Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic The Kirk Alyn/Noel Neill Superman Serials

I just finished watching the Superman serials with Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill. Being a fan of Superman and also being a fan of old movies from the time period these serials were made, I thought it would be an enjoyable way to spend a few nights. I was right! Now that I’m finished, I thought I’d explain some of my thoughts on the serials and hopefully get a discussion going.

I liked the way Jor-El was portrayed in this version. He saves his son, his planet explodes, and then, he is gone. I love "Smallville" and the Reeve movies, but I prefer Jor-El’s role to end on Krypton. I don’t think Superman should be able to head to the Fortress of Solitude and talk to Jor-El whenever he wants to. I think that that’s part of the tragedy of Krypton's explosion.

However, I am not a huge fan of the Kents dying before Clark becomes Superman. His parents living into his Superman years gives him a couple of people that know his secret and gives him somebody to play off of. Therefore, the early death of his parents was one thing I didn’t like about this version, though I understand that that’s how it was in the older comics.

I liked Kirk Alyn’s portrayal of Clark Kent. I liked that he didn’t play Clark as a bumbling disguise. Clark actually seemed like a competent reporter here. He seemed closer to the portrayals by Dean Cain and George Reeves to me than to the portrayals by Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh. Since I’ve never been a huge fan of making Clark Kent into a complete disguise, that appealed to me.

One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about these serials was that Superman turns into a cartoon when he flies, but it didn’t bother me. I’m usually very easy to please when it comes to bad special effects.

I also liked Noel Neill’s portrayal as Lois Lane. She kind of reminded me of the way Teri Hatcher was in the first few episodes of “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.” She seemed to be willing to do anything to get the story, even if it meant playing dirty to get Clark out of the way. I can see where L&C was influenced a little bit by this Lois when the episode “Neverending Battle” was written.

Both Jimmy Olsen and Perry White worked fine for me. I don’t have a whole lot to say about them, but I liked them.

I liked the use of villains in the serials. I enjoyed the Spider Lady a lot, and it was interesting to see a different portrayal of Lex Luthor. I like the way Lex is played on "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" and on "Smallville" the best, but it was fun to see Lex Luthor played as a scientist.

All in all, I had a fun time watching these serials. Next up, I plan on finishing "Adventures of Superman" with George Reeves.