Superman and the Mole-Men

Plot synopsis:
Mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent and Lois Lane are sent to the small town of Silsby for the inauguration of the world's deepest oil well. The drill shaft has penetrated the deep underground home of the "Mole Men", a race of small, furry, though bald-headed humanoids. The Mole Men come up through the shaft at night, and when the creatures first emerge on the surface, their sudden appearance scares to death the elderly night watchman. Lois Lane and Clark Kent arrive at the oil well and find the dead watchman. Subsequently, help arrives. Clark Kent and the foreman are exploring the surrounding area for signs of intruders when Lois sees one of the creatures and screams. But no one believes her when she tells them what she saw.
The medical examiner is summoned, and he later leaves with Lois. Clark stays behind to confront the foreman, who confesses that the well was closed for fear that they had struck radium and not oil. The foreman proceeds to show Clark ore samples that were collected during different stages of drilling; all of them glow brightly.
The townspeople become afraid of the Mole Men because of their peculiar appearance and because everything that they touch glows in the dark (due to simple phosphorescence). They form an angry mob in order to kill the "monsters", directed by the violent Luke Benson. Superman is the only one able to resolve the conflict, stopping Benson and the mob. He saves one of the creatures after it has been shot by taking it to the hospital. The second creature returns to the well head and disappears down its shaft.
Later, a doctor reveals that the injured creature will die unless he has surgery to remove the bullet. Clark Kent is forced to assist when the nurse refuses to do so out of fear. Soon afterward, Benson's mob arrives at the hospital demanding that the creature be given to them, causing Superman to stand guard outside the hospital. Lois Lane stands at Superman's side, until a shot is fired from the mob, narrowly missing her. Superman sends Lois inside and begins to relieve the mob of their rifles and pistols, sending them away.
Later, three more Mole Men emerge from the drill shaft, this time bearing a strange weapon. They make their way to the hospital. Benson and his mob see the creatures, and Benson goes after them alone. When the creatures see him, they fire their laser-like weapon at him. Superman sees this and jumps quickly in front of the pulsating ray, saving Benson's life, which Superman says "is more than you deserve!". He fetches the wounded creature from the hospital and returns him and his companions to the well head. Soon after, from deep underground, the Mole Men destroy the drill shaft, making certain that no one can come up or go down it ever again. Lois observes, "It's almost as if they were saying, 'You live your lives ... and we'll live ours'".

Tags: murder, sadist

Review:
Replacing serial 'King' Kirk Alyn as the 'Man of Steel' was George Reeves, a gifted 37-year old actor who had been impressive in such 'A'-list productions as 'Gone With the Wind', 'The Strawberry Blonde', 'Lydia', and 'So Proudly We Hail!' Returning from the war, however, his career, as was the case with so many other young actors, had stalled.
Reduced to supporting roles, or leads in 'B' films and serials, 'Superman and the Mole Men' represented yet another minor film, but Reeves hoped the exposure from both film and television might jump-start his flagging career...He little anticipated what impact Superman was about to have on his life!A cautionary tale, with elements 'lifted' from 'Frankenstein' and 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', begins as miners drill the world's deepest shaft, and break through to an underground world.
Doing a feature story on the well for the 'Daily Planet', reporters Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates, inheriting the role from the serials' Noel Neill), and Clark Kent (Reeves), finds a town gripped with fear and prejudice, as an old man had suffered a heart attack after seeing the 'visitors'.
Shots are fired, the aliens bring up their own weapons, and it's up to Superman to 'save the day'!Reeves' interpretation of 'Clark Kent/Superman' was far less jovial and buoyant than Alyn's; decisive, serious, and nearly combative, this was a 'Superman' you didn't mess with (the characterization would be toned down, for television).
While some critics complained that he made Kent and Superman's personalities too similar, Reeves and the producers wisely realized that as budgetary restraints kept Superman's presence in the movie (with the FX required to show his 'super powers') to a minimum (there aren't ANY flying sequences in 'Superman and the Mole Men, only cast comments..."Look, up in the sky"...
Farrell MacDonald), 'Superman and the Mole Men', despite its small budget, offered excellent performances, and a theme of tolerance that still rings true, today.With the success of the film, 'Superman' moved on to television...and history was about to be made!.
