Superman (serial)
Superman | |
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Black and white | |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 15 chapters (244 minutes) |
Language | English |
Superman is a 1948 15-part
A "tremendous" financial success,[1] the serial was a popular success that made Kirk Alyn famous and launched Noel Neill's career. A sequel serial, Atom Man vs. Superman, also directed by Bennet, was released in 1950.
Plot
Superman is sent to
Cast
- Kirk Alyn as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman
- Mason Alan Dinehart as young Clark Kent
- Noel Neill as Lois Lane
- Pierre Watkin as Perry White
- Tommy Bond as Jimmy Olsen
- Carol Forman as Spider Lady
- Herbert Rawlinson as Dr. Graham
- Forrest Taylor as Professor Arnold Leeds
- Nelson Leigh as Jor-El
- Lara
- Edward Cassidy as Eben Kent
- Martha Kent
Alyn, Neill, Watkin, and Bond reprised their roles in the 1950 sequel, Atom Man vs. Superman.
Production
Sam Katzman found Kirk Alyn after looking through photographs, but had a hard time selling the idea of casting Alyn to Whitney Ellsworth, National Comics' representative on the project. This was made even worse when Alyn came in for a screen test, sporting a goatee and moustache (as he was also shooting another project, a historical film). These initial reservations were eventually overcome, and Alyn got the part. Columbia's advertising claimed that it could not get an actor to fill the role, so it had "hired Superman himself", and Kirk Alyn was merely playing Clark Kent.[1]
Episode 1, "Superman Comes to Earth", features a line delivered by Edward Cassidy (as Eben Kent) to Kirk Alyn (as foster son Clark Kent): "Because of these great powers - your speed and strength, your x-ray vision and super-sensitive hearing - you have a great responsibility". Fourteen years later, Stan Lee's Amazing Fantasy #15 introduced Spider-Man and popularized the motto, "With great power comes great responsibility".
Special effects
Superman's flight sequences were animated instead of live-action or model work. Harmon and Glut consider this to be the weakest point of the serial, explaining that the effects created by Republic for Adventures of Captain Marvel were more convincing or more routine ones for the Superman TV series.[1] While there were other effective special effects, in their opinion, they were undermined by the poorness of the flying sequences.[1] The film crew did test an alternative method of filming the flying sequences: Kirk Alyn spent an entire day painfully suspended by visible wires in front of a rear projection of moving clouds. Displeased with the results, Katzman fired the entire flight sequence production staff, and used the animated method instead.[1]
A peculiar characteristic of the mix of animated and live-action footage is that Superman's take-offs are almost always visible in the foreground, while his landings almost always occur behind objects, such as parked cars, rocks, and buildings. It was easier to shift from live footage of Kirk Alyn starting to take off, to animated footage, than it was to shift from an animated landing to live footage of the actor. As a consequence of the need to hide Superman's landings, Superman frequently lands at some distance from where he wants to be, and must run to arrive on-scene.
Budget limitations also dictated the frequent re-use of film footage, especially scenes of Superman flying. For example, one sequence showing Superman flying over a rocky hill (a shot of Stoney Point in Southern California's San Fernando Valley) was used at least once in almost every episode of the first serial.
Stunts
Alyn's stunt double was Paul Stader. He had to perform only one stunt in the entire serial, leaping from the back of a truck. He almost broke his leg during this stunt, and had to leave the production.[1]
Home media
The Superman serial was first made available for purchase on VHS videotape in 1987 as a double tape box set. The serial was also offered available in two separate VHS tapes as "Volume 1" (Chapters 1 to 7) and "Volume 2" (Chapters 8 to 15).
It was officially released on
Chapter titles
- Superman Comes To Earth
- Depths Of The Earth
- The Reducer Ray
- Man Of Steel
- A Job For Superman
- Superman In Danger
- Into The Electric Furnace
- Superman To The Rescue
- Irresistible Force
- Between Two Fires
- Superman's Dilemma
- Blast In The Depths
- Hurled To Destruction
- Superman At Bay
- The Payoff
Source:[4]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
- ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ "Superman Serials: The Complete 1948 & 1950 Collection". Amazon.
- ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
Sources
External links
- Superman at IMDb
- Superman at Rotten Tomatoes
- Superman at AllMovie
- Atom Man vs. Superman (1950)