Relics from a bygone pre-Multiplex age when lobby cards adorned walls and merchandise from the Blockbuster of the week would be available in the lobbies of ‘A Cinema near you.’
From the top – UK programme, US Cardbacked Brochure, The Merit Publications Warner Bros. Superman Special (not strictly a programme but nonetheless some of the best imagery and synopses from the movie available to this day!!) and Die-Cut Cast & Crew card, all splendid examples of Cinema as an event…
Welcome to 2011 and a premiere post featuring no less than set-used props from Superman: The Movie!
Acquired from the outstanding team at the Propstore of London, this set comprises of (from the top) Genuine Daily Planet typewriter paper (as seen in close-up) A Planet envelope (as carried by Clark for Lois to the changing room) a file spine and finally a sheet of notepaper.
These were all created as set dressing/functional props to litter the busy Newspaper office and used throughout all four movies. Check out Propstore’s site for even more Superman rarities!!
With the licence for Christopher Reeve’s likeness finally available to toy companies and in great anticipation of Hot Toys reveal of the long-awaited tribute to the classic Superman Movies, shown above is the best action figure representation to date. 100% handmade using cast parts from various 1/6 figure bodies topped with an all-original headsculpt, US artist Kristopher Meadows first submitted his prototype (pictured top) for a custom figure competition in the pages of Tomart’s Action Figure Digest in the mid-nineties. Based on euphoric fan reaction Kris then produced a VERY limited run for a few lucky collectors. From the screen-accurate costume fabric to the real leather boots, this custom has a quality unsurpassed by many of today’s offerings having been produced by a passionate fan with considerable care and attention. Christopher Reeve himself would endorse the artist in the years before his passing by having one of Meadows portraits hanging from the wall of his office…
Exclusive to the UK and released in 1988, Superman; The Collection was one of the first VHS boxsets made available by Warner Bros. under the Hollywood Nites banner.
Assembled from the second run of individually released titles and repackaged as The Superheroes collection (to include Salkind productions Supergirl and Santa Claus: The Movie) the set was limited and expensive (see above ad from the Woolworths Christmas catalogue) at the time and therefore a rarity today.
Contained in a handsome box utilising elements of the shield graphic from Superman: the Movie and Daniel Goozee’s poster art for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, its interesting to note how many production companies were tied into the distribution deals (WB/Weintraub/Cannon/Hollywood Nites) before Warner’s regained full ownership of the rights in 1993. It would literally be decades before advances in technology would permit them to revisit the titles once again for a more definitive boxset in DVD format…
One in a series of cultural icons of the 20th century rendered in considerable style is this illustration of Christopher Reeve’s Superman by UK artist Stanley Chow. From an impressive portfolio with work appearing from everything to The Washington Post to Vanity Fair his instantly recognisable iconography is both amusing and modernist. Now available as everything from print to Gelaskin, go here to visit Stanley’s site where he states simply about his subject; “My love for Christopher Reeve as Superman will never die…”
Check out his other caricatures and order the Reeve is Superman print here…