I just found a VHS tape of Superman and the Mole Men at the flea market and decided to watch it again (it's been a lot of years).
Billy Curtis played an unforgettable part with Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter, was one of the friends met by the star in Incredible Shrinking Man, he had a part in a movie I just luckily grabbed at a flea market titled My Gal Sal with Rita Hayworth, Wizard of Oz and plenty of other parts - great actor.
Phillis Coates, who played Lois Lane in this movie, was without question wonderful in the part and George Reeves as Superman/Clark Kent WAS Superman.
"Superman & The Mole Men" tells a story that's way ahead of it's time for 1951.
Clark Kent & Lois Lane go to the small town Silsby to do a story on "The World's Largest Oil Well".
These "mole men" not only signify 'out of this world' beings, but people in one's own society as well (ridiculed for one's race, sexuality, etc.) The movie "Powder" represented the same premise in 1995!
Considering it was shot in 11 days; considering its "special effects" are something less than primitive, George Reeves and this film still pack a Kryptonite-sized wallop.Mysterious Mole-Men emerge from "the world's deepest oil well," and scare the inhabitants of the nearby town of Silsby.
Despite pleas for tolerance and patience, Superman must disarm the town and protect the aliens while hard-headed Luke Benson repeatedly tries to kill them.FACTOID #1: Despite other accounts, this film was NOT a "pilot" for the eventual series.
However somehow no one can play the man of steel and the Daily Planets star female reporter Lois Lane quite like George Reeves and Phyllis Coates.
Certainly no one can portray Superman's alter ego Clark Kent like Reeves did.
This film has probably been seen by many as the two part "Unknown People" episode on the classic TV series but if you haven't seen the feature film of this story do so.
While the effects by today's standards seem antiquated and the Mole Men/Unknown People aren't as scary as alien characters that frequent TV shows today they aren't to be missed..
A day later, strange events at the well make for a story more appropriate for Superman than Clark Kent.
To drive this point home in a typically straightforward Superman manner, Reeves even accuses the lynch mob hunting the Mole Men of being 'Nazis' at one point.Even in the 1950s, the science underlying this film was nonexistent.
This film is notable for three reasons.First, apparently capitalizing on the success of the two 'Superman' serials, this low budget feature was made and released to theaters, marking George Reeves' and Phyllis Coates' initial appearances as Clark Kent / Superman and Lois Lane.
Outside the town of Silby, a six-mile deep oil well penetrates the 'hollow Earth' allowing the 'Mole-Men' to come to the surface.
My father grew grew up watching George Reeves as Superman and when I was a little kid he had episodes on VHS and let me view them including this movie (passing them down in the family if you will), and I loved it.Clark Kent and Lois Lane get sent to a small town with and oil mine and from the mine emerge mole men radioactive and targeted by the town assumed to be deadly and it's up to Superman to stop this mayhem.It's just so wonderful and fun to view.
Superman and the Mole Men is quite possibly Superman's toughest adventures ever.Lois Lane and Clark Kent are sent to Silsby, home of the world's deepest oil well.
While there, some radioactive mole men come up through the oil well and explore the town.
Can Superman change the people's ways in time to save the mole men?
Can Superman warn the people in time about the radioactive danger the mole men bring?In my opinion, Superman and the Mole Men is a very intelligent, well-written and well-acted movie.
We got our first television in 1951, the year that this movie "Superman and the Mole Men" came out.
A few times they had some scenes from this movie, "Superman and the Mole Men" but for some reason it was never shown.
It was when the mole men had that weapon (looks like a modified vacuum cleaner) and were firing it at Luke Benson.This movie reminds me quite a bit of when "War of the Worlds" was aired on radio in the 1930's.
I didn't even know, until 4 or 5 years ago that Kirk Alyn was really the very first Superman, even before George Reeves.As has been said, this movie is in its own way is a classic and will be forever etched in movie history as ONE G-R-E-A-T MOVIE!.
I have just watched Superman and the Mole Men recently for the first time and rather enjoyed it, despite reading bad reviews.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in Silsby to witness the drilling of the world's deepest oil well, but disturb an undiscovered race of strange furry creatures that live deep underground.
