Stamp Day for Superman

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!

Produced by Superman Inc. For the United States Department of the Treasury to promote the purchase of U. S. Savings Bonds.

Old DC live-action adaptations were the best.

Stamp Day for Superman (1954) is a short film with Superman and it was good.

Positives for Stamp Day for Superman (1954): I like how this short film utilizes Superman in a way to help educate kids learn about things they will need to know for when they become adults. George Reeves and Noel Neill are both great as Superman and Lois Lane respectively. And finally, the bit of Superman action that we get is fun enough.

Negatives for Stamp Day for Superman (1954): There isn't really a plot to this short and it feels like things are just happening because they need to happen for the stake of it and that is just lame.

Overall, Stamp Day for Superman (1954) is a good short film with Superman that does what it needs to do and that is good enough.

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.

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.