BEHIND THE SCENES

Donner and Brando. hmmm wonder what they are discussing ?
Kirk Alynn, young Lois Lane and Elder Lois Lane
Donner and Hackman
Donner directs the next day at the Planet, after the hero's first night
Donner scratching his head, fags are bad for you man!
Superman talks to dad after his first night.

Superman screen test before he hit the gym

Donner and Unsworth (right) & John Barry (left)

Preparing to shoot Lois's death

Donner and Director of Photography Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC, let a couple of young extras have a peek through the camera during the shooting of a high school football sequence in Canada.

 Marlon Brando poses for a portrait with Donner and Producer Pierre Spengler.

Donner lines up a low-angle shot with Second Unit Cameraman Alex Thompson (left) and Operator Jack Lowen. Geoff Unsworth particularly admired Thompson's ability to match perfectly his own photographic style "and do it better", according to the modest Unsworth.

Donner on funeral sequence location with Phyllis Thaxter, Superman's adoptive mother.

  Lining up a crane shot for the football sequence.

  Described by one of his British admirers as "frightfully American", Dick Donner's sometimes ribald sense of humor and unflagging enthusiasm are credited with maintaining cast and crew morale at a high level during the arduous two years of production.

Donner lends a hand to help clear the set on location in Canada.

Colin Chilvers has spent the last two-and-a-half of his 33 years creating, supervising and directing the spectacular physical effects required for Superman.

If this photograph looks a bit odd, it's because what's going on in it is even odder. Richard Donner (left) gives stuntman George Leach direction for a line-up in the burglar sequence. A full-scale section of the Solo Building (complete with night exterior backing) was built on its side, so George is, in fact, strapped into his seat and everything on the desk is stuck down, because he is at right angles to the floor.

Donner looks through the camera mounted on Universal Studios' unique "shaker mount" which was built for the film EARTHQUAKE. A highly sophisticated machine, it can be calibrated to shake intermittently and to any degree desired. Although the movement is basically horizontal, a cam on the front permits varied up and down movement, as well.

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