After shooting the man who shot the mole man, who is injured, Superman releases the injured mole man from hospital and all four return home to safety.Superman is played well by George Reeves, but we don't get to see him fly in this movie.
Phyllis Coates plays Lois Lane.I found this movie rather enjoyable, despite the low budget.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
It was actually originally a two or three part episode of the George Reeves Superman show.Could this also be the first movie based on a TV show?
The worst scene is probably when Superman is rescuing one of the mole men and it just looks awful.
Good Fun. Superman and the Mole Men (1951)*** (out of 4) Reporters Clark Kent (George Reeves) and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) are sent to Texas to do a story on an oil rig that has dug six feet into the ground but soon the big story becomes the mole men that have crawled out of the hole.
Sure, it only runs 58-minutes but there's really no dry spells in the film, although I wish the mole men had more to do in the story besides be chased around.
Superman also doesn't get too much screen time but when he's on he really shines especially one scene where he must disarm a group of men who want to kill the creature.
Reeves is excellent in the roles of Kent and Superman and I loved his no nonsense way of handling everything.
The Super Start Of Something Super Big. DESIGNED AS SORT of a big screen kick-off for the ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN TV Series, the MOLE MEN feature is somewhat mixed bag of a film.
As a feature accompanying the bottom line, the picture was released by Hollywood's "Poverty Row" member, Lippert Pictures, Inc.BEING THAT THIS is the first on screen teaming of George Reeves with Phyllis Coates as Kent/Superman and Lois Lane, it came across very well and convincingly.
Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Superman all hit the ground running and are still doing so on television outlets like METV and Heroes & Icons..
I am of "the Christopher Reeve Generation" it is fair to say that he was the best actor to play Superman yet, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying other actors in the role, and George Reeves makes a pretty good bid to knock Chris off the top, though he just barely falls short.
It never lets the constraints of technology slow it down, in fact there is some creative things done to create the effect of flight, including putting a camera on a boom on a truck and shooting high and traveling fast to make it look like we are seeing it from Superman's point of view, also a few closeups of George in process work, and a long shot of an animated Superman.
Every once in a while, we'd get a treat when they would preempt neighboring shows to air "Superman and the Mole Men." I always looked forward to those days.
True, George Reeves' Superman costume was pretty bad, the edges of the foam padding used to make him look more imposing being plainly visible.
Superman had quite a few opportunities to nip the problem in the bud, but never once took advantage of them.That said, both George Reeves and Phyllis Coates played their characters well, seemingly instantly comfortable in the roles.
'Superman & the Mole Men,' was filmed immediately prior to 'The Adventures of Superman' TAS) weekly TV series.
This film was then released into theaters so as to insure that the producers recouped at least some of their investment in the TV show: at the time season 1 was filmed, there wasn't a sponsor yet, and in fact it took 2 years before Kellogs Cereal Co. took on the role and the show was finally broadcast.'Mole Men' was filmed just 1 year after the movie serial 'Atom Man Vs. Superman,' but 'Atom Man' is so primitive by comparison that it could have been made 30 years prior.Besides being enjoyable as an atmospheric and suspenseful B/W cold war scifi/horror pic (a la the original 'The Thing'), this little film is interesting since it engages in a little social commentary.
This makes 'Mole Men' a kind of bridge between the Superman radio show, which, starting after WWII, did a long series of award-winning social message programs, directly addressing issues such as race prejudice, war-mongering, and social welfare, and TAS, which stayed completely clear of social relevancy.
I've never read anything that explained why TAS dropped the social relevancy of the radio show, but one could speculate it had something to do with the impact of various 'witch hunts' on the political and media spheres...) 'Superman & the Mole Men,' is the story of about some funny-looking little men who emerge into view after the world's deepest oil well is dug.
Still despite all of this there is a certain B-movie charm, and of course George Reeves has a great screen presence as the Man of Steel (not so much Clark Kent, who is played too similarly).
Other than Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane, though, there isn't much else here that ties it to the Action Comics source material.
As long as you do away with any expectations of what a Superman movie "should" be, this film can be a lot of fun.
George Reeves portrays him so proud that one cannot be convinced that the journalist was a disguise to avoid people knowing he was Superman.The film is historically significant, but it is certainly not good.
