Today's blog post is all about March, 1954. The Adventures of Superman ends season two (with two episodes), and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger becomes the new series to watch (with five episodes). Superman won't be back for season three until over a year later in 1955. By then it will be in color. One of the rules of this blog I have mentioned in the past isn't just about watching a TV series but doing it in chronological order, by air date. This doesn't necessarily synchronize with episode production, but most TV at the time was stand-alone, anyway, with a status quo being met by the end. In other words, it doesn't matter what order you see it in. Rocky Jones did have a sense of production continuity as characters came and went and plots ebbed and flowed. However, by the air dates established on Wikipedia they were first broadcast out of order. This may not matter in the long run but I wanted to come clean in case any reader sees a chronology and wonders why I'm not watching it in that order. Did I forget to mention Creature from the Black Lagoon was released in theaters during the first week of March? It's a monster movie, so it counts as Sci-Fi.
Beyond the Curtain of Space, part II- Rocky Jones and friends leave fuel station RV5 fully repaired and enter the Ophiuchus system to fake an SOS, so they can land and find Professor Newton (and Bobby). After Winky trashes the starboard engine they land and are greeted by Cleolanthe, the Suzerain of Ophiuchus (oh-FEE-shus). She has secretly brain washed Newton to get something out of him, as well as threatened bodily harm to Bobby and a good brainwashing. Cleolanthe allows Rocky and Winky to see their friends so they'll be convinced they want to stay. None of the Space Rangers buys it, so Rocky takes Bobby back the Orbit Jet to shake him out of it. Bobby wants nothing to do with them and leaves with Vena. On the way back to Newton, Bobby snaps out of it and needs to talk to Rocky. Cleolanthe has another meeting with Rocky because the brain washing memory messer-upper machine is in her office. He tries to use it but Vena interrupts and Rocky runs out. He beats up all the guards, and learns from one of them the name of the person in the Space Rangers who ratted them out. Rocky then gets Newton, Bobby and Vena to the Orbit Jet and blasts off back to Earth, but doesn't think they're in the clear. TO BE CONTINUED. We see ray guns that aren't fired and the brain washing machine is a globe on the wall that glows. There is a nice touch that some characters speak Ophiuchian and they need Vena to translate, but for the most part, they also speak English. The Office of Space Affairs classifies the region as the Ophiuchus Formation, where ship communications are lost. This effect is referred to as going "through the curtain". The operation to rescue Professor Newton is called Haystack, and encrypted communications between space stations and Earth Headquarters are done by ticker-tape. Commander Drake is the head of Space Affairs.. I wish this show would better explain the locations of all these systems, but I like the space opera. Also, you don't need to keep burning rocket fuel once you're in space. The writers didn't think about momentum and inertia. I like the design for station RV5, it is a spinning ring (for artificial gravity) with an axial docking port for two rockets.
Creature from the Black Lagoon- An expedition in the Amazon, led by Dr. Maia, uncovers a fossil of a clawed hand from the Devonian period. Something that points to a link between sea and land creatures. Maia heads back to civilization, leaving behind someone to watch the dig site. At a marine biology institute he is able to drum up interest for a second expedition to look for the rest of the skeleton. With lots of talk about what humanity could learn from studying evolution like this the new expedition is green lit. They new group boards the Rita, headed for the Amazon. When they arrive on site, the man left behind has been killed by something with big with claws. They spend time digging in the rock face but find nothing more. The group is about to head back when the ship's captain, Lucas, says there's a body of water in the area, known as the Black Lagoon, where they might find more evidence of fossils on the bottom. Over the next couple days of diving, collecting and analyzing, the group encounters a new humanoid aquatic creature that can breath underwater and on land. It is highly aggressive, but curious about the one woman they brought, Kay. To defend themselves against what they call the gill-man, Lucas offers up some poison, Rotenone, he uses to fish. It has little effect on the gill-man but paralyzes all the fish. After loosing a few people, they capture the gill-man, but it escapes, so the group tries to leave the lagoon. They find a large tree has been dropped across the only exit. They have a winch system to move the log, but the gill-man sabotages every attempt. Armed with spear guns the group chases it into an underwater lair (with a cave leading to the surface). Finally the gill-man captures Kay and the remaining members of the group chase it back to the lair and shoot it. Wounded, the gill-man crawls back to the lagoon and sinks to the inky bottom.
A much better movie than I remember (and streaming in HD on Netflix). Not much Sci-Fi other than a half-billion year-old humanoid species still living in an uncharted part of the world. The implication being that evolution stopped with the fully amphibious gill-man species (a Devonian?) and the one in this movie is the last of its kind. Maybe it was looking for a mate? It has a huge healing factor, as it is able to heal from two spear gun wounds, at least three exposures to Rotenone, and being lit on fire. It takes a number of bullet wounds, including one in the head, to make it run off, where it sinks into the lagoon, presumable dead. It only clawed the crap out of one person, everyone else it basically choked out. Filmed very well above water, sometimes the underwater scenes get murky and boring. The gill-man suit underwater, though, is amazing. I was absorbed just watching it move. The best moment of this movie is when Kay takes a swim in the lagoon and the gill-man follows her. It swims underneath her just watching, then careful tries to touch her. Following that she gets back aboard the Rita, and the gill-man (in pursuit) gets caught in a fishing net. The whole boat rocks and creaks as they try to reel it in, but it escapes leaving a piece of it behind. An impressive moments that were made ten times more terrifying in Jaws.
The Whistling Bird- Professor Quinn, from The Machine That Could Plot Crimes, is back with a new invention. He is still stupidly absent minded, but aware that some people might want his formula for a new kind of flavored stamp glue. This is something that Willie Wonka might want, but not international governments. Even though the formula is supposed to be a secret, Nancy, his niece, tells Clark and Jimmy to come over and witness the first test. At the lab Quinn tells Clark someone stole a copy of the formula but he left out a key ingredient that he taught to Skylar the parakeet. When he rings a bell Skylar quotes a needed part. Quinn has Clark test a stamp by licking it, which Clark claims tastes good, but when he slams (super-slams) it on an envelope it explodes violently destroying the lab, tossing everyone around but leaving them unhurt. I'm guess Clark absorbed most the blast. Quinn declares the formula a failure, but Clark says he's contacting the government to classify the new explosive. This is what the bad guys really want, but how did they know the formula would turn out to be explosive (bad writing I say)? By the way, I hate the Quinn character, mainly because he's written for kids but everyone in the story takes him seriously. Jimmy takes a group photo, and later back at The Daily Planet, develops it to find people looking in a window. Clark knows these are the bad guys, but where to ind them. Quinn takes Skylar for a walk and meets a lady who takes an interest in the bird. Clark comes along and distracts Quinn, while the lady swaps Skylar for another parakeet. The bad guys don't know how to make Skylar talk so they head back to Quinn's lab. There they learn about the bell, get the formula and lock Quinn, Nancy and Jimmy in a secret lead-lined room (a Gamma Radiation test chamber) to suffocate in an hour. Jimmy uses a match to set off the fire alarm, but the room being air-tight begins to flood. Superman flies in and saves them by going through the ceiling (it seems the lead in the room had no effect on the plot). Quinn realizes his formula is unstable and will explode on its own, so Superman drinks it. Skylar then says "El Dorado" which means the bad guys ran to a ghost town upstate. Superman flies up there, finds the bad guys, rescues them as their hideout explodes, and then has them arrested. In the end Skylar is brought into Clark's office and the bird calls him Superman. kind of a dumb episode, with a dumb character, but the bad guys were all right.
Beyond the Curtain of Space, part III- Rocky Jones is escaping the Ophiuchus Formation, but Cleolanthe hits them with a long range magnetic weapon to scramble their controls, aiming them at an unseen moon. They decide to save energy (I think) by turning off their viewer. Lena is ordered to take care of Professor Newton and Bobby as well as take a log entry about the traitor, Griff, in the Office of Space Affairs. I don't now how Rocky is the best Space Ranger because he treats Vena like a piece of meat and almost fails to notice they're going to hit a moon. Anyway, they don't crash, and Vena gets some praise for saving them. Cleolanthe fails to get them before the XV2, aka Orbit Jet, gets to station RV5. They send a fake message to Earth to lull the traitor into a false sense of security. But an Ophiuchian ship (WOA or WAO or something) warns Griff who takes Secretary Drake hostage and plans to blow up the landing platform. The Orbit Jet lands, some people get in a fist fight, and Rocky saves the day. In fact, he saves the day by hitting the self destruct of Drake's official government car and killing Griff. THE END. The SOP for flying in space is really shoddy. I don't know how Rocky Jones has lasted as long as he has. He reminds me of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama (or the other way around). Drake has his own official car which looks exactly like the official Ophiuchian capitol car. It must be an Earth import. The show continues to make a point that Vena is a girl who doesn't belong in space and she fights for her role every time. The exterior of the landing pad on Earth appears to be power plant, which works for the look of the show. You can definitely see the Sci-Fi movie serial roots in this series. I still like the show for some reason.
Around the World with Superman- This has to be my least favorite episode to date. It's a real kid-oriented story about a blind girl who wants her parents back together. The Daily Planet is holding a contest where the best letter written from a child, on why he/she should fly around the world with Superman, will win. This little girl is blind and wants her mom to go around the world. She doesn't believe in Superman, but she thinks it's okay for her mom to fly. Ridiculous. Plus, that's outside of the rules and the mom flips out over all the publicity. Other papers, like The Blade, get wind of the little girl, so Perry White is forced to write an article about the winning entry (including name and address), or lose the news race. Clark is obsessed with helping her out and goes so far as to have Lois distract the mom while he X-Ray scans her optic nerve. You see, she's blind because her dad had an accident and she was hurt. The dad took it bad and left the family, going so far as harassing the mom with a lawyer (which she runs from). This character drama is so forced and doesn't make sense under analysis. Anyway, Superman sees a shard of glass on her optic nerve and takes her to a hospital for an operation, staying in the operating room to guide the doctor. It works, and the only interesting part happens when we actually see Superman fly around the world in two hours. He hits the hot spots of London, Paris, Vienna, a random middle-eastern desert, the Himalayas, Japan, San Francisco, the Grand Canyon and back to Metropolis. Let's do the math. He never landed once, but stayed low enough for her to breath. The Earth is almost 8,000 miles in diameter. He had to be going roughly 4,000mph (or the Hypersonic speed of Mach 6). And he went all over the place making his trip longer. He must have some kind of friction barrier around him that protects the girl. The writers were trying to pull at heart-strings and it just comes of as schmaltzy, which was probably the intention.
Rocky's Odyssey, part I- Lot's of Sci-Fi stuff in this one and not a lot that makes sense. The Orbit Jet, with Rocky, Winky, Vena, Professor Newton and Bobby, encounter an atmosphere in space with a lightning storm. No planet detected just atmosphere. Rocky goes out on a limb using science and supposes that there are two Gypsy Moons (I think he means planets, not moons, without a star to orbit), and were once much closer, sharing an atmosphere. They have since drifted part but an Atmosphere Chain still connects them. Newton agrees when they are attacked by an airplane. Instead of shooting them down Rocky has the Orbit Jet leave the atmosphere for space. The airplane can't follow and heads back to a moon. Bobby, who is forced to read The Odyssey, says they have to explore and be just like Ulysses. Rocky agrees and upon attempting to land are forced down outside a walled city, by a magnetic beam that won't allow them to leave. Several indigenous people board the Orbit Jet, and through the use of a ticker-tape translator (and Vena, too) they are able to learn each others' language. The moon is called Posita and they are at war with another moon, Negato. The two people Rocky and Vena happen to be talking to are King Bovaro and his Queen Cotanda. Bovaro demands they carry a doomsday bomb that will destroy Negato because the Orbit Jet can use it successfully from space; something neither of these peoples can do. They take Vena prisoner and exile the rest to the hills until they agree. Winky fires several rockets at the city walls with no effect. Bobby explains to Rocky the point of the Trojan Horse, so everyone leaves, Bovaro thinks no one is aboard, and Rocky and Winky sneak back in their ship. Sure enough Bovaro has the Orbit Jet moved into the city and the Rocky/Winky duo save Vena. TO BE CONTINUED. Science is so bad here but you kind of get caught up in the action. The fist fights are epic. I also like the name of the main screen, the Visiograph. They appear to have moved the RADAR to the Bridge finally. Did I mention before that the Orbit Jet has wings for atmospheric travel?
Rocky's Odyssey, part II- Something went screwy with the plot between last episode and this one so I'll skip it. Apparently they've been gone so long search parties have given up, having been declared dead. Secretary Drak makes a system-wide speech to this effect; even Cleolanthe hears it. Meanwhile, Rocky has everyone aboard the Orbit Jet, but can't take off because of the magnetic beam on top of damage to the electric parts of the engine. Bovaro offers to fix it if only Rocky will destroy Negato. It seems there used to be a single planet, named Electro, but once the people (Electronians?) harnessed electricity something went wrong and the planet split in two, becomin the moons, Posita and Negato. Strangely an airplane very similar in design to the Posita airplane from last episode broadcasts some bizarre music. Bozaro takes over the Orbit Jet long enough to shoot it down, then explains the music drains a man's soul and will to fight or some crap. Rocky accepts Bozaro's offer to fix the Orbit Jet but only if he has the chance to negotiate peace between the two people and get them to join the United Worlds of the Solar System. Bozaro agrees and the Orbit Jet heads to Negato. It also has a walled city exactly like Posita. (Get it positive and negative?). During the trip Bobby explains the part of The Odyssey where Ulysses meets the Sirens. He stuffs cotton in the ears of his men to protect them. Rocky devises the space solution by using their space helmets with the audio cord pulled out, except Rocky who for some reason wants to hear. As soon as they step outside the Orbit Jet, Rocky loses his mind and runs aimlessly all over the city to a woman standing on a roof top. Winky, Vena, Newton and Bobby chase him down and pull his audio cord. Then they grab a guy standing outside the gates and kidnap him back to the ship. Once free of the Negato Music he agrees to a peace between the people. Bobby also points out in his book that while Ulysses is away from home people take advantage of his absence. To mirror this Cleolanthe makes a soundboard of Rocky Jones catch phrases to use against the United Worlds. TO BE CONTINUED. It bugs me Rocky has the smartest scientist in the United Words on board and he never asks him to help in any situation. Maybe the scientist can figure out how to break a magnetic tractor beam, or how the Negato Music works. Rocky just comes up with ideas and Newton agrees with him. The writers named him NEWTON; he's supposed to be smart!
Rocky's Odyssey, part III- To finish out The Odyssey metaphor, Rocky must contend with coming home and the plots revolving around his absence. Once the Orbit Jet makes it into United World space they pick up a false message of Rocky Jones (being broadcast by Cleolanthe) asking Secretary Drake to attend a fake summit at the free moon Ankapore. Rocky can't break through the transmission so he takes Bobby's suggestion from The Odyssey again, head to the planet disguised as beggars and get close enough to Drake to save him. They all arrive at Ankapore; Rocky and friends as beggars, Cleolanthe and Atlasande as Vena and Rocky respectively, Drake and Higgins as themselves. Cleolanthe has a plan to use her brain-washing machine on Drake. This will make him pliable enough to agree to release several United Worlds planets to the Ophiuchians. Rocky and friends spend some time getting close to Higgens in the market square and bring him up to speed. Very quickly Rocky is able to tip the tide in his favor and save Drake. After Rocky beats up all the Ophiuchians it isn't clear what happens to Cleolanthe. Winky is happy that they survived their adventure just like Ulysses. But Bobby reminds him that everyone except Ulysses died in the book, so Winky shuts up. This is my favorite episode of the day. It was far clearer and didn't rely on bad science. THE END.
Showing posts with label superman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label superman. Show all posts
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Superman Rocky Jones Experiment
February, 1954, debuts a new show: Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. This new show is more of a proper Sci-Fi series (but still meant for kids) as it involves rockets traveling between planets, artificial gravity, alien races (that look human), etc. It aired during the final week of February and takes over after The Adventures of Superman ends its second season the following month. But more of that tomorrow (assuming I don't lose power from Hurricane Irene).
The Golden Vulture- A crazy sea captain of the S.S. Golden Vulture, a salvage ship, is running a racket. Stolen gold is brought on board at night, disguised as crates of food. A special smelting room is run by a jeweler with a criminal record. His job is to melt down the gold and make doubloons, necklaces and cutlery that would look like treasure dredged out of the Caribbean. It is then sold to museums as authentic because they pay better than the black market. One of the crewman has a problem with this, and puts a message in a bottle asking for help. Jimmy Olsen finds it while fishing and gets Lois and Clark involved. The note was ruined but Clark could read the ship's name. Lois scoops Clark and takes Jimmy to the ship where the captain becomes paranoid and captures them. Jimmy stupidly lets it out that a crewman tipped them off, so he's captured and put in irons. Clark uncovers the conspiracy and heads over, first as Clark and then Superman, beating everyone up. The most interesting part of the episode happens when Clark takes his glasses of to fight and gets mixed up with Lois and Jimmy. They don't seem to notice in the dark, but he's supposed to be "mild mannered" so he stops fighting. They make him walk the plank, which gives him the perfect opportunity to change underwater. All is saved, but I wonder if Jimmy kept the fake doubloon he was handed. It's still made out of real gold.
Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor- Perry White is having a bad dream that Jimmy Olsen is the editor of The Daily Planet. When he gets to work, it turns out that Metropolis is having a youth day for 24 hours where young people take the big responsible positions to learn them. It's a really dumb idea (that Superman oversees) but the episode plays out well enough with Jimmy in charge of the paper. It is also mentioned that the Mayor and Chief of Police are replaced as well. Jimmy knows that almost seven years ago a group of thugs robbed a bank, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict. In 24 hours the statute of limitations is up and they can't be prosecuted. Jimmy runs a false story to bait them, which works; all three barge into the his office at gun point. These are some dumb frakking criminals. Clark does some creative stuff and gets a live audio feed to the office where he and Perry listen to the standoff. The criminals think if they just wait until midnight they're free, but Jimmy reminds them they're up to gun charges now, and there is no way they're getting away. Superman secretly uses a gas in the vent system to knock them all out and Jimmy gets all the credit for catching them. Bank Robbery is 20 - 30 years, but Gun Possession is 1 year. It turns out The Daily Planet had a list of all the serial numbers of the $2,000,000 they stole and the thugs were dumb enough to bring the money with them. A dumb idea that's fun to watch. I think Clark left Jimmy and Lois as hostages just to see what Jimmy was made of. I wish this had been a dream episode.
Lady in Black- This is something else that seemed like a dream. Jimmy is back living with his mom. She goes on vacation with a friend of hers and Jimmy offers to watch the friend's apartment. At night he reads a mystery novel, The Lady in Black, and it spooks him. Also, thumping in the basement and a weird eyeball painting is also freaking him out. He gets the superintendent, goes to the basement to investigate and gets knocked out for his troubles. He wakes up on the couch and calls Clark, who shows up immediately. The superintendent explains Jimmy whacked his head on a beam and heard a cat, named Timmy, hunting for mice. Clark doesn't believe Jimmy's version of events and leaves. The next morning Jimmy heads to work and has a strange run in with several people; a man with a scar on his face, a black-veiled woman with an accent, and a man with a package. The lady hands Jimmy the package filled with money and someone throws a dagger at him. Jimmy loses his mind, but when he calls Clark the line goes dead. He then checks with the superintendent who lies dead on the floor. Superman shows up but finds nothing wrong and claims Jimmy is crying wolf. That night, terrified, he calls Clark one last time to listen to the noises over the phone. Since Clark has super-hearing he finally learns what the sounds really are. Superman shows up to stop a counterfeit painting ring that was operating out of the basement with the blessing of the superintendent. Not the best episode by plot, but Jack Larson nails the Jimmy Olsen role. The more ridiculous the characters become the better Jimmy reacts to them. He is the entertainment of the episode.
Beyond the Curtain of Space, part I- For a pilot episode there is no real character introduction, except Vena. The episode is also all over the place with lots of technobabble and alien names. Space stations and rocket ships all have alphanumeric codes, to make it all sound futuristic. Rocky Jones is a Space Ranger, which means he has the XV2 (a rocket) and a sidekick, Winky (the worst character name ever). He is of course the best Space Ranger in the fleet, run by the Office of Space Affairs. The two just finished a big mission and are being given two months leave, but a top Earth scientist, Professor Newton (and his ward, Bobby), defects to the Ophiuchus system. Rocky thinks he's being coerced and wants to mount a rescue mission. Vena Ray is an alien liaison (or something) who agrees with Rocky. She is an accomplished navigator and speaks 27 alien languages. Rocky doesn't want a girl in space with him and proceeds the rest of the episode to be as chauvinistic as humanly possible. Vena bites back every time and eventually gets put on the crew. They launch to the Ophiuchus system but must fuel up on the way. Someone back at headquarters is feeding the bad guys in space intel on Rocky, who intercept the Orbit Jet. But Vena is the only one with a RADAR and warns Rocky who, disables the other rocket ship. They then continue to fueling station RV5. But they took a hit and the engine room is venting air. Vena tries to help but gets sealed in the engine room. Rocky and Winky put on space helmets (not suits, just helmets) and have to blow-torch their way back in to the engine room. (I'm guessing because the ship's computer wouldn't voluntarily open a door into vacuum.) They save her and make it to RV5. This is my favorite episode of the day. TO BE CONTINUED.
Star of Fate- I don't know where to begin. Ahmed, an Egyptian (who doesn't look like it), holds an auction for a mysterious lead wrapped box. Lois and Clark are present to witness and the two bidders are Whitlock, a curio shop owner, and Barnak, who has his own plans. Barnak eventually wins the bid with $10,000. Clark thinks something's up and goes back to The Daily Planet. As Barnak leaves, Whitlock warns him there's a curse on the box and not to open it. Barnak agrees but his secretary opens it later and collapses. Whitlock steals the box, but an employee of his opens it and collapses. Both of them fight back and forth over it until Superman gets involved and takes the box to The Daily Planet. Lois doesn't believe in curses and opens it. She collapses, too. Clark opens it and catches a poison needle that he gives to a hospital to analyze. Inside the box is a huge gem and a clue to an antidote. There is a plant at the base of the Egyptian Pyramids that needs collecting. Superman goes to Egypt and actually lifts part of a Pyramid to get at the plant. Meanwhile Jimmy isn't satisfied with the outcome, so he threatens Barnak with calling the police. He pulls a gun on Jimmy, who gets stuffed in a sarcophagus. Superman saves him, gets Barnak, and everyone is saved at the hospital. There was also something about a dead Professor of archeology, but that was dropped, too. A so-so episode.
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger is an interesting show to watch today. Incredibly primitive and aimed at kids, but it takes itself just seriously enough I can enjoy it. The pre-Sputnik era is in full effect. The most successful rocket designs of the time were the German V-1 and V-2 from World War II. This was the template for the rocket program, which NASA will eventually inherit, and also the template for Sci-Fi. Either you have a flying saucer or a rocket ship, that's it for classic Sci-Fi. It was also assumed that rockets are reusable and would just land on their tails to be refueled. If you can get over this, Rocky Jones is watchable. The XV2 was also the precursor to a lot of tech that will show up in future TV series, like Star Trek. They have a front-facing view screen, automatic doors, artificial gravity, real time space communication, and I think the rocket is supposed to be atomic powered. One of the most interesting ideas in the pilot episode was the hull breach in the engine room. Rocky couldn't see it at first so he hit a button, a balloon popped out and was pulled right to the hole in the hull. (I think Mission to Mars did the same thing with Dr. Pepper.) They didn't have anything to repair it with so Rocky sealed the door, but a great idea. I guess duct tape hadn't been invented yet. For poor ship design I have no idea why the RADAR is not on the bridge. The whole navigation suite (with paper charts) are in a room between the bridge and main engineering. Vena has to keep running back and forth to get any work done; really inefficient, and almost got them killed.
The Golden Vulture- A crazy sea captain of the S.S. Golden Vulture, a salvage ship, is running a racket. Stolen gold is brought on board at night, disguised as crates of food. A special smelting room is run by a jeweler with a criminal record. His job is to melt down the gold and make doubloons, necklaces and cutlery that would look like treasure dredged out of the Caribbean. It is then sold to museums as authentic because they pay better than the black market. One of the crewman has a problem with this, and puts a message in a bottle asking for help. Jimmy Olsen finds it while fishing and gets Lois and Clark involved. The note was ruined but Clark could read the ship's name. Lois scoops Clark and takes Jimmy to the ship where the captain becomes paranoid and captures them. Jimmy stupidly lets it out that a crewman tipped them off, so he's captured and put in irons. Clark uncovers the conspiracy and heads over, first as Clark and then Superman, beating everyone up. The most interesting part of the episode happens when Clark takes his glasses of to fight and gets mixed up with Lois and Jimmy. They don't seem to notice in the dark, but he's supposed to be "mild mannered" so he stops fighting. They make him walk the plank, which gives him the perfect opportunity to change underwater. All is saved, but I wonder if Jimmy kept the fake doubloon he was handed. It's still made out of real gold.
Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor- Perry White is having a bad dream that Jimmy Olsen is the editor of The Daily Planet. When he gets to work, it turns out that Metropolis is having a youth day for 24 hours where young people take the big responsible positions to learn them. It's a really dumb idea (that Superman oversees) but the episode plays out well enough with Jimmy in charge of the paper. It is also mentioned that the Mayor and Chief of Police are replaced as well. Jimmy knows that almost seven years ago a group of thugs robbed a bank, but there wasn't enough evidence to convict. In 24 hours the statute of limitations is up and they can't be prosecuted. Jimmy runs a false story to bait them, which works; all three barge into the his office at gun point. These are some dumb frakking criminals. Clark does some creative stuff and gets a live audio feed to the office where he and Perry listen to the standoff. The criminals think if they just wait until midnight they're free, but Jimmy reminds them they're up to gun charges now, and there is no way they're getting away. Superman secretly uses a gas in the vent system to knock them all out and Jimmy gets all the credit for catching them. Bank Robbery is 20 - 30 years, but Gun Possession is 1 year. It turns out The Daily Planet had a list of all the serial numbers of the $2,000,000 they stole and the thugs were dumb enough to bring the money with them. A dumb idea that's fun to watch. I think Clark left Jimmy and Lois as hostages just to see what Jimmy was made of. I wish this had been a dream episode.
Lady in Black- This is something else that seemed like a dream. Jimmy is back living with his mom. She goes on vacation with a friend of hers and Jimmy offers to watch the friend's apartment. At night he reads a mystery novel, The Lady in Black, and it spooks him. Also, thumping in the basement and a weird eyeball painting is also freaking him out. He gets the superintendent, goes to the basement to investigate and gets knocked out for his troubles. He wakes up on the couch and calls Clark, who shows up immediately. The superintendent explains Jimmy whacked his head on a beam and heard a cat, named Timmy, hunting for mice. Clark doesn't believe Jimmy's version of events and leaves. The next morning Jimmy heads to work and has a strange run in with several people; a man with a scar on his face, a black-veiled woman with an accent, and a man with a package. The lady hands Jimmy the package filled with money and someone throws a dagger at him. Jimmy loses his mind, but when he calls Clark the line goes dead. He then checks with the superintendent who lies dead on the floor. Superman shows up but finds nothing wrong and claims Jimmy is crying wolf. That night, terrified, he calls Clark one last time to listen to the noises over the phone. Since Clark has super-hearing he finally learns what the sounds really are. Superman shows up to stop a counterfeit painting ring that was operating out of the basement with the blessing of the superintendent. Not the best episode by plot, but Jack Larson nails the Jimmy Olsen role. The more ridiculous the characters become the better Jimmy reacts to them. He is the entertainment of the episode.
Beyond the Curtain of Space, part I- For a pilot episode there is no real character introduction, except Vena. The episode is also all over the place with lots of technobabble and alien names. Space stations and rocket ships all have alphanumeric codes, to make it all sound futuristic. Rocky Jones is a Space Ranger, which means he has the XV2 (a rocket) and a sidekick, Winky (the worst character name ever). He is of course the best Space Ranger in the fleet, run by the Office of Space Affairs. The two just finished a big mission and are being given two months leave, but a top Earth scientist, Professor Newton (and his ward, Bobby), defects to the Ophiuchus system. Rocky thinks he's being coerced and wants to mount a rescue mission. Vena Ray is an alien liaison (or something) who agrees with Rocky. She is an accomplished navigator and speaks 27 alien languages. Rocky doesn't want a girl in space with him and proceeds the rest of the episode to be as chauvinistic as humanly possible. Vena bites back every time and eventually gets put on the crew. They launch to the Ophiuchus system but must fuel up on the way. Someone back at headquarters is feeding the bad guys in space intel on Rocky, who intercept the Orbit Jet. But Vena is the only one with a RADAR and warns Rocky who, disables the other rocket ship. They then continue to fueling station RV5. But they took a hit and the engine room is venting air. Vena tries to help but gets sealed in the engine room. Rocky and Winky put on space helmets (not suits, just helmets) and have to blow-torch their way back in to the engine room. (I'm guessing because the ship's computer wouldn't voluntarily open a door into vacuum.) They save her and make it to RV5. This is my favorite episode of the day. TO BE CONTINUED.
Star of Fate- I don't know where to begin. Ahmed, an Egyptian (who doesn't look like it), holds an auction for a mysterious lead wrapped box. Lois and Clark are present to witness and the two bidders are Whitlock, a curio shop owner, and Barnak, who has his own plans. Barnak eventually wins the bid with $10,000. Clark thinks something's up and goes back to The Daily Planet. As Barnak leaves, Whitlock warns him there's a curse on the box and not to open it. Barnak agrees but his secretary opens it later and collapses. Whitlock steals the box, but an employee of his opens it and collapses. Both of them fight back and forth over it until Superman gets involved and takes the box to The Daily Planet. Lois doesn't believe in curses and opens it. She collapses, too. Clark opens it and catches a poison needle that he gives to a hospital to analyze. Inside the box is a huge gem and a clue to an antidote. There is a plant at the base of the Egyptian Pyramids that needs collecting. Superman goes to Egypt and actually lifts part of a Pyramid to get at the plant. Meanwhile Jimmy isn't satisfied with the outcome, so he threatens Barnak with calling the police. He pulls a gun on Jimmy, who gets stuffed in a sarcophagus. Superman saves him, gets Barnak, and everyone is saved at the hospital. There was also something about a dead Professor of archeology, but that was dropped, too. A so-so episode.
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger is an interesting show to watch today. Incredibly primitive and aimed at kids, but it takes itself just seriously enough I can enjoy it. The pre-Sputnik era is in full effect. The most successful rocket designs of the time were the German V-1 and V-2 from World War II. This was the template for the rocket program, which NASA will eventually inherit, and also the template for Sci-Fi. Either you have a flying saucer or a rocket ship, that's it for classic Sci-Fi. It was also assumed that rockets are reusable and would just land on their tails to be refueled. If you can get over this, Rocky Jones is watchable. The XV2 was also the precursor to a lot of tech that will show up in future TV series, like Star Trek. They have a front-facing view screen, automatic doors, artificial gravity, real time space communication, and I think the rocket is supposed to be atomic powered. One of the most interesting ideas in the pilot episode was the hull breach in the engine room. Rocky couldn't see it at first so he hit a button, a balloon popped out and was pulled right to the hole in the hull. (I think Mission to Mars did the same thing with Dr. Pepper.) They didn't have anything to repair it with so Rocky sealed the door, but a great idea. I guess duct tape hadn't been invented yet. For poor ship design I have no idea why the RADAR is not on the bridge. The whole navigation suite (with paper charts) are in a room between the bridge and main engineering. Vena has to keep running back and forth to get any work done; really inefficient, and almost got them killed.
Friday, August 26, 2011
The Clown Hated Semi-Private Perry the Wrecker Experiment
The brand new year of 1954 will finally have something new to watch other than The Adventures of Superman. But first January brings out five new episodes.
