Eleventh Hour

"Eleventh Hour" is an amazing Superman cartoon from 1942 that owes more to wartime espionage films than to the earlier sci-fi-themed Superman cartoons. Interestingly, it takes place in Japan, at Yokohama Harbor, where Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been "interned" (Lois's word) by the Japanese. (No explanation is given for this.) At night, Clark, as Superman, sneaks out to sabotage Japanese ships in the harbor. When the Japanese finally realize that Superman is responsible for the damage, they threaten Lois with execution and go so far as to blindfold her and put her in front of a firing squad. Most of the action takes place at night. It's all deadly serious and filled with powerful, dramatic imagery worthy of Hollywood's best wartime dramas. Directed by Dan Gordon, this eight-minute cartoon was made at the height of World War II and was the third Superman cartoon to be completed after the Fleischer brothers left Paramount.

I love the Fleischer Superman cartoons. The animation is smooth and fluid with vivid colors. The distinct art-deco style, vintage science fiction imagery, and use of noirish shadows gave them a look unlike any other cartoons. The music and voice work is superb. They're fun, accessible, enduring animation classics. While this is a cartoon from Fleischer Studios' successor, Famous Studios, it still tries to maintain the Fleischer style.

Twelfth short in the Superman series is another WW2 story. This one sees Lois & Clark prisoners in wartime Japan. Every night at eleven o'clock Clark changes into Superman and commits acts of sabotage. The Japanese take Lois and threaten to execute her if Superman doesn't stop. The story is very simple and seems to be a point of contention for many, judging by other comments and reviews. I'm not sure why the Superman cartoons are held to a stricter standard than other cartoons from the period. Naysayers seem to expect more well-developed plots for shorts that are under ten minutes. Perhaps because they involve humans instead of animals, people seem to expect more realism? It bears pointing out that an "alien from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men" is not more realistic than a wisecracking rabbit or a cat & mouse that beat the hell out of each other with household appliances.

Mini-rant aside, this is an enjoyable short. The sabotage scenes are beautifully animated and there's some creative use of color throughout. One last thing I would point out is that Superman, in addition to being a wartime saboteur, does kill in this cartoon. Another reviewer said he did not. However, one of the acts of sabotage he commits was to blow up a bridge that had Japanese military vehicles moving across it at the time. I seriously doubt all of those soldiers survived.

Eleventh Hour (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Number twelve in the Paramount/Superman series this time takes place in Japan during WW2. Lois and Clark are there doing something but at night Superman is out becoming a saboteur. This was a minor improvement over a few of the previous shorts but this still isn't a complete winner due to a rather bland and straight-forward story. The story is just way too simple to be overly exciting or even that entertaining because not much happens. The one thing I really enjoyed about the film was the animation and more importantly the colors. I really loved the red tints that were used to show off evil and used when bombs were being dropped. I thought the design of this was very well done and one of the most memorable things in the series so far.

This isn't much of an episode. For starters, Lois and Clark are reporters in Japan in the middle of the war. Every night at 11:00, Clark changes into his Superman costume and sabotages some Japanese hardware. Sometimes it's a ship; sometimes it's a significant building or structure. Lois looks out a window and watches some of this happen. The Japanese are those big toothed guys with the weird shaped heads, looking like they are smiling. Anyway, the Japanese decide to kidnap Lois (that's why she came to dissuade Superman from continuing), threatening to kill her if he didn't stop. If he knew what was good for him, he would let them. However, he was not around when the threat was made and almost finds out too late. Everything about this episode is sketchy.

Lois Lane and Clark Kent are in Yokohama. Why? We're never told. At 11:00 each night Clark changes into Superman and commits acts of sabotage against the Japanese. Why 11:00? We're not told. And isn't sabotage against the law? Would Superman really break the law? When it's discovered he is doing it Lois is kidnapped and posters are put up telling Superman if there is one more act of sabotage Lois will be killed. Somehow Superman misses the posters, commits an act of sabotage and is buried under a pile of steel bars. Lois is immediately bought out to be shot to death. Will Superman escape, find out and save her?

As you can see this story is slap-dash with no explanations for many events (including the title). The racism against the Japanese is in here--but it was done during WWII. What bothered me was Superman committing sabotage--and this was seen as a good thing! For that alone this cartoon is interesting. I give it a 6.