While the eagerly awaited reimagination of James Gunn of “Superman” approaches quickly, it is imperative to pay tribute to the many incarnations on the big screen of the DC superhero which paved the way for the arrival of David Corenswet. We would not be at this exciting new step for the steel man without George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill. Although it is easy to delight you with stories of their respective mandates, there is another absent actor of this incredible group which has never completely obtained the flowers it deserved.
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Theater lovers of the early 1940s already had a taste of “Superman” with the superb cartoons of Fleischer, but in 1948, they received their first overview of the creation of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the form of the Kirk Alyn formed by Vaudevillien.
The series in 15 parts of Columbia Pictures and its 1950 follow -up “Atom Man against Superman” saw Alyn play the dynamic Clark Kent / Superman in a way that served as a sort of plan for its successors. There is such a childish charm to its performance which is well suited to the virtuous spirit of the character, even if it has often caused the collapse of the two characters of Kal-El.
Despite its low -budget aesthetics, the “Superman” series have found ingenious bypass solutions. All wire work attempts failed miserably, so when the time came to take off, The actor jumped and suddenly turned into an animated figure. In this case, Alyn is also the first actor to represent the steel man simultaneously in his live and animated forms. So why was he not properly credited for his contribution to the history of DC? The answer came back to immersion.
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Kirk Alyn’s representation was presented as the real superman
In an effort to make the public believe that they watched Superman move to save the day, the series took the freedom to omit Alyn’s screen credit. If you look at the posters for both “Superman” And “Atom Man against Superman,” His name is technically present. The super holder, however, receives the best invoicing in the form of a credit “with Superman”, insinuating that Krypton’s son himself stopped to film his scenes.
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At least these posters gave Alyn a kind of recognition to be part of the projects. In the Opening intros For each chapter of the two series, Superman is again credited above the entire distribution, but the name of Alyn is not found – not even as Clark Kent. This is particularly discouraging given that before that, Lewis Wilson was recognized as “Batman” in his series, just like Dick Purcell as “Captain America” in his.
Unfortunately, it was the first of the many events in which an actor playing Superman would only be seen by the eyes of the general public as such. Being superman all the time is not as cracked as it should be.
Kirk Alyn has become not credited again for his cameo in Superman: The Movie
It is not at all rare that Superman alumni make appearances in other adaptations as different characters. Christopher Reeve played a small role in “Smallville”, Jack Larson had a brief cameo in “Superman Returns”, and Phyllis Coates interpreted an invited place in an episode of “Laws and Clark”. One of the first notable lead nods in the DC past came in “Superman: The Movie”.
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In a first scene, a teenager Clark Kent (Jeff East) flows a train passing through Smallville. On board the train is a young Lane (Cathy Marcotte) Lois Voyage with her parents. Parents are played by none other than Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill, which is remarkable for two reasons. Not only was it the first of many cameras that Neill would carry out in various DC projects, but it was a meeting. She was the first live actor to play laws in the series “Superman” with Alyn before playing the coveted role of season 2 of the television series “Adventures of Superman”.
If you look at the version of “Superman: The Movie” which was widely available on Max, General d’Alyn Sam Lane is barely seen and not heard. It’s only in the extended television version Where he obtained a line, telling Young Lois to read his book. His unsuccessful appearance is not as obvious as his omission of the series, but it is always a real shame that Aalyn has never obtained the credit he deserved.
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