You'll remember me showing you some A3 cover enlargements I'd framed back in November 2022 (see here), and mentioning that there was one picture I couldn't photograph because the Christmas tree was blocking sight of it. I said that once my decorations were back up in the loft, I'd show a snap of the pic (a poster) and now, after my decorations being in my living-room for more than a full year, they're now all safely ensconced back in the attic.
So - here's the pic - though, unfortunately due to where it was positioned (on the side of a display cabinet), I couldn't get a good shot of it without the clear plastic within the frame reflecting the camera flash, as well as the wall (and other things) the picture is next to. So I moved the pic to another wall (temporarily) and took another snap, which is slightly better.
Anyway, I said I would and I have, so here it is. Don't say I'm not a man of my word (though I'll admit it does sometimes take an inordinately long time for me to fulfil it).
Incidentally, I used another browser to access my blog, which is how I was able to add the above image. The previous post yet applies.
22 comments:
Was there ever a more perfect choice for a screen role than Christopher Reeve as Superman? Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Peter Falk as Columbo. Tom Baker as the Doctor. The instances are few. I had a blue Scrapbook in 1979 in which I collected anything to do with Superman. Newspaper cuttings, magazine articles, even a couple of pages I tore from a Superman Annual. I had a calendar from a magazine I bought at the cinema, Film Review, which proudly stated that '1979 is the year of Superman!' (the film came out at the end of 1978). Happy to say that I still have the scrapbook.
Being old, I tend to prefer William Hartnell as the Doctor as I thought that image suited the character best, but Tom Baker was/is a genuine eccentric so he did all right in the part. Falk wasn't the first actor to play Columbo, but he was undoubtedly perfect for the role. I still have most of the Superman stuff I bought connected to the movie even after all this time. (Still seems fairly recent to me.)
I set myself a goal in 2022 of watching every episode of classic Doctor Who. From An Unearthly Child to Paul McGann movie. I started in January and finished in November. For the missing episodes, instead of animations, I watched reconstructions (photos, captions and soundtrack, easily found online). Growing up with Pertwee, Baker, Davison and beyond, what surprised me was how much I enjoyed Patrick Troughton's stories. I thought The Faceless Ones was excellent.
I had one of the animated Who DVDs - thought it was rubbish. The animation was poor and only a slight step up from Captain Pugwash. The Daleks remain the best thing ever to come out of the series, in my estimation. And Pertwee was the only actor after Hartnell to fulfil the gravitas of the role.
Totally agree about the animation. I find it hard to watch, which is why I avoided it, despite owning all of them on DVD. I live in hope that the 93 missing episodes will be found in my lifetime. Along with Lord Lucan.
They now have the technology to 're-create' them and make it look like they're using real actors, but the cost would be immense. He's perhaps too old now, but I've said before that they should have got David Bradley to play the first Doctor in new versions of missing adventures.
Like Monty and yourself, I still have folders with all the clippings, articles, etc from Superman The Movie and Superman II, along with copies of the original scripts for each film as they existed in July 1979. Reeve had such a light touch as both Superman and Clark Kent - communicated such a sense of fun - and was a consummate professional in his approach to the character. Fingers crossed that the upcoming Superman film will tap into chemistry between Reeve and Margot Kidder.
So, a great poster, Kid. My favourite Superman movie poster is the "You'll Believe A Man Can Fly" classic of the "S" symbol in the clouds. We all believed he really could fly after seeing the first film.
Yeah, that was a good poster as well, and the one used outside the ABC Cinema in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street. The one heading the post was one that could be bought as a souvenir from a booth inside the cinema and was apparently exclusive to Scotland. One of the items I still have is one I acquired in Southsea in December 1978, which was the 4-page pullout about the movie in the Sun newspaper. I've also got a booklet from a Portsmouth Cinema (forget the name), where I saw Superman II in February or March of 1981. It was similar in style to the booklet available for the first movie, which I got in the ABC in 1979 along with the poster.
Ah exclusive to Scotland, that explains why I hadn't seen it before. I thought I'd seen just about every merchandise item, I've still got the programme souvenirs for I and II. Did you collect the bubble gum cards, Kid? I had two full sets, one of which I sold a few years back. There was a card in there called 'Trial by fire' which puzzled me because it wasn't in the theatrical film release. Only years later that scene was added back into the Director's Cut. There's an extended cut now which is over 3 hours long.
No, I never got the bg cards, M, and I don't recall ever seeing them. When I was a kid, any cards I bought I threw the disgusting 'confectionery' away immediately because it was anathema to me, but as an adult I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the stuff so I'd probably have given the cards a miss anyway. I've got the director's cut of the first movie and Richard Donner's version of the second, but I didn't know about the extended cut.
