Superman the Movie is one of the most important movies in the history of superhero cinema. This is the movie that graduated superhero films from cheap B movies and movie serials to high budget blockbusters. Yet its historical importance is not the only reason this is essential viewing for any superhero fan. Even with the incredible wealth of superhero movies that followed (and are still being made today), this still stands as the greatest superhero movie ever made. This is the golden pinnacle amongst which all superhero films must be weighed.
This movie recounts Superman's origin story from the destruction of the planet Krypton to him arriving on Earth to him growing up as Clark Kent in Smallville to him moving to Metropolis to him taking on his first real supervillain.
Many superhero films are fun, exciting and even emotional. Yet none of them quite capture the sheer awe and wonder felt throughout Superman the Movie. This is as much of an old school epic as it is a superhero adventure. As much as I love the MCU and the DC films that followed, none of them have the same feel as this movie. Perhaps something about these superhero stories has been lost and watching this movie it is hard not to view that as a shame. Scenes like the opening on Krypton, the Kents discovering the baby by the side of the road, the introduction of the fortress of solitude and Superman flying Lois Lane through Metropolis are scenes that stay in your mind well after the film ends. This is not only done through great visuals that still look fantastic today but through the way they are presented as well. This movie treats these fantastical scenes with the upmost sincerity and a sense of childlike wonder. Because of this watching this film makes one feel like a child again. A child that is eagerly awaiting to go to the comic book story to see Superman's latest adventure, going to the movie theatre every week to see the new Superman movie serial, getting up early on Saturday morning to see new cartoons or discovering the true magic of movies for the first time. Yet this movie is not simply style over substance. The storyline is a lot of fun and even at times quite emotional. The story is in many ways a simple old fashioned superhero adventure and there is nothing wrong with that. The simplicity of the basic story adds to how this film truly makes you feel like a child while watching it. There is still something that is so satisfying about watching Superman save the day and help people out. Little scenes like Superman catching a falling Lois Lane, saving an airplane full of people and helping a little girl get her cat out of a tree add so much to this movie that would not be there if the entire film focused on his fight with Lex Luthor. The movie is also full of delightful action scenes that are still a lot of fun and a delightful sense of humor. As well as the fun and wonder here, this movie also has some very emotional moments. The greatest of these emotional moments comes before we even see Superman in costume. This is when Clark stands over Pa Kent's grave stating that even with all his powers he couldn't save him. This scene still hits me right in the gut every time I watch.
Of course, one of the main ingredients that makes this film work is Chistopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman. He becomes this character and when you look at the screen, it is like Superman just stepped out of the comic book and into the real world. For a movie that is supposed to feel larger than life this is incredibly important. We forget that we are watching an actor, and we believe that Superman is as real as we are. Part of the reason his performance makes the character feel so real is that in a way Reeve believed in Superman. In his memoir Nothing is Impossible, he wrote, "To say that I believed in Superman is quite an understatement. Of course, I knew it was only a movie, but it seemed to me that the values embodied by Superman on the screen should be the values that prevail in the real world. I've seen first-hand how Superman actually transforms people's lives. I have seen children dying of brain tumors who wanted as their last request to be able to talk to me and have gone to their graves with a peace brought on by knowing that their belief in this kind of character is intact. They're connecting with something very basic: the ability to overcome obstacles, the ability to persevere, the ability to understand difficulty and to turn your back on it." He took the role seriously from the start. He not only went through intense bodybuilding, but he also tried to get into the mind of the character. He would later write, "Truth and justice seemed relatively easy to understand but what about 'the American way?' What does that mean? Is the American way different from the way of other countries that uphold democracy and human rights? After considerable thought and discussion with friends, I decided that because the character is a hero for the entire world, nationalism was not an issue. I thought about other aspects of the American way and the basic rights of pluralistic societies: equal opportunity, equal rights, tolerance, free speech, and fair play." When it came to his secret identity Clark Kent, Reeve based his performance off of Cary Grant in the classic screwball comedy, Bringing Up Baby (1938). It is no wonder that Reeve became the ultimate depiction of Superman for a generation. However, Reeve was not the first considered for the role. The studio (Warner Brothers) wanted a bigger star in the role like Robert Redford in the role. However, director Richard Donner would state that he, "had to convince the audience that the man who was playing that role could fly. And I could not believe Redford or Newman in blue leotards and a red cape, flying." Yet he felt that newcomer Christopher Reeve would be completely believable. About Reeve Donner would state. "I didn't find him. God sent him to me."
The movie also benefits from a really strong supporting cast including Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Glenn Ford as Pa Kent, Phillis Thaxter as Ma Kent, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olson, Jackie Cooper (who had been one of the Our Gang (or Little Rascals) kids in the 1920's and 30's) as Perry White and the beautiful Valerie Perrine as Lex Luthor's sexy girlfriend Eve Teschmacher. Marlon Brando received top billing and was the highest paid. For doing this film he received $3.7 million for only 12 days' work and 10 minutes of screen time. Marlon Brando showed none of the passion for the project that Reeve had. He refused to memorize his lines and, in the scene, where he is placing the baby in the escape pod, he is actually reading the lines off the baby's diaper. Lois Lane's parents are played by Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill, who had played Superman and Lois in the 1940's movie serials. Jeff East, who played the young Clark Kent was Glenn Ford's son in real life.
Director Richard Donner took this film just as seriously as Reeve did. While making the film he would say, "The minute you lose the truth or make fun of it or begin to parody it, you destroy the line of tension, the honesty." Donner would express great disappointment in the first draft of the script stating that it "was like 400 pages. It was ridiculous. They had Superman flying down looking for Lex Luthor, but he stops Telly Savalas on the street, who says, 'Who loves ya baby.' It was just sickening. It had no approach, no sense of its own verisimilitude - its own life in the reality of what Krypton was, what Smallville was, what the transition to Metropolis was going to be." It is Donner's pure passion that would make this movie so special. Donner would even state, "I was making it for me. . .. This picture is the biggest Erector Set given to the biggest kid in the world."
John Williams score is also fantastic for this movie. There is hardly a movie fan that doesn't recognize his Superman Theme. Williams would state, "Superman was the perfect hero to be musicalized in quasi-operatic or balletic fashion." He would also state, "My challenge and opportunity was to capture musically Superman's optimism and invincibility and athletics and heroism. The perfect fifth and the perfect octave are heroic intervals that have a strength and a core power to suggest just those qualities of heroism and heroics."
The movie was a massive hit, setting off records at the box office. With this it would naturally spawn multiple sequels. The movie was also praised by critics with Roger Ebert calling it, "a wonderous combination of all the old-fashioned things we never really get tired of adventure and romance, heroes and villains, earthshattering special effects, and you know what else? Wit." Ebert would later include this in his famous list of great movies.
Resources Used
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/91973/superman-the-movie#articles-reviews?articleId=66930
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078346/
Superman: The High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero by Larry Tye.
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