Prevue 1/83

TV FEATURE BY ADAM EISENBERG [_PREVUE_, Vol. 2, No. 10, December/January 1983 p.60-65]

"I jumped back, the orang coming after me with those great arms outstretched. I'm keen for affection, but I don't want one of those hugs. The orang's method of fighting is to draw his victim to him, then tear him to pieces with his teeth. "The orang, as I kept scrambling for position, made a sudden rush at me. He had the advantage of a longer reach, but I knew about boxing. As he spread out his arms to grab me, he gave me a beautiful opening. I waded in and let him have it smack on the point of the jaw. It was one of those uppercuts that get results, a wallop that had all of my beef behind it. Shrimpo kissed the deck with a bang while some sailors who had run over to see the scrap broke into applause like fans at a prize-fight. "It was a clean knockout. The orang, landing flat on his back, slept the sleep of the kayoed."-Frank Buck from _Bring 'Em Back Alive_, 1930

"He was like Buffalo Bill and all those heroes from history," says Bruce Boxleitner. "He was a cowboy in Texas. He rode the rails like Woody Guthrie. He trapped wild animals, from anteaters to zebras, around the world. He worked in vaudeville and in the movies. He had an amazing career and a good sense of PR about himself. Frank Buck was an American legend, larger-than-life."

Dressed in jungle khakis, knee-high leather boots and a safari helmet, Boxleitner too looks a bit larger-than-life as he prepares to face both four-footed and two-footed danger in Bring 'Em Back Alive, the new CBS adventure series based on Buck's exploits. In the shade of a Burbank Studios' backlot tree, he surveys the picturesque Raffles Hotel, Singapore's hot spot-and the location for the morning's shoot. The palm-lined street is teeming with expensive vintage automobiles and an army of extras, wearing everything from the rich, linen suits of wealthy tourists to the dirty rags of beggars.

The show's non-stop action occurs in 1939 Malaysia where Buck not only tames jungle beasts, but human ones-Nazis, smugglers, poachers and black marketeers-as well as the lovely American diplomat Gloria Marlowe (Cindy Morgan). As its name implies, Bring 'Em Back Alive promises split-second rescues, narrow escapes, exotic locales and the wildest animals this side of Noah's Ark. For the show's star, however, it represents an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream: to portray the classic hero.

"Frank Buck was a man of moral fiber and a man of action," Boxleitner says. "Some people may think that's old-fashioned and corny, but, let's face it, the hero is back. Star Wars started it again. Even though it's set in another time and place, it has characters you must root for; that's what we need today. Audiences are looking for someone who stands up, who fights back, who reacts, instead of just sits around intellectualizing."

Frank Buck represented that dynamic brand of heroic action during the first half of the 20th century. Through his books, lectures, radio shows, film documentaries and even a movie serial, he became known as a globe-trotting soldier of fortune, a hunter who never killed an animal except in self-defense, an adventurer who always tried to bring 'em back alive to zoos and private collections worldwide. He was a Tarzan, a Jungle Jim whose colorful exploits were far more thrilling tales because they were inspired by his own real-life experiences. Until his death in 1950, his name was synonymous with big game safaris and the beat of jungle drums.

Buck undertook his most famous expeditions from 1910 to 1930, but the TV series has been updated to capture 1939's political tensions as well as its sense of wonder. Although the show is not intended to accurately depict the adventurer's life, it does feature several characters based on real people he knew. For example, Clyde Kusatsu plays Buck's native assistant Ah; Ron (Superfly) O'Neal is H.H. (His Highness), the Sultan of Johore, one of the hunter's closest friends in Malaysia.

To portray Frank Buck, Boxleitner grew a moustache, donned a pith helmet and learned to swing a mean lariat. His character is modeled after the two-fisted style of the heroes in such action classics as Gunga Din and Beau Geste. "Frank Buck was as real as they come," the 32-year-old actor explains, "but I'm playing him in the manner of Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and John Wayne. Believe it or not, they were my favorite heroes as a kid-and now, I get to play all of them!"

To further re-create the '30s spirit, the series, like many vintage adventure movies, is being lensed almost entirely on the jungles, deserts and colonies of the studio backlot. Bring 'Em Back Alive features a bustling Singapore thoroughfare which most recently served as a street scene for Annie. This "Malaysia of the imagination," as Boxleitner calls it, helps the show "look the same way it looked in the '30s," producing an ambiance which might best be termed "backlot realism."

The approach pleases Boxleitner, reminding him of films which captivated him as a boy in Illinois. The fast-moving mosquito opera is also not unlike the recent Raiders of the Lest Ark (PREVUE 43, 45, 46), a motion picture to which it owes its very existence as a TV program. Although the property has been optioned for the past 20 years, no studio or network showed serious interest until Raiders proved that pulse-pounding adventures could dig up a fortune at the boxoffice. At that point, the winds changed. Producers George Schenck and Frank Cardea took the idea to CBS where they were met with enthusiasm, but no offer. Whether it was the fact that they mentioned a meeting with ABC the next day or some jungle juju, something happened after they packed their presentation. Before they had even reached the elevators, an executive rushed out to announce they had a deal.

