ALL SCI-FI

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Fun Facts } The Case of the Talkative Dummy, October 03, 1952.

The theater set was the same one used by Charlie Chaplin for his classic movie ''Limelight."

Guest star Pierre Watkin played Perry White in the Superman serial.

Phillip Pine would later play the infamous Colonel Green on Star Trek (TOS) episode The Savage Curtain.

The red outfit that Pine wore on that ST episode would be recycled for Robin Williams spacesuit on Mork & Mindy.

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Episode # 23 from season one } ''Ghost Wolf,'' (February 20,1953).

This would be the final time that George Reeves would allow himself, as Superman, to be flown through the air via wires after crashing to the stage floor.

"That's enough of that. Peter Pan can fly with wires, but not Superman.''...George Reeves after the stunt mishap.

[Bud Brewster]

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George was smart. The wire-supported flying scenes didn't work well anyway, and they certainly weren't worth the risk he took in doing the stunts.

Ironically, some of the best early era flying scenes were done in the serials with dummies on long wires stretch taunt like zip lines, with the dummies zooming across landscapes and sets in a very convincing manner.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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I cannot agree with you more, Bud, in regards to how well done flying scenes were done in some of those classic movie serials.

1941's ''Adventures of Captain Marvel' 'still remains awesome looking to this day for the flying segments with CM.

The special effect was created by the legendary FX maestros Howard & Theodore Lydecker.

A 7'-foot dummy was used that was made of paper mache 7 weighed 15-lbs.

An elaborate pulley system was devised in order to film the CM dummy soaring through the air.

It was originally created for use in the Superman movie serials but discarded. A prototype was made.

A pity that the AOS TV series could not have taken advantage of the pulley system that was intended first for the movie Superman flying scenes.

I'm sure that the TV show had neither the budget or shooting schedule time to do so.

[Bud Brewster]

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By gum, it occurred to me this morning that the dummy-on-a-wire system might not have work as well for Superman as it did for Commando Cody and Captain Marvel, the two I remember who used that system.

Superman's cape might not have looked as well as it did when George laid on the board and faced a big fan. Commando Cody had no cape, of course, and Captain Marvel wore a short cape that hung over one shoulder. Frankly it fluttered around too much in the closeups of Captain Marvel when he was position prone, probably because the cape seemed to be made of lightweight silk.

But George's long cape, made of heavier material, might have laid across the back of the dummy if the wind weren't blowing hard enough from the speed of the dummy on the wire.

However, I found the YouTube video below with 13 minutes of Superman flying scenes, and it showed me a few things that surprised me.

_ Adventures of Superman - Flying With Superman


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I'd forgotten just how many ways they actually presented the flying scenes. The video includes the well known scenes of George laying on a platform, as well as scenes hanging from wires in front of a rear projection screen, and the shots of George superimposed over a moving cloud background.

In the scenes with George on wires, the cape flaps around energetically because of the fan blowing on him, and sometimes a corner of the cape would wrap around one of the wires for an instant. (I didn't get a picture of that happening, but you'll it in the video, starting at the 5:45 mark.)







What surprised me was the fact that when George is on the platform (as shown in the screen shots below), his cape doesn't just flutter because of the fan blowing on him, it was manipulated by wires attached to the corners, with stage hands off camera shaking the wires up and down, keeping the outsides edge fairly taunt while the rest of the cape flapped around because of the fan and and agitation of the corners.*


The technique works remark well.[/size]




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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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AOS episode #2,''The Haunted Lighthouse, ''September 26, 1952.

This was adapted from the Superman radio show story ''Lighthouse Point Smugglers.''

AOS episode #13,''The Stolen Costume,''December 12, 1952 was adapted from the radio episode ''Dead Men Tell No Tales.''

A number of episodes from the TV series were adapted from both the radio show for Superman,as well as some of the comic books.

Episode # 38,''Panic in the Sky,''November 50, 1953, one of the most memorable and popular episodes from the television series was adapted from the World's Finest Comic book issue #68,''The Menace from the Stars.''

