Superman (1948)

He’s one fly guy!

Despite some questionable and rather cheap special effects, 1948’s Superman is a very enjoyable serial. It starts with the story of Kal-El’s exodus from his home planet of Krypton just prior to its destruction. The first three chapters establish him as both Clark Kent and Superman on Earth. From there, we are introduced to the sinister Spider Lady and her plans to maintain control of Metropolis with the powerful Reducer Ray. Superman must battle the Spider Lady and her henchmen in order to save Metropolis over the rest of the chapters in the serial. Is he successful? You probably already know the answer, but it’s definitely worth your time to check out this serial.

Kirk Alyn stars as Superman in this serial. With a background in dance and musicals, Alyn had the physique for the character and also did an excellent job of portraying Clark and Superman as two different personas of the same person. The rest of the cast was pretty solid, especially Noel Neill as Lois Lane and Tommy Bond as Jimmy Olsen. They worked will with one another and with Alyn, giving solid comedic and dramatic performances. The weakest link in the film was, sadly, the Spider Lady (Carol Forman). Forman’s delivery was very rigid at times and seemed forced.

The special effects were also poor, especially when compared to Republic’s 1941 serial, The Adventures of Captain Marvel. That serial used both a seven foot long model of Tom Tyler (who portrayed Captain Marvel) and suspended him from wires for certain flight sequences. This was done by the famous Lydecker Brothers, who would go on to create effects and miniatures in multiple successful projects including Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Columbia Pictures and Superman‘s producer, Sam Katzman, were notorious for slashing budgets on their projects, and opted to use animation for Alyn’s flight sequences. Thankfully the story and performances of the majority of the cast were strong enough to lift the serial above this miscue.

The serial proved to be very popular and would result in a second Superman serial in 1950 entitled Atom Man Vs. Superman, which would bring Lex Luthor to the big screen for the first time. Alyn, Neill, Bond, and Pierre Watkin as Perry White would reprise their roles from the first serial.

Superman is by no means a masterpiece, but the actors are so likeable, especially Alyn, Neill, and Bond, that you just can’t help but enjoy it. Better Superman films would eventually make their way to the big screen, but few actors would manage to portray Superman/Clark Kent as well as Kirk Alyn in my opinion. In fact, he’s probably my third favorite Superman behind Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh.

Be sure to check out 1948’s Superman. You won’t be disappointed. As always thanks for reading my post. See you again real soon!