Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Who Is The Sean Connery of the Superman Franchise?
In his weekly DVD column, Dave Kehr of the NYTimes has a nice writeup on Louise Brooks in "Pandora's Box." Then he tackles the wave of Superman releases with this off-hand comment: "...the 1950s television series starring George Reeves (still the Sean Connery gold standard in the role)...." George Reeves the definitive Superman? Kehr must be showing his age. I'm assuming he was a kid when the TV show exploded into popularity; what other explanation can he give for touting Reeves over Christopher Reeve? The TV show was kiddie stuff and while Reeves acquitted himself well, his performance isn't a patch on the first two great Superman films of Reeve who managed to make Superman sexy and funny and real without undermining his essential Boy Scout nature. It's not easy to give up on an early definitive performance of an icon. But Basil Rathbone now takes a back seat to Jeremy Brett and George Reeves simply doesn't leap tall buildings with the same aplomb as Christopher Reeve.
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2 comments:
Dean Cain rules!
Hmm, is that the Superman you grew up with? Maybe we all get wedded to our first Superman -- can I say that outside of Massachusetts? I do think Cain was charming too in the role though I can't help feeling he and Routh built on what Christopher Reeve accomplished, variations on a theme sort of. Tom Welling I think delivered on a fresh approach, thanks to focusing on a fresh area of Supe's life -- though the show was never worthy of him.
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