Wednesday, January 7, 2009

SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE-MEN - Darrell Calker - "Superman Anthem" (1951)

Great movie from way back in 1951, that was the pilot for the Superman TV series, directed by the master of speed, Lee "Rollem" Sholem, and starring George Reeves as Superman, and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane! "Superman And The Mole-Men" is a fun watch the whole way through, and you just havn't lived if you have never experienced it!!

Superman is, was, and will always be, the greatest super hero ever, period!! And without a doubt, this shot proves it!!!!

Every town has their claim to fame, like Baker, Calif. and their world's tallest thermometer, but only Silsby has the world's deepest hole!

I could just stop here, because the shot of this Buick just mesmerizes me; Hell, it's got more chrome on it than the whole production line of 2008 Hondas, and talk about gettin' out of my grille, this thing looks like a shark about ready to attack, and check out that license plate, it has to be some Satanic reference!! Poetry in motion as Clark and Lois pull into town to check things out!!

The consummate Clark Kent!!

So out of the world's deepest hole, here they come, The Mole-Men!!!

The Mole-Men are just kinda harmlessly creeping around, but when somebody does see them, they generally get this reaction! The Kreng!!!

Phyllis Coates' interview with Tom Weaver in his book "Return Of The B Science Fiction and Horror Heroes" is priceless and a must-read if you can get your claws on a copy. She was a very spirited women with a good sense of humour! Here she reacts to the little Mole-Men peeping toms!

Lois is quite a strong female role model, and doesn't take much crap from anyone. Phyllis recounts in that Tom Weaver interview that she took a good shot to the chin that knocked her cold in one of the episodes, when she wasn't on her mark! To show you how cool she was, she only blamed herself!!

OH, so you like to beat up on women, now you're starting to piss Superman off!

So, after the local mob tries to kill the innocent little Mole-Guys, they go back down in the hole to their home and come back with a little re-enforcement! Oh, Yeah, they only looked cute!! You got to love that tag team effort! These guys know how to work together!

Shakespearean actor Jeff Corey, who I'm sure was a helluva nice guy, shows what a great actor he was in the extremely unlikable role of stupid redneck Luke Benson, who would have got his sorry ass wasted if Superman hadn't of showed just up in the nick of time!!

One of my heroes Lenny Bruce once said, "I don't know what it is about midgets, they just don't like it when you try and pick them up!!" Watch out Superman!!!

It's all fine in the end, Superman saves the day; I don't think anyone really got killed, and there's still time to have a drink on the set and wax poetic!!!!!

4 comments:

  1. this film was one of earliest childhood freakouts! MOM-MEEEE!!! now i wonder why...

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  2. Mole men are merely misunderstood minions in the great scheme of life --

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  3. The current release of the DVD contains both the original, theatrical, version of this fine film, and the televised version.
    In the original release they did not have the "heroic" Superman music we have come to know and love. They also did not have enhanced sound effects. It made all the difference in the world.

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  4. Take a close look at the Mole Men's weapon: it's an Elecrolux Vacuum cleaner with a funnel stuck in one end. It's my all-time favorie sci-fi prop, better even than the Wham-O Air Blasters painted black that the Martians use as ray guns in SANTA CLAUSE CONQUERS THE MARTIANS.

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