Superman on Film, Television, Radio and Broadway

by Bruce Scivally

Overview

First introduced in a 1938 comic book, Superman has since become an iconic character in American entertainment. This complete history covers Superman's appearances in film and television, from the 1941 introduction of the first Superman cartoon to the 2006 live-action film Superman Returns. The book includes several rarely seen photographs of the actors who have brought Superman to life for over seven decades, including Clayton "Bud" Collyer, Kirk Alyn, George Reeves and Christopher Reeve. Multiple appendices provide a complete listing of Superman-related books and websites, along with a comprehensive list of the cast and characters featured in Superman films, television shows, and radio pHIS000000rograms since 1941.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476600765
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/29/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	248
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bruce Scivally is a film historian, teacher, and writer with many years of experience in the film business. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Bruce Scivally is a film historian, teacher, and writer with many years of experience in the film business. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
Introduction     

1. Siegel and Shuster Create a Legend     
2. Superman on the Air     
3. Superman Paramount     
4. A Job for Kirk Alyn     
5. Superman Comes to Television     
6. The Middle Years     
7. You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly     
8. Echoes of the Past     
9. Lois & Clark     
10. Superman Wings It to the WB     
11. Smallville     
12. And Now a Word from Superman     
13. Reviving Superman     

Afterword     
Appendix I: Superman Books     
Appendix II: Superman-Related Websites     
Appendix III: Superman Cast     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

This June, Superman becomes a septuagenarian, and as these two new titles reveal, Kryptonite has nothing on Hollywood when it comes to the ignominious and deflating treatment of the iconic man of steel. Freelancer Rossen reveals innumerable seedy backstories in Superman's history in Hollywood. From the shameless corporate and economic disenfranchisement of Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, to the machinations of various producers, Rossen's narrative is replete with scams, lawsuits, megalomaniacal egos, and neurotic actors, with plenty of juicy gossip. The bulk of the story appropriately dwells on the trilogy of Superman films produced by Ilya and Alexander Salkind, featuring Christopher Reeve, and the behind-the-scenes stories concerning the casting, filming, fighting (verbal, legal, and physical), and economic aftermath of these films make for entertaining reading.

Film historian and producer Scivally takes the reference high road to the same material, in the dry but comprehensive way characteristic of McFarland that librarians have come to depend upon. Scivally covers Superman's many media incarnations, going into greater depth in the radio, television, and Broadway venues than Rossen does. At times, the detail is numbing (e.g., credit histories for each new actor introduced), but Scivally is thorough, and he has clearly done his research. Chapters covering TV star George Reeves and Bob Holiday in the 1960s Broadway production of It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman are especially wonderful. Also provided are appendixes for Superman books, web sites, and cast lists. Extensive chapter notes and an excellent bibliography add to the value fordedicated fans and researchers. Scivally's text is the detailed, dry, and exceptionally sturdy yang to Rossen's gossipy and fun yin. Scivally is enthusiastically endorsed for all pop culture reference collections; Rossen gets the popular vote for public libraries.-Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

comprehensive...detail is numbing...thorough...excellent...value...enthusiastically endorsed”—Library Journal

From the Publisher

a terrific book

Cinema Retro

riveting media history...covers every movie, radio, film and Broadway incarnation of Superman, with full accounts of how the people who created or starred in them got involved with the project

Big Reel