Original subtitles

NARRATOR: The Adventures of Superman!

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

MAN 1: Look! Up in the sky! MAN 2: It's a bird!

WOMAN: It's a plane! MAN 3: It's Superman!

NARRATOR: Yes, it's Superman,

strange visitor from another planet,

who came to Earth with powers and abilities

far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers,

bend steel in his bare hands,

and who, disguised as Clark Kent,

mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper,

fights a never-ending battle

for truth, justice and the American way.

[���]

Y-yes?

Mr. White, please. Mr. Perry White.

Well, um, who--?

Who shall I say is calling?

A friend, perhaps?

Well, I'm sorry, but Mr. White sees no one

except if they have an appointment.

Mr. White will see me.

Ring him.

Oh.

Well, Mr. Olsen, you've done it again.

I've warned you time and time again.

Now, hear this.

I am now warning you positively for the last time!

[INTERCOM BUZZES]

Yes, what is it?

I don't know what's wrong with this girl. What is it?

There's, um, a--

A gentleman here to see you, Mr. White.

Well, what's his name? Who is he?

ETHEL: I don't know. He won't say.

Oh, he won't, won't he?

Well, you know I never see people unless they--

What's he look like?

I said, what does he look like?

I-- I don't know.

You don't know his name,

you don't know what he looks like, you--

Send him up.

Mr. White says you may go up.

I heard him.

[���]

I don't know what's the matter with that girl.

Oh, Ethel's usually very efficient, chief.

But this time she acted-- You shut up!

As though she was seeing things.

[DOOR OPENS]

And maybe she was!

What's the meaning of this?

Patience, Mr. White. I shall try to explain.

I wish Clark was here to see this.

In the first place, I'm gratified

to find you all here together.

Perry White, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen.

I could only wish

that Mr. Clark Kent could be present also.

I hear my name mentioned?

Well, I didn't realize it was so close to Halloween.

It was good of you to come, Mr. Kent.

No trouble at all. What's this all about?

It's really very simple.

The Daily Planet, with Superman's help,

succeeded in ruining

the best-paying racket I ever had

and sent several of my closest friends to jail.

Well, they must have deserved it, then.

That's beside the point. I intend to get even.

With Superman?

Why, don't be silly. Nobody can harm him.

No, but I can strike at him through his friends.

Meaning us?

All of you.

And with you out of the way, the Planet's days

as a newspaper will be numbered.

You'll never get away with it.

Whatever you're planning, Superman will stop you.

When he doesn't even know where I am?

Or what I look like, or who I am?

Well, he'll know what you look like

as soon as he sees through that mask you're wearing.

This mask happens to be made of lead.

That's the one thing his x-ray vision can't see through.

LOIS: Then he'll yank it off.

He can't. It's locked on.

And besides, I have 10 other men

walking the streets of this town

dressed exactly like I am

and wearing the same kind of lead masks.

And theirs are locked on too.

And I'm the only one with the key.

Ten other men who look like that?

Exactly.

And Superman can't keep an eye

on all of us at the same time.

While he's watching some of us,

the rest will be taking care of you.

Taking care of us? How?

In several ways.

[LAUGHS]

I'm a do-it-yourself man, myself.

I love gimmicks.

And I've got a different surprise

fixed up for each one of you.

And this is one time

when Superman won't come to your rescue.

Where's Kent?

Now, where did he go?

Oh, you know Clark.

He's probably so frightened,

he's out looking for a place to hide.

Maybe that's what we'd all better do.

Or maybe that guy in the mask was just bluffing.

I don't think so.

He sounded as if he meant every word.

[���]

If we could only find out who the ringleader is.

You know, the one that came to the office.

He refused to give his name, huh?

Of course he refused to give his name.

He didn't have any identification papers

in his wallet, either.

How'd you know that?

Well, it-- It figures, Bill.

After all, anyone that's smart enough

to outwit Superman

by wearing a lead mask to hide his identity

is certainly smart enough to not carry

identification papers around in his wallet

where Superman could see it with his x-ray vision.

Yeah, that figures.

Anybody who can figure a way from keeping

Superman off his trail is plenty smart.

And plenty dangerous.

Yeah, how's Mr. White taking all this?

The same as Lois and Jimmy.

They're worried.

And they've got good reason to be.

How about you, Kent?

I'm worried too, Bill.

Chief, do you think this could be a gag?

Or somebody's idea of an outrageous practical joke?

No. I-I would like to think so,

but frankly, I don't think our lead-headed friend

is a prankster.

That's why I want to send you two out of town

on an assignment.

