25 YEARS OF SUPERMAN THE MOVIE

The 70s to the early 80s is my favourite era; there were big leaps, innovation in music and great films! Oh, the music, the MUSIC! You had artists who were in control of their writing and playing. There was so much rich culture, it's so sad that it's all evaporated now. Every year, a new trend was set, from the explosive Dirty Harry to the innovative Star Wars. There was disco, punk and rock; followed by new movements: synths, electronica and New Romantics. By the late 70s and early 80s: Industrial Britain was going through a dark time, things looked bleak and grey (In stark contrast to the eye-popping colours in Superman), high unemployment, Labour union strikes everyday, riots and more riots! Cinema was a haven, a place where our dreams are played out, a place to congregate and escape from the stinking reality.

A lot of us were wee little nippers, oblivious to the real world around us, a time when innocence reined supreme in our lives. Whilst I walked or crawled in diapers, whining for milk - out there, people, a little older than me; of all shapes, sizes and colour were looking forward to seeing something quite special on the big screen. Promised for years, secrecy paramount, Superman finally flew onto the screen on 15th December 1978.

Salkinds RULE!

Yes, they do! I love these guys, they were so damn ambitious!

4 years of production hell; 2 years of production…um, heaven? Not quite; "It was blind leading the blind" said the maverick director - Richard Donner. Early 1970s, the British film industry was making very few pictures, but 1976-1977, Star Wars made an impact so big that Britain became the place to shoot big budget blockbusters, but it was the Salkinds that finally kicked British excellence into top gear, no expense spared, crème de la crème; some of the most influential British f/x technicians worked on our film. Superman was expensive, make no mistake, this film was make or break for the producers. No one will ever know just how much money the Salkinds poured into Superman 1 and 2. I'm willing to guess it's more than 35 million!

The Salkinds have received an abundance of vociferous vitriol over the years, especially on our message board and a few articles on the site; of course, I expressed a lot of anger -why they fired Donner and not pay Brando what he was owed. And now, I must say, why did Donner have to publicly tear into the producers, I really do believe both sides were to blame. Over the years, as I get older, I garner more respect for the producers; I think they were ambitious but financially naïve and maybe not honest. The impression I get is that they were never in control of their destiny. Pierre Spenger, a producer who Donner had the biggest problem with, he was a dear friend of Ilya Salkind; Donner really did tear into him for mishandling the film's finances, not paying up, bounced cheques etc. Donner has been quoted that the film was too big him. I hope one day, Ilya will sit down with me and tell what really did happen. I do believe that the Salkinds were very weary of the studio, Warner Bros.! I think the studio was trying to wrestle the film away from them once they saw the potential of Superman on the screen. I'm not going to say anymore on this subject, I think my Water under the Bridge piece should answer any questions you have.

The special effects; analysed every layer, in my eyes, they are magical for the most part. The Krypton sequence is like an apparition. Smallville is nostalgic Americana, Fortress of Solitude is beautiful architecture from the mind of John Barry, and Metropolis looks so New York :D The look of the picture is one of the most vibrant you'll ever see, when you add in the complexities of shooting anamorphic, which requires lot of light, and shots can be hindered by distortion, especially when shooting special effects sequence; it's no small feat, Geoffrey Unsworth is a legend - one of the first cameramen to switch from b/w to colour shooting with ease. Of course how can I not mention Derek Meddings! It's such a shame that his contract wasn't extended to finish off the damn sequence! Unfortunately, Spengler forgot to tie up the contracts, which meant that the people could sign up for other films during post production on Superman! Meddings joined the Bond team and was responsible for some extraordinary shuttle footage in Moonraker. Les Bowie is another genius, so is Wally Veers and Zoptic! The list is endless.

So…

…Superman did stellar business, but I think it garnered a stronger fan base in the 80s. The long cut, which was never sanctioned by Donner, was put together by the Salkind Company, and shown in selected parts of the world. This long cut was probably one of the most sought after tapes amongst the bootleggers. Years passed, people thought that the long version was a dream, a fallacy in their sleep? It wasn't until the mid nineties that people realised that it was in fact real, they did watch it, but they were so young at the time that they couldn't remember anything significant. Thanks to the internet, a haven for bootleggers, the long versions adverts surfaced on Ebay. Some people did record the long version, but people clamouring for a copy during the 80s and early 90s had no indication of where to get them from until the internet revolution!

Oh yes, 1994: KCOP, a station that gained notoriety for showing a long version, but not the same as the ABC edition, oh no, for this version added a few scenes to an already 3 hour workprint [ABC version] film. The famous scene between Brando and Reeve finally surfaced, beggers belief why it was never shown in 1982! A scene, which I consider not to work in the context of the film, Superman comes across as a naive person; what did Jor-El teach him during his 12 years in the Fortress? Dialogue required an overhaul in my opinion.

And so, the ABC long cut was no longer the most sought after, the KCOP was and still is! Of course, it was 1994, everyone had a VCR!

The DVD, as good as it is, it's not comprehensive, and plenty of deleted scenes are missing including Superman speeding past Concorde! The commentary, well I would've given the participants lot more topics to discuss. Original theatrical cut of the film! It should've been on the DVD!!! Of course, it's great to have it on DVD, for that I'm grateful!

The film's UK television debut was on Thursday 2nd/3rd Jan 1982 at 7:25pm and repeated on Christmas Day 1983 around 3:10; it was the second most watched TV on ITV that year! It probably was my first viewing of the film; I certainly remember watching it between 83 and 85. I watched Superman 2 in 1985; incidentally, number 2 was the 10th most watched ITV film/tv in 85. The film premiered on Friday 3rd/4th Jan 1985 around 7:45pm on ITV on a Friday - I distinctly remember sitting there thinking who the hell is Mario Puzo? With the exception of Ireland, the rest of Britain only got the theatrical cuts of both films, no long cut was ever shown here :(

Anyway, I digress, back to the first film.

Why has the film continued to entertain us? Should the light it shines be virtually invisible by now? I don't think so, like a new born star, it's still bright! It continues to entertain, enthral and most of all - make us feel good; cynics and critics mention some creaky effects, may we remind them that these flaws were visible back in 78! Maybe they laugh at Margot's performance of Can you read my mind? Can you imagine if that was done today? Have we become so cynical? For me, the film [at this point] takes itself out of the real world for a few minutes, and parallels the fairytale of Peter Pan, but for grown-ups. It's a scene for the romantics out there despite the slightly grating vocals by Kidder.

I could spend a few more pages just analysing the film, but do I need to? Sit back this Christmas and marvel at this wonderful film, what's that old saying? They don't make'em like this anymore!

For the 25th anniversary, I wish I could get some new interviews; it's quite difficult to get people like Mankiewicz, although I'm sure he loves to talk about Superman and his Bond work. I think Donner is pretty much burnt out on the subject, although my questions wouldn't be the usual conventional stuff.

BACK TO INDEX