My sincere thanks to SuperFans Sebastian Columbo, Alexei Lambley-Steel and Seby Ravi for their assistance in solving the identity of the man standing with Christopher Reeve in the top image.
Amazingly, some 25 years later, actor/entertainer Donald Standen is still making public appearances as The Man Of Steel having been elected as Reeve’s personal choice of on-set double (as highlighted in the production used call sheet from the Metro Club scene, second pic) for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. A familiar face on British TV thanks to his appearances in numerous commercials, (including the Superman themed one for Specsavers posted above) Donald is the face of Action Hero Events where he can be booked to appear in character for themed evenings, predominantly as his other persona, James Bond.
SUPERMANIA wishes Don all the best in his endeavours and is pleased to see him keeping the spirit alive…
More first-published images from the portfolio of ‘PartkStreetParrot’ featuring the M25 location for the final scenes of ‘Superman IV: The Quest For Peace’ –
From the top – Christopher Reeve makes off with his chair & script, The crew setting up shot with Lex Luthor’s ‘Stunt’ and ‘Picture’ car, Reeve conferring with Director Sidney J. Furie and actor Jon Cryer and repairs to the apparently overheating ‘Hero’ car during shooting…
Extraordinary never-before-seen images from the portfolio of ‘ParkStreetParrot’ and his close encounter with the filming of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace on the London Orbital.
From the top – Christopher Reeve confers with Gene Hackman & Jon Cryer, a wide shot of the crew and ramp rig, (to simulate the car being hoisted from beneath) Billboard set-dressing and the two cars used for the sequence (note the ‘stunt’ car held aloft by wires).
Another SUPERMANIA exclusive, courtesy of photographer ‘ParkStreetParrot’ who tells his remarkable story about discovering the cast & crew of Superman IV: The Quest For Peace on location towards the end of the shoot –
“The photos were taken on 10 October 1986, a few weeks before the M25 opened (the official opening ceremony occurred about a mile from this location between Junction 21 and 22, by Margaret Thatcher)
Its a long time ago, but I must have had a day off, I received local intelligence that this was happening (I had a relative that was involved in the M25 project ).
There was remarkably little security by today’s standards. I arrived with my trusty Canon A1 and took a couple of rolls of film. Most of these pictures have never been seen before. I may have processed the films myself, I did that with black and white films. The quality is not so good and may have been down to poor processing!
I learned a couple of lessons at this event . I wanted to supply some pictures to a local newspaper, so I called them – but they asked me where it was happening and I told them so they sent their own guy! The second lesson was that you have to hang about, even if its getting tedious and nothing is happening – I didn’t do this and went home after about 3 hours. Later in the day, maybe because the light was better later, Christopher Reeve (or the stuntman) was filmed underneath the car, pretending to fly away with it – these were the pictures that appeared in the local paper a few days later – D’oh!!
Since that time, this part of the M25 has become one of the busiest sections (if you imagine a clock face its at the 12 o’ clock position), and the motorway has just been widened to accommodate another lane each side…”
The above is a selection of never-before-seen prints reproduced here with the kind permission of the photographer with more to follow in upcoming posts…!
More pages of Martin Asbury sketched action from the global clash between Superman and Nuclearman II.
Of note are omitted scenes where Superman freezes his nemesis hands with Super-Breath in defence against being clawed. The theatrical cut picks up as Nuclearman retaliates by freezing Superman into a block of ice…
