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Warner Releases TAOS Seasons 5 & 6
On November 14, the final DVD installment of the Adventures of
Superman, Seasons 5 and 6, was released by Warner Home Video. I
purchased my copy from deepdiscountdvd.com, on sale, $22.88, no
tax, free shipping. A terrific bargain!
The
five disc package is the same used in the three prior releases. It’s a
tad awkward to manipulate, but it does a good job of protecting the
discs. The package artwork is rather drab. For some reason, Warner chose
green for the background color. All the other releases are blue. The
photos of George used on the front and the back are based on the same
photograph, the one on the back of the box just has a different head
shot. I have to think that I showed better judgment than Warner did, I
engaged the services of Randy Garrett, who did an extraordinary job on
our DVD artwork. Randy surely could have improved on Warner’s artwork.
The photos on the
discs are all black and white. I think color photographs for color
episodes would have been a better choice. Also, this is the third time
Warner used the same picture of John Hamilton, all the other cast
members were represented by four different photographs.
It’s obvious to us
TAOS fans that the photographic quality of the last twenty six color
episodes suffered mightily in comparison to the previous color episodes.
Why? I don’t know. I suspect that Whitney Ellsworth changed to another,
more economical film laboratory. The graphic episode titles were also
dropped, another cost saving measure. I suspect that a cheaper grade of
film was used, but I’ve no way of proving any of this.
Speaking of film
quality, check out The Brainy Burro. The color quality, the
finishing, everything about this episode photographically is superb.
It’s always been that way. I wish I could say the same for its plot!
The source materials
for these episodes are the digital restorations Warner made for
Nickelodeon back in the early nineties. They’re identical, no
restoration at all. The Superman Silver Mine is missing the same
scene that had gone AWOL way back when. Don’t blame me. Lou Koza and I
mailed a disc with the missing scene to Warner a long time ago.
Despite all my
carping, these are certainly the best quality versions of these episodes
you’ve ever seen. In the digitalization process, Warner corrected and
enhanced the color, and the resolution is far superior to any broadcast
or VHS versions.
 
Above is a comparison
from The Mysterious Cube, showing how much better the resolution
and color of the Warner release is. Note that the wall of the mysterious
cube, and Superman’s costume, are back to their original blue color.
 
Here is another color
comparison from one of my favorites color episodes, The Tomb of
Zaharan. Without being sacrilegious, this reminds me of the
restoration of the Sistine Ceiling, untold soot and grime carefully
removed to reveal the vibrant colors beneath.
I wish I could report
that Warner made some attempt to clean up the audio, but they didn’t.
It’s unchanged from the Nick restoration.
On the brighter side,
other than The Superman Silver Mine, the shows are complete,
unedited, and free of electronic compression; they run their full twenty
six minutes and some seconds.
The one special
feature include is Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen. I enjoyed it very
much. I spoke to Noel Neill not long ago, and she asked me what I
thought of her special feature that appeared in the Season 2 DVDs. I
told her that it was very good, but I wished it ran longer. The reason
why Noel’s clip came in short is that Warner only had 1953 footage to
work with. 1951 wouldn’t do, and the color years weren’t available yet.
Jack’s feature, however, employs footage from all six seasons. It makes
for a much better presentation, and the clip runs several minutes longer
as well. It was also a great pleasure to see Michael Hayde, a most
knowledgeable and articulate TAOS historian, and a really good guy too.
All in all, while not
perfect, this final set of TAOS DVDs is a great bargain for the price,
and I give it a “thumbs up.”
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
November 17, 2006
Hollywoodland
Review
I think those
who are members of Dave Shutz's message board and Jim Nolt's Yahoo group
who do well to remember that Hollywoodland was made for general
release, for people who perhaps have a passing knowledge of George
Reeves and the Adventures of Superman, not for us, with our
microscopic knowledge of these subjects. Thus the producers employed
artistic license to get their viewpoints across. Unfortunately, these
viewpoints were mostly to George's detriment.
Also, we should
remember that Hollywoodland is not a bio-pic or a documentary,
it's a murder mystery. The positive elements of George's life and
career, being extraneous to the plot, sadly, were omitted.
I thought
Affleck's performance as Superman was dreadful. His body language and
mannerisms bore no relation to George's as Superman, at least I didn't
think so. His exaggerated thrown out chest and stiff legged walking. And
the recreation of the judo home movie, George did the stunts with grace
and ease, Ben did them like he pulled every muscle in his body. I chalk
that up to artistic license to emphasize what the producers perceived as
a pathetic attempt at publicity.
 It
was neat to see an almost perfect replica of George's costume on the big
screen though, and hear the original theme music that Warner didn't
include in their TAOS DVDs.
