Stamp Day for Superman

Had the thrill of seeing "Stamp Day for Superman" at a comic convention in 1986 with my two buddies Marc and Craig. Silliest damn Superman film I ever saw and all we did was laugh for years afterwards on how we wasted 45 minutes out of the day to see this silly flick. It is neat though. From what I remember, Supes buys war bonds or fights some evil madmen who are against the u.s. postal service. See it if you can, cause you'll never find it again -- not that I've been looking, but never saw another filming of it since 1986. How about a 6/10 just for "effort" and rarity of this short, campy flick.

This film was produced by the publisher's of the Superman comics, namely National Comics ( AKA Superman/DC ) as their contribution to the war effort. Inasmuch as the year was 1954, the war was a "COLD"war, not one of the real shootin' type.

It was produced to sell the school aged kids of the era on the idea that they could cultivate good savings habits and help out the country by purchasing these U.S. Treasury Saving Stamps, which could be traded in for a real Savings Bond(Formerly known as War Bonds).It was not shown at movie houses or on T.V., but rather at the schools.

The film and stamp program were touted in a page long letter from the publishers informing the school aged readers of their various comic book publications of the coming of the film and to watch for it.

STAMP DAY was one film that I personally had given up on ever seeing, until about 32 years later. A VHS video cassette was being sold in some of the large chain toy stores in the shopping mall x ls. It was at a Kay-Bee Toys in my case.It was sold at a bargain price and mixed in with cassettes of mostly a lot of old cartoons,all (including STAMP DAY) now in public domain. Well, like a kid at Christmas, it was rushed home with various other yuletide presents for the Wife and Kids-but, this one was for Daddy!

It really did not disappoint.It took the familiar cast,opening and closing titles and both the theme and incidental music from the Superman TV show.To this they added a few veteran character actors like Tristram Coffin (as school principal & announcer) and Billy Nelson who was perennially cast as a crook on the Superman show.

To this they blended in an incident that could occur to anyone,stressing personal conflicts with a choice between right and wrong. Finally there was included Superman's arrival to ultimately save the day. All set against the back drop of the kids regular Stamp Day at school.

At 18 minutes, this film is just about the length of an old 2 reeler or a serial chapter. It is unique in that it has all the cast, music and format of the Superman TV series. But this film did not make onto television. And to their credit National Comics/Superman DC,who were both the publishers and producers footed the bill for it, on behalf of the American People and The U.S.Treasury Department. (Maybe it kept them from being audited by the IRS that year.ER,uh-just a joke!)

Now, run out to the shopping mall and get yourself a copy!

Seen as part of the MST3K reunion, the temptation to think this is not fair to look at on its own is silly. It's still pudgy George Reeves doing a glorified PSA so that kids can know that stamps are important. Woop-dee-do. But I actually enjoyed the villain here, who kidnaps and ties up Lois (Noel Neill as the least conventionally attractive yet probably most real-world accurate Lane), and gets his jollies being a jerk about stamps (it may have been the actor more than the material he was given, fair enough). And there's just sheer joy in seeing a 1950's Superman jump (!) out of a window and break through a wall to save the damsel in distress in an age where there's nothing but 28489292 million dollar special effects to show the same thing. It's dumb and silly but it's for the kids, you know? It's a PSA that holds up in its frozen-in-its-time place, if that makes sense: it's from an era of showing kids things with Clark Kent and Superman and Jimmy and everyone else and them buying into it knowing it's fake.

This is an obscure little curio--a special episode of "The Adventures of Superman" that was made as a public service announcement. The aim was to get children to buy stamps which would, in turn, be traded in for US Savings Bonds. But before Superman (George Reeves) preached at the kids about doing this, there was a short (and rather lame) episode involving a dumb criminal named Blinky...and Lois, who as usual, isn't too bright herself! It seems that Lois is the only witness who saw Blinky commit a crime and she lets herself be taken prisoner by him quite easily. Fortunately, Blinky isn't exactly a rocket scientist and Lois is able to get word to Superman of her predicament.

Overall, this isn't a great installment of the series but is worth seeing just because it's so odd. If you are curious to see it, check it out on YouTube.

Stamp Day for Superman is a neat little relic. Sponsored by the U. S. Treasury, it is considered a "lost episode" of The Adventures of Superman that starred George Reeves as the man of steel and his alter ego, Clark Kent.

In this one, Clark Kent gets the idea to go to Jimmy Olsen's school to teach kids about Stamp Day. However, he has to deal with the fact that a man who Lois saw robbing a jewelry store has decided to hold her hostage.

Yeah, this does not put too much focus on the Stamp Day topic, but that is okay, as it helps makes the special more exciting. This episode is dated as this is made in the 1950's (especially when at the time, there was tensions after the Korean War) and the lesson is pretty much a product of the era it was made in (as saving stamps was discontinued in 1970). However, it is a good episode, as it has the same action as the show it's based on, and Superman does teach the kids of the era a good lesson that is of the time.