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<blockquote data-quote="Seaviewer" data-source="post: 320223" data-attributes="member: 57">Superman (1948 movie serial)I&#039;ve been wanting to see this for a long time and finally got around to it.The first thing of interest is that Kirk Alyn, although he has legendary status now, is not credited - instead the first name in the cast list is simply &quot;Superman&quot;.Second, Noel Neill as Lois. Growing up with the George Reeves series, I believed that Phyllis Coates was the original and Neill the replacement. I was quite surprised when I read that Neill had played the role first. Her version of Lois always seemed a lot softer that Coates&#039;s hard edged take. In this version, Neill is somewhere between the two. More willing to use trickery to beat Clark to the story but with a smile.Third, the flying. Whenever Superman takes off he&#039;s transformed into a Fleischer-style cartoon. When he lands it&#039;s usually behind something like a car so that Alyn can emerge on foot from behind it. The effects in the Reeves series are not spectacular but this method definitely did not make me believe a man could fly.Fourth, I&#039;m not sure how common a female villain would have been at the time but the antagonist here is The Spider Lady - no relation to&nbsp; Spider-Man who I don&#039;t think emerge until a decade or two later. It&#039;s not clear why she&#039;s called The Spider Lady - her lair has a spider theme but she doesn&#039;t seem to have any special powers.Lastly, a minor observation which I also noticed in the two Batman serials. At the end of each part, when the next part is promoed, patrons are advised that it will be showing in the same theatre the following week. The spelling of theatre the English way - not THEATER - surprises me. I wonder what the explanation is for that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Seaviewer, post: 320223, member: 57"] Superman (1948 movie serial) I've been wanting to see this for a long time and finally got around to it. The first thing of interest is that Kirk Alyn, although he has legendary status now, is not credited - instead the first name in the cast list is simply "Superman". Second, Noel Neill as Lois. Growing up with the George Reeves series, I believed that Phyllis Coates was the original and Neill the replacement. I was quite surprised when I read that Neill had played the role first. Her version of Lois always seemed a lot softer that Coates's hard edged take. In this version, Neill is somewhere between the two. More willing to use trickery to beat Clark to the story but with a smile. Third, the flying. Whenever Superman takes off he's transformed into a Fleischer-style cartoon. When he lands it's usually behind something like a car so that Alyn can emerge on foot from behind it. The effects in the Reeves series are not spectacular but this method definitely did not make me believe a man could fly. Fourth, I'm not sure how common a female villain would have been at the time but the antagonist here is The Spider Lady - no relation to Spider-Man who I don't think emerge until a decade or two later. It's not clear why she's called The Spider Lady - her lair has a spider theme but she doesn't seem to have any special powers. Lastly, a minor observation which I also noticed in the two Batman serials. At the end of each part, when the next part is promoed, patrons are advised that it will be showing in the same theatre the following week. The spelling of theatre the English way - not THEATER - surprises me. I wonder what the explanation is for that. [/QUOTE]

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