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(George Bessolo 1914–1959). American actor.
Acted in films compiled from episodes of The
Adventures of Superman: Superman's Peril (George Blair and Carr
1954); Superman in Scotland Yard (Blair and Carr 1954); Superman in
Exile (Blair and Carr 1954); Superman Flies Again (Blair and Carr
1954); Superman and the Jungle Devil (Blair and Carr 1954); Superman
(Blair, Harry W. Gerstad, and Lew LANDERS 1973).
Directed: "The Brainy Burro," "The Perils of Superman,"
"All That Glitters" (1957), episodes of The Adventures of Superman.
Earlier,
Reeves had probably been feeling pretty despondent at the age of thirty-five,
contemplating the apparent disintegration of his once-promising film career.
His brief appearance as one of the Tarleton Twins at the beginning of Gone
with the Wind (1939) has forever preserved what he looked like as a male
ingenue, and his handsome face and decent acting abilities led to a series of
screen performances, even a starring role in a major Hollywood film, So
Proudly We Hail (1943). But after serving in the United States Army, Reeves
could not attain such heights again, instead alternating bit parts in
productions like Samson and Delilah with leading roles in less
distinguished fare, like playing a villain opposite Johnny Weissmuller's Jungle
Jim or the heroic Sir Galahad in a cheesy serial. Even as Reeves was ironically
playing a small part in a forgotten comedy, The Good Humor Man, which
featured a group of young Captain Marvel fans, producers who had tired of the
demanding Alyn were looking for a new actor to portray Captain Marvel's more
enduring rival, Superman, in a projected film and television series. They chose
George Reeves, and they couldn't have made a better choice.
The mistake
other Superman actors make is that they focus all their energies on being
Superman, while making his alter-ego Clark Kent little more than as a collection
of nervous mannerisms. Since Kent is often on stage just as much as, if not
more than, Superman, audiences are then forced to endure long stretches of
intentionally bad acting, best illustrated by the Reeve films. Brilliantly,
Reeves focused all his energies on being Clark Kent. As a result, his Kent is a
joy to behold—competent, intelligent, decisive, and commanding, a total
antithesis to Reeve's nebbish. True, scripts occasionally demanded that Reeves
do the traditional coward routine to get Kent away from the scene so he could
become Superman, but Reeves was visibly uncomfortable suddenly pretending to be
weak and faint-hearted—he was breaking character—and these crude plot
gimmicks became rare as the series progressed. I recall one remarkable scene
that encapsulates Reeves's singular take on Clark Kent: at the end of one
episode, Lois Lane suspiciously comments on Kent's curious absence during
Superman's last appearance, suggesting that Kent and Superman might be the same
person. The characteristic Kent reaction would be to become visibly tense and
stammer nervously, "Uh, surely, you must be mistaken, Lois," or something. But
Reeves brazens it out: he looks Lois straight in the eye and says, "You're
absolutely right, Lois. I'm Superman." Of course, this bold confession neatly
serves to diffuse Lois's suspicions.
If there is a
downside to Reeves's performance, it is that his Superman at times is curiously
unpersuasive: while he jumps into the air and flies with aplomb, and lets
bullets bounce off his body with the appropriate arrogance, Reeves can
otherwise seem irritated or bored when he is playing Superman. He does heroic
feats more dutifully than enthusiastically, and when he has finished, and after
he has stopped to ensure that "Miss Lane" is now all right, Superman rushes
away to resume the role he obviously prefers—Clark Kent. Oddly, one of
Reeves's most memorable moments in blue underwear came at the end of an episode
of I Love Lucy, when he looks at Lucy and asks Desi Arnaz, "Do you mean
you've been married to her for fifteen years?"
"That's
right," he answers.
"And they call
me Superman!"—which I still regard as one of that series's
all-time funniest lines. For once, Reeves's Superman displayed the wit and
confidence of his Clark Kent.
Largely due to
the producers's prescient decision to film most episodes in color—even before
color television had been developed—the 104 half-hour episodes of The
Adventures of Superman enjoyed a remarkably long afterlife in syndication,
and several generations of television viewers have come to appreciate these cheap
but energetic dramas, buoyed by Reeves's charismatic presence. Only the last
thirteen episodes betray a certain sense of exhaustion: Reeves is balding and
graying, the scripts were usually uninspired, and the efforts to cut costs were
increasingly intrusive; in one episode, Superman is even seen searching for
something by driving around as a passenger in a car instead of flying over the
city. But Reeves was finally given the chance to direct a few episodes, and
when the series ended, he hoped to launch a second career as a director.
What happened
instead during the last eighteen months of Reeves's life before his sudden
death may forever be shrouded in confusion and controversy. By some accounts,
there were many reasons why he surely wanted to go on living—perhaps
including an impending marriage, new opportunities to direct, and plans for
another season of The Adventures of Superman—leading to
well-documented suspicions that he was actually murdered. A recent head injury
may also have been clouding his judgment at the crucial moment he picked up the
gun. But Occam's Razor would indicate that it was only a typical case of
suicide, induced by severe depression. For as other actors have discovered,
after people have called you Superman, it is hard to answer to another name.
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