As Superman producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind based the production of the SuperBoy TV Series at Universal Studios in Florida it was inevitable some items from the production would wind up in exhibition there. In fact, the Christopher Reeve Superman costume on display in the Downtown Disney Planet Hollywood restaurant was used for John Haymes-Newton’s screentest (as shown on the SuperBoy: Season 1 Boxset) and appearing, bizarrely, as fancy dress in a second season two-part episode worn by IIan Mitchell-Smith as Andy McCallister (click here and see it to believe it!)
Suspended on a black velvet mannequin in ‘flight mode’ from the ceiling, the prop was hung in open space unguarded from the elements and showing signs of wear (note the hole in the bodysuit above the belt, (second pic) prompting its relocation/salvage years later to the entrance (see its ‘upgrade’ here). Conversely, Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor robe was preserved in pristine condition in a wall-mounted glass case in the stairwell (bottom pic) until the site was closed for a refurb in 2000…
Its a little-known fact that the final chapter of the classic Superman Movie series was shot entirely in the UK. A great proportion of exterior scenes were shot in MIlton Keynes as the new town with its modernist architecture was considered to be a reasonable representation of a US city of the era.
Naturally the prospect of Hollywood coming to town was a considerable coup and the world’s press were out in force to cover the filming. From the top, a never-before published shot of Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent outside Milton Keynes train station shot on 17/11/1986 by Ian Blackmore, an article from the Financial Times discussing the location and headline from the MIlton Keynes Citizen declaring Superman was in town. These archive clippings were discovered in the archive on Milton Keynes public library on a trip to visit filming locations years later…
A unique series of production contact sheets depicting Marlon Brando as Jor-El in one of the most pivotal and iconic scenes of the movie as photographed by Bob Penn…
A SUPERMANIA exclusive – From a newly-acquired bulk lot of production ephemera – unpublished stills taken from negatives of the full-size Daily Planet helicopter (photographer unknown) at rest outside the world-famous 007 stage at Pinewood Studios, England 1977. The Bell Jet Ranger was recreated in any number of scales by the prop dept. for the convincing illusion of crashing atop the roof of the New York Daily News building, this being the dummy version hung by wires.
Like many iconic pieces of Movie history, the fate of the shell above is unknown but the fully-functioning version apparently went on to appear in the opening sequence of ‘For Your Eyes Only’ only a few years later…
