collins call it a bad film and suggest that is the reason CBS did not pick up the series, saying "it struggles under its origins, and not much happens over the course of ninety minutes."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shiach|first1=Kieran|title=Strange Visions: ComicsAlliance Reviews The 1978 Made-For-TV ‘Doctor Strange’ Movie|url=http://comicsalliance.com/doctor-strange-1978-review/|website=Comics Alliance|accessdate=December 22, 2016}}</ref> Mike Ryan finds the film "boring", complaining that the first two-thirds of the film play like a medical procedural.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ryan|first1=Mike|title=The Bizarre Case of the 1978 'Doctor Strange' Movie|url=http://screencrush.com/doctor-strange-movie-1978//|website=Screen Crush|accessdate=December 22, 2016}}</ref> Scott Beggs defends the film but concedes it is slow-moving, lacking any sense of urgency, or indeed much going for the titular character, as Strange is a bit of a [[Gary Stu]]: "He’s instantly good at everything without any training, only fails once before miraculously being awesome immediately afterwards, and he’s just generally an idiot. He’s also barely there as a figure."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Beggs|first1=Scott|title=DR. STRANGE, the 1978 TV Pilot, Was a Camp Treat Ahead of Its Time|url=http://nerdist.com/doctor-strange-dr-strange-1978-tv-pilot-review/|website=The Nerdist|accessdate=December 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222153424/http://nerdist.com/doctor-strange-dr-strange-1978-tv-pilot-review/|archive-date=December 22, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Aaron Couch calls the film an "ambitious shoot" whose effects are "campy by today's standards" but he describes the acting as "wonderfully committed performances".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Couch|first1=Aaron|title='Dr. Strange': The Untold Story of the 1978 TV Movie Everyone "Had Great Hopes For"|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=November 1, 2016}}</ref> |
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==Home media== |
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The film was released twice on [[VHS]] in the United States, in 1987 and 1995, and also had multiple foreign releases.<ref name="sanctumsanctorum" /> ''Dr. Strange'' was released on DVD for the first time in the United States and Canada on November 1, 2016 by [[Shout! Factory]].<ref name="DVDRelease">{{cite web |url=https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/dr-strange |title=Dr. Strange |publisher=Shout! Factory |accessdate=September 6, 2016 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6kKtOyRqk?url=https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/dr-strange |archivedate=September 7, 2016 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|40em}} |
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==External links== |
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* {{IMDb title|0077469|Dr. Strange}} |
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* {{Amg movie|14595}} |
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* {{rotten tomatoes}} |
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{{Films based on Arthurian legends}} |
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{{Doctor Strange}} |
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{{Marvel comics TV}} |
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[[Category:1978 television films]] |
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[[Category:American films]] |
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[[Category:1970s superhero films]] |
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[[Category:American superhero films]] |
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[[Category:CBS network films]] |
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[[Category:Doctor Strange films]] |
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[[Category:English-language films]] |
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[[Category:Films set in New York City]] |
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[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]] |
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[[Category:Television pilots not picked up as a series]] |
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[[Category:Films scored by Paul Chihara]] |
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[[Category:American supernatural horror films]] |
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Latest revision as of 15:25, 28 December 2019
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