Atom Man vs. Superman | |
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Promotional poster
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Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet |
Produced by | Sam Katzman |
Written by | David Mathews George H. Plympton Joseph F. Poland |
Based on | Characters by Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster |
Starring |
Kirk Alyn Lyle Talbot Noel Neill Tommy Bond |
Music by | Mischa Bakaleinikoff |
Cinematography | Ira H. Morgan |
Edited by | Earl C. Turner |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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15 chapters (252 minutes) |
Language | English |
Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), Columbia's 43rd serial and the second live-action Superman screen appearance, both featuring Kirk Alyn as Superman, finds Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot), secretly the Atom Man, blackmailing the city of Metropolis by threatening to destroy the entire community. Perry White (Pierre Watkin), editor of the Daily Planet, assigns Lois Lane (Noel Neill), Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond) and Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn) to cover the story.
Lex Luthor, the Atom Man, invents a number of deadly devices to plague the city, including a disintegrating machine which can reduce people to their basic atoms and reassemble them in another place. But Superman manages to thwart each scheme. Since Kryptonite can rob Superman of his powers, Luthor decides to create a synthetic Kryptonite and putters about obtaining the necessary ingredients: plutonium, radium and the undefined 'etc.' Luthor places the Kryptonite at the launching of a ship, with Superman in attendance. He is exposed to the Kryptonite and passes out. Superman is taken off in an ambulance driven by Luthor's henchmen, and he is now under the control of Luthor. Superman is placed in a device, a lever is pulled, and the Man of Steel vanishes into "The Empty Doom".
Despite their onscreen personas, Talbot (Lex Luthor), who wore a rubber scalp to create the impression of baldness, and Alyn (Superman) spent much of their time, when not shooting, exchanging recipes; both actors shared an interest in cookery.
The final set piece shows Metropolis under attack by "poorly animated" flying saucers and a torpedo.