Atom Man vs. Superman (1950)

Director:

Spencer Gordon Bennet

Writers:

David Mathews (writer)
George H. Plympton (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

20 July 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Bigger... Better... Brand-New... The SUPER SERIAL OF THE CENTURY! The one and only SUPERMAN Pitted Against His Mortal Foe!

Plot:

Superman battles Lex Luthor who is using a teleportation device and a new identity as Atom Man in his criminal plans.

Plot Keywords:

Superman | Serial | Teleportation | Perry White | Superhero

Cast

Kirk Alyn	...	Superman / Clark Kent
Noel Neill	...	Lois Lane
Lyle Talbot	...	Luthor / The Atom Man
Tommy Bond	...	Jimmy Olsen
Pierre Watkin	...	Perry White
Jack Ingram	...	Foster (dapper henchman)
Don C. Harvey	...	Albor (lab henchman)
Rusty Wescoatt	...	Carl (beefy henchman)
Terry Frost	...	Baer (medium henchman)
Wally West	...	Henchman Dorr [Chs. 1, 6, 9]
Paul Stader	...	'Killer' Lawson [Chs. 1-4] (as Paul Strader)
George Robotham	...	Earl - TV truck cameraman-driver [Chs. 10-12]
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Barron	...	Rozan (Chief of the Council) (stock footage from original 'Superman' serial) [Ch. 7] (uncredited) (archive footage)
Stanley Blystone	...	Joe Evans (interviewee) [Ch. 12] (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford	...	Mr. Taylor [Ch. 6-7] (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Eddie - TV truck crewman [Chs. 10-12] (uncredited)
John Elliott	...	Council member (stock footage) [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Frank Ellis	...	Lawson's police escort [Ch. 1] / Phoney News Photographer [Ch. 3] (uncredited)
Tommy Farrell	...	Man Observing Ship Rescue / Briggs, Chs. 2, 10 (uncredited)
William Fawcett	...	Mayor of Metropolis [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Eddie Fetherston	...	Thug loading truck [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Eddie Foster	...	Chief thug loading truck [Ch.1] (uncredited)
Kit Guard	...	Cave entrance guard [Chs. 8, 14] (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Impatient man at bridge [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Observer [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
John Hart	...	Henchman in Car [Ch. 3] (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Prof. Stone [Chs. 3-4] (uncredited)
Fred Kelsey	...	Police Chief Forman [Chs. 5, 13-14] (uncredited)
Charles King	...	Eavesdropping robber at Daily Planet [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Nelson Leigh	...	Jor-El (stock footage from original 'Superman' serial) [Ch. 7] (uncredited) (archive footage)
Pierce Lyden	...	Henchman Garland [Ch. 9] (uncredited)
Knox Manning	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
George Morrell	...	Bank guard [Ch. 8] (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Train passenger [Ch. 5] (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Power company truck driver [Ch.9] (uncredited)
Hugh Prosser	...	HQ Henchman [Ch. 2] (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Policeman on road [Chs. 11-12, 14] (uncredited)
Guy Teague	...	Policeman at bridge [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Rick Vallin	...	Power company truck worker [Ch. 9] (uncredited)
Michael Vallon	...	Council member (stock footage) / Spectator (uncredited)
Luana Walters	...	Lara (stock footage from original 'Superman' serial) [Ch. 7] (uncredited) (archive footage)

Directed by
Spencer Gordon Bennet		(as Spencer Bennet)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
David Mathews		writer
George H. Plympton		writer
Joseph F. Poland		writer
Joe Shuster		characters
Jerry Siegel		characters

Produced by
Sam Katzman	....	producer

Original Music by
Mischa Bakaleinikoff

Cinematography by
Ira H. Morgan

Film Editing by
Earl Turner

Art Direction by
Paul Palmentola

Set Decoration by
Sidney Clifford

Production Management
Herbert B. Leonard	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Derwin Abrahams	....	second unit director
R.M. Andrews	....	assistant director

Special Effects by
Howard Swift	....	special animation effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Frank Ellis	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hart	....	stunts (uncredited)
Pierce Lyden	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Robotham	....	stunt double: Kirk Alyn (uncredited)
George Robotham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)
Guy Teague	....	stunts (uncredited)
Wally West	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
David Raksin	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Miklós Rózsa	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Marlin Skiles	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Violet Newfield	....	set continuity

