Savage (1973 TV film)

*Savage*
Savage
	Title card
Genre	Drama; Thriller
Written by	Mark Rodgers; William Link; Richard Levinson
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Starring	Martin Landau; Barbara Bain; Will Geer; Paul Richards; Michele Carey
Music by	Gil Melle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Richard Levinson; William Link
Producer	Paul Mason
Production locations	Los Angeles, California; Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
Cinematography	Bill Butler
Editors	Edward M. Abroms; Steven Spielberg
Running time	73 minutes
Production company	Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	March 31, 1973

Savage is a 1973 American thriller-drama television pilot directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Martin Landau.^[1] It was not picked up as a series and has been referred to as a standalone made-for-television film.

Premise

A TV reporter investigates a compromising photograph of a nominee to the Supreme Court after the woman in the photograph mysteriously dies.

Cast

Martin Landau as Paul Savage
Barbara Bain as Gail Abbott
Will Geer as Joel Ryker
Paul Richards as Peter Brooks
Michele Carey as Allison Baker
Barry Sullivan as Judge Daniel Stern
Louise Latham as Marian Stern
Susan Howard as Lee Reynolds
Dabney Coleman as Ted Seligson
Pat Harrington Jr. as Russell
Jack Bender as Jerry
Victor Millan as Director

Background

Spielberg didn't want to direct another TV film, coming off the success of the theatrical release of Duel, and was trying to get his own projects into production. William Link and Richard Levinson were attempting to get their series The Savage Report off the ground as showrunners, and pushed Universal executive Sid Sheinberg to assign Spielberg the pilot. Link later said Spielberg didn't like the script, and that after a meeting with Sheinberg where Spielberg was pressured into taking on the project, "Steve came back almost in tears. We asked, 'What happened?' We were playing dumb because we had set this up," and went on to say "Steve had made the mistake of saying that he wasn't in the Universal business, he was in the Steven Spielberg business."^[2]

Landau thought the show was "ahead of its time" and claimed it did not become a series because of its critique of TV news.

Filming locations

Los Angeles, California, USA
Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

References

^ Sanello, Frank (2002-08-05). Spielberg: The Man, the Movies, the Mythology. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4616-2507-0.
^ McBride, Joseph (2011-01-04). Steven Spielberg: A Biography, Second Edition. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-837-7.

External links

"Savage" at IMDb

This article related to an American television thriller film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Sanello, Frank (2002-08-05). Spielberg: The Man, the Movies, the Mythology. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4616-2507-0.

[2] McBride, Joseph (2011-01-04). Steven Spielberg: A Biography, Second Edition. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-837-7.

[1]

[2]

v t e Steven Spielberg
Accolades Bibliography Filmography Unrealized projects
Films directed	Firelight (1964) Slipstream (1967) Amblin' (1968) Night Gallery (1969; segment "Eyes") Duel (1971) Something Evil (1972) Savage (1973) The Sugarland Express (1974) Jaws (1975) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) 1941 (1979) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) The Color Purple (1985) Empire of the Sun (1987) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Always (1989) Hook (1991) Jurassic Park (1993) Schindler's List (1993) The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Amistad (1997) Saving Private Ryan (1998) A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Minority Report (2002) Catch Me If You Can (2002) The Terminal (2004) War of the Worlds (2005) Munich (2005) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) The Adventures of Tintin (2011) War Horse (2011) Lincoln (2012) Bridge of Spies (2015) The BFG (2016) The Post (2017) Ready Player One (2018) West Side Story (2021) The Fabelmans (2022)
Films written	Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies (1973) Poltergeist (1982) The Goonies (1985)
Films produced	An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Flags of Our Fathers (2006) Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Super 8 (2011) The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) Maestro (2023) The Color Purple (2023) Music by John Williams (2024) Hamnet (TBA)
Television	"L.A. 2017" (1971) Amazing Stories (1985–1987) High Incident (1996–1997) Invasion America (1998)
Video games	The Dig (1995) Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair (1996) Medal of Honor (1999) Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002) Boom Blox (2008) Boom Blox Bash Party (2009)
Family	Amy Irving (first wife) Kate Capshaw (second wife) Destry Spielberg (daughter) Sasha Spielberg (daughter) Arnold Spielberg (father) Anne Spielberg (sister)
Related	Amblin Partners Amblin Entertainment Amblin Television DreamWorks Television Amblimation DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Animation USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive Sammy Fabelman Spielberg (2017) "Cannibal" (2022)