User Reviews

Think about how much Superman could do if he didn't spend half his time rescuing Lois Lane. In this one, Lois is approached in front of an auction house and asked to purchase a tapestry. She is given a thousand dollars. When she leaves the auction, another man with an ugly scar asks for the tapestry, saying he is a friend of the man who gave Lois the money. She refuses and gives the man her work address for later. He reappears, hits Lois, and takes the treasure. So Jimmy and Lois go to Lima and begin to search for the tapestry. Suddenly, Clark shows up. Lois angrily rejects his offer to help (as she always does) and sets out with Olsen to find the tapestry which holds a secret burying place of the Inca treasure. She and Jimmy are left to die in the desert by one of the bad guys and set out on foot to the site. For some reason, the guys leave an opening. Anyway, the end of every episode is pretty much the same, so there isn't much mystery.

Phyllis Coates surely must have gotten the Lois Lane role based on her ability to rip off a blood curdling scream which the producers frequently have her do. What is interesting to me is that while Jack Larson looks extremely boyish and could easily pass as a teenager Coates is only 24 and seems much older and mature. This is due to the unflattering clothes, hairdo's chicks from the 50's wore, and her husky voice. Otherwise Phyllis is a very attractive young woman playing a hard as nails newshound.

Again we have the oddly ubiquitous Steve Carr getting quite a bit of screentime. Carr only gets a credit as Dialogue Director. In this 1st season he makes almost as many appearances as the main cast playing various characters but never gets an acting credit. Does that mean they didn't have to pay him as much? The Treasure of the Incas is not very compelling or interesting and I remember it only for anxiously waiting for the end of episode appearance of Superman.

This is not a review, it is a correction to the cast listing. Please make the correction but do not bother to actually post this review.

The name plate on Dr. Cuesta's door says "Cuesta" with a C, not Questa with a Q.

Thank you.

That memorable first season of TAOS made great, very frequent use of the locations, actors, and props only a low-budget series could access.

In 'Treasure of the Incas" we see good ol' reliable Dialogue Coach Steve Carr, again cast in a role without an acting credit.

We see the future Mayberry storefront labeled "Samuel Tabor, Auctioneer" which was seen several times in walk-bys by extras in previous episodes.

We see that same alley, where the tapestry-bidding professor is chased and killed, that we recognized from Dr. Ort's office in "The Secret of Superman" which is also where many of Superman's first-season vertical launches from several early episodes originate, complete with the very same flying trash.

For something like the 7th time in the first 17 episodes we see that ominous cave yet again, this time completely springing up from the desolate Sonoran Desert Lois and Jimmy are trying to walk across after being abandoned and left to die.

If the first season of TAOS didn't keep kids from going into abandoned mines and caves, nothing would.

Like any 1950s TV episode there are now-cringeworthy stereotypes of Mexican characters, like the siesta-taking taxi driver who reminded me of the old Three Stooges short with the Mexican guy repeatedly mistaking them asking him to take them to "see Esther" with "siesta".

Funny how things change over the eras: Now many American business types see mid-day power naps as beneficial to productivity.

That's one serious scar across Leonard Penn's face with no explanation of how he got it; that might be an interesting sidebar.

Given how many different roles the talented Steve Carr played in the first season I'm really surprised he wasn't used in subsequent seasons. He was Mexican here; he was in drag for "Double Trouble"; he was the horrified, wordless captive Dr. John Hurley in "Mystery In Wax", which is probably why he wasn't listed in the credited cast since he didn't have any dialogue.

When I lived in Chula Vista CA, between San Diego and the USA/Mexico border, I kept envisioning "Treasure of the Incas" when I walked around filthy Tijuana, trusting no one and making sure to NOT bid on any "genuine" tapestries at the open markets.