The featured lot in this years Planet Hollywood Online Auction represents a bittersweet full-circle moment for CapedwonderEurope – indeed, Lot 585 is of great sentimental (and now monetary!) value, being a screen-used Superman costume and the first I saw up close in reality.
When I first encountered this breath-taking display in the late 90’s in the Orlando Downtown Disney Planet Hollywood, I was bemused even then how the costume had been suspended from the restaurant ceiling with no apparent means of conservation. Though the outfit appeared to be in great condition, with the floorplan beneath my concern was how vulnerable it may have been to popping champagne corks and airborne spaghetti. What I should have been more concerned about, however, was a threat to the costume’s integrity that couldn’t be seen – dreaded UV rays.
On a later visit to this holiest of grails in 2002, while I might have been happier the suit had been relocated and was now safely encased in a plexiglass tube, I was nonetheless dismayed at how the blue bodysuit had degraded to an almost silver grey. While the new display had taken pride of place in the restaurant lobby, it now contrasted so much to the public perception of it that patrons were stopping to question its authenticity. Of course I knew better, but the inexplicable loss of the once-vibrant colour nonetheless prompted me to start researching the Superman costumes in more detail. What I later discovered – in regard to this costume specifically – was not only fascinating but would set the precedent for what was to become a lifelong obsession.
While the Propstore listing is typically thorough in its description, what’s missing is the colourful history of this particular ensemble and its unique claim to having appeared in two Super-franchises. Though the familiar Bermans & Nathans tags declare the tunic & tights from Superman III, it was possible both pieces could have dated back as far as the original film and had been repeatedly used throughout. After its appearance in pivotal scenes in Superman III, however the costume was finally retired but remained in the possession of Producer Ilya Salkind. By 1988, with their interest in the Superman movie franchise concluded, a number of wardrobe items (including a multitude of expensive wool capes) were retained for use in the Salkind’s new foray into television with Superboy.
In need of a costume for screen-testing potential Superboy’s, Salkind dusted off a complete Reeve suit for John Haymes-Newton’s audition. The release of this footage on the Superboy DVD boxset decades later sent shockwaves out when it appeared to be a 100% match to the Planet Hollywood display. Besides the production being located in Florida, further provenance (and screentime!) was afforded to this conjecture when the same costume appeared (over two episodes) during the series run. The Adventures Of Superboy would run for four seasons and end in 1992. Planet Hollywood opened two years later with the costume ‘Presented by Christopher Reeve’ on a mannequin suspended by wires. The movements of the suit beyond its time in exhibition in the restaurant can be traced to its final public appearance as the centrepiece of the Superman Penthouse Suite on the 28th floor of the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas after being kept in storage for some years.
The new images above from Propstore provide new evidence corroborating this to be a match to all the pictures taken by me throughout the timeline – the first being the scuffing on the belt and visible runs in both shoulders – suggesting the cape was stitched on to the tunic for purposes of display (as opposed to using the straps to tie around the back) besides the obvious match with the chest shield and faded colours. Whilst the lot description declares the cape, belt and boots to be replicas, I concede that, while they may not have been screen-worn accoutrements, they are not merely ‘replicas’ but potentially added by the Superboy Wardrobe Dept. as they all have lineage to a period in time before replicas became prominent (or, indeed, accurate)…