“It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman!” (1975) – Review

The first Richard Donner/Christopher Reeve Superman movie was three years away when this Broadway musical adaptation was forced on the unsuspecting public and despite being well-reviewed on Broadway it was the biggest flop to hit “The Great White Way” at that time. This led to the creation of a heavily reworked TV special which was brought into being in an attempt to recoup some of that show’s losses. Who says financial considerations can’t spark creativity?

The film opens with the bustling newsroom of the Daily Planet, where reporters are abuzz with the latest news stories and we are introduced to our main cast, the central figure is Clark Kent (David Wilson), the mild-mannered reporter who leads a double life as Superman, Lois Lane (Lesley Anne Warren) who is hot and bothered over Superman’s lack of emotional attachment, Max Mencken (Kenneth Mars) a deceitful glamour columnist who thinks Superman is a big show-off, and then there is Sydney Carlton (Loretta Swit) as Mencken’s “Girl Friday” who mostly hates Superman because his clothes are prettier than hers. Finally, there is Dr. Abner Sedgwick (David Wayne), a ten-time Nobel Prize-losing mad scientist who wants to destroy Superman simply because he stands in the way of his plans of world domination.

  Can this smug Man of Steel be defeated?

The supposedly brilliant Dr. Sedgwick devises a convoluted scheme that involves using his scientific genius to discredit and ultimately destroy the Man of Steel. This involves making him look bad to the public – having him receive an award while City Hall is being blown up – and aided by the likes of Max Mencken and the local mob, who also find Superman to be a pain in the ass, the public begins to turn against Superman. Worst of all is that Sedgwick discovers that Superman and Clark Kent are one and the same and he uses psychological manipulation to turn the Man of Steel into an emotional wreck. Of course, Truth, Justice and the American Way will eventually win out in the end and all of Superman’s adversaries will get their comeuppance.

“I knew I should have invested in a kryptonite ray.”

Dr. Sedgwick may have been a mad scientist with delusions of world domination but the biggest crime on display here is in how this adaptation handled the music, not only were five songs cut from the original Broadway production – which had to be done due to television time constraints – but with only four days of rehearsals the cast didn’t have a chance to nail the songs and thus their performances were lacklustre at best and incredibly embarrassing at worst. The choreography is equally uninspiring, with clumsy dance routines that do little to enhance the overall experience. Rather than adding to the film’s charm, the musical elements serve as a constant reminder of how out-of-touch the production is with its source material.

The level of dullness is unparalleled.

Stray Observations:

• One of the reasons for the Broadway musical’s failure is it was overshadowed by the Batmania sweeping the nation surrounding the Adam West Batman series.
• George Chandler, who plays Jonathan Kent, portrayed shady characters on three different episodes of Adventures of Superman (1952).
• Despite several numbers from the Broadway musical being cut for the aforementioned time constraints of a television show, a new musical number was made for the TV special called “It’s a Great Country.” Sadly, it wasn’t a great song.
• The ethnicity of a troupe of evildoers was changed from Chinese acrobats in the Broadway show to Mafia-style gangsters for the television special. I guess bad stereotypes of Italians were more acceptable in the 70s.
• Lois Lane falls madly in love with Clark Kent off-camera, during the commercial break, despite her constantly forgetting Clark even exists. This has to be the most out-of-left field character shift in history.

I need a super-kiss to forget this ever happened.

A key problem with this adaptation lies in the casting of David Wilson as Superman whose stiff and wooden performance lacked the charisma and presence that the Man of Steel demands, and his attempts to balance Clark Kent’s mild-mannered persona with Superman’s heroics came off as awkward and unconvincing. Lesley Ann Warren as Lois Lane was equally disappointing, her performance was marred by exaggerated expressions and over-the-top reactions that made it hard to take her seriously. Her Lois Lane felt more like a rip-off of the ditzy Julie Holiday character from Born Yesterday than it did that of the fiery reporter found in the comics. It should be noted that Warren was in the running for the Richard Donner Superman Movie and I have to wonder if someone slipped him a tape of this travesty and that helped Margot Kidder land the role.

“Please, Mister Donner, it wasn’t my fault!”

Sadly, the rest of the cast fare no better in this outing. The usually entertaining Kenneth Mars is meant to be the show’s comic relief but his performance is so hammy and overdone that it quickly becomes grating and painful to watch at times. Then there is David Wayne’s Max Mencken who is utterly forgettable, bringing nothing memorable to the role as the “mad scientist” with world domination goals. Simply put, he is no Lex Luthor. And then there is poor Loretta Swit who is perhaps the biggest disappointment here as her character is reduced to a one-dimensional stereotype, offering little in terms of depth or intrigue. The way the producers of this movie poorly utilized such a talented cast – David Wilson aside as he deserved the terribleness of this movie – is another crime to put on the books.

“Wait, was this supposed to be a comedy?”

As for the all important special effects, well, to say they are laughably bad would be too charitable.  Even by 1970s television standards they are bad and the practical effects are amateurish to say the least. The set designs also look cheap and hastily assembled and look as if they’d been stolen them from a high school production and hastily put together by blind chimpanzees.  Then there is the matter of the important costumes, while colourful they come across as something purchased for an office Halloween party and failed to capture the iconic look of the comic book characters and were just another level of embarrassment foisted on an unsuspecting world. Overall, the visuals are a major disappointment and contributed to the film’s overall lack of polish.

You won’t believe a man can fly.

This adaptation of Broadway’s “It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman!” was a misguided attempt to bring the beloved superhero to the small screen, but not only was this a terrible adaptation of the failed musical its numerous shortcomings make it a tedious watch, even for die-hard fans of the character. The film’s combination of poor performances, weak plot, uninspired music and shoddy visuals creates an experience that is more frustrating than fun. In the end, this made-for-TV movie is best left forgotten, a relic of an era that produced far better content. If you’re looking for a Superman fix, you’re better off revisiting the classic comics or the much superior films that have since brought the Man of Steel to life in far more compelling ways.