Review – The Birthday Letter 8 This episode has a lot of moving parts, a little girl stricken with polio, but never specified, asking Superman for a favor, the Daily Planet responding to her request, a wrong number dialed to her phone leading to all sorts of intrigue. The intrigue and the crime have to be solved before the request is granted. A little girl asks Superman for an escort to the fair per a letter sent in care of The Daily Planet. She answers the phone where the caller was able to leave his message before his life ended and that message is key to capturing all the crooks. An explanation of the big picture was told by Perry White past half-way though the episode and the parts of the story begin to come together for a conclusion involving the bad guys and the ultimate ending where Superman is able to meet the little girl's request. It was good to see John Doucette in a role exercising his acting talents and serving the plot well as the counterfeiters seek a solution to identifying the place to meet their double-crossing associate, secure the items he stole and brought overseas to negotiate a better deal. Worth watching to witness the tireless work put forward by the bad guys in order to secure what they had planned on receiving two months ago in Paris, France. The counterfeiters, the Duval's, hired a man named LaRue to steal the Bank of France $1,000-franc plates, but he double-crossed them, deciding to sell them to American Big Jim Hanlan, per Clark Kent's FBI friend, Craig Roberts. The little punk, Cusak, was the caller to Kathy's phone leaving the message of where and when to secure the plates from LaRue. Cusak was working for the Duval's, he probably found out where LaRue was to deliver the plates to Hanlan and thought he was calling it in to the Duvall's, but instead it was Kathy's home phone by mistake. The Duval's figured Kathy heard the message from Cusak so they abducted her hoping to ply the information via Slugger in a Superman costume, with birthday presents and sweet treats. When that ploy doesn't work, they return to Kathy's to retrieve her talking doll, figuring this act will be able to awaken the memory of Cusak's message. Lois is greeted by the Duval's quite unexpectedly in Kathy's apartment, Lois exits, hides, Duval's leave after finding the doll, Lois following, but Lois loses their cab in traffic. Clark has the cab company trace the records of the cab from Kathy's residence to determine where the Duval's are hiding Kathy. Mary had a little lamb is spoken by Kathy's doll triggering her to recall the name of the place mentioned in the phone call, i.e. Lambert Engraving Co. All the bad guys and the good guys will be meeting at the engraving company for the showdown, some will be disappointed, some content, watch to learn of the results of the meeting and Kathy's final wish come true.
3 Reviews
Pretty Sappy and Stupid
Hitchcoc28 January 2015
A little crippled girl sends a letter to the Daily Planet saying she would like Superman to take her to the fair on her birthday so she can ride the merry-go-round and the roller coaster. The gang puts the plan in motion. Meanwhile, a criminal, making phone call to his compadres, accidentally calls the little girl and delivers a time and place for a meeting with counterfeiters. He is summarily shot and killed but because the message went to the wrong place (it should have been delivered by a monkey, like in a previous episode). These creeps send a guy (a totally idiot lunk) to masquerade as Superman (he has absolutely no resemblance) and kidnap the little girl. They want her to tell them what was said by the voice on the phone. They ply her with cake and ice cream and buy her presents. All they need is the message that was inadvertently given to her. When the rival newspaper gets wind that Superman is a kidnapper, it ticks off Clark Kent and he begins the process of finding the little girl. Once again, the crooks seem to complicate their lives with risky methods of getting messages out. Where is there a ventriloquists dummy when you need one.
Pulls Your Heartstrings
mcgovernsmodels16 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Young Kathy Williams, a crippled 7-year-old who must be left alone during the day while her single mother works, writes a letter to Superman. Sent to the DAILY PLANET, she asks the Man of Steel to take her to the county fair for her birthday. But before the PLANET staff can act on her request Kathy answers the telephone. It's a wrong number - and thereby hangs a tale.
The plot's a little complicated: Larue has stolen the printing plates for 1,000 Franc notes from the bank of France for Maurice and Marie Duval. But Larue has doubled-crossed the pair (a pretty vicious duo) and brought the plates to America, to sell them to a gangster here, "Big Jim" Hanlon. Somehow a middle man, Cusak, gets wind of the meeting for Larue to hand the plates over to Hanlon; he calls the Duvals to let them in on the setup. But Cusak calls the wrong number and spills the info to Kathy.
The Duvals locate Kathy's address and kidnap the little girl, hoping to intercept Larue with the plates. Most of the rest of the episode involves the DAILY PLANET staff's efforts to find Kathy, while the Duvals try to wrest the information Kathy had been given by mistake. John Douchette, as the Duvals' flunky Slugger, turns in a fine performance, playing a tough (and slow-witted) egg who is sympathetic toward Kathy.
Clark and Lois finally find Kathy and Slugger, who are able to put Inspector Henderson and his men on the Duvals' trail - but can they get there in time? Clark runs off, telling Lois, "This is a job for Superman! I mean, I've got to find him"! In short order, Superman winds the criminal proceedings up.
Remember Kathy's birthday letter? In the final scene, Superman flies into her apartment to fulfill her wish. Scooping her up in his arms, he takes Kathy on a flight over Metropolis. After all Kathy had been through - being kidnapped, culminating in Marcel pulling off her leg braces (I told you the Duvals were vicious) - the episode ends with a long, heartwarming shot of Superman flying over the city with the little girl in his arms.
The plot's a little complicated: Larue has stolen the printing plates for 1,000 Franc notes from the bank of France for Maurice and Marie Duval. But Larue has doubled-crossed the pair (a pretty vicious duo) and brought the plates to America, to sell them to a gangster here, "Big Jim" Hanlon. Somehow a middle man, Cusak, gets wind of the meeting for Larue to hand the plates over to Hanlon; he calls the Duvals to let them in on the setup. But Cusak calls the wrong number and spills the info to Kathy.
The Duvals locate Kathy's address and kidnap the little girl, hoping to intercept Larue with the plates. Most of the rest of the episode involves the DAILY PLANET staff's efforts to find Kathy, while the Duvals try to wrest the information Kathy had been given by mistake. John Douchette, as the Duvals' flunky Slugger, turns in a fine performance, playing a tough (and slow-witted) egg who is sympathetic toward Kathy.
Clark and Lois finally find Kathy and Slugger, who are able to put Inspector Henderson and his men on the Duvals' trail - but can they get there in time? Clark runs off, telling Lois, "This is a job for Superman! I mean, I've got to find him"! In short order, Superman winds the criminal proceedings up.
Remember Kathy's birthday letter? In the final scene, Superman flies into her apartment to fulfill her wish. Scooping her up in his arms, he takes Kathy on a flight over Metropolis. After all Kathy had been through - being kidnapped, culminating in Marcel pulling off her leg braces (I told you the Duvals were vicious) - the episode ends with a long, heartwarming shot of Superman flying over the city with the little girl in his arms.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