I think Ben
Affleck did a reasonable job of conveying George's charm and wit.
I'm attaching a
download link to George's original judo home movie:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/54494/TAOS_judo.zip
The one scene I
truly resented was George drinking out of a hip flask, just prior to a
personal appearance in front of many children. From everything I've
read, and I've read more than a little, George zealously guarded his
reputation among children, and would never do a personal appearance with
alcohol on his breath. Never!
I also suspect
that in order to sign Adrien Brody for the "lead" part of Louis Simo,
the producers had to pad his part, thus the extraneous Simo scenes. A
good part of the movie was devoted to the dysfunctional family of a
fictional character. Movie politics, is all. More Simo, less Affleck.
Even in death, George's scenes got cut.
I think that the
movie was more or less balanced, at least it wasn't “Hollywood
Kraptonite.”
I thought Diane
Lane turned in a brilliant performance, she stole every scene she was
in, wouldn't surprise me if she wins an Oscar.
I thought that
Lois Smith bore an uncanny resemblance to Helen Bessolo.
To sum up the
movie's assessment of George Reeves in one sentence, he wanted to be
Clark Gable, and he wound up being Clark Kent. I suspect there's more
than a little truth in this.
I think that
Jack Larson's oft told tale about George and From Here to Eternity
terribly damaged George's reputation. Fred Zinnemann said repeatedly
that there was no screening, and all of George's scenes were intact. The
scene in the movie, where Zinnemann indicated cut, that scene obviously
was retained. Go figure. I never read that Toni Mannix had any hand in
getting the part of Maylon Stark for George.
I think that the
screen versions of Toni and Lenore were much more attractive than their
real life counterparts, and Ben isn't nearly as handsome as George
Reeves was.
And
parenthetically, if I were Phyllis Coates, I'd be pissed!
Finally, I was
very sad leaving the theater, thinking that the best possible conclusion
to George's life was that he was murdered.
But, for a
little while, George Reeves was brought to life by the magic of the
movie screen, and for that I'm grateful.
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
September 2006
The Evolving “S” Emblem
First, regarding this squib, I’d like to share
credit, or blame as the case may be, with my good friend Jody McGhee,
who, like me, disregarded the admonitions of William Shatner, and never
“got a life”, and remained a devout TAOS fan for more than half a
century. Jody has made a minute examination of the many “S”
emblems that adorned George Reeves’ chest throughout TAOS’ six season
run, and shared his observations and theories with me. I’ll do my best
to pass them on to you.
If memory serves, the above photo on the left,
taken in 1951, was a costume test, one of the earliest photos of George
as Superman. His chest emblem is made from heavy wool felt, a brown
piece for the “S”, and a cream colored piece for the background. The
picture on the right makes this easier to see.
I’m told that the felt used for the emblem was far
too heavy to cut by machine, the work had to be done by hand with
pinking shears. The top edge of the emblem above left shows definite
signs of being hand cut. The photo on the right is from a 1953 uniform,
as evidenced by the straight top edge.
Above is a close-up from 1951’s Night Of
Terror. The two layers of felt and the hand cutting and sewing
are plainly evident.
Since all the emblems were cut by hand, it was
difficult to follow a pattern precisely, and according to Jody, no two
emblems were alike. Above is a close-up from 1951’s The Stolen
Costume. Note the rounded top edge of the emblem, and the
irregular border, indicative of hand cutting. We’ll see more of this
emblem later.
Sometimes the wool felt didn’t stand up to the
rigors of production. Note the above emblem is starting to fray, in
this scene from 1951’s Crime Wave.
Some emblems were recycled and reused on new
costumes. This picture, from 1953’s Shot in the Dark,
according to Jody, shows George in a newly tailored costume, but the
emblem was taken from the tunic shown above from 1951’s The Stolen
Costume. Note the rounded top edge and the tiny cream colored
dot created by the top curl of the “S”.
Sometimes emblems changed from scene to scene.
Above left is George as Boulder in 1953’s The Face and the Voice,
confronting Perry White. Note the top edge of his emblem, clearly a
1951 type pattern, a slightly rounded top edge.
On the right, in the very next scene, we again see
George as Boulder leaving Perry White’s office. Note that his emblem is
totally different. The top edge is perfectly straight, and thinner than
the 1951 pattern. This pattern was used for pretty much the rest of the
1953 season.
Superman’s costume may be indestructible, but
George’s certainly weren’t! A 1951 style emblem in the last stages of
decay, from 1953’s The Man in the Lead Mask.
Here’s a shirt that we only saw this one time,
because it’s sleeveless. From 1953’s Panic in the Sky.
