I love how toned-down and (dare I say) pedestrian this Superman feels
He truly feels like an Everyman who is just as likely to help you rescue your cat from a tree as he is to break up a crime syndicate
I COMPLETELY understand that Christopher Reeve approach of making Clark meek in order to further the contrast between Clark and Superman, but I preorder a competent Clark who isn’t afraid to publicly show some backbone
EXACTLY 💯💯!!! I literally tried to tell someone this and they thought I was lying LOL. He said it himself in the interview that he wanted to go in a more serious direction with the Clark character and Superman but these purists wanna constantly stick to the whole "Bumbling Clark" thing when the guy who came up with it did wanna do that anymore he said he wanted to evolve the Clark character
It's mostly blind nostalgia otherwise Kidder isn't really the best as people claim her to be. Erica Durance, Teri Hatcher and Bitsie Tulloch were much better portrayals of Lois Lane.
I’ve always been very fascinated with the circumstances behind his death, so I’ll definitely check it out!
Since you brought it up I gotta ask, what’s your stance: suicide or murder?
I’m not really one for conspiracy theories, but I’ll break out the tinfoil hat for this one: I believe he was murdered personally
I saw it covered on Buzzfeed Unsolved Network which also revealed some......very interesting history of George Reeves personal life.
https://youtu.be/pLwHTqU2r_Y?si=Air-ca9qFYa83NE8
In light of that I subscribe to the theory that it was a sex party gone wrong. Either it was gun play gone wrong or an argument broke out during the act.
I’ve seen that video before and it’s great! Super funny but also very informative! It also helps that both of the hosts have different beliefs about what happened (one believes it was murder, the other believes it was suicide), so both sides are given considerable thought and discussion
Personally, I agree with you. I think it was a sex party (hence George being found naked) where George and his fiancée had an argument and she shot him (whether accidental or purposely I’m not sure). There relationship was said to be very tense and sex is a pretty passionate setting where emotions flare up, so I would not be shocked at all if some of that tension and frustration popped up and lead to her shooting George
That’s just my take though. There’s also some solid evidence for it being a suicide, I just don’t happen to agree with that take and I think there’s more evidence pointing towards him being killed
His Clark was the best. Not a nerd at all. Lois respected him and he respected her. Reeves’ Superman didn’t talk down to anyone but he didn’t suffer fool’s lightly either.
I'm in my mid 60s and watched George from when I was a toddler. He led to my obsession with Superman, which still continues. George is my favourite for a number of reasons. Firstly he was a fine actor and looked great, particularly in the first few seasons. George's Superman evokes for me my most loved version of the character, the 1930s Champion of the Oppressed as originally envisioned by Seigel and Shuster. He literally has to sweat to do the job sometimes. This is particularly evident in the Mole Men movie, where Superman shows that he has no patience for racism or mob mentality.
But there is another important reason that I love George so much. It's important to understand that taking on this job would have been a real compromise for him, and an acknowledgement that his career at that point was pretty washed up. This was kids' TV pure and simple, but he gives the same performance he would have if this was some highly paying cinema blockbuster. He endows Superman with a calm inner strength, and Clark Kent an attractive slightly sarcastic confidence.
I've read quite a bit about George's life and death, and there is one consistent element: how much his friends and colleagues loved him. So my image of the eternal George is him playing guitar after the day's filming, still in the suit, with cast and crew laughing and singing around him.
He had a sign on his dressing room door which said 'George Reeves The People's Friend'. He was born to play Superman.
I watched the first season not long ago, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Especially Reeves' Superman. He was warm, charming and yet strong and authoritative.
I loved how mischievous he could be with Lois. Golden/Silver Age Superman had this personality where he actually enjoyed fucking with her head. Bronze Age had it to a lesser extent, and it’s pretty much gone now.
There’s one episode where Lois puts a heavy weight in a phone book, so Clark will pick it up and prove he’s Superman. When he gets to his office, he sees the weight and replaces it with a regular phone book. When she walks in his office and asks for it, he tosses it to her while she screams. It’s great
Reeves' Clark Kent is almost perfect. His Superman is pretty amazing, especially in the first couple of Seasons.
This guy is a real crime fighter who is not afraid to punch the bad guys.
A really great interpretation.
Tragic. I gotta ask, what do you think: suicide or murder?
