Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman Page #3

...to have a costumed character run in

and just fix everything.

During the war, Superman

was often featured in the comics...

...dealing body blows

to Hitler and Hirohito.

It was a time of moral certainty.

One in which enemies of the day were

depicted as two-dimensional...

...in more ways than one.

America's favorite superhero

cheered on the troops...

...and urged folks to buy war bonds

and recycle scrap paper.

Ironically, this recycling campaign

helped make vintage Superman comics...

...a rare and valuable commodity.

The end of World War II

would mark a new chapter...

...in the evolution of the Man of Steel.

Like the country that created him,

Superman now seemed invincible.

Stronger even than the invention

that ended the war, the atomic bomb.

As GIs came home

and began raising families...

...DC readers could also follow

the character's teenage adventures...

...as Superbly, the obedient adopted

son of loving Earth parents, the Kent's...

... who live in the idyllic town

of Smallville.

This chapter in Superman's history had

also been chronicled in a 1942 novel...

... written by George Loather,

a key contributor to the radio show.

It's a very conservative era.

It's very respectful of authority.

And Superman therefore went

from being a crusader of social causes...

. . .to a symbol of the social order.

He became the quintessential

big blue boy scout.

On movie screens, the Man of Steel

also got a fresh makeover...

...in a 15-chapter serial

produced by Columbia Pictures.

That track flier races through here

and she's loaded to the hit.

This looks like a job for Superman.

The films were made

on a shoestring budget...

...and were intended to entertain

children during Saturday matinees.

Former movie cowboy Kirk Allen

was an exuberant Man of Steel--

Get that man to the police.

Turn the reducer ray over to proper

authorities and I'II round up the others.

--and a very mild-mannered

Clark Kent.

-I'm going out for a while.

-But things may pop here.

I'll be back in time.

I just want to get the reaction of the man

on the street when the news is fished.

Actress Noel Neill became the screen's

first flesh-and-blood Lois Lane.

-Lois!

-Yes?

-It's Jimmy, can I come in?

-It's, ''May I come in'' . . .

...and the answer is yes, you're in.

My dad was this newspaperman.

He said, ''I never see anybody going

around with a pad, pencil or anything.

He's running, getting

in trouble and it'' . . . .

-You're wanted.

-What goes on here?

-Heidi, Miss Lane.

-It's Dr. Hackett, he's on the hot list.

-can you identify him?

-Yes.

Good enough for me.

The serial inspired...

...an equally successful sequel:

Atom Man vs. Superman.

Here, audiences were introduced

to the villainous Luthor...

...not yet Lex Luthor,

played by Lyle Talbot.

They think I'm buffing.

I'll show them.

I'll destroy the bridge

and then all of Metropolis.

Luthor had become well-known

to comic book readers...

...as the Man of Steel's archenemy.

The mad scientist was

a fitting bogyman for an age...

...living under the threat of

atomic annihilation.

In the Kirk Allen Superman serials, you

don't actually see him fly. It's animation.

Up, up and away.

I have talked to people who to this day

remember being disappointed. . .

. . .that they didn't really see Superman

fly and that it was a cartoon.

Return to your office.

By the end of the 1940s,

Superman had become an American icon.

And after triumphing in everything

from comic books and radio dramas,,,

... to merchandising and movies,

the Man of Steel was about to conquer...

... the most exciting new technology

of the day.

In November of 1951 the feature

film Superman and the Mole Men...

...premiered in theaters

across America.

The low-budget movie starred

a new Superman, George Reeves...

... who was joined

by Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane.

Now Listen to me, all of you. You don't

know anything about these creatures.

What they are or where they come from.

But here's the man that can tell you.

The story concerned the fear

that infects a small town...

... whose inhabitants

come face-to-face...

... with gnome-like visitors

from the depths of the Earth.

As Superman comes

to the creature's rescue...

... the audience is given

a lesson in tolerance...

...a timely theme during

the politically paranoid 1950s.

You're not going to shoot

those little creatures.

In the first piece,

they haven't done you any harm.

In the second piece,

they may be radioactive.

If they fall in the reservoir,

they may contaminate the water supply.

Save your time and ammunition,

Benson.

Shot on a dusty backlit in Culver

City, California, in just 12 days...

... the movie was a box-office success.

It also helped launch a bigger project

already in production.

A Superman series

for the young medium of television.

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a Locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings

at a single bound.

-Look, up in the sky.

-It's a bird.

-It's a plane.

-It's Superman.

In the Adventures of Superman, George

Reeves returned as the Man of Steel...

...and so did Phyllis Coates

as Lois Lane.

Largest ruby in the world, stolen three

years ago from the London Museum.

-What a story.

-Thanks to Kent here.

And to Superman.

Like I always say, two heads

are better than one.

Classically trained

at the Pasadena playhouse,,,

,,,Reeves first came to the attention

of movie audiences in 1939,,,

... when he appeared as one of the

Tarlatan twins in the epic production...

...of Gone with the Wind.

But after World War II, Reeves' career

had come to a virtual standstill.

The 38-year-old shared

his frustration...

... with fellow Superman actor

Jack Larson, cast as Jimmy Olsen.

The first time George

and I met, I said. . .

. . .how good he was

in so proudly We hail!...

. . .which was a star-making route,

and he said, ''Yes.

And if the director, Mark Sandwich,

who was a mentor to me, hadn't died. . .

. . .while I was away in the Army. . .

. . .I wouldn't be sitting here

in this monkey suit today. ''

That's the only time ever I heard

him say anything negative. . .

. . .about being Superman.

As I understand it. . .

. . .you want to go in the roller coaster?

And the merry-go-round,

and the Ferris wheel.

AII right.

Targeted mainly at children...

... the Adventures of Superman

premiered in syndication...

...on September 19, 1952,

and became an instant hit.

But I don't understand.

Why did he do this?

There's a deposit of hydroxide in that

cave. I just Yearned this in Washington.

What is this hay--? Hydro--?

Hydroxide, it's a rare mineral

used in making the hydrogen bomb.

I first saw Superman on television,

the George Reeves TV series.

And I just went mad for it.

I just loved it.

Superman, you're wonderful.

How did you know we were in trouble?

A little bird told me.

I bet you the little bird's name

was Clark Kent.

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