Showdown

Besides the comic-book superheroics, an interesting thing about some of these old Superman cartoons is the role of the narrator. They all begin with a voiceover from an unseen narrator who introduces the general concept of Superman, of course, but I'm talking about a character as narrator. In the original "Superman" (1941), Lois Lane was the storyteller; the film we saw was or became the story she wrote as a reporter for The Daily Planet. In this one, "Showdown," Lois takes a back seat to Supes and his alter ego--or double--Clark Kent. Added here is another doppelgänger for the man of steel in the form of a crook impersonating him (as, meanwhile, his crime boss impersonates Edward G. Robinson).

The short doesn't conclude with a story by Lane, either, but with Kent waking up from a snooze. One may read this as him continuing his impersonation of not being Superman, but another way to look at it is that the entire story of doubles (Clark/Superman and two Supermans) was Clark's dream after a boring night at the opera. In this final scene, Lois says she has a story to tell him, but we never hear it. This is Clark's story.

In this one, the population believe that Superman has turned into a jewel thief. I suppose it's believable in that the poor guy probably has to live on Clark Kent's salary. But it is not true. Clark needs to get to the bottom of this and it turns out a look-alike guy has been doing the pillaging. Clark/Superman sees him at the opera and confronts him. It turns out there is a guy called the "Boss" (that Bruce Springsteen is everywhere) who is really behind all of this and apparently Superman and everyone else knows exactly where he is. This is more of a police episode and that's refreshing. I recently saw the dreadful movie, "Batman v Superman" so we know the poor guy can really be given a bad rap. Oh! Lois doesn't get captured by the bad guys. That should be on the cover of the Dailly Planet.

This is the second Superman cartoon made by the Famous Studios which was an outgrowth of the original Max Fleischer Studios after the ouster by Paramount of him and brother Dave. Being the eleventh overall, this animated short is interesting in that the villain is...Supes himself? Actually, it's someone dressed as him that's doing all the stealing of jewels for his boss. When Lois and Clark are assigned to review an opera, that not-too-convincing-Superman-doppelganger shows up to get more bling. Wanna guess who also shows up? Well, I won't tell but I'm sure you already know. Anyway, this short is unique as for once, Lois doesn't get captured and the robbers aren't anyone wanting to destroy or conquer the world. But that also makes this a little less exciting. Still, Showdown is worth a look for that slight difference in Superman plots.

Someone disguised as Superman is committing robberies all over Metropolis. He's doing it under orders from The Boss (that's all he's ever called--and he sounds like Orson Welles!). Immediately the police start searching for Superman. One night Lois Lane and Clark Kent are covering the opera. The fake Superman decides to rob the patrons there that night. Lois scares him off---but Clark decides to meet him face to face and get to the bottom of this.

This has to be one of the quickest-moving Superman cartoons I've ever seen. It moves like lightning and (for once) Lois is NOT captured or put in danger. I do love how she casually jumps into the police car (in her beautiful new dress) to join them as they go after the villain. It's never explained how they KNOW where The Boss is though. Who cares? This is fun, fast and beautifully animated. A definite 9.

Showdown (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A fake Superman is going around robbing various shops and people but the real one gets a chance to grab him, which leads to another criminal. This isn't the greatest cartoon ever made but it's mildly entertaining simply because it breaks free from the plot lines of previous shorts. The movie mixes it up a little bit and for that I'm extremely grateful considering the previous shorts were starting to go down the same path. What really goes against the film is that the fake Superman is about a quarter the size of the real one so when they finally reach their showdown, it's pretty disappointing because the fake guy is so small and not much of a match.