Themes: Assumed Identities, Race Against Time, Daring Rescues
Main Cast: George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jeff Corey, Walter Reed
Release Year: 1951
Country: US
Run Time: 58 minutes
Plot
Superman, the comic-book "Man of Steel" created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, made his feature-film debut in Lippert's Superman and the Mole Men. The story takes place in the small town of Silsby, where the local oil company is drilling what will become the world's deepest well. When the drillers reach the six-mile point, the results are astonishing: four subterranean Mole Men (Jack Banbury, Billy Curtis, Jerry Marvin and Tony Barvis) emerge from the well. Though basically harmless, the Mole Men are regarded as a threat by the citizens of Silsby, especially lynch-happy Luke Benson (Jeff Corey). Reporters Clark Kent (George Reeves) and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) arrive in town to do a story on the well. When Kent realizes that the Mole Men are in danger of falling victim to mob violence, he tears off his glasses and street clothes to become Superman. In this guise, he endeavors to rescue the Mole Men and to convince the townsfolk that blind prejudice is both stupid and dangerous. Rather mild by today's standards (the audience never gets to see Superman fly), {%Superman and the Mole Men} served its primary purpose: to act as a theatrical pilot for the very popular {#Superman} TV series, which also starred {$Reeves} and (for the first season, at least) {$Coates}. The feature film was later edited into two half-hour installments of the {#Superman} series, and retitled "The Unknown People." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Filmed as a precursor to (and full-length advertisement for) the original Superman TV series, Superman and the Mole Men will be enjoyed most by fans of the TV series -- although many of them will already have seen a condensed version of this as part of that series. Modern viewers, used to the more sophisticated special effects in more recent Superman screen outings, will undoubtedly find Mole Men rather primitive fare -- the Mole Men themselves being essentially nothing more than midgets wearing bald skull caps and furry rugs (sometimes with the seams quite visible). But others will find its very primitive nature to be part of its charm. Certainly the screenplay is not an award winner. The characters are not particularly well developed, the basic set-up is functional but little else, and the dialogue gets things accomplished but without a great deal of style or wit. But to fans, it doesn't really matter: George Reeves and Phyllis Coates are on had to play Superman and Lois, and they deliver exactly what is expected. Even in this first outing, Reeves has his character down pat, playing it mostly straight but with the occasional wink, and Coates is a much tougher and believable Lois than was the character in the comics of the 1950s. Throw in a stubborn Jeff Corey and a nice turn from Walter Reed and the result will be more than enough to keep fans of the TV series happy. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Arthur Hammond - First Assistant Director, Lee Sholem - Director, Al Joseph - Editor, Darrell Calker - Composer (Music Score), Harry Thomas - Makeup, Ernst Fegte - Production Designer, Maj. Clark Ramsey - Cinematographer, Robert Maxwell - Producer, Barney A. Sarecky - Producer, Ray Mercer - Special Effects, Richard Fielding - Screenwriter
Superman and the Mole Men is a 1951black and white film starring George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. It was the first theatrical feature film based on the Superman characters (although two live-action Superman films had already been shown in cinemas, they appeared in a serial format). Produced by Barney Sarecky, directed by Lee Sholem and with the original screenplay by Richard Fielding (a pseudonym for Robert Maxwell and Whitney Ellsworth), it was shot in 12 days on a studio backlot. Fifty-eight minutes long, it served as a trial run for the syndicated TV seriesAdventures of Superman, for which it became a two-part episode titled The Unknown People.
Mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and Lois Lane are sent to the small town of Silsby for the inauguration of the world's deepest oil well. Unbeknownst to the drillers, however, the drill shaft has penetrated the underground home of the "Mole Men", a race of small, furry (though bald-headed) beings. The Mole Men come up through the shaft at night to explore the surface.
Their peculiar appearance, plus the fact that everything they touch then becomes phosphorescent and glows in the dark, scares the townspeople into forming an angry mob, led by the violent Luke Benson, in order to kill the "monsters". Superman is the only one able to resolve the conflict, saving one of the creatures from falling into the town's water supply after he has been shot by taking him to hospital, while the other is chased away. Later a doctor reveals that unless the creature undergoes surgery to remove the bullet, he will die. Clark Kent is forced to assist the doctor when the nurse refuses to out of fear of the creature. Soon afterwards, Benson's mob shows up at the hospital demanding to have the creature turned over to them, leading Superman to stand guard outside the hospital. Lois Lane stands at Superman's side, until a shot is fired from the mob narrowly missing Lois. Superman sends her inside and begins to relieve the mob of their guns, sending the mob away. Later several more mole creatures emerge from the drill shaft, this time bearing a weapon. They make their way to the hospital. Benson and his mob see the creatures and Benson goes after them alone, but when the creatures see him they use their weapon and fire on him. Superman sees this and quickly jumps in front of the blast, saving Benson's life, which Superman says is "More than you deserve!". He fetches the wounded creature and returns him and his companions to the shaft, which they soon destroy so that no one can come up or go down ever again.
As with many of the early episodes of the Adventures of Superman, the film is adult-themed, with a good deal of conflict and violence, or the threat thereof, and is played with total seriousness by all the actors; Reeves's Superman, in particular, is all business, displaying none of the humor that the character would develop over time in the TV series.
The sympathetic view of the strangers in this film, and the unreasoning fear on the part of the citizenry, has been compared by author Gary Grossman to the panicked public reaction to the peaceful alien Klaatu in the film The Day the Earth Stood Still, which was released the same year. Both films have been seen retrospectively as a product of (and a reaction to) the "Red Scare" of post-World War II. Grossman also cites a later film perhaps inspired by this one, called The Mole People.
Production notes
Poster (flipped back) and publicity still used for the poster
The central image of Reeves and Coates, on the poster shown here, is a painting derived from flipping a publicity photo of the two, with the "S" shield flipped back in order to read correctly. The photo depicts the final scene, shown in the screen capture at right.
Some elements were trimmed from the film when it was converted into "The Unknown People", including some portions of a lengthy chase scene, and all references to the term "Mole Men".
The theme music used for this film had a generic "sci-fi sound", with nothing suggesting a specific "Superman theme". The title cards were similarly generic, with low-grade animation of Saturn-like ringed planets and comets sailing by.
The score was also changed when the film was re-cut into its two-part TV episode. The film featured an original score by Darrell Calker (Woody Woodpecker), which was removed and replaced with music from the production music library used for the first television season's presentation.
The laser weapon shown in the poster, which the Mole Men brought up from their subterranean home in order to defend themselves and retrieve their injured comrade, was a prop constructed from an Electroluxvacuum cleaner.
VHS and DVD release
The film was released on VHS videotape by Warner Home Video in 1987. Both the two-part episode and the full motion picture are featured on the first season DVD release for Adventures of Superman in 2005. The film is also included as a bonus feature on the 4-disc special edition DVD release of Superman (1978) in 2006.
References
Superman: Serial to Cereal, by Gary Grossman, 1976.
