ALL SCI-FI

[Pow]

Keep Watching the Skies! by Bill Warren.

Superman and the Mole Men actually functioned as a pilot for the series; both starred George Reeves in the dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent. The movie is very much like an especially long episode of the series and, in fact, was edited down into a two-part show for the series under the title "The Strange People." (It lost about 18 minutes). The production values on the film are as low as on the series, but the photography and staging are notably better. There are more exteriors, Superman seems grimmer, and the plot hinges on a message of stern tolerance, unlike the light tone of most of the TV episodes.

In view of the later flaccid episodes of the TV series, in which the menaces tended to be quaint or even silly and Superman only stepped in at the last moment to casually save the day, the rather grim aspects of Superman and the Mole Men surprise many viewers today. There is a real threat of real violence from the angry mob, and the somewhat dark and moody photography implies that death is a real possibility in this fantasy world. If Superman hadn't shown up, the harmless mole men would have been killed by the mob.

For the most part, the cast is especially good for such an inexpensive film. George Reeves is too heroic as Clark Kent and would continue to be throughout the TV series, but that wasn't his fault; that's the way the scripts were written. In the movie, however, he's a much more serious and powerful figure as Superman than would be the case later. He seems quite capable of flattening the crowd if they harm the mole men.

Phyllis Coates is nifty as Lois Lane. She's spunky, perky, intelligent, headstrong and foolhardy, all the most enduring characteristics of Superman's Girl Friend.

Superman and the Mole Men received extremely poor distribution in 1951, and most people who have seen it are familiar only with the two-parter episode of the series. The movie is not bad; it's fast-paced, interesting and reasonably intelligent, given its literal comic-book origins.

Sidebar: I wasn't born when this film was first released and only saw it as part of the Adventures of Superman television series. Years later, producers would present Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as a feature film before it became a weekly television series. I recall seeing the movie and watching the series. TV science fiction shows were far and few between back then, so I followed the series even though I never thought the writing was much good.

Bill Warren feels that George Reeves presentation of Clark Kent is too heroic for this film, as well as the TV series. Perhaps so. However, I always enjoyed that George also brought a fun sense of humor to his Kent persona. He played it like Clark knew something that no one else did and got a kick out of it, and how true that was. All the actors following George rarely, if ever, brought much of a sense of delight and humor to the Kent role. Sure, they played Kent as "meek & mild" as the character was originally created by Jerry Siegal & Joe Shuster for the comic books. They never brought that feeling of how thrilling it can be for Clark to become Superman and change the course of events and lives for good. The Superman actors played the role like they were mafia mobsters, in that, it was always business and nothing personal. Grim & stoic works fine for some comic book superheroes such as the Batman, but Kal-El should bring a sense of wonder and delight about his earth personas.

___________ Superman and the Mole Men Trailer


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[Bud Brewster]

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Thanks for sharing Mr. Warren's views on this film, Pow!

When I first saw your post I wondered if it should have been added to the thread for Adventures of Superman, in view of the fact that it was shown as two episodes on the program.

However, it's described on Wikipedia this way.

"Superman and the Mole Men is the first theatrical feature film based on any DC Comics character."

With that ine mind, the proper forum would be Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969.

So, after due deliberation, I moved it, and I added a post to the Superman TV series thread to alert readers to check out the new thread you've started.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Thanks so much, Bruce, for providing this wonderful poster from the feature film. It really enhances my post.

[Bud Brewster]

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You're quite welcome, Mike! I was delighted to find a jpeg of that the particular poster, even though the original was in need of some "Brewsterizing" in terms of brightness and color.

But your fine post deserved the "best"!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)