Review - Superman and the Mole-Men 10 A condensed summary of events would include the actual creature sightings to be real, the reaction of the townsfolk to the creatures by hunting them, the revenge of the creatures when one of them is shot and hospitalized, the release of the wounded creature by Superman to the others and the walk back to the well for their return. The conclusion shows Superman, Lois Lane, Bill Corrigan and John Craig watching the derrick burn, set by the creatures, destroying access to the well simultaneously. The subtle differences between the this movie and the two-part episodes on television are just that, subtle, but a couple worth mentioning. The longer scenes missing from the television were those of the creatures first appearance walking around before and including looking at Pop, their watching Clark and Corrigan drive away heading to town, the escaping path from the dam encountering the individual sipping water from his bucket fleeing at the sight of the creature, the barbed wire fence met running from the dogs, Superman telling Lois not to call the story in to avoid panic away from the area and the Craig asking the Sheriff not to call the state police for help. This featured fifty-eight minute movie was released on November 23, 1951 and was met with rave reviews There was the Superman series on the radio and Superman comics, but this is the first time Superman was offered in the movie show houses across the country. The movie was made in 1951 and released originally only as a last resort "to recoup the production budget if the networks passed on the project" of bringing Superman to television. The actual movie was released to television in August 1953 and shown as two-part episodes #25 and #26 at the end of season one of the television series. There were some scenes appearing in this movie edited from the television episodes, none of which detracted from the episodes shown, it is fun to note the minor differences watching both the movie and the TV episodes. This movie is rated high not because it is the only one of its kind but for 1951 science fiction drama it was a good production with a number of experienced actors.

(Flash Review)It clocks in at 1hr yet it has a properly thought out story. I had no idea what this would be like but I was presently surprised. Oil men drill a hole 23 miles down or something into the Earth and these hilarious little creature people living way down there ascend upon the outer crust. They makes friends with a little girl but of course the itchy trigger finger locals want them gone. Once threatened, they bring up a kickass ray gun that takes two of them to hold. Superman must come to save the day! Shot in black & white, it was a bummer not to see his costume in full color but it was interesting to see the effects they create to give the impression of him flying. One is a high POV shot from a crane over the town with a loud wind roar for the audio. Humorous. The acting is firm and dry but overall it was a solid film showing Superman's powerful traits. Films geeks should check this out.

So I first watched this movie earlier this year and I have seen it a couple times. Considering I have grown up with more of the modern Superhero movies I was worried that this would be too dated.However,this movie is a fantastic movie. We got great acting from George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane. They never came off as campy and that is what makes this movie work for me. The story maybe a little goofy to some (the mole men design doesn't help) but it does have a good message to it that I also like.For a B-movie from the 50's I do not think the effects are that bad. Nowadays people would probably dismiss it for weak effects or not enough Superman but I think overall it's a good movie and sadly one that has been unknown by most. The only big complaint I have with this movie is their is a chase scene that feels like it drags on far to long.Overall, I say if you are a huge Superman fan, fan of classic films or just want to see the more early superhero films than I say this is a must watch. It will not wow people now but if you were to give it a chance I think you will still like it.

'Superman & the Mole Men,' was filmed immediately prior to 'The Adventures of Superman' TAS) weekly TV series. This film was then released into theaters so as to insure that the producers recouped at least some of their investment in the TV show: at the time season 1 was filmed, there wasn't a sponsor yet, and in fact it took 2 years before Kellogs Cereal Co. took on the role and the show was finally broadcast.'Mole Men' was filmed just 1 year after the movie serial 'Atom Man Vs. Superman,' but 'Atom Man' is so primitive by comparison that it could have been made 30 years prior.Besides being enjoyable as an atmospheric and suspenseful B/W cold war scifi/horror pic (a la the original 'The Thing'), this little film is interesting since it engages in a little social commentary. Almost without exception, TAS never touched any of the burning social issues (bigotry, war, pollution, etc.), but 'Superman & the Mole Men' is, very obviously an allegory about prejudice. This makes 'Mole Men' a kind of bridge between the Superman radio show, which, starting after WWII, did a long series of award-winning social message programs, directly addressing issues such as race prejudice, war-mongering, and social welfare, and TAS, which stayed completely clear of social relevancy. (The Superman radio show, which ended in 1950, was produced by Bob Maxwell, who also produced the 1st season of TAS. I've never read anything that explained why TAS dropped the social relevancy of the radio show, but one could speculate it had something to do with the impact of various 'witch hunts' on the political and media spheres...) 'Superman & the Mole Men,' is the story of about some funny-looking little men who emerge into view after the world's deepest oil well is dug. The funny-looking men, who are not evil and whose world has been invaded by oil exploration, become victims of prejudice and eventually a mob forms with the intent of killing the funny-looking men. If you think about it, this might remind you of a contemporary real-life situation.