Luthor’s Lift…

Welcome to SUPERMANIA’78!

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Here you will find some of the very best and most obscure items of Superman Movie Memorabilia from all over the globe, starting with a world first below –

Behind the scenes on the final major gag on Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.  These never-before-published stills depict Director Sidney J. Furie & crew setting up for the shot where Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor is apprehended by air as Christopher Reeve’s Man of Steel boosts his Marquee from below.  This complex stunt was performed on the last stretch of London’s M25 orbital Motorway before being opened, so the production could populate it with American cars.
A crane would hoist both Hackman and co-star Jon Cryer while Reeve would be harnessed beneath to give the impression of lift-off with his bare hands.  While the live-action looks impressive here (even with the visible cables) the shot as edited into the final film would have a distracting strobe effect added in post-production and would last for mere seconds…