Tag: Pierre Watkin

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) ch10 – Atom Man’s Heat Ray

Atom Man’s Heat Ray does not feature a heat ray. Unless it’s the machine Luthor (Lyle Talbot) uses the pump smoke into the room where he’s trapped Noel Neill, Kirk Alyn, and Tommy Bond.

Now, it turns out Neill is only working for Talbot’s TV station to get the goods on him for Superman (and the Daily Planet, presumably). Alyn reveals it, aloud, only for a goon to overhear. For whatever reason, no one thought to tell Bond about Neill’s secret mission. They catch the goon, so he couldn’t report back. Meaning Talbot just decides to kill Neill along with Alyn and Bond; it’s almost like he’s not interested in her journalism skills (he just wants her to make him look legitimate).

There’s some brief, fun Superman action–though the cliffhanger resolution seems to be a process shot reused from the first serial, which I suspected at the setup last chapter–and, again, it’s great to see Neill get so much to do. Besides mooning over Alyn in his long johns.

Heat Ray, with Neill’s subterfuge and Talbot’s attempts at looking legit, has some of the serial’s best ideas for plotlines. Shame it’s the tenth chapter of the serial (and the subplots seem resolved, one way or the other, by the cliffhanger).

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 9: Superman Crashes Through

There’s a lot going on in Superman Crashes Through, starting with some power company guys beating up on the Atom Man’s thugs. The power company guys are out on a call about an explosion in the cave base. But when the cops get there (again), it’s empty (again).

It seems like another of the serial’s logic oversights, but then later on Pierre Watkin is talking with Kirk Alyn about it. Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot) really is teleporting his equipment out of the cave and then back again. Why no one stakes out the cave–not just the police (who are always off screen in Atom Man vs. Superman) but maybe Superman? Only no. Alyn’s got more important things to do.

Like get Noel Neill fired. She’s happy with it–happy enough it seems like a plot twist waiting to be revealed–and goes to get a job at Talbot’s television station.

But before Neill can get fired, Watkin has to be wrong about something else (he’s majorly wrong twice in Crashes) and Alyn has to trick Talbot into reopening the dimensional portal. It’s not a particularly exciting escape for Superman, but it does get the serial moving again.

It’s nice to see Neill do something different. Though Alyn gets something different too; he gloats about Neill losing her job and teases her at her new one. After it was his fault she got fired.

Alyn’s a bit of a jackass here, which probably explains why he and Tommy Bond get on so well in this chapter.

Bond gets the cliffhanger, foolishly chasing down thugs by himself. So he deserves getting it. He doesn’t deserve the cliffhanger’s silliness however. Atom Man vs. Superman’s cliffhangers all seem to have been left laying in the Kryptonite too long.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 8: Into the Empty Doom!

Maybe I was wrong about the desk swapping in the earlier chapters. Into the Empty Doom! is mostly a Daily Planet chapter–mostly Noel Neill’s chapter too–and she looks very comfortable at the desk I was sure used to be Kirk Alyn’s.

Both Clark Kent and Superman have disappeared–though Superman pops up occasionally as an immaterial ghost who can’t figure out why he’s unable to fight crime. Again, Superman being a doofus is really a hindrance to the serial. He doesn’t have some plan to stop Lyle Talbot’s scheme–the cliffhanger resolution leads directly into Talbot sending the Kryptonite groggy Alyn Into the Empty Doom. I thought Talbot’s plan was to teleport Alyn into outer space and atomize him, but apparently turning him into a ghost was intentional. At least based on Talbot’s later super-villain bragging (while in his Atom Man outfit).

Much of Neill’s time at the Planet is spent arguing with boss Pierre Watkin about writing a “Clark Kent is Superman”–the staff has figured, since Kent has disappeared too, he must be Superman. She eventually acquiesces, hoping Tommy Bond can convince Watkin otherwise.

Bond’s real annoying this chapter. He’s just hanging around and whining a bit, plus there’s a throwaway condescending moment about Neill’s electric typewriter being unplugged. It seems like it’s going to go somewhere, but no, it’s just Bond showing Neill she’s not so smart.

Also: the story confirms Talbot is in the same hidden cave base as before. He didn’t move anything. The filmmakers forgot the cops supposedly raided the place.

Still, it’s a decent chapter for Neill and she hasn’t had many. Besides the Planet stuff, facing off with Watkin, she also gets a great moment at the cliffhanger. It’s not a good cliffhanger–though there are at least explosions. Alyn’s occasional ghost appearances aren’t dramatic so much as frustrating. He’s such a doofus.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 7: At the Mercy of Atom Man!

