Superman (1948) Columbia Movie Serial Episode One (Part 1 of 3)

Superman Comes To Earth

Superman (1948) is a 15-part black-and-white Columbia film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn (billed only by his character name, Superman; but credited on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. It is notable as the first live-action appearance of Superman on film and for the longevity of its distribution. The serial was directed by Thomas Carr, who later directed many early episodes of the Superman television show, and Spencer Gordon Bennet, produced by Sam Katzman and shot in and around Los Angeles, California. It was originally screened at movie matinées and after the first three scene-setting chapters, every episode ends in a cliffhanger. The Superman-in-flight scenes are animations, in part due to the small production budget.

• Category

  Film & Animation

[hermankatnip]

Despite what anyone says about Kirk Alyn's portrayal of Superman, He was the first to ever play the character on screen, the original Superman, the original Clark Kent.

[hermankatnip]

Hubris affects even Kryptonians.

[Belinda Chioa]

MY DAD WAS'NT BORN YET!

[Nelson Smith]

I can't imagine anyone having anything negative to say about Alyn's Superman. Given the time they were made, he did the character justice on the big screen. The fact that these serials are still enjoyable today is proof of that.

[YootoobSteve123]

I guess exploring space was just never their thing. Too bad.

[Brendan William Cross]

I always laugh at the script-writing of old black and whites!

[Tom Nichol]

Most likely, it was a case of "shoot-the-messenger syndrome." The Kryptonian Council members (except for Jor-El himself) were far more concerned about maintaining their own position and status than they were about their people's safety and well-being. Their blind arrogance signed the death warrant of Krypton and its people.

[BossPanzer]

Kirk Alyn wasn't even credited in this series ? Assholes.

[officialvangcreative]

necessity for storytelling

[Thachawin Sangsuriya]

im come from 9gag

[clintbronson5]

To true and in the 70's version it was the super-side burns ;)