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

[Eadie]

Original B&W opening and closing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AWxAbD9plU

Old TV advert:



Stage show advert:



George in WW ii Army uniform:



USO show in 1949:



Greeting fans at LAX:



Fan painting for never made 1960 film:



Soundtrack of the TV series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R2oGzE_x40&list=PL6law6Uk-M4GxcvkHVUI2yvWG3TR2jjzX
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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

[Bud Brewster]

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Eadie, these images are amazing!

You've definitely re-energized this thread with your beautiful contribution! We thank you.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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Some Super Facts about the AOS.

The crew on the show dubbed the Superman uniform "the underwear."

The two~piece outfit was colored gray & brown so that it picked up better on black & white film. It was made of heavy wool and under the intense lights used for filming GR would sweat profusely and lose several pounds.

Adding rubber muscles to the costume made the whole thing weigh in at 20 lbs.

The cape was raw silk.

[Bud Brewster]

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Great post, Mike! You (along with Eadie's pictures above) have kept this thread super-charged with great contributions!

That said, I can't resist the urge to re-post my modified images from a few pages back. It demonstrate how much better the costume would have looked with a few adjustments in the sizes of the various components.

Here's the original image from the show's opening, next to my modified version. I made Superman's chest larger (with a bit more padding), I reduced his chest emblem slightly (to make his chest look bigger, I lowered his belt significantly, and I made his red pants less nerdy.

I even made the cape extend a bit further to the right!

I think these simple changes make a huge improvement!



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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You should be the custom tailor for superheroes Bud, I like each and every alteration that you made for George's costume.

I thought that the hands~down worst costume for Superman was the one worn by Dean Cain on "Lois & Clark : The Adventures of Superman."

Never was a fan of the show as it was kind of camp & too comedic for my taste. Terri Hatcher as Lois Lane was a hottie though.

Back to the suit. The blue tights were made of some kind of shiny material that looked ridiculous.

The S emblem was so huge that it covered Cain's entire chest! Looked absurd.

Chris Reeve's Superman costume was well done for that era and faithful to the DC comic books.

Oddly though, it now has a dated look to it compared to the latest versions of the costumes worn in the Brandon Routh & Henry Cavill feature films.

Don't know what materials the costume designers used for the creation of those costumes but it is outstanding.

The uniforms now looks to be very rugged in appearance and not like a circus costume. Reminds me of the type of outfits you can see worn by athletes or stuntmen.

Just has a rich quality to it.

The S emblem looks like a metallic plate which is impressive.

Interesting on how a superhero costume can be both faithful to a comic book character and yet modified to look much cooler in film or TV compared to a comic book iteration.

[Bud Brewster]

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The Superman costume in the Supergirl series is really good . . . except for the terrible way the cape is attached! !





I made modifications to that costume, too, including the size of the emblem and the height of the belt. (The modified version is on the left of course)





But the way, Christopher Reeve's cape is attached perfectly!

Instead hanging straight down the middle of his back like the George Reeves' version — looking like the towel the "center" wears on his belt so the quarterback can whip his sweaty hands — the Christopher Reeve version positioned the right-and-left edges of the cape way out across his shoulders.!

That made it easy for Superman to strike great poses like this one!



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

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Yes, forgot about Supe's uniform from his guest appearances on "Supergirl." That is well done except for the cape attachment as you point out, Bud.

I've liked Kara's costume for SG, including her newest version with pants.

It struck me that with s-f TV shows just how important the wardrobe is for the characters.

Yes, the sets, props, visual/special FX are all vitally important on any series.

However, when you ponder it, what do we fans see the most of over the course of a show? The outfits.

On ST:TOS we marveled at the Enterprise model; the wonderfully designed tricorder, phaser, and communicator props.

The visuals of planets, matte paintings, the effect for the transporter were awesome to view.

But it was the costumes we'd see onscreen much of the time on any given episode. All the other items were given brief scenes. The uniforms were in front of us constantly.

It is all critical to the success of any series but the reality is it is costumes we'll see in scenes 90% of the time.

So they need to get the designs just right.