The Adventures of Superman (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Yes, George Reeves was indeed a fine actor. Just seeing him in non-Superman roles in films like Rancho Notorious and From Here to Eternity, for example, shows that he had a lot more arrows in his quiver than just Superman/Clark Kent.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Yes, George Reeves was indeed a fine actor. Just seeing him in non-Superman roles in films like Rancho Notorious and From Here to Eternity, for example, shows that he had a lot more arrows in his quiver than just Superman/Clark Kent.

the fact that he got his start and a badguy in the serials is a fun switch to the Man of Steel!!

 

[Matt Hough]

If only director Mark Sandrich hadn't died. According to George, Mark had plans to make George a star after the war. Sadly, Mark didn't live long enough to make good on his promise.

 

[ScottRE]

Yes, George Reeves was indeed a fine actor. Just seeing him in non-Superman roles in films like Rancho Notorious and From Here to Eternity, for example, shows that he had a lot more arrows in his quiver than just Superman/Clark Kent.

Honestly, as much as I loved it as a kid, the series today would be unbearable for me if not for Reeves. He's Clark for most of every episode, so this version of the character is never the simpering coward Lois calls him (at least first season Lois). He's sharp, charming and quick to action. But when the situation needs Superman, he vanishes, which leads Lois to believe he's a coward... If I recall correctly, the Noel Neill Lois is less disgusted with his cowardice and more suspicious that Clark and Superman are never together. This makes more sense since Clark takes almost no pains to allay suspicions.

I honestly miss this version of Superman. He's vastly overpowered now. He wasn't a god back then. I would love to see a theatrical film of the character go back to his roots.

 

[ponset]

 

[rcmeserve]

For a mild-mannered reporter, Clark had a pretty cool car — the Nash Healey.

 

[The 1960's]

Adventures of Superman (1952-1958)
S02E12 Panic in the Sky (Dec.05.1953)​

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Cast:
George Reeves as Superman / Clark Kent
Noel Neill as Lois Lane
Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen
John Hamilton as Perry White
Jonathan Hale as Prof. Roberts
Jane Frazee as Farmwoman
Clark Howat as Professor Roberts' Assistant
Tom Moore as Shop Owner

Director:
Thomas Carr

Writer:
Jackson Gillis

One of the more well known episodes of this series and perhaps the best, certainly one of my favorites. As crowds gather in fear The Man of Steel, Superman, changes the trajectory of a giant asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The impact is so great he suffers from amnesia as Clark Kent. This is a standout episode for George Reeves. The first two seasons were dead serious. Sure, at times the special effects were laughable, and yet the ability to make a man appear to be flying was cutting edge for the time period. But either way, we were kids and it was all so cool. The story of Superman, Mr. Reeves and the supporting actors played out these plots as though they were very real. This is what made them so great and set them apart from the rest of the series.

Please indulge my photo essay obsession as I put a great deal of time into this. I hope that some of you are able to appreciate this endeavor. If not, I certainly won't be apologizing for it. It's my way of showing my love for Classic Television and The Adventures of Superman! If this FULL version is too much for you to digest, see the EDITED edition.​

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[The 1960's]

 

[The 1960's]

 

[The 1960's]

 

[The 1960's]

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[John Sparks]

Thanks so much for pics Neal. Now I'll have to watch my TAOS box set. I'm sure it won't be as clear as the pics you show. That's one show that needs restoring on put on BD!

 

[The 1960's]

Thanks so much for pics Neal. Now I'll have to watch my TAOS box set. I'm sure it won't be as clear as the pics you show. That's one show that needs restoring on put on BD!

Welcome John! Actually Panic in the Sky is one of the better prints of all the episodes in the Warner release. It still looks quite good, but I admit I certainly did rather extensive modifications to the images. After more than a year of doing Route 66 Photo Essays, I've gotten a great deal of practice improving many of the poor prints in that series, particularly the earlier episodes though when the prints are that bad there's little I was able to do to improve those.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

And in the early '90s, the writers of the Superman books (who all grew up on The Adventures of Superman) named an entire storyline after Panic in the Sky

 

[Matt Hough]

I really enjoyed revisiting the episode through your photo essay, Neal. I've never understood why Lois, Jimmy, and Perry don't recognize Superman once Clark is out of his glasses and in bed, but I guess the identity logic about this has never made sense, and we must just accept it as part of the narrative. Anyway, it's a wonderful episode, and knowing what a minuscule budget the show was being produced on, those special effects are pretty great.

 

[The 1960's]

Thanks Matt, that means a lot coming from a seasoned HTF veteran like yourself! l always found it somewhat fruitless to question the logic of a mythical character. Your question has been posed hundreds of times in the DC letters pages of the various Superman related comic book titles. Sometimes the editors would respond with serious yet ridiculous explanations and other times even they knew there weren’t any answers to explain why no one seemed to be able to recognize Superman and Clark Kent with or without a pair of glasses.

Coincidentally the following promotional short starring Noel Neill was uploaded by Ira Gallen on YouTube only hours after I posted my Panic In The Sky Photo Essay for the first time last Tuesday. It contains a unique mix of actors with ties to super-hero productions. Robert Lowery played the second Batman in the 1949 serial. George D. Wallace played Commando Cody in the 1950 serial. Lyle Talbot played Lex Luthor in Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) and John Eldredge co-starred in four episodes of The Adventures of Superman, most notably Crime Wave (1953).

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Flight to the Future ...to the World of Plastics (1952)
Stars Noel Neill Robert Lowery George D. Wallace John Eldredge Helen Winston Charles Evans Tom Wilde Lyle Talbot​

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Marge, a young flight attendant, is offered the chance to work a chartered flight her boyfriend Bill is piloting. On the trip are four members of a company engaged in the manufacturing of various plastics - Messrs. Arnold, Duncan, Harmon, and Casey. Mr. Arnold engages Marge in conversation about many of the ways plastics are used in modern life. Then Mr. Duncan tells her about more uses of plastics. Then Mr. Casey tells her about further uses of plastics. Then Mr. Harmon tells Marge about additional uses of plastics. Then her boyfriend Bill tells her about some heretofore unmentioned uses of plastics. They all share some lemonade. During the course of this, Mr. Arnold awaits an important message.​

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[RICK BOND]

Wish WB would Restore and release Adventures of Superman ! The 17 Max F. 1941-1942 Superman animated shorts are Long overdue on Bluray.

 

[Gordiac]

This set includes the Fleischer cartoons, supposed to be SD, but I've yet to check the quality myself:

See on Amazon

 

[Matt Hough]

I bought the two black and white seasons on Vudu when they were on sale for $10 each last week and have been slowly watching them at lunchtime. They're still SD and likely the same transfers as the DVDs, but it's nice not having to get up from my chair and fiddle with discs (it's called laziness), and the quality is well above average for most of the episodes ("The Stolen Costume" notwithstanding which we all know about).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This set includes the Fleischer cartoons, supposed to be SD, but I've yet to check the quality myself:

See on Amazon

They’re in standard definition but they look and sound pretty good. If you have the 2006 deluxe DVD box set of Superman films, it’s the same masters used in that set. I know it’s not HD but I’m pretty satisfied with them.