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SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE (1978) The Salkind International Cut
Below are some scenes from my 1982 recording of the ABC presentation of Warner Bros. Superman: The Movie.
These are extended scenes that have never been included in any commercially released version of the film.
Most of the scenes were excised to shorten the running time, althought they are still fun to watch.
Bill Williams has written a fascinating
chronology of all the forms that Superman: The Movie has taken since it's original theatrical release.
Check out the article for all of the nuances. My recording was made on VHS using a Panasonic consumer
''portable'' VCR. I used a Sony Digital-8 camcorder to port the audio/video signal played
from a Super-VHS machine and into my computer. Roxio DVD Builder did the actual capturing as it
allows me to ''trick'' my camera into passing through the video without actually playing. This is
kind of a long story but the point being that I have to jump through some minor technical hoops in order
to import from VHS. Now that I'm done blathering on, below is some 512kpbs video of the aforementioned
scenes. I will continue to add more video to this page as I have time. There are many more interesting
snips that I think you will find an interesting accompaniment to one of the most beloved theatrical
features of the 20th century.
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Jonathon Kent Extended Speech
In this scene, Jonathon Kent (Glenn Ford) is
trying to talk sense into Martha (Phyllis Thaxter).
She's just suggested that they pretend the young boy they'd just found was a child from
their cousins in North Dakota -- and just now orphaned. At first Jonathon is incredulous
that she'd suggest such a thing. He then points out that the circumstances are ''strange''
around how they found the boy. This particular line was most likely removed to shave off
a bit of time from the theatrical release, although one might wonder if the negative
description was removed to make things more positive. There is a similar line that didn't
make the final cut when Lois first interviews Superman. She tells him his powers are
''strange'' and Superman seems genuinely hurt at the suggestion.
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Extended Kent Departure and Extended Smallville High School Football Practice
The clip begins as Jonathon and Martha Kent drive away with baby Kal-El in their truck. The original
release had Jonathon throwing his gloves down and cut straight to the Smallville scenes. In this
version, the truck drives away and the pan-and-scan moves with the truck to reveal Kal-El's spaceship.
The ship is still glowing red but this light source slowly fades to black. I can only assume that
the Kents returned to the ship and stored it in the barn celler. Your guess is as good as mine as to
why it was removed (other than to improve pacing -- which it did). I love that Bryan Singer seems to
address the ship in the upcoming 2006 release SUPERMAN RETURNS. Now,
the coolest part about the second half of this clip is the fact that you finally get to hear actor
Jeff East (playing young
Clark Kent) speak! His voice was dubbed over by Christopher Reeve in order to provide a smoother
transition to the older Clark. I think Jeff sounds just fine the way it is and it's a shame that his
performance was essentially muted in the process. There is more banter between Lana and Clark as
she attempts to invite him to Mary Ellens to ''listen to some records'' (which is obviously 50's talk
for ''hookin' up''). Brad steps in and ruins things, pissing off Clark. Nothing better than a round
of teenage angst. No wonder the WB's Smallville is so popular! I don't get the whole ''Bad Taste!
Bad Breath!'' line that the cheerleaders and football players deliver. Perhaps that's a reference to
an old commercial? Anyone?
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Extended Smallville Running Sequence
Taking place right after young Clark proves to be faster than a speeding train, we follow Brad and Lana
along with all of their friends in their car. Lana (played by Diane Sherry)
is seen looking upset and even going so far as to looking behind the car to see if maybe Clark was able
to finish up and catch a ride with them. Little does she realize that Clark is running full speed on a
parallel road and about to intercept. The payoff is the same. They make fun of Clark for being
an ''oddball'' but the lead-in is more based in real-time (whereas the theatrical cut is shortened for
pacing reasons).
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See the extended Frisky the cat rescue scene from SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE here.
SUPERMAN and all related elements are the property of DC Comics and Warner Bros. TM & © 2005.
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