Above is a good example of the “1953” pattern, all
five exterior edges perfectly straight. This is from the final regular
season episode, Around the World With Superman.
Starting in 1954, the show was produced in color.
The pattern used for George’s emblems, is pretty much unchanged from the
black and white episodes. The above close-up, with the stitching
evident, is from 1954’s Through the Time Barrier.
Another similarly patterned emblem, this from
1954’s The Seven Souvenirs.
The trend continues in 1955 as shown
in this picture from The Girl Who Hired Superman.
In 1956 a new pattern was created, and for the most
part used for the balance of the series. Note the different shape of
the emblem, longer sides and a slightly shorter top edge, and a diamond
shaped cutout at the top curl of the “S”. This from 1956’s
Peril in Paris.
A slightly different version of the 1956 pattern,
from 1957’s The Mysterious Cube.
Despite the subtle differences, I think that of all
the actors who portrayed Superman, George enjoyed the benefit of the
finest costume. I enjoyed Superman Returns, but in all
candor, I didn’t think much of Superman’s costume. I guess Bryan Singer
wanted to leave his mark, but why try to improve a legend?
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
August 2006
The
Ever Changing Color Uniform
Jim Nolt stated in
Warner’s special feature the “Adventures of Superman, The Color
Era” that the biggest difficulty posed by filming TAOS in color
starting in Season 3 was George Reeves’ Superman costume. A very astute
observation on Jim’s part.
For the first two
seasons, Superman’s costume was colored in shades of brown and grey,
which, when filmed in black and white, afforded greater contrast to the
television viewer.
As you can see from
the above photos of a costume used for black and white filming, the
color choices work out quite nicely when filmed in black and white.
When TAOS was
filmed in color starting in 1954, the show was broadcast in black and
white. Color was more than ten years in the future. So George’s costume,
which looked spectacular when filmed in color, did not show well in
black and white.
As you can see from
the above comparison, from 1954’s Great Caesar’s Ghost, there is
virtually no contrast between the red and blue in George’s costume.
As the series
progressed, in a compromise between monotone and color, the blues in
George’s costume grew gradually lighter.
The above shots of
George outdoors on location for 1954’s Clark Kent, Outlaw, and on
the set with Chuck Connors in Flight to the North, shows that
there is still little contrast between the reds and blues of his
costume.
One of the problems
posed by George’s costume is that the camera doesn’t lie. Or does it?
Above left is a
photograph of George and Noel taken on the set of The Girl Who Hired
Superman, and on the right, actual footage from the episode. In the
photograph, the blues in George’s and Noel’s wardrobe are much darker,
and the red in George’s uniform has turned orangey.
Above left is a
contemporary photograph of an authentic Superman costume worn by George
Reeves. It appears to be of 1954/1955 vintage. On the right is George in
a special costume he wore for personal appearances. This snapshot was
taken of George live at Palisades Park. Note how dark the costume colors
are.
George and Noel
Neill in 1955’s The Wedding of Superman. His costume seems a
touch lighter than 1954, but it’s difficult to say for sure.
George above on
location in 1956’s The Town That Wasn’t. His costume is
noticeably lighter.
By 1957 George’s
costume was lightened considerably, providing greater contrast for
viewing on black and white television.
George
above in 1957’s The Atomic Captive.
One anomaly during
1957 production was The Brainy Burro. George wore what appeared
to be a 1955 costume in this episode, and the film color quality was far
superior to any of the other episodes that season.
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
THE COLOR FACTOR
Now for a few
hundred words about TAOS color episodes.
From my own
readings, observations, and empirical deductions, DC Comics, the
original owner/producer of The Adventures of Superman, regarded
the series as a vehicle to promote comic book sales, pure and simple.
They were comic book publishers, not film producers, and never had a
true appreciation for their television step-child.
My theory is that
because they weren’t in the movie business, in their ignorance,
cheapness, or both, they were negligent in their storage and handling of
the original negatives and positives.
I was told that at
an office party someone actually tried to show an original positive TAOS
episode on a projector. Allen Asherman was properly horrified and
stopped the miscreant.
Thus, I believe
Warner when they say, as they did online several weeks ago, that by the
time they acquired DC Comics, the original TAOS film elements were badly
deteriorated.
However, it seems
that some episodes fared better than others. In 1957, the film quality
of The Brainy Burro is outstanding in comparison to the other
twelve episodes.
There’s a scene
showing Superman being shot by my namesake while standing in front of a
black Imperial that was used in Superman’s Wife that was reused
in The Brainy Burro. As Meldini said, “See, see the difference!”
