A Free Spirit…

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Please join SUPERMANIA in wishing our very own intrepid Lois Lane a happy birthday for last week – we celebrate by recalling some of her typically frank and outspoken interviews from back in the day accompanied by a rare shot from her Superman Bath towel session.

UK fans have a rare opportunity to meet and greet the charming Margot Kidder herself this weekend at Cardiff Film & Comic Con, where she will be the subject of a Q&A and photograph session besides the customary signing of autographs.  Feel free to leave comments here should you see the lady herself..!

 

Ready, Set, Gone…

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SUPERMANIA is proud to present this world-first exclusive and significant documentation of film history courtesy of SuperFan Jay Towers –

Presumed lost to time deep in the vaults of Elstree Studios and buried amongst the pages of the final shooting script from Cannon Films (also to come!) are these few seemingly inconsequential notes that actually form the breakdown of no less than the entire set requirements for Superman IV: The Quest For Peace including cost estimates (In Sterling!)

The year is 1986 and ambitious producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus have invested a considerable sum to secure the rights to the Superman motion picture property from Alexander and Ilya Salkind and and had dedicated the largest budget in the history of their studio to producing this sequel with plans for more to follow.

Unfortunately, as Cannon already had a plethora of films already at various stages in production and was actually in dire financial straits, Superman IV’s original budget of $30 Million plus would steadily erode to approximately half of this during the shoot, where bottom line figures for the sets alone (£5.4 Million – third pic) surely had execs sweating.

Indeed, cutbacks in the finished film are evident where £220,000 was saved replicating sets as established in the previous pictures by filming scenes in the Daily Planet offices on location in an existing office building Milton Keynes, UK and similarly £60,000 saved by utilizing London’s Hippodrome as the interior of the Metro Club.

As further savings were made by shooting entirely in England, epic scenes such as Superman’s arrival on 42nd street would infamously be shot outside Milton Keynes train station rather than New York City and Aldwych Tube Station would become Metropolis Central with minimal dressing.

For some otherworldly environments and cityscapes where battles would take place, however, elaborate sets had to be built.  Part of Cannon’s attempt at industry domination was the acquisition of flailing Elstree Studios, resulting in Superman’s controversial relocation from Pinewood and the loss of its much-needed technical facilities.  Whereas Pinewood’s backlot had devoted acres and millions to the accurate reproduction of a New York street for Superman II, at Elstree façades of buildings were pinned outside its studio walls with backgrounds intended to be composited in by matte paintings later.  This accounts for the visible wobbling and the noticeable rooftops (where the paintings weren’t added).  nonetheless, apparently it cost £1.3 million pounds to achieve this (second pic).

Even Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, once housed by the world-famous 007 stage at Pinewood, was completely rebuilt on a smaller scale at Elstree for a bargain £3 Million (Top pic).

Among the more successful sets were Lex Luthor’s Penthouse lair (£150,000, top pic) and the location set of the Kent farmhouse (at £67,000 one questions if a small unit sent out to the original Canadian locale may have been cheaper) not to mention the sets built for scenes ultimately cut from the finished film entirely (US/Russian conference rooms).

Finally, further evidence of cost cutting is exemplified in the simple memo from Associate Producer Graham Easton (dated 11th Sept, Bottom pic) to all parties dropping a sequence involving the construction of a full-size blimp (see the storyboards here) and the costly appearance of the QEII.

While its well-documented on SUPERMANIA just how and why the 1987 release ended the franchise on such a sour note, its evidence such as this, so rare and so fascinating, that offers further proof that in the initial stages at least, this production was intended to be every bit as epic as its predecessors…

Coming soon – The building of a Metropolis…

 

Sold..!

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An unprecedented success with many lots outperforming their estimates by thousands, the Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction made headlines across the prop world while making many a collectors dream come true.

Luckily, SUPERMANIA managed a last-minute pilgrimage to The ODEON BFI IMAX in London to photograph the Superman items on display only hours before they went live.  Below are the highlights of the Super-sales along with the astonishing prices realised –

424.  Contact Sheets – £1,100

425.  Shooting Scripts – £4,750

426.  Autographed Still – £700

427.  Underwater Tunic – £25,000

429.  Large Kryptonian Crystal – £1,700

431.  Promotional Ephemera – £1,600

432.  Autographed Stills – £700

433.  Muscle Tunic – £20,000

436.  IV Script – £350

437.  Pod Prop – £4000

As expected, the well-publicised underwater tunic (second pic) stole the show with the Muscle tunic (third pic) nipping at its shorts at only five grand less.  Less expected were the amounts achieved by some of the smaller lots, with a single autographed still of Christopher Reeve going well above estimate at £700 and a folder full of essentially promotional clippings fetching £1,600 – most of which already present in the SUPERMANIA collection.

While many of these fabulous relics of movie history will take pride of place in private collections, The Starship Pod prop (bottom pic) was bought by Stateside SuperFan and Broadcaster Jay Towers, a prominent figure in Superman collecting and vocal supporter of the classic films.  SUPERMANIA wishes Jay all the best with his his purchase and hope he enjoys it for years to come..!