The Clown Who Cried- No clowns cried in the making of this episode. But they were sure hurt. The Daily Planet is holding a telethon for children to raise $500,000. Clark Kent has the idea of getting Rollo the clown from a local circus to perform. Rollo's ex-partner, Crackers, is hard up for money, and sees an opportunity. He knocks out Rollo and impersonates him, fooling Jimmy Olsen long enough to walk into a trap. Jimmy is held by the strong-man, Hercules. Superman saves him and gets to prove who is stronger by wrapping a barbel around the strongman. Even after meeting Crackers dressed like Rollo (he beat the real Rollo in the head, tied him up and stuffed him under a cot), Clark doesn't recognize him. Maybe he stopped relying on voice recognition since he was fooled in The Man with the Lead Mask. Later on the telethon has been hosted by Clark for 22 hours and they haven't raised half the money. They bring out a Chinese magician, Son Lo Tiu (who I'm pretty sure wasn't actually even Asian, but that might have been part of the act), and then sends in the clown, "Rollo". Crackers used to be a clown and the stunt work for the performance was pretty good. Even falling backwards off 20-foot high scaffolding. For some reason all the money being raised was going straight to the studio, which gives him the chance to pull a real gun and steal all the money. By this time Rollo has freed himself (which was supposed to be a painful experience but I laugh at clowns misfortunes) and tangles with Crackers on the streets. The cops who know one of the clowns has a gun back off and Superman enters the scene. I don't think I've ever seen a rooftop fight between clowns, but both fall off and Superman only saves one, letting Crackers die from the impact. I had hoped for a Joker reference, but it was to much to ask. This is an okay episode with a premise that doesn't quite work, and I hate clowns. Rest assured, when Superman shows up at the telethon all the money is raised
The Boy Who Hated Superman- This is an annoying episode. It involves a disillusioned teenager, Frankie (who looks to be in his 20s); the nephew of a gangster, Duke Dillon, recently arrested by Superman while trying to leave the country. The whole thing is based on an article Clark wrote and some evidence he has for the police (who never seem to do their job). On a side note, it must be common knowledge among the criminals that Superman only works in America, unless he helps Scotland Yard. Back to the story. A judge is trying to straighten Frankie's attitude out; he's too used to the gangster life. Clark thinks it would be a good idea for Frankie to live with him for a while. This is odd because Clark is already letting Jimmy room with him (since when?) and hopes Jimmy will be a good influence for Frankie. Frankie wants nothing to do with Clark, but then comes to the conclusion if he gets close enough he can find the evidence from the article and change things. To do this, and bust his uncle out, he needs to raise a bunch of money. He also stupidly tries to get Jimmy in on it. Jimmy agrees and starts overacting to a painful level, until Clark starts yelling at him to cut the crap. By the way, Jimmy has his own office, when did he start sharing with Clark? Anyway, Jimmy says he was pretending so he could figure out Frankie's motives. Eventually a double-cross is exposed and Frankie learns his uncle had no intention of leaving the country with his nephew. This causes an instant change of heart and Superman intervenes to stop the prison break. For the most part there isn't much continuity between episodes, but there is a nice reference in this one to Tony's diner from My Friend Superman.
Semi-Private Eye- It's Jimmy Olsen's turn to act the fool in this episode. Private Eye stories were a much bigger deal back in the '50s, but it just looks antiquated today. But, it did give Jack Larson some range to act by hamming it up way to much as a Private Eye. There is a real PI in the story, Homer Garrity, who is being targeted by the person his client sent him to find. An attempt on Homer's life fails when Superman saves his life from a falling brick chimney. Back to The Daily Planet offices Clark makes a slip during a conversation with Perry, and suddenly Lois and Jimmy have a flash of insight that only Clark must be Superman. The best part of this episode is Lois' plan to catch Clark in his deception. She hollows out a phone book and puts in 50 pounds of lead. Jimmy plants it on Clark's desk, with a lot of effort, than leaves the room. Clark comes in, and not paying any attention to his desk, pulls out his own phone book. He sees the one Jimmy planted and throws it in a corner, leaving the normal one in its place. Lois and Jimmy come in to ask Clark for the phone book. Clark then grabs the real phone book with ease and throws it at Lois, who reacts beautifully. They don't get their proof. Lois is so mad she hires Homer to follow Clark around, but she gets kidnapped by the people that tried to kill the PI earlier. Jimmy decides this is the time to pretend to be a PI and flubs it by getting captured, too. Superman is able to figure out what's going on and saves everyone. He displays a new power by being able to suck poison gas out of the air that was intended to kill Lois, Jimmy and Homer. Actually, if not for Jimmy this would have been a decent episode. I hate when main characters start acting stupidly to further a plot (see Rescue).
Perry White's Scoop- This one makes up for all the other one's I watched today. Perry White is angry that all the news his reporters are investigating always seems to end with Superman saving the day. Back in his day there was no Superman. So when someone wearing a diving gear is shot outside of the Daily Planet Building he takes the assignment himself to show all the younger reporters how to do it. There is a medical facility in the Daily Planet Building where the mystery diver is being treated. He utters the word "Quincy" and promptly dies (he did get shot three times). Perry writes a false front page story to lure the bad guys out. He even goes so far as to get his own diving suit, but Superman takes the suit instead. As soon as he goes outside someone shoots at Superman, who was hired by phone and knows nothing. All four in Perry's office brainstorm what "Quincy" and diving have to do with each other. Lois researches telephone exchanges but Clark hits on the Quincy Gym. Perry and Clark go to the gym. After surviving an encounter with more bad guys (there seems to be two sets of them), both reporters figure there's a water tank on the roof. Perry calls Jimmy to the gym just to have him climb into it. Jimmy finds a goldfish with a message wrapped around its tail. The message leads to a train yard and to car 763792. Little do they know all the bad guys have an apartment across the street watching them. Perry and Jimmy go to the train yard, find the car and discover it is filled with US mint paper. The bad guys are counterfeiters. Perry and Jimmy are caught, some double-crossing happens and all but two crooks are locked in a burning train car. Clark shows up in the nick of time and gets rid of Lois, giving him a chance to turn into Superman. He saves everyone and beats up the bad guys. Even Jimmy gets to knock one out. A really good episode that starts with a strange mystery.
Beware the Wrecker- An even better episode. This is the first time we have a criminal master-mind. He goes by the name Wrecker. A cross-country plane explodes. A steam ship leaving harbor explodes. A train coming into Metropolis explodes. Each time Perry White gets a phone call warning him (and demanding money), while in the background is a strange metal thump followed by a bell. There isn't any mention of casualty figures which could have been in the hundreds. A meeting is called in Perry's office with the owners of the three transportation companies. The fourth attempt is on another steam ship and a dollar amount is demanded. The calls can't be traced because the Wrecker is hacking the phone line with a portable handset. All three owners don't care about catching they guy, they just want their companies running, but Inspector Henderson convinces them to hold off paying anything out. Just before the deadline is up Superman goes into action at the pier (I don't know why he waited this long) and finds a model airplane, with explosives, flying overhead. Everyone puts their heads together and figure the Wrecker must be a guided missile expert. He threatens to launch twelve planes next unless he gets $100,000 dropped of at City Park. All the police stake out the park, but the Wrecker uses an underground passage and gets the money, even out from under Clark. On a whim he takes Lois and Jimmy to a carnival to see the High Striker game. They watch a guy play, use the mallet, whack the lever, ring the bell, and get a Superman sticker. Clark is badgered into playing and immediately breaks it. This is the sound they heard in the phone. Lois and Jimmy run off to find where the phones lines are and track it down to a shack near the carnival. They wait for someone to come home then barge in and capture the guy. Homemade wire going to the phone lines and lots of model aircraft are in evidence. They time him up and run out to find Clark. When they get back they guy is dead. The next day Superman tells Henderson to collect the three owners back in Perry's office. He uses a demonstration of the remote control airplane to scare the real Wrecker (the other guy was Emil Hatch an explosives and aerodynamics expert with a criminal history used to blackmail him), which is revealed to be Crane. He wanted the insurance money. The best episode of the day. Jimmy had his most entertaining moments trying to get Perry to let him in on the case with Lois and Clark. Any scene with Perry and Jimmy is usually a highlight of the show.
I meant to point this out last post: Superman showed off a new power in My Friend Superman. He flew in the supply closet he normal uses at the Daily Plant Building, but there's a typewriter on a desk in there. He Super-speed types out a three page news story. Jimmy meets him in the hall when Clark walks out of the closet, and nobody, including Perry White, thinks it's weird he didn't use his office to write the story.
The Clown Who Cried- No clowns cried in the making of this episode. But they were sure hurt. The Daily Planet is holding a telethon for children to raise $500,000. Clark Kent has the idea of getting Rollo the clown from a local circus to perform. Rollo's ex-partner, Crackers, is hard up for money, and sees an opportunity. He knocks out Rollo and impersonates him, fooling Jimmy Olsen long enough to walk into a trap. Jimmy is held by the strong-man, Hercules. Superman saves him and gets to prove who is stronger by wrapping a barbel around the strongman. Even after meeting Crackers dressed like Rollo (he beat the real Rollo in the head, tied him up and stuffed him under a cot), Clark doesn't recognize him. Maybe he stopped relying on voice recognition since he was fooled in The Man with the Lead Mask. Later on the telethon has been hosted by Clark for 22 hours and they haven't raised half the money. They bring out a Chinese magician, Son Lo Tiu (who I'm pretty sure wasn't actually even Asian, but that might have been part of the act), and then sends in the clown, "Rollo". Crackers used to be a clown and the stunt work for the performance was pretty good. Even falling backwards off 20-foot high scaffolding. For some reason all the money being raised was going straight to the studio, which gives him the chance to pull a real gun and steal all the money. By this time Rollo has freed himself (which was supposed to be a painful experience but I laugh at clowns misfortunes) and tangles with Crackers on the streets. The cops who know one of the clowns has a gun back off and Superman enters the scene. I don't think I've ever seen a rooftop fight between clowns, but both fall off and Superman only saves one, letting Crackers die from the impact. I had hoped for a Joker reference, but it was to much to ask. This is an okay episode with a premise that doesn't quite work, and I hate clowns. Rest assured, when Superman shows up at the telethon all the money is raised
The Boy Who Hated Superman- This is an annoying episode. It involves a disillusioned teenager, Frankie (who looks to be in his 20s); the nephew of a gangster, Duke Dillon, recently arrested by Superman while trying to leave the country. The whole thing is based on an article Clark wrote and some evidence he has for the police (who never seem to do their job). On a side note, it must be common knowledge among the criminals that Superman only works in America, unless he helps Scotland Yard. Back to the story. A judge is trying to straighten Frankie's attitude out; he's too used to the gangster life. Clark thinks it would be a good idea for Frankie to live with him for a while. This is odd because Clark is already letting Jimmy room with him (since when?) and hopes Jimmy will be a good influence for Frankie. Frankie wants nothing to do with Clark, but then comes to the conclusion if he gets close enough he can find the evidence from the article and change things. To do this, and bust his uncle out, he needs to raise a bunch of money. He also stupidly tries to get Jimmy in on it. Jimmy agrees and starts overacting to a painful level, until Clark starts yelling at him to cut the crap. By the way, Jimmy has his own office, when did he start sharing with Clark? Anyway, Jimmy says he was pretending so he could figure out Frankie's motives. Eventually a double-cross is exposed and Frankie learns his uncle had no intention of leaving the country with his nephew. This causes an instant change of heart and Superman intervenes to stop the prison break. For the most part there isn't much continuity between episodes, but there is a nice reference in this one to Tony's diner from My Friend Superman.
Semi-Private Eye- It's Jimmy Olsen's turn to act the fool in this episode. Private Eye stories were a much bigger deal back in the '50s, but it just looks antiquated today. But, it did give Jack Larson some range to act by hamming it up way to much as a Private Eye. There is a real PI in the story, Homer Garrity, who is being targeted by the person his client sent him to find. An attempt on Homer's life fails when Superman saves his life from a falling brick chimney. Back to The Daily Planet offices Clark makes a slip during a conversation with Perry, and suddenly Lois and Jimmy have a flash of insight that only Clark must be Superman. The best part of this episode is Lois' plan to catch Clark in his deception. She hollows out a phone book and puts in 50 pounds of lead. Jimmy plants it on Clark's desk, with a lot of effort, than leaves the room. Clark comes in, and not paying any attention to his desk, pulls out his own phone book. He sees the one Jimmy planted and throws it in a corner, leaving the normal one in its place. Lois and Jimmy come in to ask Clark for the phone book. Clark then grabs the real phone book with ease and throws it at Lois, who reacts beautifully. They don't get their proof. Lois is so mad she hires Homer to follow Clark around, but she gets kidnapped by the people that tried to kill the PI earlier. Jimmy decides this is the time to pretend to be a PI and flubs it by getting captured, too. Superman is able to figure out what's going on and saves everyone. He displays a new power by being able to suck poison gas out of the air that was intended to kill Lois, Jimmy and Homer. Actually, if not for Jimmy this would have been a decent episode. I hate when main characters start acting stupidly to further a plot (see Rescue).
Perry White's Scoop- This one makes up for all the other one's I watched today. Perry White is angry that all the news his reporters are investigating always seems to end with Superman saving the day. Back in his day there was no Superman. So when someone wearing a diving gear is shot outside of the Daily Planet Building he takes the assignment himself to show all the younger reporters how to do it. There is a medical facility in the Daily Planet Building where the mystery diver is being treated. He utters the word "Quincy" and promptly dies (he did get shot three times). Perry writes a false front page story to lure the bad guys out. He even goes so far as to get his own diving suit, but Superman takes the suit instead. As soon as he goes outside someone shoots at Superman, who was hired by phone and knows nothing. All four in Perry's office brainstorm what "Quincy" and diving have to do with each other. Lois researches telephone exchanges but Clark hits on the Quincy Gym. Perry and Clark go to the gym. After surviving an encounter with more bad guys (there seems to be two sets of them), both reporters figure there's a water tank on the roof. Perry calls Jimmy to the gym just to have him climb into it. Jimmy finds a goldfish with a message wrapped around its tail. The message leads to a train yard and to car 763792. Little do they know all the bad guys have an apartment across the street watching them. Perry and Jimmy go to the train yard, find the car and discover it is filled with US mint paper. The bad guys are counterfeiters. Perry and Jimmy are caught, some double-crossing happens and all but two crooks are locked in a burning train car. Clark shows up in the nick of time and gets rid of Lois, giving him a chance to turn into Superman. He saves everyone and beats up the bad guys. Even Jimmy gets to knock one out. A really good episode that starts with a strange mystery.
Beware the Wrecker- An even better episode. This is the first time we have a criminal master-mind. He goes by the name Wrecker. A cross-country plane explodes. A steam ship leaving harbor explodes. A train coming into Metropolis explodes. Each time Perry White gets a phone call warning him (and demanding money), while in the background is a strange metal thump followed by a bell. There isn't any mention of casualty figures which could have been in the hundreds. A meeting is called in Perry's office with the owners of the three transportation companies. The fourth attempt is on another steam ship and a dollar amount is demanded. The calls can't be traced because the Wrecker is hacking the phone line with a portable handset. All three owners don't care about catching they guy, they just want their companies running, but Inspector Henderson convinces them to hold off paying anything out. Just before the deadline is up Superman goes into action at the pier (I don't know why he waited this long) and finds a model airplane, with explosives, flying overhead. Everyone puts their heads together and figure the Wrecker must be a guided missile expert. He threatens to launch twelve planes next unless he gets $100,000 dropped of at City Park. All the police stake out the park, but the Wrecker uses an underground passage and gets the money, even out from under Clark. On a whim he takes Lois and Jimmy to a carnival to see the High Striker game. They watch a guy play, use the mallet, whack the lever, ring the bell, and get a Superman sticker. Clark is badgered into playing and immediately breaks it. This is the sound they heard in the phone. Lois and Jimmy run off to find where the phones lines are and track it down to a shack near the carnival. They wait for someone to come home then barge in and capture the guy. Homemade wire going to the phone lines and lots of model aircraft are in evidence. They time him up and run out to find Clark. When they get back they guy is dead. The next day Superman tells Henderson to collect the three owners back in Perry's office. He uses a demonstration of the remote control airplane to scare the real Wrecker (the other guy was Emil Hatch an explosives and aerodynamics expert with a criminal history used to blackmail him), which is revealed to be Crane. He wanted the insurance money. The best episode of the day. Jimmy had his most entertaining moments trying to get Perry to let him in on the case with Lois and Clark. Any scene with Perry and Jimmy is usually a highlight of the show.
I meant to point this out last post: Superman showed off a new power in My Friend Superman. He flew in the supply closet he normal uses at the Daily Plant Building, but there's a typewriter on a desk in there. He Super-speed types out a three page news story. Jimmy meets him in the hall when Clark walks out of the closet, and nobody, including Perry White, thinks it's weird he didn't use his office to write the story.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
The Panic Machine Devil Friend Experiment
The final month of 1953 also sees four new episodes of The Adventures of Superman. Their show must have been given a slightly better budget because the flying effects are "improved". There are also different exterior shots of the Daily Planet Building, which now show better angles that make it a part of Metropolis. Their editors still love the shot of Clark running into a aupply closet, then jumping out the window as Superman. That was shown in the first episode, and it is still in use as of December, 1953.
