DVD : Superman - The 1948 & 1950 Theatrical Serials Collection

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Rating:

- Superman - The 1948 & 1950 Theatrical Serials Collection
GOOD QUALITY - I WAITED A WHILE FOR THIS

Rating:

- Surprisingly Very Cool
I admittingly had slight apprehension about buying this. But after watching it, I actually think the animated bits that kick in when he takes to flight are kind of cool. I mean, let's face it. It was the late 40's and considering what was at their disposal at the time, I think they pulled it off rather well.
Plus there's a certain rawness to the characters that is a little more refreshing than the 50's TV series. I think Noel Neill's -Lois Lane- is actually cuter in this presentation.
But as with the TV series, I still don't understand why they used LA as a cityscape image for some of the supposedly Metropolis imagery. For the life of me, LA is a suburban city not an urban city (and this fact was even more obvious in the 40's and 50's)... why they didn't use pictures of NYC is beyond me. And for me personally, this kind of weakens some of the scenes.
But all in all, I still highly recommend this to aficionados of the "Man of Steel"!

Rating:

- I got it at F.Y.E.
I got it at F.Y.E. on Monday at Genesee Valley.I haven't seen this since since I bought the DVD's of it.I haven't watched it,yet.

Rating:

- A " Must Have" For Collectors......
History on film, on DVD. If you like the genre, and appreciate the old classic's, you will appreciate this collection. When you watch them, it's like a time capsule taking you back to the 1950's. You feel like your Sitting in the old Strand Theater waiting for the feature presentation. A must have for collectors.

Rating:

- "Superman" and "Superman vs Atom Man" -- The first live action Superman in the Movies
These serials are terrific--if you like serials. I first watched these serials at the Shaw Theatre in St. Louis when I was a kid and was a Superman fan for life. For almost 40 years they were hidden away because of some contractual language forbidding them to be shown on TV or other future venues. It was cleared up some years ago and these were released on VHS--but the DVD versions are much better. Great clarity and presentation. The stories are typical serial stories from the late 40's and early 50's, but they are fun to watch. The only regret is that they didn't follow the lead of Republic Studios who filmed very effective flying sequences in the "The Adventures of Captain Marvel", another serial filmed several years earlier. Instead cheapskate Columbia opted for cartoon flying sequences in these two serials. This is the only complaint one can have about these two serials.

Childhood memories are sometimes are clouded by time and revealed as such many years later, but in the case of these two serials, they brought back great memories of Saturday afternoons at the "show". Superman was terrific then and is still terrific now. I do remember that when the Superman TV program came on a couple of years after seeing the first "Superman" serial, I always thought George Reeves was the wrong choice to play Superman because he didn't look like Superman from the comics, he didn't look like Kirk Alyn (who did look like Superman in the Comics), and he didn't have a curl. The first year on TV had Phyllis Coates playing Lois Lane (a good actress but not the Lois Lane of the serials), but they got it right bringing in Noel Neill for the remaining years of the TV show.

If you like serials, or are not familiar with serials, then "Superman" and "Superman Vs Atom Man" are great fare and a great introduction to the world of Saturday afternoon matinees.

Gary Gross (not Gary Grossman who has written a great book on Superman in the media by the way, and who I would love to compare memories with sometime.)

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