NOT ONLY HAVE we neglected to review this fine addition to that great second season of the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, but so did the rest of our seemingly boundless numbers of reviewers. Shame on us, all of us! This seemingly forgotten little episode should be ranked at the upper echelon of the Super-list of shows.
IT'S CERTAINLY NOT that there was any spectacular happenings in the story. There was no threat from Outer Space as in PANIC IN THE SKY, no threat from Kryptonite as in THE DEFEAT OF SUPERMAN, nor any bizarre sub-human invaders from inner-space (from the Center of the Earth) as in season one's THE UNKNOWN PEOPLE Parts I & II*.
WHAT WEW DO have is a finely tuned combination of themes that make for a top notch Superman story; be it on TV or in its original medium in the Comic Books & Newspaper Comic Strips.
WE START OUT with a seemingly flaky, whacked out female; who accosts Editor Perry White at the Daily Planet's offices. She demands to see Superman, whom she identifies as being one and the same with reporter Clark Kent! She believes this because her nephew, Alan Harper (Billy Gray**), has a photo taken that depicts Kent changing into Superman in a Metropolis alley (no telephone booths being available***).
AFTER EXPLAINING THIS away as a double exposure, Kent and Jimmy Olsen discover that young Alan is a real shutterbug; who photographs anything and everything. Among his prints is a photo of Underworld figure, Burt Burnside (John Eldridge); who was believed to be among those now no longer living on Planet Earth.
THIS FACT MAKES young Alan's photo prints and negatives items of high interest to the thugs in the Burnside Mob. Attempted armed robbery of the incriminating glossy print leads to a hi-jacking of a U.S. Postal Service truck and robbery of some sacks of mail, foiling of the gang by Superman and Inspector Henderson's Cops.
FURTHER INGREDIENTS THAT are contained in this half-hour episode include: bird-dogging of Kent by Lois Lane (Noel Neill) and a runaway Subway Train that would have to be considered a pre-cursor of what we witnessed in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, albeit about 18 years later! THE EPISODE CONTAINED all of the above elements and did sport participation by all of the regular players: Reeves, Jack Larson, Noel Neill, John Hamilton and Robert Shayne.
WHAT TRULY STANDS out in this one is that there is a definite threat to the otherwise invulnerable person of Superman. That was a possible exposure of his double life existence ("Secret Identity" to real Comic Book fans); which Clark Kent, not Superman, managed to avoid, not just once, but twice by episodes end.
NOW THAT'S REALLY a good show, mild-mannered Reporter!
NOTE * That was the only two-parter in the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN Series' history; which was taken from the theatrically released SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MAN (National Comics/Lippert Pictures,1951).
NOTE: ** Young Billy Gray, soon to be "Bud" Anderson on the FATHER KNOWS BEST TV Series and fresh from his very prominent role in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (20th Century-Fox, 1951).
NOTE *** For benefit of our young readers, a phone booth was a now extinct public convenience that contained the now extinct pay phone. (Ask your Grand Parents!)
IT'S CERTAINLY NOT that there was any spectacular happenings in the story. There was no threat from Outer Space as in PANIC IN THE SKY, no threat from Kryptonite as in THE DEFEAT OF SUPERMAN, nor any bizarre sub-human invaders from inner-space (from the Center of the Earth) as in season one's THE UNKNOWN PEOPLE Parts I & II*.
WHAT WEW DO have is a finely tuned combination of themes that make for a top notch Superman story; be it on TV or in its original medium in the Comic Books & Newspaper Comic Strips.
WE START OUT with a seemingly flaky, whacked out female; who accosts Editor Perry White at the Daily Planet's offices. She demands to see Superman, whom she identifies as being one and the same with reporter Clark Kent! She believes this because her nephew, Alan Harper (Billy Gray**), has a photo taken that depicts Kent changing into Superman in a Metropolis alley (no telephone booths being available***).
AFTER EXPLAINING THIS away as a double exposure, Kent and Jimmy Olsen discover that young Alan is a real shutterbug; who photographs anything and everything. Among his prints is a photo of Underworld figure, Burt Burnside (John Eldridge); who was believed to be among those now no longer living on Planet Earth.
THIS FACT MAKES young Alan's photo prints and negatives items of high interest to the thugs in the Burnside Mob. Attempted armed robbery of the incriminating glossy print leads to a hi-jacking of a U.S. Postal Service truck and robbery of some sacks of mail, foiling of the gang by Superman and Inspector Henderson's Cops.
FURTHER INGREDIENTS THAT are contained in this half-hour episode include: bird-dogging of Kent by Lois Lane (Noel Neill) and a runaway Subway Train that would have to be considered a pre-cursor of what we witnessed in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, albeit about 18 years later! THE EPISODE CONTAINED all of the above elements and did sport participation by all of the regular players: Reeves, Jack Larson, Noel Neill, John Hamilton and Robert Shayne.
WHAT TRULY STANDS out in this one is that there is a definite threat to the otherwise invulnerable person of Superman. That was a possible exposure of his double life existence ("Secret Identity" to real Comic Book fans); which Clark Kent, not Superman, managed to avoid, not just once, but twice by episodes end.
NOW THAT'S REALLY a good show, mild-mannered Reporter!
NOTE * That was the only two-parter in the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN Series' history; which was taken from the theatrically released SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MAN (National Comics/Lippert Pictures,1951).
NOTE: ** Young Billy Gray, soon to be "Bud" Anderson on the FATHER KNOWS BEST TV Series and fresh from his very prominent role in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (20th Century-Fox, 1951).
NOTE *** For benefit of our young readers, a phone booth was a now extinct public convenience that contained the now extinct pay phone. (Ask your Grand Parents!)