Panic in the Sky- Despite the science in the being almost nonsensical it manages to be a highly recommended episode. About the only thing I can say they got right is there really are things called asteroids and sometimes they aim at Earth. Somehow scientists have been tracking a 5-mile diameter asteroid (once again really good for early '50s technology) past Venus, then Mars and finally curving its trajectory towards Earth. Superman has been helping the local observatory when it is learned it will slam into Metropolis. Professor Roberts warns him they don't know what it is made out of. It could have disasterous physical effects on Superman if he leaves the Earth. I guess they don't realize he's fine in space as long as he has a yellow star nearby. In a great scene Superman takes off for space and slams headlong into the asteroid. Superman falls to Earth dazed and confused, while the asteroid takes up a permanent orbit which causes it to eclipse the sun once a day. Now that there is a new gravitational body orbitting Earth it begins to wreak havoc on weather patterns and fault lines, causing tidal waves and earthquakes. Even Earth's rotation is slowly being affected. All this while Superman becomes Clark Kent again and loses his memory. We now see that he has three Supersuits (he must have learned how to make more Kryptonian fabric) but Clark no longer remembers who he really is. After many failed attempts by Perry White to yell at Clark, he goes back to his apartment and puts a Supersuit on. He suddenly remembers something about the observator and heads there. Roberts gives him a nuclear device which Superman flies to the asteroid, lands on it, detonates, then comes home with all his memories back. A couple things to point out. Professor Roberts warns Superman there might be Kryptonite on the asteroid, which means that information has now been leaked. This is the first time Superman flies into space, even though his cape still flaps about in vacuum. We never learn what the asteroid was made out of, but Superman was holding the bomb when it went off and the explosion cured him, so he is obviously immune to nuclear blasts. Clark at one point is lying in bed without his glasses on when Perry, Lois and Jimmy come barging into his bedroom. They don't notice he looks like Superman at all. Plus, an amnesiac Clark takes off his suit with the Supersuit underneath, next to Jimmy but he never notices. The special effects people do a pretty good job of showing the asteroid eclipsing the moon, even going so far as to put a yellow filter on the scene instead of it being just black & white. Good future-proofing, since most TV sets at the time were black & white, it would only be noticed in syndication.
The Machine That Could Plot Crimes- The fourth wall should be sparingly violated, and in the case of The Adventures of Superman only when Clark Kent winks at the audience. There have been a couple times this season where characters talk to the themselves straight at the audience for the sake of humor. It happened in this one, and it's painful to watch. But don't let that get you down, this is another great story. We have been seeing more Sci-Fi oriented episodes and this one is about a super-computer, named Mr. Kelso. Invented by Professor Quinn, not a mad scientist but a naive genius type, he shows off his computer to a has-been criminal, McCoy, who learns that Mr. Kelso can calculate complex patterns to establish the perfect crime. That being bank robbery, something that hasn't happened in Metropolis for at least a year, thanks to Superman. McCoy, and his partners Nosey and Pinky, go about robbing all the banks and getting the attention of Superman. But when Superman tries to intervene he finds laundry in bags, not money. All part of Mr. Kelso's plan. With Superman somewhat bamboozled, McCoy feeds all the information on him to Mr. Kelso, who comes up with the perfect crime to escape the country with wads of cash. Once again criminals blackmail Superman into "helping" by threatening to reveal his identity. But because they trusted Mr. Kelso it never occured them it would set them up, and eventually they get nabbed for driving the wrong way on a one way street. I've heard of people doing this with current navigation computers in cars. So the writer, Jackson Gillis, predicted a future man-machine interface error over 50 years ago. This is a great episode, even with the goofy Professor Quinn, because they actually explain many of the variables to a successful bank robbery (of the '50s). Mr. Kelso even prints out a sheet of time tables for all the traffic lights in Metropolis, as well as police patrol patterns. On the final part of he mission a thug puts dynamite on Mr. Kelso do destroy any evidence, but Superman stops it. While holding the dynamite, the thug shoots at pointbank range without thinking what Superman was holding. It appears that Mr. Kelso can make its own decisions about what to share and what to "lie" about, almost classifying it as AI. In the final moments Quinn asks the computer who Superman is and it outputs "Wouldn't you like to know." So even a computer has figured it out, while most criminals know he has an alter-ego. Superman is seriously getting sloppy. My favorite of the day.
Jungle Devil- I can't really give this episode high marks. Like Drums of Death did nothing good for Haiti, this one does nothing good for any South American jungle. I am only assuming it is set there because the map of Zinaya at The Daily Planet doesn't really show where in the world it is, but the natives are interpreted by a Hispanic guide. I guess it saves the writers from having to be realistic. They did say the area is about 10,000 square miles. Well, an expedition (to find a miracle medicine plant) is captured by natives, when the one woman on the team steals a diamond from the right eye of their god-statue and promptly loses it in quicksand. Lois and Clark (and Jimmy, too, who stowed away on their flight) are sent by Perry White to Zinaya to look for them. Really? Reporters doing search and rescue? Anyway, Clark manages to sneak off the flight and finds the missing expedition, just when the aircraft blows an engine. Superman flies back into the aircraft, changes into Clark again, and helps pilot Bill land in a clearing. While Bill repairs the engines, the three set off in the direction of the natives and are immediately captured. It is agreed that only one person needs to die and the rest can go, so Clark rigs a game to make sure he gets executed. The threat of death to all has been the feared Jungle Devil, which will be the method of execution. Clark finds a moment to become Superman and fights a large ape (escaped from a circus) of some sort, the Jungle Devil. Superman choke slams the monkey and it runs off. The natives don't care who Clark/Superman is, he's now considered a great warrior and all are spared. Clark even discovers a chunk of charcoal, and using his super-strength, crushes it into a perfectly cut diamond. It fits the statue and all is forgiven. The Lois, Clark and Jimmy scenes are fine, but the ignorant use of jungle natives ranks this really low. There is an odd moment when Clark first meets the locals. He holds out his hand like a "movie western" Native American, but instead says "amigo" instead of "how". Bad writing. I can't not recommend this episode enough.
My Friend Superman- A fairly harmless episode. Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been working on stories about extortion in Metropolis. Little do they realize a diner next to the Daily Planet Building is paying protection to a group of gangsters. Especially since Clark and Jimmy frequent it, mostly I think because Jimmy is taken by the waitress, Elaine. But the owner, Tony, is adamant he's a personal friend of Superman and even shows off a rifle with a bent barrel he keeps on a wall, as proof. The gangsters begin to worry and when they read Clark's report in the paper, they devise a plan to steal signed affidavits from store owners who are pissed. But first they need to get rid of Superman. With news that Lois is on assignment and out of touch for a few days they plant false news with Tony that she'll be kidnapped at a certain place and time. Tony reports this to Superman and the plan almost works until the gangster show back up at the diner and start talking about their plans. Tony has a recording device set up that catches them in the lie, and passes it on to Clark. In the middle of this deception Lois shows up at the diner, Superman right behind and they nab all three bad guys, but not before everyone in the joint throws pies, glasses and plates at them; eventually knocking them out. Not much happens but you feel for the Tony as he goes on about Superman, which amuses Clark to no end. No one eating at the diner actually believes Tony, until the end when Superman plays along. I like that all his food has to be either Super-hamburger or Super-soup. You also get a little dance number in the middle of the action to pass the time.
Panic in the Sky- Despite the science in the being almost nonsensical it manages to be a highly recommended episode. About the only thing I can say they got right is there really are things called asteroids and sometimes they aim at Earth. Somehow scientists have been tracking a 5-mile diameter asteroid (once again really good for early '50s technology) past Venus, then Mars and finally curving its trajectory towards Earth. Superman has been helping the local observatory when it is learned it will slam into Metropolis. Professor Roberts warns him they don't know what it is made out of. It could have disasterous physical effects on Superman if he leaves the Earth. I guess they don't realize he's fine in space as long as he has a yellow star nearby. In a great scene Superman takes off for space and slams headlong into the asteroid. Superman falls to Earth dazed and confused, while the asteroid takes up a permanent orbit which causes it to eclipse the sun once a day. Now that there is a new gravitational body orbitting Earth it begins to wreak havoc on weather patterns and fault lines, causing tidal waves and earthquakes. Even Earth's rotation is slowly being affected. All this while Superman becomes Clark Kent again and loses his memory. We now see that he has three Supersuits (he must have learned how to make more Kryptonian fabric) but Clark no longer remembers who he really is. After many failed attempts by Perry White to yell at Clark, he goes back to his apartment and puts a Supersuit on. He suddenly remembers something about the observator and heads there. Roberts gives him a nuclear device which Superman flies to the asteroid, lands on it, detonates, then comes home with all his memories back. A couple things to point out. Professor Roberts warns Superman there might be Kryptonite on the asteroid, which means that information has now been leaked. This is the first time Superman flies into space, even though his cape still flaps about in vacuum. We never learn what the asteroid was made out of, but Superman was holding the bomb when it went off and the explosion cured him, so he is obviously immune to nuclear blasts. Clark at one point is lying in bed without his glasses on when Perry, Lois and Jimmy come barging into his bedroom. They don't notice he looks like Superman at all. Plus, an amnesiac Clark takes off his suit with the Supersuit underneath, next to Jimmy but he never notices. The special effects people do a pretty good job of showing the asteroid eclipsing the moon, even going so far as to put a yellow filter on the scene instead of it being just black & white. Good future-proofing, since most TV sets at the time were black & white, it would only be noticed in syndication.
The Machine That Could Plot Crimes- The fourth wall should be sparingly violated, and in the case of The Adventures of Superman only when Clark Kent winks at the audience. There have been a couple times this season where characters talk to the themselves straight at the audience for the sake of humor. It happened in this one, and it's painful to watch. But don't let that get you down, this is another great story. We have been seeing more Sci-Fi oriented episodes and this one is about a super-computer, named Mr. Kelso. Invented by Professor Quinn, not a mad scientist but a naive genius type, he shows off his computer to a has-been criminal, McCoy, who learns that Mr. Kelso can calculate complex patterns to establish the perfect crime. That being bank robbery, something that hasn't happened in Metropolis for at least a year, thanks to Superman. McCoy, and his partners Nosey and Pinky, go about robbing all the banks and getting the attention of Superman. But when Superman tries to intervene he finds laundry in bags, not money. All part of Mr. Kelso's plan. With Superman somewhat bamboozled, McCoy feeds all the information on him to Mr. Kelso, who comes up with the perfect crime to escape the country with wads of cash. Once again criminals blackmail Superman into "helping" by threatening to reveal his identity. But because they trusted Mr. Kelso it never occured them it would set them up, and eventually they get nabbed for driving the wrong way on a one way street. I've heard of people doing this with current navigation computers in cars. So the writer, Jackson Gillis, predicted a future man-machine interface error over 50 years ago. This is a great episode, even with the goofy Professor Quinn, because they actually explain many of the variables to a successful bank robbery (of the '50s). Mr. Kelso even prints out a sheet of time tables for all the traffic lights in Metropolis, as well as police patrol patterns. On the final part of he mission a thug puts dynamite on Mr. Kelso do destroy any evidence, but Superman stops it. While holding the dynamite, the thug shoots at pointbank range without thinking what Superman was holding. It appears that Mr. Kelso can make its own decisions about what to share and what to "lie" about, almost classifying it as AI. In the final moments Quinn asks the computer who Superman is and it outputs "Wouldn't you like to know." So even a computer has figured it out, while most criminals know he has an alter-ego. Superman is seriously getting sloppy. My favorite of the day.
Jungle Devil- I can't really give this episode high marks. Like Drums of Death did nothing good for Haiti, this one does nothing good for any South American jungle. I am only assuming it is set there because the map of Zinaya at The Daily Planet doesn't really show where in the world it is, but the natives are interpreted by a Hispanic guide. I guess it saves the writers from having to be realistic. They did say the area is about 10,000 square miles. Well, an expedition (to find a miracle medicine plant) is captured by natives, when the one woman on the team steals a diamond from the right eye of their god-statue and promptly loses it in quicksand. Lois and Clark (and Jimmy, too, who stowed away on their flight) are sent by Perry White to Zinaya to look for them. Really? Reporters doing search and rescue? Anyway, Clark manages to sneak off the flight and finds the missing expedition, just when the aircraft blows an engine. Superman flies back into the aircraft, changes into Clark again, and helps pilot Bill land in a clearing. While Bill repairs the engines, the three set off in the direction of the natives and are immediately captured. It is agreed that only one person needs to die and the rest can go, so Clark rigs a game to make sure he gets executed. The threat of death to all has been the feared Jungle Devil, which will be the method of execution. Clark finds a moment to become Superman and fights a large ape (escaped from a circus) of some sort, the Jungle Devil. Superman choke slams the monkey and it runs off. The natives don't care who Clark/Superman is, he's now considered a great warrior and all are spared. Clark even discovers a chunk of charcoal, and using his super-strength, crushes it into a perfectly cut diamond. It fits the statue and all is forgiven. The Lois, Clark and Jimmy scenes are fine, but the ignorant use of jungle natives ranks this really low. There is an odd moment when Clark first meets the locals. He holds out his hand like a "movie western" Native American, but instead says "amigo" instead of "how". Bad writing. I can't not recommend this episode enough.
My Friend Superman- A fairly harmless episode. Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been working on stories about extortion in Metropolis. Little do they realize a diner next to the Daily Planet Building is paying protection to a group of gangsters. Especially since Clark and Jimmy frequent it, mostly I think because Jimmy is taken by the waitress, Elaine. But the owner, Tony, is adamant he's a personal friend of Superman and even shows off a rifle with a bent barrel he keeps on a wall, as proof. The gangsters begin to worry and when they read Clark's report in the paper, they devise a plan to steal signed affidavits from store owners who are pissed. But first they need to get rid of Superman. With news that Lois is on assignment and out of touch for a few days they plant false news with Tony that she'll be kidnapped at a certain place and time. Tony reports this to Superman and the plan almost works until the gangster show back up at the diner and start talking about their plans. Tony has a recording device set up that catches them in the lie, and passes it on to Clark. In the middle of this deception Lois shows up at the diner, Superman right behind and they nab all three bad guys, but not before everyone in the joint throws pies, glasses and plates at them; eventually knocking them out. Not much happens but you feel for the Tony as he goes on about Superman, which amuses Clark to no end. No one eating at the diner actually believes Tony, until the end when Superman plays along. I like that all his food has to be either Super-hamburger or Super-soup. You also get a little dance number in the middle of the action to pass the time.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Ghost Dog Face and the Lead Mask Experiment
Four new episodes of The Adventures of Superman aired in November of 1953. The show is hitting its stride and a lot of good, quirky episodes are coming out. If you are British, though, you'll want to steer clear of A Ghost for Scotland Yard. It isn't flattering.
A Ghost for Scotland Yard- Brockhurst, An insane magician from London, fakes his own death five years before as part of a trick to get revenge on the people that hate him. This appears to be only two: Arthur McCready, owner of the theater Brockhurst used to perform in (and close friend of Perry White), and Inspector Farrington from Scotland Yard. Why McCready continued to employ someone he didn't like (or continue to keep a giant picture of him over the mantle in his living room) is beyond me, but the feeling must have been mutual because Brockhurst claimed he would return in exactly five years as a ghost to exact revenge. Clark and Jimmy get caught up in the hysteria and try to convince everyone that there are no such things as ghosts. Eventauly Superman steps in to reveal everything. Londoners don't come off very well in this episode, as they appear to be a superstitious lot. A phone call from the ghost seems to put everyone on edge, but Jimmy figures out what is really going on and Superman flies around collecting clues. It's a mediocre episode filled with accents that seem a little forced. It's interesting that in England nobody believes in Superman, but you can get his comic book at the local news stand. Is it weird that there is a Superman comic in the Superman universe?
The Dog Who Knew Superman- Corky is dog. This dog is owned by Joyce, the daughter of the gangster who runs all the bookies in Metropolis. Her husband, Hank, hates the dog, and throws him down a well. The only smart thing Hank has ever done is marry Joyce, because her father died and passed the organization to him. Clark witnesses Corky's predicament, becomes Superman and saves him. He even dives straight at the ground to tunnel into the well. With Corky safe Joyce and Hank drag him back to the car, but Corky picks up a glove Clark lost and gets Superman's scent. Back home Hank purposfully loses the dog again before figuring that Corky can lead him to the real identity of Superman. Meanwhile Corky ends up in Clark's office (following the scent trail). Some missed communications and screwy high-jinks puts Corky in a pound, a kidnapped Jimmy at Hank's place and Clark wandering the streets. Hank uses a lie-detector on Jimmy (why does he have one in his apartment?) who accidentally reveals the kennel Corky is in. Hank sends his underling, Louie, to pick him up, but Louie doesn't think it's right to know Superman's identity and leaves Corky with a dogcatcher, sure to put him to death. Jimmy gets free, Superman saves Corky, Lois calls the police and Hank does a bunch of time for kidnapping. Corky goes back to Joyce and no one thinks to use him to track Superman again. A fun story that would have been dumb except for the overacting husband and wife team of Joyce and Hank. She berates him something aweful and he's an idoit. Surprisingly entertaining. Jimmy has a great time lieing to the lie-detector and we learn he lives in the North Side. The best episode of the bunch.
