Superman Flies
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- Опубликовано: 5 сен 2021
- In the Superman serials of 1948 and 1950 with Kirk Alyn, most of the flying scenes were animated. When Superman came to television in 1951, producers knew they had to find a better way to show Superman (George Reeves) in flight. Here are some examples used that first season.
His take offs and landings were the best.
Any shortcomings in the special effects (I didn't really notice any) was always reliably overcome by the fantastic music! It compels excitement and sweeps the viewer into the moment!
Best show and series on television no matter what !
I rather agree. 🙂
One would think it would be easy to determine Superman's secret identity by simply looking for the guy an orchestra is following around.
😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Loved all of the flying scenes in season 1
0:50 Legend has it that, to this day, she is still trying to connect him.
A precursor to calling the cable company.
I like them. Those shots always seemed mysterious and matched the film noire feel of the first two seasons.
Anyone recognize Jimmy Dodd coming into the room and looking for Mr. Kent. He later transitioned to the "Mickey Mouse Club".
That’s who that was! I knew he looked and sounded familiar! Thank you!
Why? Because we like him!
I always wondered why Superman flew sideways…now I know. LOL! At any rate, budgets and tight deadlines probably had a lot to do with why better shots weren’t inserted post-production; as these were very early episodes (first year) maybe they didn’t think it was worth the time and effort as the success of the show might have been still up in the air. My favorite flying scenes were Superman over Metropolis at night (Season Two). Nice clips, Jim. Thanks for posting!
Alan, the thing is, a final edit of the 26 first season episodes didn't happen until all were filmed. If you look at my first clip, you'll see Superman flying out of the window with the stick of dynamite from "Human Bomb" in his hand (and "Human Bomb" was filmed late in the season). Now it's possible that "Haunted Lighthouse" was fully assembled before the others so they could get an idea of what a completed episode might look like. And that could have been done before the better flying shots were created, but it probably would not have been too much of a chore to replace the "doll on a pole" shot at the same time the remaining episodes were put together. I'm sure they had their reasons... just wish I knew what they were.
@@jimnolt-TAC The editor(s) may have had other projects and could have been unavailable for revisions, in addition to the budget and deadline concerns already mentioned. Or else, nobody thought to take note of replacing the inferior flying scenes. I mean, after you filmed and edited the episode, you move on to the next one.
That's wonderful, Jim - that's very interesting information and yes, those insert shots could have been better in those two early episodes!
I like the story that the S on his costume wasn’t for Superman, but a symbol from his Home World meaning HOPE.
The idea that Superman's emblem was a Kryptonian symbol was first broached in the Silver Age, in a story where Superman saw an alternate timeline where Krypton survived and his emblem wound up being the logo for Krypton's space exploration program. Donner's film took it further by making the emblem the House of El coat of arms, and despite DC's stubborn refusal to accept it as canon post-1986...it wound up being canon regardless and they eventually had to concede defeat.
Always loved the "S" was backwards flying left to right.
Most of the "visuals" took place in the viewer's imagination. As long as the viewer can "suspend reality" the visuals work.
It's interesting that since AOS, subsequent Supermans are hardly ever shown flying in profile. It's a great camera position to show speed.
When he is flying, where does Superman carry his Clark Kent clothes?
It was never addressed in the TV series, but it was explained in the comic books that Clark compressed his street clothes and put them in a pouch in his cape.
That dumb flying sequence is the one bad point of the first year, and of a chilling, suspenseful episode!
In my opinion, The 'doll on a pole', as you call it, does not look bad at all. If you freeze it, it is really hard to see it is not a real person. The face is well concealed. I loved the flying scenes in the second season & beyond, & I admire Si Simonson, but Danny Hayes in the first year really did a great job.
I'd just like to know exactly what it is.
When I first saw this, I realized that the Haunted Lighthouse was probably the first episode they ever put together.
Tom, yes indeed. And that accounts for the unique opening seen on some prints of "The Haunted Lighthouse." And that provides me with a reason to do my next video. Thanks.
They were done so cheap. They were lucky to get that done. Nobody put money into Superman. It's a shame.