My opinion is that
Whitney Ellsworth changed film processing laboratories for the 1956 and
1957 seasons, and the film quality, other than in The Brainy Burro,
is markedly inferior to 1954 and 1955. Something that to my mind
reinforces this is that for 1956 & 1957, the opening title graphics were
discontinued. I would think that title graphics were added during film
processing. Cheaper lab, cheaper processing, no titles.
I think Warner did
a first class job of restoring TAOS’ color elements. The timing was
right for them. There’s software available that does a nice job at a
reasonable price.
I just ran a 1957
episode, The Big Forget, through a film editing software package
I purchased for $60. I took a shot at color correction. The results are,
to my mind, remarkable.
I was able to
correct the entire episode in less than one hour. Furthermore, let me
state for the record that I’m a dilettante film editor. Prior to my
involvement with TAOS, I never had any experience in the field, never
made a DVD.
In closing, I’d
like to repeat my endorsement of Warner’s release of TAOS 3 & 4. It’s a
remarkable achievement!
If there’s a
subject that you’d like me to babble about, please drop me a line!
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
SUPER STUNTS
One of the many
things that made the Adventures of Superman such a terrific show
is that, with few exceptions, George Reeves did his all of own stunts.
His takeoffs, accomplished first by wires, and then by leaping off a
springboard, were real athletic maneuvers, as were his window entrances,
where he swung in off a high bar. His landings were accomplished by
jumping off a ladder, and he “stuck” his landings, we never see a
stumbling Superman. He crashed through walls with great élan. His great
athletic ability burnished the illusion that he was Superman.
We see more use of
stunt doubles for George in 1951 than in any of the other five seasons.
The camera doesn’t lie, it was impossible for anyone to successfully
double for George Reeves. George moved with an inimitable athletic grace
that no stunt man could capture.
Probably the only
good example of doubling for George in 1951 was the alley takeoff which
was first used in Superman and the Mole-Men, and repeatedly used
in 1951 and 1953, with good reason. It was a great stunt, and the
stuntman looks a lot like George. In fact, I never realized that it
wasn’t George until I bought a Betamax back in 1981, and could freeze
the tape!
The identities of
the men who doubled for George over TAOS’ six seasons are shrouded in
mystery, except one, Dale Van Sickel, who played Baker, the foreman, in
1953’s Five Minutes to Doom, and Slim’s wisecracking partner in
1956’s Money to Burn. Van Sickel was a prolific actor and
stuntman, IMDB credits him with hundreds of roles.
In 1951’s Night of Terror, George steps
aside for a stunt double in the climactic fight scene. The stuntman
bears no resemblance to George, and he doesn’t move like him either.
In 1951’s The
Mind Machine, it’s obvious that Van Sickel, not George, is doing the
heavy work in the fight scene. He’s wearing a wig, which helps the
illusion.
 
Also from The
Mind Machine, a double is used to accommodate George’s well known
aversion to wires. “Peter Pan flies on wires, not Superman!”
In 1951’s No
Holds Barred, the stuntman looked and moved nothing at all like
George. I doubt the substitution fooled anyone.
In 1953’s The
Face and the Voice, when Superman finally confronts his impostor,
the stuntman portraying Boulder looked nothing at all like George,
except for their identically tailored wardrobe.
Finally, in 1957’s
Divide and Conquer, one of the Supermen pulling off the window
bars is a double, who wouldn’t even fool the guard, played by Jack
Littlefield, snoring peacefully outside the cell.
George Reeves was a
wonderful actor and a marvelous athlete. His professionalism and
tremendous athleticism, his determination to do his own stunts, and
accomplishing them so beautifully, enhanced the portrayal of his
greatest role, Superman.
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
June 2006
X Talks about
Muscles!
Gary Grossman mentioned in his book that if George
Reeves spent too much time costumed as Superman, his skin would break
out in a rash. In Warner’s special feature Adventures of Superman:
The Color Era, Jack Larson said the same. Jan Alan Henderson added
that after thirty minutes, George’s skin would break out, and he’d have
to be “de-suited” and allowed to cool off until his skin calmed down.
I now realize that George almost certainly
developed a latex allergy from the latex “muscles” he wore under his
costume. This padding became more extensive through the show’s six year
run.
I’ve assembled a brief chronology of George’s
appearance, and the special effects used to help make him look “super”.
Above is George in 1951’s The Unknown People.
Large shoulder pads, and little, if any chest padding.
George in The Man Who Could Read Minds. Some
chest padding was added, but it was very well done. I think George
looked best here.
Here’s George in Around the World With Superman.
He looks very bulky in comparison to the prior photograph!
By 1955, George was wearing full body armor, as
shown in this shot from The Girl Who Hired Superman.