The Face and the Voice- There's an ugly gangster in Metropolis that gets some plastic surgery. Turns out he looks just like Superman. He doesn't sound like him though, so Scratchy goes to Perry White's office and steals a record of a Superman speech, dated July 4th. Jimmy sees the guy but can't give a description. Neither can the story explain why Scratches knew where to find the record. Some time passes for Boulder and his voice coach, when he finally learns to sound like Superman. Then all the rival papers to The Daily Planet declare Superman is robbing people. The fake Superman even confronts Perry in his office and threatens the whole city to stay away from him. The cops believe Superman has lost his mind. They're afraid of him. Clark, for some reason, thinks he might by sleep-walking as Superman, but finally comes to his senses. When Jimmy is captured (again) chasing a lead, the real Superman goes to the police to get them to see the light. When that actually works Superman stops a gold heist and saves Jimmy. George Reeves had to play both real and fake Supeman and does a fantastic job, in an overacting dim-witted thug way. A fun episode. This is the first time he uses his Super-breath to blow out a fire.
The Man in the Lead Mask- Some of the criminals in this show are dumb. They do stupid things and get caught. I chalk it up to bad writing. Most of this episode I thought the criminals were just being stupid putting a lead mask on so Superman can't see who they are (or anyone else for that matter). But all Superman needs to do is beat one of them up and arrest him any way. The mask doesn't really help. Speaking of arresting, it appears all members of The Daily Planet are authorized to arrest people. I suppose to make it easier on the police. The actual point of the episode is about America's most wanted, Marty Mitchell, wanted dead or alive for $20,000. Clark spots him in a diner, but the face is wrong. After "stealing" his finger prints they turn out not to match police records either. Jimmy arrests him anyway, but the police can't hold him due to the finger prints not matching. Clark swears his voice and mannerisms are the same, though. The last episode was about plastic surgery and voice training, so these themes carry over well. Marty has a group of gangsters on the most wanted list who want their faces and finger prints changed too. They are given each a lead mask and told to rob $50,000 for the procedure. Superman intervenes but dresses up as one (including the lead mask) and spoils all their plans. It is finally revealed that there was never any surgery, it as all a scam for Marty to get a bunch of money from dumb criminals. A smart ending to an odd episode. Part way through Lois points out the use of a lead mask would indicate common knowledge of Superman's X-ray vision weakness. When did this get out? Sometime prior to The Big Squeeze?
A Ghost for Scotland Yard- Brockhurst, An insane magician from London, fakes his own death five years before as part of a trick to get revenge on the people that hate him. This appears to be only two: Arthur McCready, owner of the theater Brockhurst used to perform in (and close friend of Perry White), and Inspector Farrington from Scotland Yard. Why McCready continued to employ someone he didn't like (or continue to keep a giant picture of him over the mantle in his living room) is beyond me, but the feeling must have been mutual because Brockhurst claimed he would return in exactly five years as a ghost to exact revenge. Clark and Jimmy get caught up in the hysteria and try to convince everyone that there are no such things as ghosts. Eventauly Superman steps in to reveal everything. Londoners don't come off very well in this episode, as they appear to be a superstitious lot. A phone call from the ghost seems to put everyone on edge, but Jimmy figures out what is really going on and Superman flies around collecting clues. It's a mediocre episode filled with accents that seem a little forced. It's interesting that in England nobody believes in Superman, but you can get his comic book at the local news stand. Is it weird that there is a Superman comic in the Superman universe?
The Dog Who Knew Superman- Corky is dog. This dog is owned by Joyce, the daughter of the gangster who runs all the bookies in Metropolis. Her husband, Hank, hates the dog, and throws him down a well. The only smart thing Hank has ever done is marry Joyce, because her father died and passed the organization to him. Clark witnesses Corky's predicament, becomes Superman and saves him. He even dives straight at the ground to tunnel into the well. With Corky safe Joyce and Hank drag him back to the car, but Corky picks up a glove Clark lost and gets Superman's scent. Back home Hank purposfully loses the dog again before figuring that Corky can lead him to the real identity of Superman. Meanwhile Corky ends up in Clark's office (following the scent trail). Some missed communications and screwy high-jinks puts Corky in a pound, a kidnapped Jimmy at Hank's place and Clark wandering the streets. Hank uses a lie-detector on Jimmy (why does he have one in his apartment?) who accidentally reveals the kennel Corky is in. Hank sends his underling, Louie, to pick him up, but Louie doesn't think it's right to know Superman's identity and leaves Corky with a dogcatcher, sure to put him to death. Jimmy gets free, Superman saves Corky, Lois calls the police and Hank does a bunch of time for kidnapping. Corky goes back to Joyce and no one thinks to use him to track Superman again. A fun story that would have been dumb except for the overacting husband and wife team of Joyce and Hank. She berates him something aweful and he's an idoit. Surprisingly entertaining. Jimmy has a great time lieing to the lie-detector and we learn he lives in the North Side. The best episode of the bunch.
The Face and the Voice- There's an ugly gangster in Metropolis that gets some plastic surgery. Turns out he looks just like Superman. He doesn't sound like him though, so Scratchy goes to Perry White's office and steals a record of a Superman speech, dated July 4th. Jimmy sees the guy but can't give a description. Neither can the story explain why Scratches knew where to find the record. Some time passes for Boulder and his voice coach, when he finally learns to sound like Superman. Then all the rival papers to The Daily Planet declare Superman is robbing people. The fake Superman even confronts Perry in his office and threatens the whole city to stay away from him. The cops believe Superman has lost his mind. They're afraid of him. Clark, for some reason, thinks he might by sleep-walking as Superman, but finally comes to his senses. When Jimmy is captured (again) chasing a lead, the real Superman goes to the police to get them to see the light. When that actually works Superman stops a gold heist and saves Jimmy. George Reeves had to play both real and fake Supeman and does a fantastic job, in an overacting dim-witted thug way. A fun episode. This is the first time he uses his Super-breath to blow out a fire.
The Man in the Lead Mask- Some of the criminals in this show are dumb. They do stupid things and get caught. I chalk it up to bad writing. Most of this episode I thought the criminals were just being stupid putting a lead mask on so Superman can't see who they are (or anyone else for that matter). But all Superman needs to do is beat one of them up and arrest him any way. The mask doesn't really help. Speaking of arresting, it appears all members of The Daily Planet are authorized to arrest people. I suppose to make it easier on the police. The actual point of the episode is about America's most wanted, Marty Mitchell, wanted dead or alive for $20,000. Clark spots him in a diner, but the face is wrong. After "stealing" his finger prints they turn out not to match police records either. Jimmy arrests him anyway, but the police can't hold him due to the finger prints not matching. Clark swears his voice and mannerisms are the same, though. The last episode was about plastic surgery and voice training, so these themes carry over well. Marty has a group of gangsters on the most wanted list who want their faces and finger prints changed too. They are given each a lead mask and told to rob $50,000 for the procedure. Superman intervenes but dresses up as one (including the lead mask) and spoils all their plans. It is finally revealed that there was never any surgery, it as all a scam for Marty to get a bunch of money from dumb criminals. A smart ending to an odd episode. Part way through Lois points out the use of a lead mask would indicate common knowledge of Superman's X-ray vision weakness. When did this get out? Sometime prior to The Big Squeeze?
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Man Jet Dark Defeat Superman Experiment
There were five new episodes of The Adventures of Superman on TV the month of October, 1953. As I've said before there really aren't any good records or recordings of other contemporary shows, so for the time being this show will have to represent them all.
The Man Who Could Read Minds- Superman has to stop another criminal gang. Their plan is to pose as a mind-reading act at the Tip Top Cafe. During the act one of them "borrows" the house key of a rich "mark" attending and makes a wax impression. Then the one dubbed by the media, The Phantom Burglar, drives to the victim's house while cutting a new key from the mold. In, out and done by the time victim is home. This has gone on long enough that The Daily Planet started writing headlines that make the police look incompetent. Inspector Henderson invites all the main characters out into the residential area to show them the police are doing everything possible. Jimmy convinces Lois they can catch the burglars on their own and the two run off. They actually catch the burglars in the act but Jimmy gets beat up and shot at. Laterm Lois dresses up Jimmy to look South American so he can use his Spanish 101 classes and bait a trap. This, of course, backfires and Superman saves the day. At least Jimmy can put up a good fight. The cool Superman moment involves a car chase. Jimmy is driving Lois' car when the bad guys shoot out the tire. He almost goes off a cliff but Superman grabs the car from behind and pulls them off the ledge. There's a weird moment when the picture freezes on Perry White drive Clark Kent after Jimmy and Lois. You can still hear distant action but the image is obviously frozen because someone decided to stretch the scene out and didn't know what to do.
Jet Ace- Another one of Perry White's relatives is in the spotlight. Nephew Chris White is a civilian test pilot for the Air Force, out on a secret test flight in an F-86D Sabre Dog. Something goes wrong during an ill advised dive and he loses oxygen when his controls lock up. Because Perry invited all the main characters to the Air Force Base, Clark is in the perfect position to sneak out, become Superman and save Chris. This is just the excuse Perry needs to force Chris to take a vacation in his hunting lodge. A rival news paper reporter, Steve Martin of The Blade, tries to out-scoop everyone, but gets kicked out by the military. Chris demands to have a rifle if he is to vacation. Later at the hunting lodge Chris is attacked by two thugs who demand to have the report he wrote about his flight. He is taken to a masked man who beats him up for info. Perry gets word that Chris has vanished, fears the worst and sends Clark and Jimmy to check out things. Eventually Chris is taken back to the lodge when the masked man is revealed to be the Martin, the reporter. He torches the lodge to kill Chris, but Superman once again saves him in time. Chris had actually put the report in the barrel of his hunting rifle which was recovered from the scene. Everyone sets a trap for Martin, and Clark watches while Chris beats him unconscious. A descent episode with a convoluted plot to capture and nearly murder Chris, just so Martin can get a story. The Blade must be a terrible paper. Great moments for Superman include saving the jet and interrogating the two thugs who kidnapped Chris.
Shot in the Dark- A little kid using an infrared flash bulb happens to catch a couple photos of Clark Kent changing in to Superman (or the other way around), down the alley next to the Daily Planet. Once again Clark hasn't been as cleaver as he thought and someone just found him out... again... in that alley. That kid also took another picture of Burt Burnside, a con-man, who starts threatening the family. The addle-brained mom finds Clark, accuses him of being Superman in front of Jimmy Olsen and asks for help. The entire episode is enjoyable to watch because Clark has to tap-dance his way around every piece of evidence linking him to Superman, all while either Jimmy or Lois is with him. By the end he captures the bad guys and worms his way out of further scrutiny. This episode introduces Superman's heat vision, which he combines with X-Ray vision to find things behind walls and destroy them (all while doing no damage to his glasses or any walls). But the best bit is when Burt, who realizes Clark is Superman, pulls a pistol out of an ankle holster and shoots Clark point blank. When Jimmy demands to know how he's still alive, Clark pulls a silver dollar out of his pocket, mashes it a little and says the bullet bounced off. All the main characters are ignorant of Clark once again. Background details we learn about Metropolis: they have a subway system with a station at 34th Street and at least two commuter cars named "Valley Express" and "Valley Local". Superman once again proves his immunity to electricity when he breaks the third rail to stop a runaway Local train from hitting the Express.
The Defeat of Superman- Over a year ago crime lord Happy King ran off to Europe just when Superman was about to catch him. Unlike the first season, Superman is known world-wide now and Happy King is back in Metropolis with a European scientist, Professor Meldini. This Professor has an interesting theory. He thinks Superman is not from Earth, and suspects he's from Krypton. How did anybody on Earth know about Krypton in 1953? This is still 4 years before Sputnik. Oh wait, this is Science Fiction. Meldini somehow got a hold of meteor from Krypton and made a bullet out of it, calling it Kryptonite. Superman gets caught in a trap and is shot with it, stinging him. With conclusive proof, Meldini explains that Kryptonite doesn't hurt Superman's people on their home planet, only on Earth, and that it is harmless to humans. He devises a way to create artificial Kryptonite and makes a block of it the size of a stick of butter, enough to kill Superman before he can touch it. Another trap is set, using Lois and Jimmy who stuck their noses in when they shouldn't have, and all three are stuck in a basement with the Kryptonite. It's fast acting as Superman loses his powers then falls unconscious. Eventually Superman comes around just long enough to suggest encasing it in a lead pipe, which Jimmy finds as part of the plumbing. Superman regains all his strength and takes the pipe (with the Kryptonite) and throws it as hard as he can out to sea. King and his henchmen, driving away, see an object shoot past them in the sky, and they drive off a cliff not paying any attention to the road. Great episode again, having to do with bad guys figuring out Superman. This time they had knowledge Superman didn't even have. King also makes the leap of logic that Lois is practically Superman's girl. Now Lois and Jimmy have to keep Kryptonite a secret. This is the best episode of October.
Superman in Exile- Project X is a nuclear reactor that outputs Gamma Radiation. It runs out of control and Superman removes the control rods before Metropolis has to be evacuated. He is however dosed with too much radiation, even glowing in the dark. He chooses to exile himself on Mt. Blue Peak, which overlooks all of Metropolis, until a possible cure can be devised. Criminals realize they're free to do what they want again, and one in particular kidnaps Lois Lane, knowing Superman won't come close if she is threatened with radiation poisoning. They plan to steal an airplane with rare jewels on it. A sudden thunderstorm inspires Superman to fly into it. After a lightning strike cleans him of radiation (how, I don't know), he locates the aircraft with Lois on it, forces it to land and the police arrive to arrest everyone. Jimmy and Lois noticed throughout the episode that Clark wasn't around and began to suspect he's Superman. They are now looking for any excuse to jump to that conclusion, but in the end Clark changes her mind, again. A decent episode. Superman's glowing body is used to good effect whenever he moves into the darkness. A glowing Superman sitting on a mountain, staring at Metropolis is a powerful image.
Since Season 2 started they have been working more and more flying effects into the scenes. They are now more elaborate, and one even shows him flying past buildings, across hills and up into the sky for longer than any other episode. At least once I saw a wire holding him up, but the series is so much fun it can be ignored, and others show him flying sideways and other illogical directions. Not bad, though. He is also getting to show off more of his powers, now, and he also has a better sense of his environment as he constantly scans things using X-Ray Vision or Superhearing. A good group of episodes from October, 1953.
The Man Who Could Read Minds- Superman has to stop another criminal gang. Their plan is to pose as a mind-reading act at the Tip Top Cafe. During the act one of them "borrows" the house key of a rich "mark" attending and makes a wax impression. Then the one dubbed by the media, The Phantom Burglar, drives to the victim's house while cutting a new key from the mold. In, out and done by the time victim is home. This has gone on long enough that The Daily Planet started writing headlines that make the police look incompetent. Inspector Henderson invites all the main characters out into the residential area to show them the police are doing everything possible. Jimmy convinces Lois they can catch the burglars on their own and the two run off. They actually catch the burglars in the act but Jimmy gets beat up and shot at. Laterm Lois dresses up Jimmy to look South American so he can use his Spanish 101 classes and bait a trap. This, of course, backfires and Superman saves the day. At least Jimmy can put up a good fight. The cool Superman moment involves a car chase. Jimmy is driving Lois' car when the bad guys shoot out the tire. He almost goes off a cliff but Superman grabs the car from behind and pulls them off the ledge. There's a weird moment when the picture freezes on Perry White drive Clark Kent after Jimmy and Lois. You can still hear distant action but the image is obviously frozen because someone decided to stretch the scene out and didn't know what to do.
Jet Ace- Another one of Perry White's relatives is in the spotlight. Nephew Chris White is a civilian test pilot for the Air Force, out on a secret test flight in an F-86D Sabre Dog. Something goes wrong during an ill advised dive and he loses oxygen when his controls lock up. Because Perry invited all the main characters to the Air Force Base, Clark is in the perfect position to sneak out, become Superman and save Chris. This is just the excuse Perry needs to force Chris to take a vacation in his hunting lodge. A rival news paper reporter, Steve Martin of The Blade, tries to out-scoop everyone, but gets kicked out by the military. Chris demands to have a rifle if he is to vacation. Later at the hunting lodge Chris is attacked by two thugs who demand to have the report he wrote about his flight. He is taken to a masked man who beats him up for info. Perry gets word that Chris has vanished, fears the worst and sends Clark and Jimmy to check out things. Eventually Chris is taken back to the lodge when the masked man is revealed to be the Martin, the reporter. He torches the lodge to kill Chris, but Superman once again saves him in time. Chris had actually put the report in the barrel of his hunting rifle which was recovered from the scene. Everyone sets a trap for Martin, and Clark watches while Chris beats him unconscious. A descent episode with a convoluted plot to capture and nearly murder Chris, just so Martin can get a story. The Blade must be a terrible paper. Great moments for Superman include saving the jet and interrogating the two thugs who kidnapped Chris.
