Superman Movie Minute #25 – There Goes The Monkey Shot

SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE #25 – There Goes The Monkey Shot

Fire and Water Network All-Stars Chris Franklin and Rob Kelly bring you SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE, where they analyze, scrutinize, and you’ll-believe-a-man-can-fly-ize the classic 1978 film starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, and Marlon Brando, five minutes at a time!

In minutes 121:00 – 125:00, Superman deals with multiple disasters, and Jimmy Olsen gets in trouble at a dam. Special guest: Bob Fisher!

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14 responses to “Superman Movie Minute #25 – There Goes The Monkey Shot

  1. To Chris,
    As to the “baby cry”, I think it was either the worker whom got hurt in the shock of the cables hitting him or his co workers calling his name “Walter.” Unless I’m hearing things too.

    1. Sounds plausible Danny. I don’t recall hearing the baby cry before the 2000/2001 directors cut, but it may have been there before. Lots of sounds were amped up in that edition. I wish I could find an unaltered copy. I don’t have a working VCR.

      Anyone else hear that baby? My psychiatrist Dr. Hervenstoffer wants to know.

      Chris

  2. Great to hear Bob on the show again. I am kind of disappointed that you guys didn’t fully acknowledge the source of much of this sequence; the original Superman cartoons! Bob mentioned the sequence where Superman pulls the train, but earlier he caught the train as it was falling, and sort of used his body to replace the track. I think there was also a part in one of the cartoons where he saves a town threatened by a damaged dam by throwing an enormous boulder to block the hole in the dam.
    Superman called Jim “Jim” because when he made his debut in Metropolis that was how he was addressed; “Say, Jim!” He thought that was a conventional greeting.

    1. Leave it to Bob to bring in the Fleischer references. But yeah, I’m sure the filmmakers had the Fleischers in the back of their minds, as those shorts were very much mini-disaster films in a lot of ways (even the first one where the Mad Scientist is causing buildings to topple with a death-ray), doing things Hollywood could never dream doing in live-action at the time. They were also the most fully realized version of Superman in motion due to that reason as well. There were no budget limits for FX in animation, especially in the expensive Fleischer shorts!

      Chris

      1. Man, I’ve been fan of those Fleischer shorts for decades and I NEVER PUT IT TOGETHER that the movie may have been influenced by them. Good on this show for opening my eyes a bit.

        To date, the MF shorts are my favorite depiction of Superman in animation. Man, were those early ones beautiful.

        1. Agreed! Alex Toth was so angry with Bruce Timm since he didn’t follow the Fleischer look when they did STAS, he sent him a nasty letter! Of course Toth sent everyone nasty letters, but previously he’d sent Timm nice letters!

          The Fleischer cartoons are the gold standard in action animation. No one has close to matching them, going on nearly 80s years later!

          Chris

          1. Also, the definitive Lois Lane. Ditching Clark to get the scoop, climbing into giant robots, flying planes, escaping hand over hand on burning cable, using a machine gun on the crooks who dropped it, sneaking into the bad guys vehicle and attempting to wreck it with a wrench… Never once calling for help!

  3. As we near the end of the film and this great podcast, I wonder if you guys have any recommendations for other (maybe less well-known films) starring this cast of terrific actors. Although I always tend to associate them with Superman, everyone in the cast did stellar work in a multitude of films.

    My personal favorites with the cast from Superman:

    1. Marlon Brando: The Freshman (1990) Brando playfully mocks his Godfather persona in this slight but delightful mob comedy. Plus he ice skates!
    2. Gene Hackman: Another Woman (1988) Hackman has small role in this Woody Allen drama about a woman coming to terms with her past & middle-age. He’s very good as a decent man who fails to woo Gena Rowlands.
    3. Terence Stamp: Billy Budd (1962) Stamp is great as the Christ-like title character in this adaptation of the classic Herman Melville tale. It’s the polar opposite of Zod and a terrific performance.
    4. Valerie Perrine: Lenny (1974) Perrine was Oscar nominated as Lenny Bruce’s stripper wife, Honey. She’s wonderful and equals Dustin Hoffman in their scenes together. I saw Hoffman at the TCM screening of the film and he heaped praise on Perrine.
    Glenn Ford: Pocketful of Miracles (1961) Ford stars opposite Bette Davis & Ann-Margaret in Frank Capra’s final film, a remake of his own “Lady for a Day.” It’s not the classic that the original is, but I saw it as a kid and loved it ever since. Plus Peter Falk is a riot as Ford’s right-hand man.
    5. Jackie Cooper: The Champ (1931) Seeing this boxing classic will reveal why Cooper was a star by age 5. If you don’t cry during this one you have no soul.
    6. Ned Beatty: Hear My Song (1991) Beatty is grand in this small independent Irish film. It’s a fictionalized biography of the real life tenor Josef Locke.
    7. Margot Kidder: Sisters (1974) Kidder plays twins in this creepy flick from Brian DePalma.
    8. Christopher Reeve: Deathtrap (1982) This mystery thriller from Sidney Lumet (based on the Ira Levin hit play) is a darkly fun game of wits & murder. I was totally surprised by the plot twist when I first saw it.