George was padded in this manner throughout the
color years, except for a few episodes in 1957. These episodes gave rise
to comments that he appeared overweight. My theory is that George was
suffering from his latex allergy, and had to forgo the chest padding
until his allergic reaction subsided. In Divide And Conquer,
George portrayed two Supermen, and spent almost the whole episode on
screen as Superman. Perhaps the show’s production schedule exacerbated
his condition, but by The Big Forget, George apparently discarded
his chest padding entirely.
Towards the end of the 1957 season, George goes
back to the padding, wears a differently tailored costume, and looks as
good as ever.
Finally, we see a true artifact, a badly worn set
of padded muscles salvaged by Si Simonson. No wonder his skin broke out
in a rash!
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
June 2006
WARNER TAOS RELEASES SEASON 3 & 4
Tonight I scored a copy of TAOS Seasons 3 & 4 at
Wal-Mart. For those of you who are thinking of buying a set, I've a
preliminary review.
First and most importantly, imho, Warner did a
first class job of restoring the color elements, surely a daunting task.
Everything keys on coloring Superman's costume properly, and Whit
Ellsworth kept changing it faster than a speeding bullet. The early 1954
costumes were a very dark blue. See the scene with Superman in Perry
White's office in Great Caesar's Ghost. It looks very good in
color, but as originally aired in black and white, there was almost no
contrast at all; Superman's costume looked black. So the costume colors
were tinkered with for the duration of TAOS, getting lighter and
lighter. By 1957, George's costume was almost turquoise.
I checked the running times of all twenty six
episodes, and they run on average about twenty six minutes and six
seconds, which I think is right on the money. There are no missing
scenes in this set.
The audio is adequate, but I think Warner could
have done better. It's a little tinny in spots, and they seem to
noticeably raise the volume every time Superman's theme music is played.
The special features are the best produced thus
far. More interesting subject matter than in the previous seasons, and,
AND, Jim Nolt participates! There was also a brief interview with David
Chantler! Sadly, no episode commentary this go around. I would have
liked to hear Jim's comments or Gary Grossman's comments again.
The menus are the same as used in Seasons 1 & 2.
Visually, I think Warner could have done much better; they're not
particularly intuitive to navigate, and they suffer from the lack of the
original theme music and its banal replacement.
On the brighter side, Warner did insert four
chapters in each episode, making navigation much easier. In Season's 1 &
2, each episode was a chapter unto itself, so when you hit the chapter
button, it was onto the next episode. Now we go from the opening credits
to the title card, then to the second act (which follows the missing
bumper), and finally to the closing credits. It's a big improvement.
My DVD set also came with a coupon good for a free
ticket to Superman Returns. That's a nice premium!
For those of you who viewed “Look, Up in the Sky”,
Warner unearthed some outtakes from the TAOS color years. I'd really
like to see many more of them! I hope they add them to Seasons 5 & 6!
In conclusion, this is by far Warner's best effort
at a TAOS DVD release. They put much more work into this set than the
others, and it shows. It's a great bargain for the price.
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
June 2006
Look, Up in the Sky!
Over the last several days I've visited Best Buy,
Wal-Mart, Target, and FYE. They all have large displays, prominently
placed, hawking various Superman DVDs. And the TAOS DVDs are right
there. It does my heart good to see George Reeves as Superman as part of
a major national marketing campaign. Warner is spending box car numbers
ballyhooing Superman Returns; TAOS and George are in part the
beneficiaries of all this hoopla.
One small thing that has puzzled me. In Look, Up
in the Sky!, there was a brief snippet of a beautifully recreated
version of the graphic used for the opening of the color TAOS episodes:
I thought that surely in the Season 3 & 4 DVDs
Warner would scrap the old grainy color opening and assemble a new one.
Well, they didn't. It's the same tired opening we've viewed in
syndication for the last forty years.
I couldn't understand why Warner created this
beautiful new graphic and discarded it. Then it came to me. It's the old
background music bugaboo. Warner somehow lost the rights to TAOS' theme
music. If they use the music other than in the episodes proper they're
obliged to pay royalties to BMI, who acquired the TAOS music rights.
That's why the DVD menus have such drab background music, and why all
the TAOS theme music used in Look, Up in the Sky! was replaced.
I'm virtually certain that if Warner recreated the TAOS opening footage,
they'd be on the hook for the music royalties, so, we're stuck with the
old opening.
I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I lifted the
restored graphic and assembled a new opening sequence with it. The link
to the file posted below will be good until June 28 and 100 downloads:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php/178431/color_era_v_720.zip
Mister X
waltercanby@gmail.com
June 2006
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