Seven years ago today we lost the actor who made us believe a Man Could Fly. In a celebration of the man and his achievements I present four of the best volumes chronicling his rise to stardom through to his tragic accident and finally to leaving a legacy –
The first of these is a vintage paperback Christopher Reeve charting the actor’s meteoric rise to fame by Margery Steinberg. While this is composed mainly of gossip-magazine style trash it still has some nice pictures in the centre and is fairly rare today.
Sadly the larger biographies would come as a result of renewed interest in Reeve due to his paralysis, the first, ‘Man Of Steel’ competently written by Adrian Havill nonetheless portrays Reeve as an ambitious but charismatic individual, concentrating on his acting career. The third volume, ‘Superhero’ by music journalist Chris Nickson is a more straightforward but well-researched bio spliced with decent b&w photos.
Reeve himself set the record straight in 1998 with his powerful autobiography Still Me, a touching reflection of his new life in a wheelchair with long flashbacks of a glittering career. Reeve pulls no punches with his views of both politics and his work to portray a humble family man refusing to accept his fate lightly while providing hope for others well beyond his years.
Rest In Peace, Toph…
The ‘Movie Tie-In’ novel was a familiar and obligatory item of merchandise issued to coincide with most of the Blockbusters of the 70’s and 80’s. Usually written economically and with little flair they were often more prized for the photo galleries adorning the centre pages.
Despite appearances, the novels shown in the top two pics are not literary transitions of Superman: The Movie nor Superman II due to the mess of litigation regarding story ownership (also impeding a comic-book adaptation) and are instead alternative takes on the origin story and other adventures by comic-writer Eliot S! Maggin.
A change of writers for the sequels permitted more standard releases and in the case of Superman III Author William Kotzwinkle (E.T.) an injection of a more adult tone into the screenplay by peppering the dialogue with such gems as ‘Holy ‘O Shitcakes’ and suchlike. By stark contrast, B.B. Hiller’s Novelisation of Superman IV is virtually a ‘Young readers version’ akin to the Star Wars novels. Decades later the nostalgic quaintness of these publications is surpassed by the desire to see Mario Puzo’s script for Superman’s I&II collected as an epic Godfather-esque novel. Stranger things have happened…
Hot from the PC of Alexei Lambley-Steel come these ‘Portrait’ test shots for our evolving mock vintage Superman IV trading Card set.
These prototypes represent the last of the try-outs before we begin the set proper. Alexei informs me the only amendment will be the typeface which will be even closer to the ‘real’ thing on the finished cards. My contribution (besides the images) is to produce the titles and copy for the cardbacks – there will be a title card, possibly a checklist and maybe even a sticker set to round it off in true retro style.
Enjoy and check back for updates and a preview of the finished set…!
In a Digital age where practical sets, props and even costumes (see Green Lantern) are inevitably becoming redundant, the demand for ephemera of the old school grows more intense. As repeatedly highlighted on this blog, surviving examples of production material (otherwise destined for the skip) from your favourite Movie have steadily emerged as unique and very expensive collectables in an increasingly competitive market.
One of the original vendors allowing you a chance to own a piece of Cinema history is Christies, where their ‘Film & Entertainment’ auctions give access to some unprecedented material long thought lost. Indeed, their glossy, full-colour catalogues became collectables in their own right with their lavish descriptions and accompanying photographs. In these pages you could find everything from Charlie Chaplin’s Bowler Hat & Cane from ‘The Great Dictator’ to a Stormtrooper Helmet from the original ‘Star Wars’. Unsurprisingly, the Superman film series has also been well-represented over the last fifteen years with lots including everything from original costumes to signed photographs, often exceeding their high estimates.
Conversely, the digital age has also ushered in worldwide availability with the emergence of websites accommodating bidding from where you sit or better still ordering your coveted prop online without the competition. The greatest and most successful example of this has to be The Propstore Of London, whose staggering inventory provides both your average collector and your high-end archivist with most anything they may covet. Indeed there has never been a better time to invest and preserve your most precious movie memories, but at a price.
From the top; two-page article from Collectables magazine (click on the images for readable versions) chronicling the emergence of Super-props as Super-investment, a Christies catalogue with Superman on the cover (one of the lots inside including an FX flying model of Superman from Superman IV with an estimate of £800-£1200) and an ad for an upcoming auction featuring a Superman plaster model in flying pose…
