Superman

I wish to say that ten years ago on this very day I personally met Kirk Alyn when I helped him with a chore. He was quite elderly and frail, but still it was an honor to meet him. So this comment is dedicated to the memory of Kirk Alyn.

This is the first time The Man of Steel ever appeared on the screen. And guess what? It's great all thanks to Kirk Alyn and a cast that makes it good fun. Yeah I grant you, the special effects are hokey, but you don't need rock'em-sock'em visuals to make a movie, just a great sense of pure enjoyment. Along with Kirk there is Noel Neil as a very spunky Lois Lane. Carol Forman makes a great villain (and a very sexy one too) as the Spider Lady. And former Little Rascal Tommy "Butch" Bond plays Jimmy Olsen (which in itself is another beginning... Bond was the first person to have ever played this role!). But it's Alyn that makes it all great. He gives Superman a sense of real superhero pizazz without making the Son of Krypton look pompous. So run, or fly, out and get a copy and pop it in your player. This is one time where your entertainment time really does become "A job for Superman"!

This is a great serial. What people tend to forget when watching it today, is that it was made in 1948 and was aimed at the Saturday matinee crowd.

The special effects, to be sure, are primitive by today's standards, but take a closer look. Remember this was 1948. The opening sequence and Superman's flying effects were achieved through some excellent animation.

Don't forget that Superman IS a comic book character. The transition from live action to animation in the flying sequences, is performed seamlessly and realistically. I thought that this was pretty innovative for its' time.

Kirk Alyn was born to play Superman. He gives a realistic and credible performance as both Superman and Clark Kent. The diminutive Noel Neill makes an excellent Lois Lane, girl reporter, Timmy Bond (Formerly "Butch" of the Our Gang comedies) is good as Jimmy Olsen and veteran Pierre Watkin is suitably cranky as Perry White.

Carol Forman brings a cold and icy sexiness to the role of the Spider Lady, Superman's chief nemesis. Serial veterans Charles Quigley, Charles King, Terry Frost and Rusty Wescoatt round out the cast in various villain roles.

This is one good serial! There is a lot of action and decent SFX and fairly good (if now stereotypical) characterization.

Kirk Alyn is great as Superman and Clark Kent...a performance that really wasn't surpassed in any media until Christopher Reeve's triumph in 1978. Lois and Jimmy are suitably doltish...though even Lois was a bit more intelligent in the comics than in this serial.

I've been told that the producers had some remorse at the cheapness of the effects (i.e., using animation for Superman flying), but I really don't think it comes off as shoddy...in fact I think it comes off fairly well, or at least better than using a derivative of Republic's effects for making Captain Marvel fly seven years earlier.

Superman is supposedly the most popular chapterplay in history. I don't know about that, but it is very enjoyable and an excellent example of the genre of the movie serial.

If you've read any reviews of this first set of serials, most of them say the same thing. Superman turns into a cartoon (which I found fun!), the acting is wonderful, and the adventure is a real good yarn.

The problem is the Spider Lady. Not an interesting character, and she doesn't really give Superman enough challenges. The same 2 thugs seem to be beat up and nearly caught in every episode, and the plot really gets sluggish between episodes 9 through 13, and then picks up at 14 to a quick finish at episode 15.

The best are the first few--krypton, Jor-El, the Kents, Superman first meets Kryptonite, early use of his vision, 'up up and away,' etc.--and the last 2 episodes.

The 2nd serial set is superior, but this is still great fun to look at from time to time.

I have read that in 1940-41 Republic Pictures was negotiating to make a Superman serial, when that fell through they made their classic "Captain Marvel", the flying sequences in that were done with a combination of shots of actor Tom Tyler, stuntman Dave Sharpe and the use of a slightly oversize dummy (later used in the Rocketman/Commando Cody serials, even today those flying sequences hold up. Historians of the B-movies and serials have said Republic had the best special effects, Columbia tended to cut corners-Lois Lane wears the same outfit in all 15 chapters. That said, the 2 Columbia "Superman" serials are pretty enjoyable, they do a good job within their budget limits, the actors are much better than those in a lot of big budget productions, they take their roles seriously. You can watch this as a period piece or as an adventure in its own right.