At the Mercy of Atom Man! has one of the serial’s laziest cliffhanger resolutions so far. And Atom Man vs. Superman, now seven chapters in, has had some really lazy resolutions. This one has the added bonus of Kirk Alyn not using his superspeed to catch the bad guy. Because of course not.

Later it has him defying Lyle Talbot’s threat of synthetic Kryptonite–ignoring Noel Neill’s questioning him about it too–only to be downed by the stuff. And kidnapped.

It’s not a terrible ending, actually. At least the kidnapping tries to be grand; Superman’s at the dedication of a new ship–Man of Steel–and the Atom Man’s gang takes him down. There’s stock footage for most of the crowd shots, but there are a handful of real ones. Scale helps Superman quite a bit.

Most of the chapter is actually Talbot telling Don C. Harvey the history of Krypton. Talbot was able to translate Jor-El’s journal transmissions about the planet’s demise. There’s flashback footage (from the first serial) while Talbot and Harvey wait for the Kryptonite to bake.

It’s far from a recovery for the serial, but at least it’s not terrible. And Alyn’s such an overconfident goof as Superman, his terrible planning is more than believable.

Also fun–this time Alyn’s got Lois Lane’s usual desk at the Planet. Sadly none of the shots are wide enough to see who’s name plate is on his regular desk.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 6: Atom Man's Challenge

Wait a minute, why does Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot) still have a secret base? The cops found it last chapter and Talbot and company had cleared out. Does he keep remaking the same evil laboratory in a different cave?

Atom Man’s Challenge does not answer this question. Sadly, I don’t think it’ll ever be addressed.

There’s some more general villainy from Talbot before he cooks up another plan. He needs to steal some radium to make synthetic Kryptonite (with no help from Gus Gorman).

Talbot doesn’t have a tricky plan. He just announces he’s going to steal the radium and the Daily Planet reporters bungle protecting it. Noel Neill, anxious to scoop Kirk Alyn, loses the last batch.

Somehow Tommy Bond gets kidnapped again. Actually, I think the cliffhanger in this chapter is the same as in the first chapter of Atom Man vs. Superman.

Besides Talbot’s generally amusing performance, Challenge is the second weak outing in a row. I’m terrified it’s just going to be more of the goons stealing precious metals and the Planet gang failing to stop them. Or just plain enabling the thefts.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) ch06 – Atom Man’s Challenge

Wait a minute, why does Lex Luthor (Lyle Talbot) still have a secret base? The cops found it last chapter and Talbot and company had cleared out. Does he keep remaking the same evil laboratory in a different cave?

Atom Man’s Challenge does not answer this question. Sadly, I don’t think it’ll ever be addressed.

There’s some more general villainy from Talbot before he cooks up another plan. He needs to steal some radium to make synthetic Kryptonite (with no help from Gus Gorman).

Talbot doesn’t have a tricky plan. He just announces he’s going to steal the radium and the Daily Planet reporters bungle protecting it. Noel Neill, anxious to scoop Kirk Alyn, loses the last batch.

Somehow Tommy Bond gets kidnapped again. Actually, I think the cliffhanger in this chapter is the same as in the first chapter of Atom Man vs. Superman.

Besides Talbot’s generally amusing performance, Challenge is the second weak outing in a row. I’m terrified it’s just going to be more of the goons stealing precious metals and the Planet gang failing to stop them. Or just plain enabling the thefts.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 5: Atom Man Tricks Superman

Atom Man Tricks Superman disappoints in just about every possible way. It doesn’t have a good cliffhanger resolution–it might even be a cheat from the footage shown last chapter–and no one is at all surprised Kirk Alyn didn’t vaporize. Well, almost no one. Noel Neill is surprised until Alyn gives her his lame explanation. But none of the bad guys. It’s not even clear how Lyle Talbot would know Superman didn’t die. He just knows he didn’t.

Then Alyn comes up with another plan to catch Atom Man, since he doesn’t know it’s Talbot yet. Oddly, given it’s the same trick he played last time–planting a fake story in the Daily Planet–Talbot doesn’t fall for it. Alyn then turns around and falls for Talbot’s counter-trick.

There’s some almost good stuff, like Neill and Alyn (as Clark Kent) on stakeout on a train, but it doesn’t end up going anywhere. Neill gets dropped for more Superman action, which would be fine if it weren’t just Alyn getting duped into something. It’s not like Talbot’s plans are ingenious. Alyn’s just an inexplicably over-confident numb skull.

