More extraordinary sketches taken from the production-used ‘Big Red Book’ hand-drawn by artist Martin Asbury –
In the context of the story, Superman has already rid the world of Nuclear Weapons, so quite what a whopping great Nuclear Missile is doing at a parade in Red Square remains unexplained. Nevertheless, the scene was shot precisely as drafted and made the International edit but was ultimately excised for the US cut.
Coming soon – EXCLUSIVE vintage behind-the-scenes pics of the shooting of this sequence..!
SUPERMANIA is pleased to at long last to return to the pages of the Big Red Book and continue the story of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace as told in pictures by master artist Martin Asbury –
To recount the origins of this find, the Big Red Book is a production used/made item and was recovered from a skip on the site of Elstree Studios in 1988. Marked on the spine as ‘Superman IV, Script & Storyboards Part 2’ it picks up the story midway and has been serialised on this blog from the beginning (scroll through the Superman IV posts for previous entries). Surviving in pristine condition (save for minimal water damage) given the circumstances, this may well be the only copy in existence.
From the top; Additions in pink for the ‘Revised Red Square Sequence’ depict exactly what made the final cut of the film. More to follow..!
Presenting another SUPERMANIA exclusive – this time from a selection of ephemera surviving Dovemead Ltd’s office wastebasket from the production of Superman III.
This small selection of material shows correspondence (with accompanying Polaroids) between associate producer Bob Simmonds and stateside production manager Chris Coles regarding the casting of a suitable stunt double for Richard Pryor’s pivotal character August Gorman for the third act of the film.
From the top – Unpublished still of Pryor used for makeup/continuity purposes, typed memo between producers dated July 10th, 1982 (with hilarious last paragraph) photocopied sheet of casting Polaroids and bottom Anthony Reese in full Pryor makeup with costume notes for the Webster clan…
As SDCC closes its doors for another year and fans slowly digest/debate the vast amount of cool stuff shown and/or on offer, SUPERMANIA presents another exclusive on a revelation at the show you may well have missed –
Peeping out modestly on display at the Propstore Of London’s very busy booth was this pair of exquisitely sculpted portrait heads from Superman II. Mounted on a handsome black plinth with the movie title (inscribed Mount Rushmore Zod & Ursa) the display is so fresh it has yet to be listed on Propstore’s website. While it seems evident exactly what this piece is and its purpose, a keen-eyed fan familiar with the specific scene from Richard Lester’s Superman II may notice these are full head casts and appear different from the final miniature (where all three Supervillians are integrated into the rockface.)
Unlike the giant foreground miniature of Abraham Lincoln (read about its rescue from the Pinewood Studios skip here) these heads are no more than 10″ tall and even though they have been painted to resemble construction from blocks they lack the dark detailing seen in the final shot.
So what do we really have here? Its well established Propstore had a great relationship with the late, great Stuart Freeborn and these could well be his masters for the final miniature. While it seems clear they are original sculpts (as opposed to lifecasts) in plaster(?) It remains entirely speculative until Propstore releases the details of this fine piece when it finally comes up for sale at what will surely be a price worthy of its villainous subjects…
Taking full advantage of Propstore’s kind permission to examine their original Superman costume in detail gave us the opportunity to inspect the most minute details.
For anybody yet to have seen/spent time with any original prop or costume you may be surprised just how primitive and thrown together they are in reality. For example above is a few macro shots of the Superman costume revealing the stitched in cape padding and poppers at the shoulders, the slits made to accommodate the flying harness, the spray-paint job on the belt buckle and the stitched in supports for the \/ notch in the boot. On film under studio lighting, none of these details would be visible and the suit would appear pristine, such is the magic of Hollywood…