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

252 min (15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In chapter one the shot of Luthor destroying the bridge is actual footage of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge that opened in 1940 (also known as "Galloping Gertie"). The footage used is that of the bridge in its final moments prior to its collapse on November 7, 1940, shot on 16mm Kodachrome motion picture film by Barney Elliott and Harbine Monroe of a Tacoma-area camera shop.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At the climax of chapter twelve, the villains turn their heat ray on the Daily Planet building, causing all the mechanical devices to spark. As Clark Kent, Kirk Alyn shields his face, but the radio on his desk fails to give off any sparks.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (1940)

Strangely, Ahead of Its Time

Atom Man Vs. Superman' is the second of 2 Columbia Pictures Superman serials and is clearly superior to the first. Once you liberate yourself from modern expectations regarding budget, special effects, realism, etc., you can sit back for 15 chapters and enjoy the earnestness and charm of the actors, and the free-wheeling fantasy of the storyline.

It is best to watch the old serials from the perspective that you are looking at some kind of alternate reality so as to suspend some of the prejudices of the modern world. Or perhaps as though one were a tourist in a foreign country: rather than seeing differences as bizarre or deficient, but instead as being novel, interesting, and sometimes wondrous.

Next to Kirk Alyn, George Reeves was Lawrence Olivier. That notwithstanding, Kirk Alyn at least bears a good physical resemblance to the comic book Superman, and at least he tackles the impossible with gameness and good cheer. His best moments are with Lois and Luthor, and there a few times in the serial when his acting is actually good. And his performance in 'Atom Man' is a 100% improvement over the 1st serial. And even at his clumsiest moments, Kirk Alyn is infinitely preferable to Brandon Routh.

The supporting cast is great. Noel Niell is cute as a button and very charming as Lois Lane. Pierre Watkin is a perfect Perry White. Former Our Gang member Tommy 'Butch' Bond plays Jimmy Olsen as a pugnacious juvenile, which works pretty well. Best of all, Lyle Talbot plays arch-villain Lex Luthor with creepy and insane genius, and also uses a good foreign accent during the scenes when we wears the ridiculous 'Atom Man' disguise (Talbot is, IMO, at least as good as Gene Hackman, and head and shoulders above Kevin Spacey in the role).

This serial moves quickly along and is filled with many clever plot devices and cliff hangers. The primary purpose of the serial was to provide diversion and escapism, and this provides plenty.

One of the most notable features of this serial has to be the abundance of science fiction elements, many of which were on the very cutting edge in 1950. There is a teleportation device, similar to that used on Star Trek and there is a flying saucer. To my knowledge, this serial features the earliest cinematic appearances of such devices. Star Trek's 'transporter' would not appear till 1966, and flying saucers entered feature films in 1951 with 'Day the Earth Stood Still' and 'The Thing.' There is a very effective sequence in which Superman is exiled in another dimension, called 'the empty doom.' As far as I know, this is the first time in cinema that the concept of an extra-dimensional world is introduced. The Superman comic books would later appropriate this gimmick and call it the Phantom Zone, which would become one of the more interesting parts to the Superman mythology. As far as I know, dimensional worlds didn't become well known in celluloid sci-fi via until the early 1960's via 'Twilight Zone' and 'Outer Limits' episodes.

Another fresh but not wholly new sci-fi element in the serial is Luthor's ballistic missile. I can't think of any feature films with them prior to this serial, but I know that Republic's 'King of the Rocket Men' had a great scene with their hero stopping an 'air torpedo' in 1949, thus beating Superman to the punch. Ballistic missiles, of course, had been a reality ever since WWII's V-2 rockets, but it wouldn't be till the mid-fifties that they really entered the mass consciousness of the cinema. I don't want to spoil too much, but note the scene with Superman riding atop the ballistic missile: this pre-dates Slim Pickens' ride on Dr. Strangelove's A-bomb by 14 years.

Also note that the opening credits feature stock footage of A-bomb tests. As the 50's and 60's progressed, copius use A-bomb footage would become a staple of scifi and horror films, especially in opening credit sequences.(Stanley Kubric as well used A-bomb footage in Dr. Strangelove, strangely enough.) So far as my studies have led me over the past 35 years of B-movie research, this is the earliest usage of A-bomb footage in any scifi/monster pic.

A final note: I advise that you watch this in chapter installments, or limit yourself to at most 4 chapters at a time between other activities. I can't explain it, but it's more enjoyable that way, perhaps due to design.