Outré Intro: Adventures of Superman (1951 - 1958)

The introductory montage to Adventures of Superman (1951 - 1958) is elegant simplicity. 

This introduction is concise, vivid, and blunt. 

In short, it transmits to the audience absolutely everything it needs to know about the superhero series in order to enjoy an episode.

The introduction opens with an adventurous title card (above), and then we get the perfect conjunction of voice-over and imagery.  What we see is, simultaneously, what we are told.

First, we get acquainted with Superman's amazing capabilities.

He is "faster than a speeding bullet," and the montage cuts to a gun firing. 

He is "more powerful than a locomotive," and so we see a train racing by on a track.

He is able to "leap tall buildings in a single bound," and the camera pans up and up across the exterior of a skyscraper.

Next, a voice implores us to "look up in the sky."  It's a bird! It's a plane! No...it's....Superman.

During this interlude, we are treated to the series central (and stock...) special effects footage, of Superman flying through the air. We hear "wind" sound-effects as he travels.

The next series of compositions are all the same, modified only by one small change between shots, again proving the montage's economical nature.  

First, we learn that Superman is a "strange visitor from another world" as we see him striding over the Earth in his colorful costume. The background of the planet suggests this alien or interplanetary nature.

Then, the image shifts.  Only Superman changes, as the background remains the same.  Now, he is seen in his "disguise" as "Clark Kent, the mild-mannered reporter from a major Metropolitan paper, the Daily Planet.

Finally, the image changes again.  An American flag now appears behind Superman (back in uniform...) when he learn that the hero fights for "Truth, justice, and the American way."  The flag appears just as the narrator stress the word "American."

In just under a minute then, this colorful and terse montage introduces us to Superman's powers, his origin, his secret identity, and his quest.

In short, it's absolutely perfect. There is not a wasted breath, image or sound here, and in some sense, this brevity of detail captures the essential strength of the central character, the Man of Steel.

Next week on Outré Intro: Space:1999 Year Two.

Superman Week: Adventures of Superman: "The Wedding of Superman"

I’ve always enjoyed “what if” stories in the comic-book and superhero milieu.  What if Hal Jordan hadn’t been the recipient of the green power ring? What if Krypton had never been destroyed?  What if Batman’s parents hadn’t died that night in Gotham City?

Adventures of Superman (1952 – 1959) provides a very early televised example of this form in the entry titled “The Wedding of Superman.”  As Lois Lane (Noel Neill) announces at the drama’s commencement -- breaking the fourth wall and addressing the camera -- “this is my story.”

Lois’s story involves the fact that she has been tasked by Daily Planet editor Perry White (John Hamilton) with answering the lonely hearts column, and is buried, literally, in thousands of letters.  She asks Perry for help from the Planet staff, but Perry White, Superman, and Inspector Henderson (Robert Shayne) are too busy attempting to ferret out the identity of the new criminal ring-leader in Metropolis to pay Lois much heed.

That night, Lois falls asleep reading the lonely hearts column, and -- though the audience doesn’t realize it at first -- concocts a romantic fantasy or “dream” about marrying Superman.  First The Man of Steel sends her flowers.  Then, he foils a jewelry store robbery and gives her a diamond.  Then, he proposes marriage, causing Lois to worry about how Clark will receive the news of her impending nuptials.  Superman tells her not to worry, that he is actually Clark Kent.

The wedding ceremony goes off almost without a hitch, except for the fact that there is a time bomb hidden in the wedding cake, one sheathed in lead, and therefore invisible to Superman’s x-ray vision…

When Lois awakens from her dream, she can’t believe it wasn’t real, though even she freely admits that the idea that mild-mannered Clark Kent could be the Man of Steel is incredibly far-fetched.

“The Wedding of Superman” is another enjoyable, fast-paced episode of this classic series, and a good “what if” scenario played out. 

The biggest problem with the episode today is that morals and sensibilities have changed so much in sixty years that at points the story comes off as horribly sexist.  Lois is ignored and generally treated like a child in the meeting with Perry and the other men, and her concerns about being over-worked are shunted aside and ignored. 

Also, the primary idea here seems to be that Lois just wants to get married and have a traditional 1950s family.  But, of course, she’s already achieved incredible success in her career as a reporter at a major metropolitan newspaper.  We all know that Lois pines for Superman, but she also pines for the big journalism “get,” right?  It does the character no service to turn her into a love-sick puppy.

As is often the case, this Adventures of Superman episode veritably thrives on George Reeves’ underplaying of moments that, in the wrong hands, could be campy.   As Superman, he exudes authority and dignity, and more than that even, crafty intelligence.  There’s always the sense with this incarnation of the Man of Steel that he’s thinking two steps ahead of everyone else, anticipating and avoiding pitfalls and land-mines.  I saw it in "Through the Time Barrier," and it is a factor in this story as well.

Reeves brings this high-level of intelligence to his portrayal of Clark Kent, and all his scenes as the “mild mannered” reporter practically sizzle with double-meaning, and with the knowledge that he is interpreting every event through a very different lens than either Jimmy or Lois might.  It’s a deft balancing act for the character, but Reeves is downright graceful in the part.  

Comic-book fans can debate the eras of Superman, and the important question of his identity.  Is Kal-El really Superman, disguised as Clark?  Or is Clark the real personality and Superman the disguise? If one had to choose an option from the Reeves’ portrayal, it would seem that Superman is the real personality, and Clark the disguise.  Lois and Clark inverted this dynamic.