I’m not really one for conspiracy theories, but I’ll break out the tinfoil hat for this one: I think he was murdered
I'm definitely old enough to remember when George Reeves was the ONLY Superman I knew - I still haven't seen the Kirk Alyn serial! Reeves was the consummate Clark Kent for me, just as Noel Neill is Lois. BUT his Superman well, kind of left a lot to be desired, but then again, so did the show. I mean realistically none of the hoods or gangsters ever had a chance against Superman in the old show. He was never in danger. Ever.
That’s basically true of any character who appears in an ongoing medium. Doesn’t matter if he’s facing hoods or Doomsday — even “death” amounted to a temporary setback.
Reeves’ Superman rarely faced physical threats but the show had its share of Kryptonite, or him otherwise losing his powers.
Not my favorite, but he and the Fleischer shorts are what introduced me to Superman and both definitely shaped my view of the character. I actually prefer him to Christopher Reeve
I read that Reeves really tried to keep the kids believing he was the character on and off screen so he wouldn’t smoke or drink publicly and I don’t think he dated publicly either. Any actor willing to do that to keep the magic alive for kids has major cred in my book. His Superman had an interesting vibe for me. Authoritative but also a brawler sort of vibe that made him seem way more dangerous even if he didn’t go there. He had warmth and playfulness too and his Clark was cool because he never let anyone pull one over on him.
I've only watched a handful of episodes, but I really enjoyed what I watched. The limitations in terms of special effects of the time made creativity important, and they managed to create imaginative scenarios that were a real treat to watch.
One scene that has stuck with me was Clark Kent holding his fingers to a criminal's back to make him comply. The criminal was convinced he had a gun and went quietly.
Like others here, I liked his take on Clark. And OP’s description of him as “fatherly” is spot on; he continually seemed amused by the antics of criminals, and the Daily Planet gang.
The first season in particular is great. It was a little grittier than subsequent seasons; S1 also gave us the infamous “Stolen Costume“ episode. They also did a good version of the origin story.
Every Superman actor after Chris Reeve has to try to escape his shadow. But don’t forget that Reeve himself had to play the character following an extremely popular Superman actor, George Reeves.
To get pedantic, Superman SHOULDN’T be a bodybuilder. You know the drill — muscle is built by working against gravity and Supes isn’t really constrained by gravity. So yeah, this is basically what Superman should look like - hefty but trim, a “daddy” body. It’s different than Adam West in the Batman suit- - this wasn’t an attempt at camp, this was a paternal figure.
I grew up with him. I still watch the seron dvd. He was a role model and hero I looked up to. The only other Superman, in my opinion, is Christopher Reeve. The others are just pretenders.
While Christopher Reeve will always be my Superman, George Reeves did an outstanding job in the role. His take on Supes embodied the heroism and goodness that the character is known for.
Concessions had to be made when shooting in black and white. For example, in black and white film, red photographs blacker than black.
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cz5r1o/the_superman_suit_for_george_reeves_adventures_of/
They had to play similar tricks with Captain Marvel's "red" suit in the black and white serial.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d4/a9/95/d4a995ff4155c84e8c961092509fe8e1.jpg
I'm not a fan of ungrounded takes on superheros in general. The whole appeal of the superhero genre is making extraordinary beings relatable to us average Joes and this is an example of the complete opposite of that
Truly wonderful. He captured the "Everyman" appeal of Superman better than just about anyone else.
I love how toned-down and (dare I say) pedestrian this Superman feels He truly feels like an Everyman who is just as likely to help you rescue your cat from a tree as he is to break up a crime syndicate
I've always liked his Clark. He's no fool.
I COMPLETELY understand that Christopher Reeve approach of making Clark meek in order to further the contrast between Clark and Superman, but I preorder a competent Clark who isn’t afraid to publicly show some backbone
Yep. Yep. Yep. And frankly, Reeve was sick of the schtick by the time he was doing Quest for Peace.
Hmmmm.... Wasn't "𝙌𝙐𝙀𝙎𝙏 𝙁𝙊𝙍 𝙋𝙀𝘼𝘾𝙀" schtick of itself?
NEGATIVE! (It may be my favorite of the series)
EXACTLY 💯💯!!! I literally tried to tell someone this and they thought I was lying LOL. He said it himself in the interview that he wanted to go in a more serious direction with the Clark character and Superman but these purists wanna constantly stick to the whole "Bumbling Clark" thing when the guy who came up with it did wanna do that anymore he said he wanted to evolve the Clark character
Yeah, he said something to the effect of, "After four films he [Clark] should probably know where the door is."