Originally made as a film, and as touted, the first full length Superman movie, this was folded into the following series.
If this was an audition for the series, George Reeves did a good job as the benevolent Man of Steel..
I don't think that anyone who cares about such things would deny that George Reeves brought a certain dignity and gravitas to the "Superman" role, or that the series (or this movie) wouldn't have been nearly as good without him.
Originally I thought this movie was "Superman Versus The Mole Men", so I was kind of surprised ***spoiler warning***when the Mole Men turned out to be timid, harmless midgets who were the victims of a misunderstanding, so Superman spends most of the movie trying to save them, instead of fighting them.***spoiler ends*** But that's OK - the plot had a flavor of seriousness and sincerity that has aged well; there was a strong message of tolerance and understanding between different cultures, which was pretty good writing for the 50s.
He is, in fact, larger than life even in his secret identity, and it defies belief that no one in this movie, or over the years of the series, ever gives "Clark Kent" credit for his deeds and pivotal roles as a reporter.
Lois Lane (no matter who played her), for all her charms, must have actually been dumber than a bag of hammers.Anyway; Reeves is the only reason to watch the movie, and there isn't enough Reeves in it.
Superman and the Mole-Men (1951)You don't have to be a Superman fan to like the campy, cheesy quality of this B-movie.
It is, for certain, the first feature film using the DC comics hero, Superman, and it's played by George Reeves (no relation to Christopher, such is coincidence).
The townspeople go into a predictable panic, Lois Lane is more a 50s housewife than vigorous reporter/photographer, and Clark Kent himself, though big and impressive, is not quite what we think of as a Superman.
Superman and the Mole-Men: Considerably better than you'd assume.
Make no mistake the man was iconic and many would argue the real Superman as he was in over 100 episodes of the original Superman television series.Here in his first and sadly due to his passing last big screen adventure Superman has to tackle mysterious creatures that have come up through a drilling site.This "Movie" is actually a two parter from the television series that they stuck together and released in cinemas.
This is a more subtle approach and see's the citizens as the antagonists as they rally together into a mob (As people probably would in such a situation)I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did but it's a nice short bit of take your brain out entertainment and considerably better than anything Cavill has done as the worlds most famous superhero.The Good:Simple storyWell writtenA more realistic approachThe Bad:The Mole People look ridiculousThings I Learnt From This Movie:Supermans outfit is also bulletproofClark Kent and Superman look a lot alike.
So I first watched this movie earlier this year and I have seen it a couple times.
We got great acting from George Reeves as Superman and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane.
The story maybe a little goofy to some (the mole men design doesn't help) but it does have a good message to it that I also like.For a B-movie from the 50's I do not think the effects are that bad.
Nowadays people would probably dismiss it for weak effects or not enough Superman but I think overall it's a good movie and sadly one that has been unknown by most.
The only big complaint I have with this movie is their is a chase scene that feels like it drags on far to long.Overall, I say if you are a huge Superman fan, fan of classic films or just want to see the more early superhero films than I say this is a must watch.
The additional stuff includes the 1951 feature Superman and the Mole-Men. So I slapped it into the DVD player last night, and here are my findings.Some initial disappointment - I hadn't checked, and I think I had it mentally tagged as one of the Kirk Alyn serials.
I'm not a huge fan of George Reeves as Superman, and I hadn't seen anything other than the odd clip of Kirk Alyn - but hey ho, never mind.This black and white production runs for less than an hour.
Even so, for a low budget movie, this one is REALLY low budget.The story concerns the small town of Silsby - population 1,430 - which, puzzlingly, is also home to the world's deepest oil well (6 miles).
They do look a little creepy, but they are hardly the bug-eyed monsters that the town's reaction implies.Reeves is quite a good Clark Kent - very much a hard-nosed reporter, much more so than Phyllis Coates' rather indifferent Lois Lane.
The movie was made in 1951 and released originally only as a last resort "to recoup the production budget if the networks passed on the project" of bringing Superman to television.
The actual movie was released to television in August 1953 and shown as two-part episodes #25 and #26 at the end of season one of the television series.
Oil men drill a hole 23 miles down or something into the Earth and these hilarious little creature people living way down there ascend upon the outer crust.