Bring 'Em Back Alive differs from its predecessors in its extensive use of beastial co-stars. The menagerie belongs to Animal Actors of Hollywood which has provided creatures for Quest for Fire, Dr. Doolittle and the upcoming Never Cry Wolf. "We've used snakes, water buffalos, monkeys, tapirs and many other strange animals which aren't often seen," Boxleitner says. "I learned to ride an elephant which is a lot different than riding a horse, though once you find your seat on them, it's not too bad."

The best thing to do around big animals is to remain calm and do everything as slowly and deliberately as possible. When we're on the set, we're never too far from a wild animal. Even though their trainers are with them, anything can happen. The slightest move can frighten them, and a bengal tiger is going to take out a few people before they stop him."

Fortunately, there haven't been any serious incidents involving the beasts, other than the confrontations concocted by the scriptwriters-which can still be hair-raising. "The other day, I got into a cage with a black panther," the star recalls, "with only bamboo bars between us. He was declawed, but he could still reach through and-bop, bop, bop-knock me silly. One scene had Clyde climb a tree to escape from a cat who was after him. He was yelling for help, but it was real. He meant it! No Stanislavski there."

Besides trapping wild animals, Boxleitner often finds himself performing stunts like swinging from a rope to rescue a lady from a lake swarming with crocodiles or lassoing the tail of an airplane. He proudly shows his scraped arm like a badge of honor; it was earned by falling onto gravel after being "shot" in the chest. In another scene, he was dragged along the ground until his outfit shredded to pieces.

Despite those deeds, Boxleitner remains cautious about facing fang and claw in front of the camera. "We have a tendency to believe while we're playing heroes," he notes quietly, "that we're immortal, that nothing can go wrong. But, it can and often does. The show has its risks, but I've done enough stuntwork to know there are certain things I will not risk." Boxleitner credits James Arness, with whom he worked on How the West Was Won, with teaching him where to draw the line. "I wanted to learn how to ride like a cowboy, to rope and shoot. He said 'It's fine to be a big hero, but if you get hurt, even if it's not your fault, you're the bad guy. You're the one who caused the crew to get laid off.'"

Nonetheless, Boxleitner has had a great time with stuntwork. "The action stuff is fun," he says, "and exhausting; I sleep very heavily when I finally hit the sack. Yesterday, I was in a dugout canoe paddling across a river as fast as I could. Then, I had to jump up, leap off the bow and save the girl, with crocodiles bursting out of the water and Nazis trying to finish the job. But, it's all in a day's work for Frank Buck."

It was CBS who first suggested the actor for the lead when the pilot was being written. Boxleitner had co-starred in TV's East of Eden, The Last Convertible and Bare Essence; the producers, somewhat concerned that he might look too young, had the actor test with a moustache. The moment he put it on, Schenck recalls, "Bruce became the character; he was Frank Buck." Boxleitner was delighted.

While his title role as Tron garnered moviegoers' attention, most scenes involving his character's development were unfortunately cut from the final print; reviews were mixed. "I was playing Flash Gordon," he says. "What else could you do with the thing? Those roles have their limitations. I had to run around, throw those disks, and look cool in a spandex suit. "I trained on frisbees," he says. "Audiences may have thought the disks were special effects, but they weren't. Those were real frisbees being thrown at me. I got hit quite a few times and I hit back. "Steve Lisberger, the director, has never mentioned this incident, but one day, we almost went head-to-head on a story point. So, we went outside and settled it with a frisbee fight. What started out as a furious, five-minute-long exchange ended 25 minutes later with both of us laughing about it."

It was in the super-computerized fantasy world of Tron that Boxleitner met Cindy Morgan, his co-star in the film and, later the TV series. During casting for Bring 'Em Back Alive, he noticed her name on the audition sheet and recommended her for the female lead. The decision, however, rested with the producers. When the actress met with them, Schenck says, "She was the first woman who really had that look of the '30s." Without even wrestling an alligator or tracking a man-eating tiger, she snared the part.

Now, in the animal compound's jungle hut, Morgan sits in an ornate wicker chair surrounded by tribal shields, masks, kerosene lamps, old books (including Teddy Roosevelt's collected presidential speeches) and newspapers like The Young China. Mosquito netting envelops a loft bed, and the horns of a Texas Longhorn decorate the wall above the front door.

"Bruce and I did Tron for three and-a-half months on a black-and-white set," Morgan says, "and if that doesn't make you friends, it'll make you bitter enemies. But, we work off each other very well. It's seldom you find his kind of chemistry with someone. In our case, I couldn't help myself-I immediately picked a fight with Bruce the first time I saw lim. We go back and forth at each other a lot because we like each other."