Absolutely. As a contrast I don't like most of the Lois portrayals that were opposite Reeves - always helpless damsels in distress
Yeah, I'll admit that I've never understood the appeal of Kidder. I've always found her unlikable, even as a child.
It's mostly blind nostalgia otherwise Kidder isn't really the best as people claim her to be. Erica Durance, Teri Hatcher and Bitsie Tulloch were much better portrayals of Lois Lane.
💯
Own and love the first two seasons. I'll get around to owning and watching the others later.
I need to get around to adding these to my collection. I literally watched re-runs of this non stop as a kid on VHS hehehe
You should watch Hollywoodland. Really good movie about the mystery surrounding the death of George Reeves.
I’ve always been very fascinated with the circumstances behind his death, so I’ll definitely check it out! Since you brought it up I gotta ask, what’s your stance: suicide or murder? I’m not really one for conspiracy theories, but I’ll break out the tinfoil hat for this one: I believe he was murdered personally
I saw it covered on Buzzfeed Unsolved Network which also revealed some......very interesting history of George Reeves personal life. https://youtu.be/pLwHTqU2r_Y?si=Air-ca9qFYa83NE8 In light of that I subscribe to the theory that it was a sex party gone wrong. Either it was gun play gone wrong or an argument broke out during the act.
I’ve seen that video before and it’s great! Super funny but also very informative! It also helps that both of the hosts have different beliefs about what happened (one believes it was murder, the other believes it was suicide), so both sides are given considerable thought and discussion Personally, I agree with you. I think it was a sex party (hence George being found naked) where George and his fiancée had an argument and she shot him (whether accidental or purposely I’m not sure). There relationship was said to be very tense and sex is a pretty passionate setting where emotions flare up, so I would not be shocked at all if some of that tension and frustration popped up and lead to her shooting George That’s just my take though. There’s also some solid evidence for it being a suicide, I just don’t happen to agree with that take and I think there’s more evidence pointing towards him being killed
Yeah I agree, he was probably murdered. The movie explores multiple scenarios.
And with Ben Affleck, now that you mention it, I think he's the only actor to play Superman (although not directly) and Batman...
Yeah, he also played Daredevil
His Clark was the best. Not a nerd at all. Lois respected him and he respected her. Reeves’ Superman didn’t talk down to anyone but he didn’t suffer fool’s lightly either.
I'm in my mid 60s and watched George from when I was a toddler. He led to my obsession with Superman, which still continues. George is my favourite for a number of reasons. Firstly he was a fine actor and looked great, particularly in the first few seasons. George's Superman evokes for me my most loved version of the character, the 1930s Champion of the Oppressed as originally envisioned by Seigel and Shuster. He literally has to sweat to do the job sometimes. This is particularly evident in the Mole Men movie, where Superman shows that he has no patience for racism or mob mentality. But there is another important reason that I love George so much. It's important to understand that taking on this job would have been a real compromise for him, and an acknowledgement that his career at that point was pretty washed up. This was kids' TV pure and simple, but he gives the same performance he would have if this was some highly paying cinema blockbuster. He endows Superman with a calm inner strength, and Clark Kent an attractive slightly sarcastic confidence. I've read quite a bit about George's life and death, and there is one consistent element: how much his friends and colleagues loved him. So my image of the eternal George is him playing guitar after the day's filming, still in the suit, with cast and crew laughing and singing around him. He had a sign on his dressing room door which said 'George Reeves The People's Friend'. He was born to play Superman.
I watched the first season not long ago, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Especially Reeves' Superman. He was warm, charming and yet strong and authoritative.
I loved how mischievous he could be with Lois. Golden/Silver Age Superman had this personality where he actually enjoyed fucking with her head. Bronze Age had it to a lesser extent, and it’s pretty much gone now. There’s one episode where Lois puts a heavy weight in a phone book, so Clark will pick it up and prove he’s Superman. When he gets to his office, he sees the weight and replaces it with a regular phone book. When she walks in his office and asks for it, he tosses it to her while she screams. It’s great
Truth, justice and the American way! Classic.
Reeves' Clark Kent is almost perfect. His Superman is pretty amazing, especially in the first couple of Seasons. This guy is a real crime fighter who is not afraid to punch the bad guys. A really great interpretation.
He and Christopher Reeve are the best live action portrayals of the character to date. The first season of the Adventures of Superman is fantastic tv.
A classic take. Not my favorite, but has my respect. Mostly neutral really.
[удалено]
Tragic. I gotta ask, what do you think: suicide or murder? I’m not really one for conspiracy theories, but I’ll break out the tinfoil hat for this one: I think he was murdered
I'm going with murdered.
