During lunch-hour from my first full-time job in 1959 at the age of 19, I happened by a sidewalk newsstand in New York City, and spied the shocking front page headline of the New York Post: SUPERMAN - TV IDOL A SUICIDE.
Yes, for all intents I was at that time an adult, but the child in me was still buried not too far below my still developing adult personality: and that child was shocked. How could this be? After the reality of it sunk in, the tears flowed freely and unashamedly from me and a lot of people on the street at that time.
It is difficult for the younger generation of today to understand, why a grown man would cry over the death of a person he never knew personally, who in turn portrayed a person who never existed, and I don't fault them for that.
My generation grew up in a kinder, gentler time when we encouraged children to expand their horizons through their imaginations. And in that world where only the very young seem to be able to frolic without tripping over their sanity, there was in residence a very real character - to us: Superman.
By chance and a lot of luck, "The Adventures of Superman" came to TV in 1953 with a cast of incredibly good and capable character actors, all aiming professionally for better things, but stuck there by destiny. And there on that small black and white TV screen, they gave us their absolute best and made a legend come to life.
This very well made film has perfectly cast not only the actors, but the times as well in a well balanced portrayal of an unfortunate event, the mysterious death of the star of Superman, George Reeves. Was it really suicide or murder? We may never know for sure.
If there is any fault in the film was the very limited, deadpan portrayal of Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane in the series. To this day, her Lois Lane charactorization is one to be envied and copied.
This actress was never deadpan on or off the set, and she acted each scene as though she was auditioning for a bigger part - which she may well have been.
This is not a perfect film about what really happened that night, but then again, since we don't have all the pieces, this is, indeed, well made supposition. It really couldn't be better.
Yes, for all intents I was at that time an adult, but the child in me was still buried not too far below my still developing adult personality: and that child was shocked. How could this be? After the reality of it sunk in, the tears flowed freely and unashamedly from me and a lot of people on the street at that time.
It is difficult for the younger generation of today to understand, why a grown man would cry over the death of a person he never knew personally, who in turn portrayed a person who never existed, and I don't fault them for that.
My generation grew up in a kinder, gentler time when we encouraged children to expand their horizons through their imaginations. And in that world where only the very young seem to be able to frolic without tripping over their sanity, there was in residence a very real character - to us: Superman.
By chance and a lot of luck, "The Adventures of Superman" came to TV in 1953 with a cast of incredibly good and capable character actors, all aiming professionally for better things, but stuck there by destiny. And there on that small black and white TV screen, they gave us their absolute best and made a legend come to life.
This very well made film has perfectly cast not only the actors, but the times as well in a well balanced portrayal of an unfortunate event, the mysterious death of the star of Superman, George Reeves. Was it really suicide or murder? We may never know for sure.
If there is any fault in the film was the very limited, deadpan portrayal of Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane in the series. To this day, her Lois Lane charactorization is one to be envied and copied.
This actress was never deadpan on or off the set, and she acted each scene as though she was auditioning for a bigger part - which she may well have been.
This is not a perfect film about what really happened that night, but then again, since we don't have all the pieces, this is, indeed, well made supposition. It really couldn't be better.