In Bring 'Em Back Alive, as Gloria Marowe, the U.S. Vice Consul in charge of the Singapore Embassy, Morgan often asks for rank Buck's help in mounting hazardous manhunts for missing agents, enemy spies and wild cargo. Together, the two dare danger and romance on jungle trails and in primitive cities. "This is, after all, 1939. A woman can do the job."

While preparing for her newest role, Cindy Morgan researched female fashions of the period, absorbing the feel of Depression-era America. She continues to watch as many vintage films as possible, especially those starring Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Carole Lombard. "They were strong heroines," she notes, "who never played back seat to any man either intellectually or psychologically. They were feisty and confident, lovely and charming. I really relate to the women who had a sense of humor about their situations. That's what will make my character more attractive to women today."

Like Boxleitner, Morgan remains alert while around the jungle denizens, and has found working close-up-to-close-up with them a bit unnerving. "We did some publicity photos with a cougar," she explains. "The animal was on a stand. A female trainer stood next to it with her hand on the cat. She said, 'Do exactly what I do. I'm going to step out; you walk in behind me, and put your hand right where mine was.' I came in behind her so I wouldn't be in the cougar's eyeline and did it. They quickly ran off a couple of rolls of film as I smiled and tried to look very calm.

"When I was a little girl, I loved it when my dad took me to the zoo. Now, the zoo is coming to me." The 26-year-old actress also regards the series' stunts as fun, though occasionally painful. For instance, during the sequence with Boxleitner and the crocs, Morgan discovered being rescued by the hero wasn't too difficult, but what came afterward was. "It's not easy to get into a canoe from the water," she says, "because while you're swimming, you must reach in, pull yourself over, and go head first into it. I got a little bruised. But, there was no other way to get into the damned thing. I watched the stunt people do it first, and said, 'Well, that's how I'm going to do it,'-so I did!"

Morgan has applied the same zeal to her fledgling career. After success as a Chicago model and disc jockey, she set her sights on acting, moved to Los Angeles and, within eight months, was before Caddyshack cameras as the exquisite Lacy Underall. Eventually, she plans to shift to writing and producing. Meanwhile, in the heart of the Burbank jungles, she is satisfied by the sometimes exerting, always exhausting work of episodic television. "I'm really enjoying myself," Morgan admits, "although it's taking all of my physical and mental capabilities. You get up at 4:30 AM, get home at 9:00 PM, and after awhile, you don't even know your own name anymore. It really takes everything out of you. I work five days a week-the other two, I collapse. "Because of Tron, and then the series, I broke off a long relationship. Men find the fact that I have to work all the time difficult to deal with. I have no time to get to a phone, and they just don't understand. For example, after staying late at the studio, I called up a friend who I was supposed to have gone out with, and said, 'Look, you've got to understand, I couldn't get to a phone. There are no phones in the jungle, and I've been in a canoe all day with some Nazis."

Outside the hut, Frank Buck is fighting for his life. He is pitted against a deadly samurai warrior and an elephant. There is no doubt as to who will triumph-this is a TV series-but Boxleitner displays the same bravado that the real Frank Buck might have brought to the battle. Though other actors might shrink from being typecast as adventure heroes, Boxleitner admits to having pursued similar roles. He auditioned as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars but got caught up in How the West Was Won. He also tested for Raiders when an early script featured two young archeology students in the leads.

"I'm not out to make any serious statements," he explains, referring to his career. "I love this material. I know it isn't Shakespeare; I've done that already. I've played psychotics and crazies and never enjoyed it a bit. I see a lot of upturned noses because most of my peers can't deal with doing what they did when they were children-only getting paid for it now. My earliest fantasies involved playing these kind of parts.

"I'm tired of hearing it," he says about actors who imply that action roles are demeaning. "I sat through three years of drama school listening to them expound on the art of it all-that's pure crap. You're only an actor if you're working. James Coburn told me that. You can sit around in all the classes you want, calling yourself whatever you want, but unless you're acting and there's an audience or a camera watching you, you're not an actor."

Boxleitner is searching for an image, the type of screen persona which made Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn familiar heroes to their audiences. "They're still alive today," he adds, "still remembered for their roles. When you went to a theater to see a Bogart flick, you knew what you would get. You weren't disappointed because he happened to be wearing a beard and old hat. He was still Bogart.

"Harrison Ford is doing the right thing. He may have made some mistakes in the past, but now he's number one in science fiction and adventure. He has a corner on it, and he'll be remembered for it. And, when you're remembered, that's what it's all about."

Like Frank Buck, Boxleitner wants the chance to be bigger than life, to capture an audience's imagination and Bring 'Em Back Alive. He says, "You're only given a few opportunities. So, you've got to take every one, and ride them as long as you can because there's always someone behind you. "And Harrison, because you're where I want to be, my ambition is to come up and knock you off."
**

Thank you, Pfyre!