It's true that Maxwell didn't have much money to work with, but when I look at that first season, especially an episode like "The Mind Machine," I'm amazed at what was achieved.
Got to remember during the 50s the whole idea was to make money
TV was not only a fairly new medium at the time, but a lot of people in Hollywood saw it as a low-rent interloper compared to the major studios. Low budgets were a necessity at the time given how many were skeptical, if not hostile, to TV as a forum.
Good to see pre-Mickey Mouse Club Jimmie Dodd.
my great great grandpa is kirk alyn😭
Television was new and exciting when I was young. Naturally George Reeves' Superman captured and held my attention. We lived far out in the country, and I didn't go to movie theaters, so I never got to enjoy the Superman serials that featured your great-great-grandfather. Through books, I knew about those serials though and was delighted when they were finally released on video in the late 80s. Also, I met and spoke with your great-great-grandfather in 1988. We had a fine conversation. If you'd like to talk more, please write to me at JAMESNOLT@GMAIL.COM.
Are you serious? If so, that is amazing! Thank you for the comment!
Gotta love the backward "S" in some shots.
Yep, need Superman to fly the other direction? Just reverse the footage! Low budget TV at it's best.
@@m.f.m.67 It happened in Richard Donner's *Superman* as well. When Chris Reeve grabs the damaged Air Force One, the shot is flipped so the emblem's backwards and the wrong arm is lifted forward compared to the later shots.
With Truth Justice and the American Way
How many suits did Clark go through in a year?
Or did Superman go back to his launch sites and put the suits back on?
In the comic books his clothes were made of a “super” compressible material that he could squeeze into a small ball or cube and place them into a pocket in his suit. The hat, too. I think the glasses were left normal and just placed in the same place. If my memory still serves…
@@clrobertson13 Ah-HAH, but of course! When was the last time you read a Superman comic?
The effects for the first two seasons were.great then George fell and they used another technique
The wire take-offs were the big problem, and the only time we see George doing such a take-off is in "Superman and the Molemen" by the side of the house. Director Lee Sholem liked the look of those take-offs, but since George didn't want to risk being dropped a second time, other such take-offs were done by stunt men. Director Tommy Carr, however, allowed/encouraged George to use the springboard to simulate taking to flight. By the second season, the wire take-offs were dropped (excuse the pun) completely and the springboard with used exclusively. Other changes were adopted as well. One was the use of an improved flying pan.
Today, they can use computer graphic to add colour to the black and white episodes. They could also create computer automated graphics for the flying scenes.
Neither of which they should do. The shows are what they are and nobody has the right to mess with them.
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The guy who came into the room at 1:27 -- was he Jimmy Dodd from "The Mickey Mouse Club?"
Yes, Dodd had this one appearance on Superman.
@@jimnolt-TAC Thanks!
1:34 was that a doll too? Always wondered how they did that one
The figure at 1:34 is really George. They put some work into that image. If you can stop the action at 1:33 in the middle of the fade from Jimmy Dodd to Superman, you can see that there is a bar coming up between George's legs and over his back. There was a harness hanging from that pole. George, of course, is in the harness. As the action continues, that pole was erased. optically. If you can't see it, write to me at JAMESNOLT@GMAIL.COM and I'll send you some additional images.
@@jimnolt-TAC thank you !
@@jimnolt-TAC I guess my question is, understanding that he is lying on some type of pan configuration with his costume over it, and a process shot behind him, how did they make the image so small? Especially in 1950's television budget. Thank you. Btw I'm 65 and I probably understand more how the Christopher Reeve movies were done because of internet transparency. Thank you!
0:51
That's one of those early experiments. Better examples were filmed before the episodes were finally assembled, so I don't know why that one was left in.
Superman was flying west to Germany..instead of east ..and flying back east instead of west..so hes from the west coast..
And well never know how he got his street clothes to germany
That was never addressed in the TV series, but the comics books explained that he compressed his street clothes and carried them with him in a pouch in his cape.
@@jimnolt-TAC That sounds plausible!
Jesus is coming soon be ready time is running out ❤❤❤❤❤