I had both sets of the trading cards - the first set had a blue border and the second set a red border. I picked up the red border set in California in 1979 and I’m not sure if they were ever sold in the UK.
The extended cut of Superman The Movie is worth picking up. It is only available as a Us blu-Ray release from Warner archive, so you’ll need to be able to play region A discs of course. It is the 3-hr version put together for US TV broadcast in the early 1980s. Worth watching for:
(1) the Krypton elders dispatching an executioner to Joe-Eli’s quarters once they detect that Joe-El’s quarters have unusual energy readings
(2) extra footage with Clark and Lois after the attempted mugging. They cross paths with Otis
(3) Superman saving Miss Teschmacher from the crocodile pit where Lex has thrown her following Lex’s discovery that she helped Superman escape.
(4) more scenes of teenage Clark at the high school football game and subsequent interaction with Lana Lang
Plus a lot more of the earthquake sequence. And of course alternate takes of other scenes.
That said, I still prefer the familiar rhythm and scene transition of the original theatrical cut.
I do have a copy of the US extended version of Superman II, copied from my VHS tape. Not to be confused with the Donner cut. This one clocks in around 3 hrs, and has footage of Lex being handed over to the police in Snow Tractors at the North Pole, amongst other extended scenes not found on the Theatrical or Donner Cut. This has not been released professionally.
Like you Kid, I still have the brochures of SI and SII. I first saw Superman II in London, and then again back at the ABC in Portsmouth near the top of Commercial Rd - probably where you saw it.
The 'Trial By Fire' scene was in the first 'extended' DVD version (not the 3 hour one), but I seem to remember seeing it as a 'still' somewhere. Maybe it was in the brochure or the Sun pullout - or maybe even another mag, forget exactly where. Yeah, the ABC in Commercial Road rings a bell so that was probably where it was. I didn't enjoy SII as much as the first one, despite initial reports saying it was one of those rare occasions where a sequel exceeds its predecessor. The mish-mash of two directors' different visions didn't mix well, I thought, and I think I preferred SIII over II, though it also had its flaws. Superman IV was, of course, a load of pants. Gene Hackman clearly ony did it for the money - and who can blame him?
Thanks for that info Baggsey. My cards are blue but I'm sure I've seen the red set online. I loved the fact that the back of the cards made up a giant picture. I intend to watch the extended cut when I have 3 hours spare.
I'll probably give it a miss as I mostly prefer the original cinema release (though I like the added machine guns scene when Supes invades Luthor's lair) - sometimes less is more.
Like Monty I've been watching some classic Dr Who episodes on BBC iplayer - mainly Pertwee and Tom Baker but I did watch the final episode of 'The War Games' from 1969 which was Patrick Troughton's final appearance as the Doctor. At the end of that episode the Time Lords allow the Doctor to choose his next face and I remember watching it even though I was only three at the time, in fact it's my earliest TV memory. I wanted to go right back to the beginning and watch 'An Unearthly Child' from 1963 but it wasn't available on iplayer and yet Monty says he watched it.
I think it was available on iplayer recently, CJ, but it may now have been removed - until next time. I've got it on DVD. I have The Daleks' first appearance as well.
Hi Colin, I've got all the DVDs. I watched all the episodes in 2022, before they were available on iPlayer. Reconstructions for missing episodes are on dailymotion.com (just checked Tenth Planet 4 and it's still there). Also, you'll be pleased to know that An Unearthly Child is on there.
There you go, CJ - that's what you call service. Ta, M.
Yes, thanks Monty. I've watched Dailymotion only once before - you might recall, Kid, that it was around a year ago when John Pitt informed me that I could watch the first episode of Space: 1999 on Dailymotion which I then proceeded to do but all the onscreen words were back to front as if in a mirror (not that it spoiled my enjoyment of the episode though).
Yes, unusually for me these days, I do remember that, CJ. At least I'm not forgetting everything, which is a good sign I suppose.
Just to clear up any confusion about An Unearthly Child, it wasn't on iPlayer because the rights to the episode belong to the son of the original writer. The Beeb offered what he called a pitiful amount to screen it and he told them to shove it where the sun doesn't shine. So basically the DVD, dailymotion.com or some other unscrupulous website is your only way of seeing it. Must be nice to have that power over the Beeb although it seems a tad spiteful in my opinion. After all, money is money. Surely better to have some than none.
I thought 'residuals' were set and non-negotiable, M, but I suppose the BBC still need permission - though it's a bit odd as they own the copyright on Doctor Who. Glad I've got the DVDs of the early shows (from An Unearthly Child, and including the first two Dalek serials), so I can watch them whenever I like.
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