Shot in the Dark- A little kid using an infrared flash bulb happens to catch a couple photos of Clark Kent changing in to Superman (or the other way around), down the alley next to the Daily Planet. Once again Clark hasn't been as cleaver as he thought and someone just found him out... again... in that alley. That kid also took another picture of Burt Burnside, a con-man, who starts threatening the family. The addle-brained mom finds Clark, accuses him of being Superman in front of Jimmy Olsen and asks for help. The entire episode is enjoyable to watch because Clark has to tap-dance his way around every piece of evidence linking him to Superman, all while either Jimmy or Lois is with him. By the end he captures the bad guys and worms his way out of further scrutiny. This episode introduces Superman's heat vision, which he combines with X-Ray vision to find things behind walls and destroy them (all while doing no damage to his glasses or any walls). But the best bit is when Burt, who realizes Clark is Superman, pulls a pistol out of an ankle holster and shoots Clark point blank. When Jimmy demands to know how he's still alive, Clark pulls a silver dollar out of his pocket, mashes it a little and says the bullet bounced off. All the main characters are ignorant of Clark once again. Background details we learn about Metropolis: they have a subway system with a station at 34th Street and at least two commuter cars named "Valley Express" and "Valley Local". Superman once again proves his immunity to electricity when he breaks the third rail to stop a runaway Local train from hitting the Express.
The Defeat of Superman- Over a year ago crime lord Happy King ran off to Europe just when Superman was about to catch him. Unlike the first season, Superman is known world-wide now and Happy King is back in Metropolis with a European scientist, Professor Meldini. This Professor has an interesting theory. He thinks Superman is not from Earth, and suspects he's from Krypton. How did anybody on Earth know about Krypton in 1953? This is still 4 years before Sputnik. Oh wait, this is Science Fiction. Meldini somehow got a hold of meteor from Krypton and made a bullet out of it, calling it Kryptonite. Superman gets caught in a trap and is shot with it, stinging him. With conclusive proof, Meldini explains that Kryptonite doesn't hurt Superman's people on their home planet, only on Earth, and that it is harmless to humans. He devises a way to create artificial Kryptonite and makes a block of it the size of a stick of butter, enough to kill Superman before he can touch it. Another trap is set, using Lois and Jimmy who stuck their noses in when they shouldn't have, and all three are stuck in a basement with the Kryptonite. It's fast acting as Superman loses his powers then falls unconscious. Eventually Superman comes around just long enough to suggest encasing it in a lead pipe, which Jimmy finds as part of the plumbing. Superman regains all his strength and takes the pipe (with the Kryptonite) and throws it as hard as he can out to sea. King and his henchmen, driving away, see an object shoot past them in the sky, and they drive off a cliff not paying any attention to the road. Great episode again, having to do with bad guys figuring out Superman. This time they had knowledge Superman didn't even have. King also makes the leap of logic that Lois is practically Superman's girl. Now Lois and Jimmy have to keep Kryptonite a secret. This is the best episode of October.
Superman in Exile- Project X is a nuclear reactor that outputs Gamma Radiation. It runs out of control and Superman removes the control rods before Metropolis has to be evacuated. He is however dosed with too much radiation, even glowing in the dark. He chooses to exile himself on Mt. Blue Peak, which overlooks all of Metropolis, until a possible cure can be devised. Criminals realize they're free to do what they want again, and one in particular kidnaps Lois Lane, knowing Superman won't come close if she is threatened with radiation poisoning. They plan to steal an airplane with rare jewels on it. A sudden thunderstorm inspires Superman to fly into it. After a lightning strike cleans him of radiation (how, I don't know), he locates the aircraft with Lois on it, forces it to land and the police arrive to arrest everyone. Jimmy and Lois noticed throughout the episode that Clark wasn't around and began to suspect he's Superman. They are now looking for any excuse to jump to that conclusion, but in the end Clark changes her mind, again. A decent episode. Superman's glowing body is used to good effect whenever he moves into the darkness. A glowing Superman sitting on a mountain, staring at Metropolis is a powerful image.
Since Season 2 started they have been working more and more flying effects into the scenes. They are now more elaborate, and one even shows him flying past buildings, across hills and up into the sky for longer than any other episode. At least once I saw a wire holding him up, but the series is so much fun it can be ignored, and others show him flying sideways and other illogical directions. Not bad, though. He is also getting to show off more of his powers, now, and he also has a better sense of his environment as he constantly scans things using X-Ray Vision or Superhearing. A good group of episodes from October, 1953.
The Project Doom Squeeze Experiment
September 1953 saw the return of The Adventures of Superman. But, before Season 2 began airing an odd Sci-Fi movie hit theaters at the beginning of the month that was based on a story by Robert Heinlein, Project Moonbase. He previously worked on a 1950 George Pal movie, Destination Moon, as a technical adviser and wrote some of the script. It was the first Hollywood movie to try to be scientifically accurate about going to space and the moon; a fun movie to watch. This is in complete contrast to Project Moonbase, where the technology is handled a little better than the characters, which aren't written for anybody.
Project Moonbase- It is the future of 1970 (September to be more precise) and the United States wants a moon base. A space station already exists in orbit as a launch bed for future lunar activities. But the "enemies of freedom" sneak a mole on board the mission. The three to make the historic first orbit of the moon is Major Moore, Dr. Wernher (the aforementioned mole) and Colonel "Bright Eyes" Briteis, a woman. Everything goes smoothly to the space station, but once the three board Magellan, their lunar orbiter, Wernher sabotages the mission. This forces Briteis to land on the moon to save everyone. Wernher admits he was under duress and wants to help now, so he and Moore moon walk to put an antenna on a ridge (because she landed them in a crater). Wernher dies on the mission, Moore makes it back and communications with Spacom (Space Command I assume) is restored. It is decided that the impromptu landing zone will make a perfect first moon base. General Greene, in charge of the mission, orders the two to marry so they can live on the moon without upsetting Americans, and most especially the US President who is also a woman.
Since it is 17 years in the future all communication devices will have a single antenna with a round double-ring on top. There appears to be no hippies or disco, but rockets are squat short designs that blast off to a disc-shaped space station about 350 feet in diameter. They do handle zero-G by telling us the characters are wearing magnetic shoes, and use a couple scenes with people walking on the walls and ceiling to sell it to the audience. I am assuming the film-makers couldn't figure out what to do with zero-G hair so they put shower caps of the future on all the actors.
The Magellan pod, which actually looks like the lunar lander we will use in 1969 (so this movie was only about a year off), has some interesting features. Inertia once again is handled poorly, but a wall of lights and a dial shows how many G's the astronauts are pulling during any acceleration. The bank of lights are numbered 1 thru 21 and I have no idea what they represent but they tell the pilot something. Everyone lays down in a hammock with controls and a lap belt to hold you in place. Not bad, but not realistic. For actual navigation a series of reel-to-reel tapes run through a computer, which is the auto-pilot. There is also a main view screen, a giant dial that measures the day and date, some lights indicating what the view screen is looking at and some kind of compass dial also related to the view screen. There is a lower level that houses supplies and a gondola that one sits in while it lowers you to the ground. To get to the space station we see two rockets, named Canada and Mexico. The three main characters fly in the Mexico, which has the same interior as Magellan, but to board it there is a lift built into the fin to take you to the flight deck. The space station (with the letters USSF on the side) has four docking ports equidistant around the edge that rockets shove their noses into. Those are the interesting parts of the movie.
This is the '50s and the characters are written as sexist as possible. Colonel Briteis got her rank for being the first human in space or something. Major Moore, her co-pilot for this historic mission, refuses to fly with her. We learn by the end that he's her ex-boyfriend and he hates that she out-ranks him. Almost everyone in the movie talks to Briteis like a child. At the tail end of the movie when Briteis and Moore are about to live on the moon for weeks, they are ordered to be married, because Spacom can't have them living together for weeks unmarried. There is no attempt to make sense of this, as Briteis, who is a fairly demanding pilot, suddenly wants to be married as if this is the only hope for her future. Then Moore is promoted straight to General so he can out-ran her. I know that in the '50s women's rights were almost non-existent, but no one looked at Lois Lane who is practically a poster child for "women's lib". It took World War II to put women in the working world in a vast enough scale to make a difference. Project Moonbase sets women back about a century. But that is a modern interpretation and I'm over-simplifying matters. This is supposed to be Science-Fiction where writers get to express progressive ideas, just not in this movie. At least we all have Star Trek.
Five Minutes to Doom- Lois (played by a new actress Noel Neill, who in fact played Lois in the serials) and Clark believe a man on death row to be innocent, and spend his final hours trying to prove it. Fairly straight forward but some shortcuts were made in the story telling. The man on death row is a construction site concrete inspector who is framed for murdering the foreman because he was about to expose a conspiracy to use poor steel construction on an overpass. There is no explanation how the owner of the construction company, Mr. Wayne, would benefit from murdering people, but neither does his secretary who eventually flips states evidence on him. Oddly we are never told what state Metropolis is in, but the governor's mansion is located up north in State City. These writers aren't even trying to make sense. The highlight of the episode is a hitman who tries to blow up the car Lois and Clark are in. He realizes this, grabs the bomb, and dives out of a moving car into a ditch as it explodes. Half is suit is ripped and you can see the Supersuit underneath. Luckily he covered up with a spare trench coat. Lois never asked how Clark survived jumping out of a speeding car hugging two sticks of dynamite in a lunch box.
The Big Squeeze- Someone on the writing staff must be a Batman fan. The last episode had a character named Wayne, and this one has a character named Grayson. Dan Grayson is an ex-con working at the Metropolis Furrier. Clark Kent has been tasked with coming up for the Citizen of the Year award and wants to give it to Grayson, without knowing his past. Not even his wife and kid know. But some shady dude, Luke Maynard, from the past blackmails him with a threat to expose him as an ex-con, and hurt his family. Clark knows something fishy is going on and figures out Grayson is being coerced. It all ends with Grayson being held at gunpoint in a cave and Superman must rescue him. Then Clark gets to share a life lesson on TV that being an ex-con means you've paid your debt to society and shouldn't be prejudiced against. Superman does a couple cool things in this episode. He rips a vault door off a wall and punches his way through a mountain to save Grayson in a cave. What's interesting is the blackmailer knows that Superman can't use X-Ray vision to see through lead, so he had a special lead-lined cave constructed. But as we learn, Superman can hear through lead just fine. How did Luke figure out this one limitation of Superman?
With season 2 a few things have changed. Perry White is on a tear about being called Chief, especially to Jimmy Olsen. Maybe it gives him bad memories of World War II. Jimmy got a haircut and does more slapstick idiotic things for the kids. The biggest thing of all is Lois Lane. Phyllis Coats couldn't continue to play Lois Lane so they cast Noel Neill. There is also some retooling of the opening credits.
Project Moonbase- It is the future of 1970 (September to be more precise) and the United States wants a moon base. A space station already exists in orbit as a launch bed for future lunar activities. But the "enemies of freedom" sneak a mole on board the mission. The three to make the historic first orbit of the moon is Major Moore, Dr. Wernher (the aforementioned mole) and Colonel "Bright Eyes" Briteis, a woman. Everything goes smoothly to the space station, but once the three board Magellan, their lunar orbiter, Wernher sabotages the mission. This forces Briteis to land on the moon to save everyone. Wernher admits he was under duress and wants to help now, so he and Moore moon walk to put an antenna on a ridge (because she landed them in a crater). Wernher dies on the mission, Moore makes it back and communications with Spacom (Space Command I assume) is restored. It is decided that the impromptu landing zone will make a perfect first moon base. General Greene, in charge of the mission, orders the two to marry so they can live on the moon without upsetting Americans, and most especially the US President who is also a woman.
Since it is 17 years in the future all communication devices will have a single antenna with a round double-ring on top. There appears to be no hippies or disco, but rockets are squat short designs that blast off to a disc-shaped space station about 350 feet in diameter. They do handle zero-G by telling us the characters are wearing magnetic shoes, and use a couple scenes with people walking on the walls and ceiling to sell it to the audience. I am assuming the film-makers couldn't figure out what to do with zero-G hair so they put shower caps of the future on all the actors.
The Magellan pod, which actually looks like the lunar lander we will use in 1969 (so this movie was only about a year off), has some interesting features. Inertia once again is handled poorly, but a wall of lights and a dial shows how many G's the astronauts are pulling during any acceleration. The bank of lights are numbered 1 thru 21 and I have no idea what they represent but they tell the pilot something. Everyone lays down in a hammock with controls and a lap belt to hold you in place. Not bad, but not realistic. For actual navigation a series of reel-to-reel tapes run through a computer, which is the auto-pilot. There is also a main view screen, a giant dial that measures the day and date, some lights indicating what the view screen is looking at and some kind of compass dial also related to the view screen. There is a lower level that houses supplies and a gondola that one sits in while it lowers you to the ground. To get to the space station we see two rockets, named Canada and Mexico. The three main characters fly in the Mexico, which has the same interior as Magellan, but to board it there is a lift built into the fin to take you to the flight deck. The space station (with the letters USSF on the side) has four docking ports equidistant around the edge that rockets shove their noses into. Those are the interesting parts of the movie.
This is the '50s and the characters are written as sexist as possible. Colonel Briteis got her rank for being the first human in space or something. Major Moore, her co-pilot for this historic mission, refuses to fly with her. We learn by the end that he's her ex-boyfriend and he hates that she out-ranks him. Almost everyone in the movie talks to Briteis like a child. At the tail end of the movie when Briteis and Moore are about to live on the moon for weeks, they are ordered to be married, because Spacom can't have them living together for weeks unmarried. There is no attempt to make sense of this, as Briteis, who is a fairly demanding pilot, suddenly wants to be married as if this is the only hope for her future. Then Moore is promoted straight to General so he can out-ran her. I know that in the '50s women's rights were almost non-existent, but no one looked at Lois Lane who is practically a poster child for "women's lib". It took World War II to put women in the working world in a vast enough scale to make a difference. Project Moonbase sets women back about a century. But that is a modern interpretation and I'm over-simplifying matters. This is supposed to be Science-Fiction where writers get to express progressive ideas, just not in this movie. At least we all have Star Trek.
Five Minutes to Doom- Lois (played by a new actress Noel Neill, who in fact played Lois in the serials) and Clark believe a man on death row to be innocent, and spend his final hours trying to prove it. Fairly straight forward but some shortcuts were made in the story telling. The man on death row is a construction site concrete inspector who is framed for murdering the foreman because he was about to expose a conspiracy to use poor steel construction on an overpass. There is no explanation how the owner of the construction company, Mr. Wayne, would benefit from murdering people, but neither does his secretary who eventually flips states evidence on him. Oddly we are never told what state Metropolis is in, but the governor's mansion is located up north in State City. These writers aren't even trying to make sense. The highlight of the episode is a hitman who tries to blow up the car Lois and Clark are in. He realizes this, grabs the bomb, and dives out of a moving car into a ditch as it explodes. Half is suit is ripped and you can see the Supersuit underneath. Luckily he covered up with a spare trench coat. Lois never asked how Clark survived jumping out of a speeding car hugging two sticks of dynamite in a lunch box.
The Big Squeeze- Someone on the writing staff must be a Batman fan. The last episode had a character named Wayne, and this one has a character named Grayson. Dan Grayson is an ex-con working at the Metropolis Furrier. Clark Kent has been tasked with coming up for the Citizen of the Year award and wants to give it to Grayson, without knowing his past. Not even his wife and kid know. But some shady dude, Luke Maynard, from the past blackmails him with a threat to expose him as an ex-con, and hurt his family. Clark knows something fishy is going on and figures out Grayson is being coerced. It all ends with Grayson being held at gunpoint in a cave and Superman must rescue him. Then Clark gets to share a life lesson on TV that being an ex-con means you've paid your debt to society and shouldn't be prejudiced against. Superman does a couple cool things in this episode. He rips a vault door off a wall and punches his way through a mountain to save Grayson in a cave. What's interesting is the blackmailer knows that Superman can't use X-Ray vision to see through lead, so he had a special lead-lined cave constructed. But as we learn, Superman can hear through lead just fine. How did Luke figure out this one limitation of Superman?