    1. Fun idea!

      Brando: Apocalypse Now!
      Hackman: The French Connection
      Stamp: It’s between The Limey and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
      Beatty: Deliverance probably
      Reeve: Somewhere in Time

      Actors omitted where I didn’t have much of a handle on their filmographies. Yours are much better researched!

    2. Yes, fun exercise Chuck!
      1. Brando: The Island of Dr. Moreau (because it’s such a trainwreck, and you just can’t look away. Plus…South Park)
      2. Hackman: Unforgiven
      3. Stamp: The Haunted Mansion (just because I love the ride, not the movie, and he’s the best part of it)
      4. Glenn Ford: 3:10 to Yuma
      5. Ned Beatty: Deliverance
      6. Margot Kidder: The Amityville Horror
      7. Christopher Reeve: Somewhere in Time (although I recall enjoying his role in Noises Off quite a bit)

  4. OK, so I’m on episode 12 or so, slowly and sporadically making my way thru this wonderful podcast! I have sense memory of this movie from my childhood, but don’t actually Remember Seeing It, in the theater or on TV later or what, unlike Star Wars (at a drive-in, one of my earliest memories is standing on the ‘hump’ of the back seat floorboard and watching the movie between my parents), E.T., etc.

    I wasn’t actually much of a Superman fan growing up, being too much of a Marvel fan to spend much time on my cousin’s Superman comics from a few years back, though of course I loved Super Friends! Who didn’t? I got out of comics when my parents made us sell all our comics (except Power Pack! I was able to convince my mom to let me keep them by studiously hiding the two issues dealing with ‘environmentalism” or ‘new age beliefs’ and pointing out that the book she read about how comics were evil never mentioned Power Pack, and they were a wholesome family! )

    It wasn’t until ~2014 that I became a Superman Fan, by way of two new interests: digital comics and podcasts! Being able to read along with The Who’s Who Podcast, Superman Forever Radio, The New 52 Adventures of Superman, From Crisis to Crisis, Superman in the Bronze Age, the Superman Fan Podcast, the Thrilling Adventures of Superman and Golden Age Superman let me get a much better and more accurate look at the Man of Steel, in all his many forms, some of which were Excellent, some of which were Absurd, and some of which were both! I had become an avowed fan of Last Son of Krypton! Even better, Now that I’ve sampled from all eras of Superman, my overall favorite is actually the Bronze Age, i think, which was the same era of Superman I was turned off of as a kid,
    Funny how things turn out…

    Anywho, all of that led me to tracking down the Superman movies, and re-watching Superman I-III for the first time as an adult, and seeing Superman IV and Returns for the first time. They were actually not as bad as I expected, based on all the negative buzz I’d heard about them. Not Particularly Good, mind you, Just not Bad.

    The Real Winners were, of course, Superman I and II (I def remember that I liked Superman II more than the first one, as a kid), and listening to the two of you, and all of your Wonderful Guests, has been a Real Joy as I relive seeing this Amazing Movie, five minutes at a time. I’ve decided I’ll re-watch Superman: the Movie some time after I finish listening to the Podcast, so I can notice in real time all those things like miniature Churches and the like. I Thank you both (and your wonderful guests), again, from the bottom of my red and blue (with a touch of yellow!) heart!

  5. Still catching up on the back episodes, guys, but I’m with Rob. I always thought Superman – when he scooped Jimmy off the dam – said, “Hang on, KID.”

    And I also agree with Chris that Superrman that he reached for some extra vocal deepness for the “you’ll be safe here, son.” I wonder if he’s concerned Jimmy would recognize him as Clark and worked too hard on his voice. That’s how I always read it. Of course if he did say “JIM” at the dam, then those worries would be tenfold.

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