I selected this episode of Adventures of Superman to review today in part because it’s got that ‘what if’ quality, in part because it demonstrates how far we have come today vis-à-vis women in the workplace, and in part because, for a change, the focus is not on crime, but on the Lois/Superman relationship.  This is very much the direction that future versions of the Superman myth, adapted to television, would follow.  Both Lois and Clark (1992 – 1996) and Smallville (2001 – 2011) focus heavily on the central romantic relationships.

In terms of Lois and her psychology, I find it intriguing that in her romantic dream, she knows the truth that Clark is Superman.  Her conscious mind may not let her believe it, but somewhere, her subconscious knows and understands the truth.  Lois’s inability to “recognize” Clark as Superman is a facet of the mythos that irritates a lot of people, I suppose but it seems to mirror a universal human fact that the truth sometimes hides in plain sight.

Superman Week: Adventures of Superman: "Superman on Earth" (1952)

“Come now on a far journey…a journey that takes us millions of miles from Earth…”

-          - Adventures of Superman: “Superman on Earth”

The 1950s incarnation of the Superman legend commences in “Superman on Earth,” the inaugural installment of Adventures of Superman (1952 – 1957). 

Long-time fans of the franchise in comic-book and movie form will recognize the beats of this origin story, but the tale nonetheless remains timely and exciting more-than-sixty years later, in part due to the nature of the crisis which paralyzes Krypton, and the government council’s ineffective response to it.

In “Superman on Earth,” the wise scientist Jor-El (Robert Rockwell) speaks before the assembled Governing Council of Krypton on “urgent business.”  The planet has been suffering climatic change such as tidal waves, and also quakes and volcanic eruptions.   Jor-El’s “solar calculations” suggest that within a month the “gravitational pull of the sun will be so strong” that Krypton will be ripped apart.  Instead of planning for the crisis, the Council men laugh at this theory, calling it an “insult” to the intelligence. Out-of-hand, they dismiss Jor-El’s plan to colonize another world, planet Earth.

But very soon, disaster looms, and Jor-El and Lara must send their only son, infant Kal-El to Earth, where his rocket is discovered by corn-fed Kansas farmers Eben and Sarah Kent (rather than the more familiar sounding Jonathan and Martha Kent of later iterations). 

Kal-El grows up and feels like an outsider. He asks his mother: “Why am I different from all the other boys?  Why can I do thing that no one else can do?”  These very questions later form the gestalt of Smallville’s (2001 – 2011) interpretation of the legend.

After his father’s passing, Clark (George Reeves) says goodbye to his Mom at the bus depot, and heads to Metropolis. Sarah tells him “You’ve got a great responsibility to the world,” and Clark seeks a job at the Daily Planet because, by working as a journalist, he can be aware quickly -- before anyone else -- of local and international emergencies.

To get the job of reporter from cranky editor Perry White (John Hamilton), however, Clark must prove himself as a journalist.  He soon gets an exclusive from a mechanic who fell from a blimp in flight…and was rescued by Superman!

I was struck, watching “Superman on Earth,” how closely the later interpretations of Superman, including the Richard Donner film of 1978, follow the details presented here, though with superior production values.

On that front, it’s clear that The Adventures of Superman is a low-budget show.  Jor-El wears an outfit left-over from the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s, and the dome of Krypton’s governing council is actually Griffith Observatory.

Visuals aside, virtually very “core” aspect of the Superman, Shuster/Seigel mythos is here, from the opening act on doomed, arrogant Krypton, to the humble fields of Smallville, to the urbane spires of Metropolis.  The only primary incident that this TV adaptation fails to include is the creation of the Fortress of Solitude.

Today, the scenes at the government council of Krypton hold a special relevance as Jor-El’s science is mocked and dismissed by men who should know better.  Indeed, one loud-mouthed, insulting man on the panel could well be James Inhofe, the U.S. Senate’s climate change denier-in-chief.  Jor-El argues his points with reason and fact, but is faced with people of such small minds and limited imagination that there’s nothing he can do to prevent catastrophe  The result of such thick-headed ignorance: everyone on Krypton (save one child…) dies.  A civilization is destroyed. 

The reason that climate change may be thought of when watching “Superman on Earth” today isn’t just the ignorant nature of the governing body, but the very nature of the threat.  There is talk of a recent tidal wave, for instance, which definitely evokes fears of global warming.

Only 26 minutes in duration, “Superman on Earth” doesn’t have the time to linger on the details of Superman’s journey, but rather hit the high points of his tale, such as his origin on Krypton, his feelings of isolation in Smallville, and his eventual maturity and acceptance of responsibility in Metropolis.  George Reeves only appears in the last few minutes of the show, but makes a strong impression both as the young Clark Kent mourning his father’s death, and as the determined, would-be reporter, attempting to impress his boss and land an assignment.  

As writer David Smith described the Reeves’ mystique (in Starlog #9, October 1977, page 54): “Reeves gave the TV character the same kind of visual appeal that Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster had achieved with their original comic strip superhero. Handsome, humble and intelligent, the actor almost magically transformed into Superman.”

“Superman on Earth” also establishes Clark’s X-Ray vision and the fact that his costume is just as invicible as he is.  Sarah Kent reports that she made the Superman costume from the indestructible blanket she found Clark wrapped in when he crashed in his rocket.  Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993 – 1996) offered a variation of this idea, with Martha Kent noting that the “S” emblem on Clark’s costume came from the materials she found the boy wrapped in.

Fast-paced and fun, “Superman on Earth” is a great start to a classic series, even though series regulars such as John Hamilton, Phyllis Coates, and Jack Larson are not yet in the spotlight.