For the first time, Superman disables a couple of guys by smashing their heads together. This is the story of a man when confronted by some soldiers, he sends his daughter with a locket with a secret formula that is apparently a defense against an enemy. He is then killed. The series ran during the height of the fear of communism and the threat of the bomb. Anyway, messages are being sent by an organ grinder by way of his monkey who wears a Superman shirt and climbs a drainpipe to deliver message to the crook du jour. Lois finds out that the daughter is in Washington to see the President and has the locket. She and the young woman are attacked by the bad guys on a train and severely injured. Superman arrives but has trouble finding the perpetrator. The monkey is the key.
3 Reviews
Rescue of Secret Documents
biorngm17 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Review S 1 Ep 5 The Monkey Mystery Believable and watchable episode straight from the post-war early years of the anti-communist nationalism existing and the careful watch on conspirators. The passing of vital secrets through Europe to the U.S. via pro-American individuals followed by scrupulous bad guys. True to form are the anti-American criminals trying to secure the same information protected at any costs by patriots. There were more Superman scenes, all recurring regular Dailey Planet cast members appeared, fights, Superman feats and generally a good feeling of pride for the America we know in the early fifties. Worth a watch for Superman to track down the conspirators with everybody's help along the way.
Another Tommy Carr classic
la_follette10 September 2022
Some big issues are explored in this Superman episode, among them nuclear war, espionage and the Red scare.
Tommy Carr, the auteur behind the early Supermans, directs this noirish episode involving an international syndicate of gangsters looking for the "Moleska formula" which is some sort of defense against atomic weapons. We're not sure if it's iodine pills or a Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative, the only thing we know is it's on a piece of microfiche around 10 inches long.
Jan Moleska, the scientist behind the formula, was picked up by the secret police in communist Czechoslovakia. We see him being whipped before he's presumably dumped into a shallow grave.
As with many of the early Supermans, the violence is right in your face. Violence against women included. Lois gets pistol-whipped and knocked out. Maria Moleska receives a fractured skull from probably the same thing, although we don't actually see the blow being delivered.
One of the hoods pulls a gun on a helpless organ grinder monkey, then his accomplice does the same thing and actually pulls the trigger.
Violence against women and domesticated pets--welcome to the early Supermans!
I'm still not sure why an international smuggling ring was in business with an organ grinder, but if it got a critical note stupidly passed to Lois, then we just have to roll with it.
All in all, another example of what the Superman series should have been, until it suddenly became goofy and non-threatening in 1954.
Tommy Carr, the auteur behind the early Supermans, directs this noirish episode involving an international syndicate of gangsters looking for the "Moleska formula" which is some sort of defense against atomic weapons. We're not sure if it's iodine pills or a Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative, the only thing we know is it's on a piece of microfiche around 10 inches long.
Jan Moleska, the scientist behind the formula, was picked up by the secret police in communist Czechoslovakia. We see him being whipped before he's presumably dumped into a shallow grave.
As with many of the early Supermans, the violence is right in your face. Violence against women included. Lois gets pistol-whipped and knocked out. Maria Moleska receives a fractured skull from probably the same thing, although we don't actually see the blow being delivered.
One of the hoods pulls a gun on a helpless organ grinder monkey, then his accomplice does the same thing and actually pulls the trigger.
Violence against women and domesticated pets--welcome to the early Supermans!
I'm still not sure why an international smuggling ring was in business with an organ grinder, but if it got a critical note stupidly passed to Lois, then we just have to roll with it.
All in all, another example of what the Superman series should have been, until it suddenly became goofy and non-threatening in 1954.
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