SUPERMAN MOVIE MINUTE #12 – Sick, You’re Really Sick
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 56:00 – 60:00, We follow Otis to an underground lair, and are introduced to Miss Tessmacher and the big man himself, Lex Luthor!
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- Opening theme and closing theme by John Williams
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Great episode you diseased maniacs! This sequence introducing the villains has always been one of my favorite moments in the film. I always thought that Hackman’s Luthor was a nice bridge between the campy 1960s Batman TV baddies and the darker superhero movies that came later. He’s comedic and still menacing.
I also like that Otis and Miss Tessmacher have managed to worm their way into other parts of the Superman franchise. Miss Tessmacher pops up as a secretary on Supergirl from time to time & Otis has even appeared in the comics. He was seen in Tiny TItans & the Smallville season 11 comics series, where he was finally given the surname Berg. “Otis Berg” how appropriate.
I totally agree with your comments on Valerie Perrine. What a woman! And to think she was 3rd choice for the role after Ann Margaret and Goldie Hawn turned it down. FYI Perrine graced the August 1981 cover of Playboy doing a Superman homage.
I just looked that cover up…for research purposes only of course… and that is quite a…er….shirt rip!
Golly!
Chris
That was an enjoyable Google search.
You guys should watch “Lenny.” You’ll owe me.
I attended a TCM screening of Lenny where Dustin Hoffman was interviewed by Alec Baldwin. Hoffman heaped lots of praise on Perrine’s work, which earned her a Best Actress nomination.
Say, just a quick note…
That moment where the two policemen are following Otis in Grand Central Station (or is it Metropolis Central Station?) and they step in front of the panorama shot of NYC. That was actually there in GCS. Kodak used to have a giant indoor lighted billboard where they would demonstrate the wonders of using Kodak products, and that was one of their pictures. I remember seeing it around the time the movie was released.
Fun fact: The Daily News Building is just down 42nd Street, only a few blocks from GCS. I remember visiting the lobby of the Daily News Building and being amazed at seeing that giant globe there.
Fun fact for Rob Kelly: There were still a couple of automats in operation around the GCS area, including one on the way to the Daily News building.
Fun fact: When the Avengers battle the Chitauri invasion in the first Avengers movie, it takes place right outside of GCS. Is it possible Lex sent Otis up to borrow some alien tech for his vendetta against Superman? Only time will tell….
Sphinx-
Thanks for the Automat trivia! I know they were still around in the 70s, I wish I had had the chance to visit one. I have no idea why they entrance me so, but they do.
Did you ever see “That Touch of Mink”? It offers a peek at an automat, both as a customer and behind the scenes. Here’s a clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTqjO-dHTmE), one of at least 6 movie clips in a series showing what an automat was like back in the day.
I’ve seen TTOM, partly because I knew the Automat plays so heavily in it. My Great Uncle Fred used to take my Dad to the Automat, so he has told me stories. Supposedly there’s a documentary about the company in the works.
Also: I thought it was funny that you guys kept mentioning “French Connection”, especially with Popeye Doyle seeming to have switched careers here.
I wondered if I was the only one who caught that!
You guys mentioned wanting to see a documentary about working actors/familiar faces. Well, there are 2 that I would recommend. The first is “That Guy Who Was In That Thing” (2012) which covers 16 actors who occupy that “below the star” level. It aired on both Showtime and Netflix. I think you can find them on Youtube now. There was a 2015 sequel “That Gal Who Was In That Thing” covering actresses.
Even as a kid I wondered why the detective, realizing the tunnel is pushing him out, didn’t run and try to cross the tracks or run down the tracks to find another little nook. C’mon man! Don’t accept the inevitable!
And yes, Perrine sure was something. Mercy!
A Nice TCM retrospective on Hackman by Robert Duvall:
Luthor lives in an abandoned train station and has a bust of Mussolini. Does this mean that if his father had bought him a Lionel set as a kid, he wouldn’t have turned to crime? 😉
His father kicked him out at age 6!
Always loved the villain sequence! Great discussion!
I was 10 when the movie came out, so my take on Perrine was … well,.. remember Tex Avery’s Wolf cartoons?
Valerie Perrine as Red Hot Riding Hood. The mind boggles! And I like it!
FYI:
Superman (1978) has just been added to the Library of Congress;s National Film Registry!!
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/12/13/25-films-national-film-registry-2017/
HUZZAH! Left off of Fathom Events classic film series this year though. 🙁
Maybe Cinemark or some other film chain will show it for it’s 40th anniversary. If Dark Crystal can get a 35th anniversary showing (not that it doesn’t deserve it), Superman should get his due!!! C’mon!!!
Chris
I’m hoping that it will be screened at the TCM Film Festival in April. Fingers crossed!
“My Best Friend, Dick Donner” starring, directed, and produced by Robert F Kelly.