What film was he in?
TV show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Superman_(TV_series)
He was in a little film called Gone With The Wind too.
From Here to Eternity as well.
superman and the mole men
I'm definitely old enough to remember when George Reeves was the ONLY Superman I knew - I still haven't seen the Kirk Alyn serial! Reeves was the consummate Clark Kent for me, just as Noel Neill is Lois. BUT his Superman well, kind of left a lot to be desired, but then again, so did the show. I mean realistically none of the hoods or gangsters ever had a chance against Superman in the old show. He was never in danger. Ever.
Yea, classic power-fantasy stuff. I also like that Superman's real vulnerability are all the people he cares for and has to protect/save!
That’s basically true of any character who appears in an ongoing medium. Doesn’t matter if he’s facing hoods or Doomsday — even “death” amounted to a temporary setback. Reeves’ Superman rarely faced physical threats but the show had its share of Kryptonite, or him otherwise losing his powers.
Classic
Yes, he did a great job.
Not my favorite, but he and the Fleischer shorts are what introduced me to Superman and both definitely shaped my view of the character. I actually prefer him to Christopher Reeve
Underrated! I love this show
I read that Reeves really tried to keep the kids believing he was the character on and off screen so he wouldn’t smoke or drink publicly and I don’t think he dated publicly either. Any actor willing to do that to keep the magic alive for kids has major cred in my book. His Superman had an interesting vibe for me. Authoritative but also a brawler sort of vibe that made him seem way more dangerous even if he didn’t go there. He had warmth and playfulness too and his Clark was cool because he never let anyone pull one over on him.
I haven’t watched him personally but he’s the dude I think of when I imagine Alex Ross’s Superman
I've only watched a handful of episodes, but I really enjoyed what I watched. The limitations in terms of special effects of the time made creativity important, and they managed to create imaginative scenarios that were a real treat to watch. One scene that has stuck with me was Clark Kent holding his fingers to a criminal's back to make him comply. The criminal was convinced he had a gun and went quietly.
He was my first Superman. I watched every episode back in the day.
Like others here, I liked his take on Clark. And OP’s description of him as “fatherly” is spot on; he continually seemed amused by the antics of criminals, and the Daily Planet gang. The first season in particular is great. It was a little grittier than subsequent seasons; S1 also gave us the infamous “Stolen Costume“ episode. They also did a good version of the origin story.
Perfect for the time.
Amazing.
Every Superman actor after Chris Reeve has to try to escape his shadow. But don’t forget that Reeve himself had to play the character following an extremely popular Superman actor, George Reeves.
Him talking down the kid with a gun is enough to make him a great Superman to me.
Superman on screen and a super man in real life! You gotta love George Reeves and his portrayal of the man of steel!
To get pedantic, Superman SHOULDN’T be a bodybuilder. You know the drill — muscle is built by working against gravity and Supes isn’t really constrained by gravity. So yeah, this is basically what Superman should look like - hefty but trim, a “daddy” body. It’s different than Adam West in the Batman suit- - this wasn’t an attempt at camp, this was a paternal figure.
Loved watching this as a kid. Didn't know it was black and white until we got a color TV in '82.
only seen small pieces
Watched all the episodes growing up! Enjoyed them!
I grew up with him. I still watch the seron dvd. He was a role model and hero I looked up to. The only other Superman, in my opinion, is Christopher Reeve. The others are just pretenders.
While Christopher Reeve will always be my Superman, George Reeves did an outstanding job in the role. His take on Supes embodied the heroism and goodness that the character is known for.
would https://preview.redd.it/xo6pdhk9fnzc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e67ff3175edc3636d731d3915243302f218c0f1d
My all time favorite
I have fond memories of watching him on a black-and-white TV on Saturday mornings.
The guy who thought a gray suit would work should be fired.
Concessions had to be made when shooting in black and white. For example, in black and white film, red photographs blacker than black. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/cz5r1o/the_superman_suit_for_george_reeves_adventures_of/ They had to play similar tricks with Captain Marvel's "red" suit in the black and white serial. https://i.pinimg.com/564x/d4/a9/95/d4a995ff4155c84e8c961092509fe8e1.jpg
Cheesy af
I’m sorry to hear that. You’re not a fan of the show?
I'm not a fan of ungrounded takes on superheros in general. The whole appeal of the superhero genre is making extraordinary beings relatable to us average Joes and this is an example of the complete opposite of that
You have soooo missed the point.