This chapter’s cliffhanger has goons change their mind about kidnapping Neill; after telling her they’re not going to kill her, they decided they’re going to kill her.

Tommy Bond tries to rescue her but he’s a dope too. Though, arguably, less of one than Alyn.

I really hope this chapter’s not indicative of how Atom Man is going to play out. If so, it’s going to be a very long ten chapters.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) ch05 – Atom Man Tricks Superman

Atom Man Tricks Superman disappoints in just about every possible way. It doesn’t have a good cliffhanger resolution–it might even be a cheat from the footage shown last chapter–and no one is at all surprised Kirk Alyn didn’t vaporize. Well, almost no one. Noel Neill is surprised until Alyn gives her his lame explanation. But none of the bad guys. It’s not even clear how Lyle Talbot would know Superman didn’t die. He just knows he didn’t.

Then Alyn comes up with another plan to catch Atom Man, since he doesn’t know it’s Talbot yet. Oddly, given it’s the same trick he played last time–planting a fake story in the Daily Planet–Talbot doesn’t fall for it. Alyn then turns around and falls for Talbot’s counter-trick.

There’s some almost good stuff, like Neill and Alyn (as Clark Kent) on stakeout on a train, but it doesn’t end up going anywhere. Neill gets dropped for more Superman action, which would be fine if it weren’t just Alyn getting duped into something. It’s not like Talbot’s plans are ingenious. Alyn’s just an inexplicably over-confident numb skull.

This chapter’s cliffhanger has goons change their mind about kidnapping Neill; after telling her they’re not going to kill her, they decided they’re going to kill her.

Tommy Bond tries to rescue her but he’s a dope too. Though, arguably, less of one than Alyn.

I really hope this chapter’s not indicative of how Atom Man is going to play out. If so, it’s going to be a very long ten chapters.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 4: Superman Meets Atom Man!

Superman Meets Atom Man! has what ought to be a big scene–Lyle Talbot’s Lex Luthor (in his Atom Man disguise) vanquishing Kirk Alyn to oblivion. Only it’s not a big scene, not even in the moment. Obviously Superman’s not going to be vanquished in the fourth chapter, but still. They could have at least tried for some drama. Not even damsel in distress Noel Neill seems worried about Alyn’s “death” and Talbot doesn’t allow himself any celebration.

It might be because of the sparkly planter Talbot uses for his Atom Man helmet, but whatever. It should be a much bigger deal. The serial could at least pretend we’re suspending enough disbelief.

Overall, it’s a good chapter. There’s some fine character moments for Neill, who has an office birthday party–which boss Pierre Watkin is a jerk about–leading to her teleportation kidnapping by Talbot. Then she gets to face off against Atom Man. It’s nice for Neill to get some material other than beaming at Alyn.

Speaking of Alyn, he comes up with a complicated plan to track Neill down. He fakes a meteor from Krypton to convince Talbot there’s Kryptonite to be had. Then Alyn lets himself be trapped. Not a planner, not nimble when it comes to plans falling through.

The cliffhanger’s decent as well, though I feel like they used it in the first Superman serial.

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950, Spencer Gordon Bennet), Chapter 3: Ablaze in the Sky!

Ablaze in the Sky! has got a bunch of action. Kirk Alyn is in his tights for some of it, but not all of it. Not even most of it. Instead, he gets to duke it out–twice–as Clark Kent. Alyn’s willingness to put himself in danger makes Noel Neill’s accusations of cowardice incongruous. Especially since he’s already stepped up to fight a gunman when she makes the first remark. It’s not gunmen Alyn (as Clark Kent) avoids, it’s just the natural–and unnatural–disasters.

The title either refers to the Daily Planet airplane having an engine fire–for some reason Jimmy Olsen (Tommy Bond) is also a pilot. He does pretty much everything at the paper except take pictures and write articles. But the title, grammatically incorrectly, could also refer to an oil well fire. Alyn puts on the tights for both those action scenes.

Then there’s some more with Lyle Talbot’s Lex Luthor, including him trading banter with Alyn and Neill. They’re reporting on his release from prison when Alyn saves Talbot from an assassination attempt.

And the mistaken identity cliffhanger’s cool too.

The acting–Alyn, Neill, Talbot–is rock solid. Even with Neill having nothing to do (mostly) except beam whenever Alyn’s in the tights. Pierre Watkin and Bond remainthe weak links in the cast, though it helps their writing this chapter is less obnoxious.