With season 2 a few things have changed. Perry White is on a tear about being called Chief, especially to Jimmy Olsen. Maybe it gives him bad memories of World War II. Jimmy got a haircut and does more slapstick idiotic things for the kids. The biggest thing of all is Lois Lane. Phyllis Coats couldn't continue to play Lois Lane so they cast Noel Neill. There is also some retooling of the opening credits.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Mole Men and the Unknown People Experiment
Superman and the Mole Men, from November 23, 1951, was the first theatrical release of Superman. Prior to it there were two serials of Superman, but I don't count serials as movies. At the end of the first season of The Adventures of Superman, someone must have decided to break the movie into two parts and end the season, probably to save money. This is also the only two-parter of the series. There are differences between the two versions of the story, but the big one that occurs to me is changing the name of Mole Men to just Unknown People. If you saw the movie, they aren't really unknown. Maybe the studio execs were trying to trick people into thinking they were getting a new story? I also want to point out how well these episodes plug into the established series as if it belonged there. This is technically the pilot of the series, yet watching it at the end of the first season you'd never know. Strangely there seems to be no common consensus as to when these two parts aired. I have arbitrarily decided to tack them on at the end of the season, but I have seen at least one plausible source suggesting August 10, 1953. Most other places claim no one actually knows. So for today I'm pretending these are from March, 1953. My blog, my rules, and I'm sticking to it.
The Unknown People, part I- The town of Silsby, 2500 miles from Metropolis (possibly in Texas), is host to the world's deepest oil drilling platform. Since it passed the 6 mile mark the drill was ordered to stop and be dismantled. Witness to these events are Lois Lane and Clark Kent, who were invited down to write a story. Clark hopes instead to make the story about the sudden work stoppage when they are told by the foreman, Corrigan, to spend the night at the Hotel Silsby and leave in the morning. Oddly, Lois thinks there's nothing here, but Clark convinces her to go back to the site to talk to the night watchman, whom they both find dead. Clark is able to get more information out of Corrigan now that lives are at stake. It seems that the drill had punched through to a hollow spot after passing 6 miles. Examining the drill-bit he found microscopic life and began to worry that the Earth is actually hollow and more advanced life forms live in it. There is also glowing soil samples he thinks are radioactive. This story is pushing for a hollow Earth, but it is more likely a hollow chamber. Clark appears to go along, but I don't think he believes him. They both come to the conclusion that something came out of the hole left behind by the drill. They had even put a hatch over it, but the "Unknown People" were able to open it from beneath. As sightings of strange little people crop up, the town folk of Silsby are in an uproar. In one of those creepy sci-fi moments I hate, strange headed creatures stare in a window at a little girl. Luke Benson gathers a large group at the Hotel Silsby to go hunting for them, even after Clark tries to calm everyone. They storm out and Clark becomes Superman in hopes he can stop everyone. There's a great aerial shot from Superman's perspective flying over the crowd to the girl's house. My favorite moment of the mob itself is when an unarmed man walks past a barber shop and tears down the barber poll as a weapon. Superman fails to get through to them so the townsfolk run off and corner the two creatures on the town's dam...
The Unknown People, part II- ... where one of them is shot. Superman flies in to grab him before he falls in the town's water supply, contaminating it. While he's busy flying the wounded creature to Geneva County Hospital the rest of Luke's mob is hunting the remaining one, chasing into an abandoned tool shack. Luke burns the shack down but leaves before realizing the creature escaped. Luke is proud of himself and goes back to town to tell the sheriff he got rid of the two. When the sheriff tells him one is the hospital and to leave it there, Luke pulls a gun on the sheriff and puts his mob pack together. Superman intervenes, taking everyone's weapons and orders them to stay away. While he's busy fighting the whole town, the lone Mole Man goes back down the drill hole and comes up with two more guys plus a nifty giant silver weapon. Marching through a mostly deserted town the three creatures head for the hospital. Superman confronts them and realizes they want their man back. Luke tries one more time to kill something and he gets shot by the Mole Man weapon. Superman intervenes, gives them their injured comrade, they leave and the town finally relaxes. The Mole Men do blow up the oil platform and the shaft so they will be left alone. THE END.
As creepy and corny as the mole creatures were, they were constantly filmed as sympathetic and not evil. This could so easily have gone the other way if they were just made to be bad guys, as Superman might have had to fight an invading force. The new Doctor Who series had a similar episode dealing with a drill that goes too far and wakens an ancient race deep within the Earth. That, however, did turn into a threat for the entire planet.
This edit is a bit better than the original movie, because some of the slower parts were cut and the music was changed to the now standard Superman themes. This story is all about panic and hysteria over the unknown, very similar (but on a different scale) to The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was released only a month before Superman and the Mole Men. It probably occurs to Superman at some point that if the townsfolk treated him as an alien, and not an American superhero, he might have similar issues. Not that he's easy to hurt, but it would suck to have the entire US government gunning for you. Season 1 ends. Season 2 doesn't start until mid-September 1953, so for the next few days I will watch the summer Sci-Fi movies of the era.
The Unknown People, part I- The town of Silsby, 2500 miles from Metropolis (possibly in Texas), is host to the world's deepest oil drilling platform. Since it passed the 6 mile mark the drill was ordered to stop and be dismantled. Witness to these events are Lois Lane and Clark Kent, who were invited down to write a story. Clark hopes instead to make the story about the sudden work stoppage when they are told by the foreman, Corrigan, to spend the night at the Hotel Silsby and leave in the morning. Oddly, Lois thinks there's nothing here, but Clark convinces her to go back to the site to talk to the night watchman, whom they both find dead. Clark is able to get more information out of Corrigan now that lives are at stake. It seems that the drill had punched through to a hollow spot after passing 6 miles. Examining the drill-bit he found microscopic life and began to worry that the Earth is actually hollow and more advanced life forms live in it. There is also glowing soil samples he thinks are radioactive. This story is pushing for a hollow Earth, but it is more likely a hollow chamber. Clark appears to go along, but I don't think he believes him. They both come to the conclusion that something came out of the hole left behind by the drill. They had even put a hatch over it, but the "Unknown People" were able to open it from beneath. As sightings of strange little people crop up, the town folk of Silsby are in an uproar. In one of those creepy sci-fi moments I hate, strange headed creatures stare in a window at a little girl. Luke Benson gathers a large group at the Hotel Silsby to go hunting for them, even after Clark tries to calm everyone. They storm out and Clark becomes Superman in hopes he can stop everyone. There's a great aerial shot from Superman's perspective flying over the crowd to the girl's house. My favorite moment of the mob itself is when an unarmed man walks past a barber shop and tears down the barber poll as a weapon. Superman fails to get through to them so the townsfolk run off and corner the two creatures on the town's dam...
The Unknown People, part II- ... where one of them is shot. Superman flies in to grab him before he falls in the town's water supply, contaminating it. While he's busy flying the wounded creature to Geneva County Hospital the rest of Luke's mob is hunting the remaining one, chasing into an abandoned tool shack. Luke burns the shack down but leaves before realizing the creature escaped. Luke is proud of himself and goes back to town to tell the sheriff he got rid of the two. When the sheriff tells him one is the hospital and to leave it there, Luke pulls a gun on the sheriff and puts his mob pack together. Superman intervenes, taking everyone's weapons and orders them to stay away. While he's busy fighting the whole town, the lone Mole Man goes back down the drill hole and comes up with two more guys plus a nifty giant silver weapon. Marching through a mostly deserted town the three creatures head for the hospital. Superman confronts them and realizes they want their man back. Luke tries one more time to kill something and he gets shot by the Mole Man weapon. Superman intervenes, gives them their injured comrade, they leave and the town finally relaxes. The Mole Men do blow up the oil platform and the shaft so they will be left alone. THE END.
As creepy and corny as the mole creatures were, they were constantly filmed as sympathetic and not evil. This could so easily have gone the other way if they were just made to be bad guys, as Superman might have had to fight an invading force. The new Doctor Who series had a similar episode dealing with a drill that goes too far and wakens an ancient race deep within the Earth. That, however, did turn into a threat for the entire planet.
This edit is a bit better than the original movie, because some of the slower parts were cut and the music was changed to the now standard Superman themes. This story is all about panic and hysteria over the unknown, very similar (but on a different scale) to The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was released only a month before Superman and the Mole Men. It probably occurs to Superman at some point that if the townsfolk treated him as an alien, and not an American superhero, he might have similar issues. Not that he's easy to hurt, but it would suck to have the entire US government gunning for you. Season 1 ends. Season 2 doesn't start until mid-September 1953, so for the next few days I will watch the summer Sci-Fi movies of the era.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Human Underworld Ghost Crime Experiment
I now wonder if the open credits where Superman stands in space is actually supposed to by Krypton and two moons. Just a thought. Today represents February, 1953, still only The Adventures of Superman. I won't be born for another 19 years, but who knew back then I could catch up on 58 year old episodes on DVD? Enjoy. All these, with the exception of The Ghost Wolf, quite good. All these episodes were actually filmed back-to-back in 1951. It's kind of sad that the later episodes you can see the "S" on Superman's top getting more ragged as the series goes on. That must represent a lot of crime punished. Then again, people would have seen this on 10-inch B&W TVs, so I doubt they wouldn't have noticed.
The Human Bomb- It is becoming apparent that the citizens of Metropolis are seeing a connection to The Daily Planet and Superman. One such person is Butler, a millionaire, who makes a bet at the Metropolis City Club that he can control Superman for 30 minutes. Not a horrible idea, but he is the first character in the series to even suggest that Superman likes Lois Lane. So Butler makes a bomb vest (sort of) with dynamite and holds Lois ransom. To make the situation as crazy as possible he stands on the ledge outside her office to attract as much attention as he can. Sure enough Superman shows up and is made to promise not to interfere with a museum heist going on. Sadly there a few moments when the good guys could have turned the tide on him and ended the episode early. But Superman, channeling MacGyver, sets up a contraption to appear to be in The Daily Planet building while he stops the robbery. Jimmy Olsen however is so pissed that someone is threatening Lois Lane he takes matters into his own hands when he learns all the dynamite might be fake. According to Night of Terror The Daily Planet offices are on the 28th floor, but the stock footage used doesn't quite support that. A decent episode that shows Jimmy getting in a fist fight with a dude on a ledge. He even gets a raise for his efforts. The characters should probably take stock of what happened here, but since they already don't think Clark is Superman, they just don't see that the rest of the Metropolis' ne'er-do-wells are putting two-and-two together.
Czar of the Underworld- For the past month Clark Kent has been writing articles about a mobster out of LA, known as Luigi Dinelli. The articles are picked up by Hollywood to be made into a movie known as (you guessed it) Czar of the Underworld. Clark and Inspector Henderson are invited to be present of the shoot of the film, but Dinelli wants to end the picture before it starts, so he has a sniper team try to take out Clark. It doesn't work, so Clark and Henderson are more determined than ever to help with the picture and expose an untouchable mob boss. Through a montage and some studio "accidents" it's shown that Dinelli has declared war on National Studios (the makers of the movie), yet the Chief of Police on set says Dinelli is clean. They have an address but no enough on him to get an arrest warrant. When the main actor is killed, Clark puts himself out as bait by staying overnight on the set, which gives him a chance to be Superman and directly confront Dinelli. He actually flies into his house, beats everyone up, then drops Dinelli off on the set where a hitman mistakes him for Clark. By the end Dinelli is taken down and the Chief of Police is found to be working with him. Amusingly Superman slips a couple times and makes reference to himself being Clark. Good episode.
The Ghost Wolf- This one is only mildly convoluted and takes place from May 12 to 20, 1955. After some cool lumberjack stock footage, we learn that Perry White has contracted the Lone Pine Timber Company to cut down the wood for the mill that gets sent directly to The Daily Planet presses. But workers at the Timber Company are quitting due to a werewolf sighting. Perry is livid, because he's loosing traction to competing papers that can print full runs. He then sends Lois, Clark and Jimmy to check the situation out. In one of the most iconic moments of any Superman tale, he single-handedly holds a bridge up while a lumber train (containing Lois and Jimmy) crosses over him. When they finally get to the Timber Company, Lois has a couple run-ins with a wolf and a forest fire is started. Superman does some hard work to save everyone in the forest, get to the bottom of the mystery, and put the fire out. I don't like these stories with mysteries that are resolved without the main characters. Even though it's hinted that the story is set in either Washington or western Canada, most of the workers are French-Canadian, and something about the King who owned the land had died, and a daughter who snubbed a lumberjack. He got mad and tried to destroy everything. It kind of falls apart at the end, but Superman figures he can stop the forest fire by flying an un-shielded phone line into a thundercloud and when lightning strikes it will force a rain storm. They never really explain why this lady gets to walk around with a wolf scaring people off. Something about reclaiming her land. Perry White should just hire a different lumber company. It was kind of cool to see the French-Canadian character go hand to hand with a wolf and knock it out.
Crime Wave- One of the best episodes I've seen yet and my top episode for the day. Mob crime suddenly skyrockets in Metropolis, with a mob war and open season on all police. A special taskforce is put together to end it once and for all, with Superman leading it. He is even outright called "Metropolis' number one citizen" in the press. If Clark Kent is trying to lay low with the Superman thing, he went about it the wrong way. There is a lot of stock footage of crime, shootouts, murder, Superman beating people up, etc. Metropolis becomes more like Gotham City than ever before. The only ding I have on this episode is most of Superman's scenes are stock footage from previous episodes, but since this isn't a "clip show" it kind of works. Early on Superman declares the top 12 Public Enemies of Metropolis (no Lex Luthor) and he goes after them one by one. He even knows they can't do anything so he tells the press who he's going after just to show off. Here is the list:
12- Johnny Neale
11- Sam "The Fish" Miller
10- George "Greasy" Born
9- "Willie The Weeper" Shoemacher
8- Harry McCann
7- Phil "Shortcake" Mitchell
6- Duke Pizanno
5- Mike "The Crusher" Dana
4- Vince Jordon
3- Nick Marone
2- Big Ed Bullock
1- ?
The question mark is a ring-leader both Inspector Henderson and Superman (but not most people) believe is out there. As it turns out the No. 1 man started the crime wave to get Superman involved because he has a mad scientist in his back pocket with a plan to kill him. Finally, a sci-fi super-weapon. In the end the day is saved and the truth behind everything is revealed. Even the cheezy special effects are good enough. Once again cleaver crooks with an 8mm camera start to figure the connection between Clark and Superman. A must see from the first season and the last regular episode to air. The final two episodes of the season are a two-part story taken from Superman and the Mole Men, which was produced well before Crime Wave.
I doubt there was an intended story order to any of these episodes, but it seems to me that The Human Bomb should come after Crime Wave; due to the fact Butler refers to a massive crackdown on crime (specifically twelve gambling joints) in Metropolis at the beginning of the episode. This leads him to strap a bomb to himself and go after Lois. By now Superman has made such a huge name for himself there's no way people on the street don't know who he is. It is pointed out in the commentary that George Reeves was 38 during filming season 1. Why are all Superman actors now in their mid-20s? I'd like to see a seasoned Superman in a movie, and Superman Returns doesn't count.
The Human Bomb- It is becoming apparent that the citizens of Metropolis are seeing a connection to The Daily Planet and Superman. One such person is Butler, a millionaire, who makes a bet at the Metropolis City Club that he can control Superman for 30 minutes. Not a horrible idea, but he is the first character in the series to even suggest that Superman likes Lois Lane. So Butler makes a bomb vest (sort of) with dynamite and holds Lois ransom. To make the situation as crazy as possible he stands on the ledge outside her office to attract as much attention as he can. Sure enough Superman shows up and is made to promise not to interfere with a museum heist going on. Sadly there a few moments when the good guys could have turned the tide on him and ended the episode early. But Superman, channeling MacGyver, sets up a contraption to appear to be in The Daily Planet building while he stops the robbery. Jimmy Olsen however is so pissed that someone is threatening Lois Lane he takes matters into his own hands when he learns all the dynamite might be fake. According to Night of Terror The Daily Planet offices are on the 28th floor, but the stock footage used doesn't quite support that. A decent episode that shows Jimmy getting in a fist fight with a dude on a ledge. He even gets a raise for his efforts. The characters should probably take stock of what happened here, but since they already don't think Clark is Superman, they just don't see that the rest of the Metropolis' ne'er-do-wells are putting two-and-two together.
Czar of the Underworld- For the past month Clark Kent has been writing articles about a mobster out of LA, known as Luigi Dinelli. The articles are picked up by Hollywood to be made into a movie known as (you guessed it) Czar of the Underworld. Clark and Inspector Henderson are invited to be present of the shoot of the film, but Dinelli wants to end the picture before it starts, so he has a sniper team try to take out Clark. It doesn't work, so Clark and Henderson are more determined than ever to help with the picture and expose an untouchable mob boss. Through a montage and some studio "accidents" it's shown that Dinelli has declared war on National Studios (the makers of the movie), yet the Chief of Police on set says Dinelli is clean. They have an address but no enough on him to get an arrest warrant. When the main actor is killed, Clark puts himself out as bait by staying overnight on the set, which gives him a chance to be Superman and directly confront Dinelli. He actually flies into his house, beats everyone up, then drops Dinelli off on the set where a hitman mistakes him for Clark. By the end Dinelli is taken down and the Chief of Police is found to be working with him. Amusingly Superman slips a couple times and makes reference to himself being Clark. Good episode.
The Ghost Wolf- This one is only mildly convoluted and takes place from May 12 to 20, 1955. After some cool lumberjack stock footage, we learn that Perry White has contracted the Lone Pine Timber Company to cut down the wood for the mill that gets sent directly to The Daily Planet presses. But workers at the Timber Company are quitting due to a werewolf sighting. Perry is livid, because he's loosing traction to competing papers that can print full runs. He then sends Lois, Clark and Jimmy to check the situation out. In one of the most iconic moments of any Superman tale, he single-handedly holds a bridge up while a lumber train (containing Lois and Jimmy) crosses over him. When they finally get to the Timber Company, Lois has a couple run-ins with a wolf and a forest fire is started. Superman does some hard work to save everyone in the forest, get to the bottom of the mystery, and put the fire out. I don't like these stories with mysteries that are resolved without the main characters. Even though it's hinted that the story is set in either Washington or western Canada, most of the workers are French-Canadian, and something about the King who owned the land had died, and a daughter who snubbed a lumberjack. He got mad and tried to destroy everything. It kind of falls apart at the end, but Superman figures he can stop the forest fire by flying an un-shielded phone line into a thundercloud and when lightning strikes it will force a rain storm. They never really explain why this lady gets to walk around with a wolf scaring people off. Something about reclaiming her land. Perry White should just hire a different lumber company. It was kind of cool to see the French-Canadian character go hand to hand with a wolf and knock it out.
Crime Wave- One of the best episodes I've seen yet and my top episode for the day. Mob crime suddenly skyrockets in Metropolis, with a mob war and open season on all police. A special taskforce is put together to end it once and for all, with Superman leading it. He is even outright called "Metropolis' number one citizen" in the press. If Clark Kent is trying to lay low with the Superman thing, he went about it the wrong way. There is a lot of stock footage of crime, shootouts, murder, Superman beating people up, etc. Metropolis becomes more like Gotham City than ever before. The only ding I have on this episode is most of Superman's scenes are stock footage from previous episodes, but since this isn't a "clip show" it kind of works. Early on Superman declares the top 12 Public Enemies of Metropolis (no Lex Luthor) and he goes after them one by one. He even knows they can't do anything so he tells the press who he's going after just to show off. Here is the list:
12- Johnny Neale
11- Sam "The Fish" Miller
10- George "Greasy" Born
9- "Willie The Weeper" Shoemacher
8- Harry McCann
7- Phil "Shortcake" Mitchell
6- Duke Pizanno
5- Mike "The Crusher" Dana
4- Vince Jordon
3- Nick Marone
2- Big Ed Bullock
1- ?
The question mark is a ring-leader both Inspector Henderson and Superman (but not most people) believe is out there. As it turns out the No. 1 man started the crime wave to get Superman involved because he has a mad scientist in his back pocket with a plan to kill him. Finally, a sci-fi super-weapon. In the end the day is saved and the truth behind everything is revealed. Even the cheezy special effects are good enough. Once again cleaver crooks with an 8mm camera start to figure the connection between Clark and Superman. A must see from the first season and the last regular episode to air. The final two episodes of the season are a two-part story taken from Superman and the Mole Men, which was produced well before Crime Wave.
I doubt there was an intended story order to any of these episodes, but it seems to me that The Human Bomb should come after Crime Wave; due to the fact Butler refers to a massive crackdown on crime (specifically twelve gambling joints) in Metropolis at the beginning of the episode. This leads him to strap a bomb to himself and go after Lois. By now Superman has made such a huge name for himself there's no way people on the street don't know who he is. It is pointed out in the commentary that George Reeves was 38 during filming season 1. Why are all Superman actors now in their mid-20s? I'd like to see a seasoned Superman in a movie, and Superman Returns doesn't count.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
The Wax Robot Drum of Evil Jade Experiment
January, 1953, starts strong with five new episodes. For those still wondering why I'm only concerning myself with The Adventures of Superman, that is because it is the only full show from this time I can get my hands on. Captain Video and Captain Z-RO are mostly lost to time, with a smattering of episodes to prove they once existed. But records of their broadcast dates are so spotty I couldn't put an episode guide together, so I'm pretending my Temporal DVR just isn't recording them. At least Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Science Fiction Theater were saved and if I can find them I will add them in where appropriate. More on that to come. In the mean time to simulate the coming summer months of 1953 when there were no episodes to watch I will review a Sci-Fi movie from the time period.
Mystery in Wax- The first over-acting villain in the series. She's insane and her plot makes no sense. I should accept that, but to have to watch her maniacal moments is just painful. Selena and her husband run a wax museum where she predicts people's death, then 6 months later they commit suicide. In reality she is kidnapping them, making her husband wear a wax mask of said person, who then jumps off a pier, making headlines. Selena thinks she can get all the power and money she wants if she can convince the citizens of Metropolis that she has the power over everyone's death. Clark figured most of this out early, but no one will listen to him. The whole plot just doesn't work because she kidnaps the victims and leaves them locked-up in her basement. Does she intend to leave them alive forever? They never approach the question at all, and Selena is played so over the top it's hard to get into this episode.
The Runaway Robot- Finally, a more science-fiction based threat for Superman, and it looks like Tinman made by 5th Graders. The episode starts out promising, but by the end a number of stupid character decisions make it nearly impossible for Clark to figure anything out. A jewelry store robbery is stopped by a remote control robot. The thieves get away but the robot malfunctions. When the police arrive they assume the robot's maker, Horatio, is the one behind the robbery, mainly because the real thieves got away with thousands of dollars in diamonds. Now, this is some terrible police work. They never ask the proprietor who did it. When they eventually bring him in to the police station to look at mug shots, they still hold Horatio responsible. The cops didn't even finger-print the place. When Lois, Clark, and Jimmy head to the police station to get Horatio released into their custody, someone steals the robot out of lock-up. These are the worst cops ever. The only big surprise in the episode is Russel Johnson (The Professor from Gilligan's Island) as the ring-leader of the thieves. He manages to kidnap Horatio so he can use the robot to do more bank robberies. Clark is never around to see what's happening because he's busy doing actual police work. Horatio, more clever than he deserves to be, radios for help. Lois Lane gets the message but leaves a vague note for Clark that she's going somewhere. A note that Clark never sees. By the end Superman breaks the robot into pieces and stops the thieves. It's a wonder he could even find their hide-out with the badly designed plot in the way. To save money in this series there is extensive use of stock footage, and in this case they use footage of fire trucks from the '30s (which seem a little out of place). Sadly, the episode is kind of fun, but infuriating.
Drums of Death- It should have been called Drums of Current Events. Nobody died from them. They were just like that guy in the parking lot playing his bass really loud. This may be set in Haiti, but I don't think there was any research put into making it culturally accurate. Perry White's sister Kate and Jimmy Olsen, go to Haiti to take pictures of ruins or something. They are captured by a Voodoo Priest wearing buffalo horns and not at all authentic. This episode is just ignorant, and was meant to appeal to children who wouldn't know the difference. Maybe today's viewers are much more shrewd, and, I'm guessing, '50s adults couldn't be bothered. This gets in the way of a story that's mediocre at best, but the end with Superman saving everyone from being crushed into paste is pretty good. I really don't believe there are voodoo drummers set up in Port Haiti (I think that's what he called it) banging out the news so jungle dwellers can hatch schemes. This all had something to do with finding a hidden crystal treasure that was never located. Not that it helps the episode but Clark breaks the fourth wall when he is told he should learn to fly and he winks at the audience. Perry White and Jimmy have been completely duped by Clark throughout the series into believing he isn't Superman, so they have no hope of realizing that the Voodoo Priest is actually a white guy they met before, but in black-face. Terrible.
The Evil Three- This is the strongest story of January. I like these episodes that have the supporting cast out on their own doing something other than reporting. Perry White and Jimmy Olsen are on vacation fishing when they get a room at the Hotel Bayou. Macy, who owns the hotel and Perry remembers from years ago, tells them the place is haunted and they shouldn't stay. Perry knows something is wrong so they get a couple rooms and the weirdness begins. This is a Scooby-doo mystery episode. The title, which doesn't make much sense by the end because they're insane (not evil), refers to the three people that have lived there for years since Macy killed the original proprietor for his money, that's hidden somewhere. The other two people are a Civil War Colonel-looking dude and a crazy old lady in a wheel chair. The latter two have been protecting the money. Look, this episode is mental and doesn't make much sense, but the moments are great and Jimmy hasn't been as believable in his role since The Haunted Lighthouse. The commentary on the episode is pretty good, too. At one point Superman flies to the Hotel Bayou and lands in front of the Colonel who neither knows who he is or comments in his ability to fly. Of note is Perry White's car with a car-phone. For those wanting details his number is MX39162. I would like to learn more about the technology of early phone system's and how you can have one in a car. It's an odd episode but I like it a lot.
Riddle of the Chinese Jade- Not much of a riddle, really. The bad guy wanted to sell it in London, but first he had to steal it from a Chinese antiques dealer. Too bad for him Lois and Clark were on scene interviewing the owner. The plan is simple: throw a grenade through the ground floor of the shop, use an underground tunnel to enter and go straight to the second floor, steal jade statue, make money. It all went wrong when a hostage had to be taken and Clark quickly realizes the manager of the store, who lives across the street, helped in the crime. He was apparently coerced. When all is brought to light, the bad guy kidnaps Lois, which is immediately ended when Superman beats the crap out of him. Police Inspector Henderson, a regular background character (who moves between worthless cop to the strong-arm-of-the-law when the script dictates), decides to let the manager go, because it was the right thing to do. I don't know who has worse cops, Metropolis or Gotham. And once again Clark winks at the audience after making a Superman joke. Please, stop. I know who you are even if your best friends are blind. The cave set gets used again. There is an interesting reference in here to the Tong wars. Metropolis has a China Town and the buildings are all connected underground because of this war. They probably predate Clark's move to the city, or he would have known about it.
Prior to the beginning of The Adventures of Superman the movies you could have seen would've been: 1950's Rocketship X-M and Destination Moon; 1951's The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Superman and the Mole Men. The 1950's movies were about leaving the Earth and all four 1951 movies were about bad things happening to us. I can't recommend these movies enough for those that like classic science fiction. The science is a bit wrong, but look how far we've come as the average person can recognize bad science vs. movie goers 60 years ago. Heck, 60 years ago we still thought Mars had intelligent life, and it was a threat to us.
Mystery in Wax- The first over-acting villain in the series. She's insane and her plot makes no sense. I should accept that, but to have to watch her maniacal moments is just painful. Selena and her husband run a wax museum where she predicts people's death, then 6 months later they commit suicide. In reality she is kidnapping them, making her husband wear a wax mask of said person, who then jumps off a pier, making headlines. Selena thinks she can get all the power and money she wants if she can convince the citizens of Metropolis that she has the power over everyone's death. Clark figured most of this out early, but no one will listen to him. The whole plot just doesn't work because she kidnaps the victims and leaves them locked-up in her basement. Does she intend to leave them alive forever? They never approach the question at all, and Selena is played so over the top it's hard to get into this episode.
The Runaway Robot- Finally, a more science-fiction based threat for Superman, and it looks like Tinman made by 5th Graders. The episode starts out promising, but by the end a number of stupid character decisions make it nearly impossible for Clark to figure anything out. A jewelry store robbery is stopped by a remote control robot. The thieves get away but the robot malfunctions. When the police arrive they assume the robot's maker, Horatio, is the one behind the robbery, mainly because the real thieves got away with thousands of dollars in diamonds. Now, this is some terrible police work. They never ask the proprietor who did it. When they eventually bring him in to the police station to look at mug shots, they still hold Horatio responsible. The cops didn't even finger-print the place. When Lois, Clark, and Jimmy head to the police station to get Horatio released into their custody, someone steals the robot out of lock-up. These are the worst cops ever. The only big surprise in the episode is Russel Johnson (The Professor from Gilligan's Island) as the ring-leader of the thieves. He manages to kidnap Horatio so he can use the robot to do more bank robberies. Clark is never around to see what's happening because he's busy doing actual police work. Horatio, more clever than he deserves to be, radios for help. Lois Lane gets the message but leaves a vague note for Clark that she's going somewhere. A note that Clark never sees. By the end Superman breaks the robot into pieces and stops the thieves. It's a wonder he could even find their hide-out with the badly designed plot in the way. To save money in this series there is extensive use of stock footage, and in this case they use footage of fire trucks from the '30s (which seem a little out of place). Sadly, the episode is kind of fun, but infuriating.
Drums of Death- It should have been called Drums of Current Events. Nobody died from them. They were just like that guy in the parking lot playing his bass really loud. This may be set in Haiti, but I don't think there was any research put into making it culturally accurate. Perry White's sister Kate and Jimmy Olsen, go to Haiti to take pictures of ruins or something. They are captured by a Voodoo Priest wearing buffalo horns and not at all authentic. This episode is just ignorant, and was meant to appeal to children who wouldn't know the difference. Maybe today's viewers are much more shrewd, and, I'm guessing, '50s adults couldn't be bothered. This gets in the way of a story that's mediocre at best, but the end with Superman saving everyone from being crushed into paste is pretty good. I really don't believe there are voodoo drummers set up in Port Haiti (I think that's what he called it) banging out the news so jungle dwellers can hatch schemes. This all had something to do with finding a hidden crystal treasure that was never located. Not that it helps the episode but Clark breaks the fourth wall when he is told he should learn to fly and he winks at the audience. Perry White and Jimmy have been completely duped by Clark throughout the series into believing he isn't Superman, so they have no hope of realizing that the Voodoo Priest is actually a white guy they met before, but in black-face. Terrible.
The Evil Three- This is the strongest story of January. I like these episodes that have the supporting cast out on their own doing something other than reporting. Perry White and Jimmy Olsen are on vacation fishing when they get a room at the Hotel Bayou. Macy, who owns the hotel and Perry remembers from years ago, tells them the place is haunted and they shouldn't stay. Perry knows something is wrong so they get a couple rooms and the weirdness begins. This is a Scooby-doo mystery episode. The title, which doesn't make much sense by the end because they're insane (not evil), refers to the three people that have lived there for years since Macy killed the original proprietor for his money, that's hidden somewhere. The other two people are a Civil War Colonel-looking dude and a crazy old lady in a wheel chair. The latter two have been protecting the money. Look, this episode is mental and doesn't make much sense, but the moments are great and Jimmy hasn't been as believable in his role since The Haunted Lighthouse. The commentary on the episode is pretty good, too. At one point Superman flies to the Hotel Bayou and lands in front of the Colonel who neither knows who he is or comments in his ability to fly. Of note is Perry White's car with a car-phone. For those wanting details his number is MX39162. I would like to learn more about the technology of early phone system's and how you can have one in a car. It's an odd episode but I like it a lot.
Riddle of the Chinese Jade- Not much of a riddle, really. The bad guy wanted to sell it in London, but first he had to steal it from a Chinese antiques dealer. Too bad for him Lois and Clark were on scene interviewing the owner. The plan is simple: throw a grenade through the ground floor of the shop, use an underground tunnel to enter and go straight to the second floor, steal jade statue, make money. It all went wrong when a hostage had to be taken and Clark quickly realizes the manager of the store, who lives across the street, helped in the crime. He was apparently coerced. When all is brought to light, the bad guy kidnaps Lois, which is immediately ended when Superman beats the crap out of him. Police Inspector Henderson, a regular background character (who moves between worthless cop to the strong-arm-of-the-law when the script dictates), decides to let the manager go, because it was the right thing to do. I don't know who has worse cops, Metropolis or Gotham. And once again Clark winks at the audience after making a Superman joke. Please, stop. I know who you are even if your best friends are blind. The cave set gets used again. There is an interesting reference in here to the Tong wars. Metropolis has a China Town and the buildings are all connected underground because of this war. They probably predate Clark's move to the city, or he would have known about it.
Prior to the beginning of The Adventures of Superman the movies you could have seen would've been: 1950's Rocketship X-M and Destination Moon; 1951's The Thing from Another World, When Worlds Collide, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Superman and the Mole Men. The 1950's movies were about leaving the Earth and all four 1951 movies were about bad things happening to us. I can't recommend these movies enough for those that like classic science fiction. The science is a bit wrong, but look how far we've come as the average person can recognize bad science vs. movie goers 60 years ago. Heck, 60 years ago we still thought Mars had intelligent life, and it was a threat to us.
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