Oh, you mean, you want us to run away?

Who said anything about running away?

And pray tell, where would you be?

Right here at my desk, of course, as usual.

Yeah, well, that's us. Right here too, as usual.

Now, look here--

Now just a minute, chief. I think Jimmy's right.

We wouldn't run away any more than you would.

And you wouldn't want us to, would you?

No, I guess not.

Okay. Business as usual.

I hope.

Well, if it's business as usual,

I think you and I are about due

at that political luncheon, chief.

I suppose you're right.

Oh, you mean, both of you are going away

and leaving me alone?

What's the matter? Are you scared?

Sure. Aren't you? [SCOFFS]

Look, Bill, why don't you

at least assign some bodyguards

to the chief and Lois and Jimmy?

Yes.

Yes, I'd, uh--

I'd be glad to if Mr. White okays it.

What do you mean, "if Mr. White okays it"?

Well, you can't assign a bodyguard

to a citizen without his permission.

That's the law of this state.

Well, that's nice,

but I'm sure you can get his permission.

Here, why don't you call him up and ask him?

I'll be glad to.

Uh, get me Perry White of the Daily Planet, please.

Perry White, I've had about enough out of you.

I just-- Just enough.

How do you like noise?

You're gonna look very funny

in that loud pressroom, Perry White.

How's your aim?

You good on a bicycle? You're gonna be throwing papers!

That's what! Throwing papers! All over the block, right--

[PHONE RINGS]

Uh, hello. Mr. White's office. Olsen speaking.

Oh, hi, inspector.

No, Mr. White and Miss Lane,

they just left to go on a political luncheon.

Sure, they were fine.

Me? I'm okay too.

Who'd wanna bother me?

Sure, inspector.

Who'd wanna bother me?

Want me to drive?

Yes, will you, please?

Just a moment, Miss Lane.

Drive out as usual,

except that instead of taking the right turn

toward the Civic Center,

turn left and head out of the city.

[ENGINE STARTS]

[���]

Come on, come on.

Over there. Sit down.

I suppose this is what you call a hideout.

It isn't much, Miss Lane,

but it will serve our purpose.

Of course, you realize we know every mile

of the route we took,

and we also know exactly where this place is.

It doesn't matter, Mr. White.

You're not gonna be around to tell anyone.

And as a matter of fact,

I don't think you could remember

the route we took.

Ha!

Oh, for example, suppose you wanted

to tell, uh, young Mr. Olsen, say, how to get here.

What would you say?

I'd say, Olsen, get in your car,

take the Crestlake Road about four miles past Bellville.

Make the first right turn

past the railroad track on a dirt road.

The first house you see

will be where you'll find Miss Lane and me

and a couple of pretty stupid crooks.

That's very good.

And now, would you mind repeating that message

when I get Mr. Olsen on the line?

I certainly would mind.

And gun or no gun, I won't do it.

[LAUGHS]

[DIALING]

Daily Planet?

Mr. James Olsen, please.

[PHONE RINGS]

Olsen's office, what--?

White's office, Olsen sp--

PERRY [RECORDING]: I'd say, Olsen, get in your car,

take the Crestlake Road

about four miles past Bellville.

Make the first right turn past the railroad track

on a dirt road.

The first house you see

will be where you'll find Miss Lane and me.

[LINE CLICKS]

I was afraid you might not repeat the message,

so I took the precaution of recording your words

on a portable tape recorder.

Well, that's a dirty trick.

All's fair, Miss Lane.

And now we must be going again.

Each of you has a date with destiny.

A last date.

Outside. Outside.

First right, turn past railroad tracks.

Take dirt road, first house you come to.

Okay.

[RINGS]

[RINGS]

[LINE RINGING]

Now Jimmy doesn't answer.

Lois and Mr. White never did get

to the luncheon they were scheduled to attend.

I don't like it, Kent. Neither do I,

and I'm gonna do something about it too.

Wait a minute.

I'm gonna throw out a dragnet.

I'm gonna fine-comb the city.

Now, you wait a minute.

If this character in the lead mask

has got the chief and Lois and Jimmy,

throwing out a dragnet wouldn't do any good.

I've got a better idea. Such as?

Well, I'll just let him capture me too.

Then with luck, they'll take me

where they're holding the others.

I'll buy that.

If they do grab you,

I'll be following with my men.

Now, let's see. The last place

any of the others were heard from was the office.

That's probably where that character in the lead mask

is waiting for me too. I'll see you, Bill.

We'll be there.

Uh, get me Murphy.

[���]

Turner, you and Ransom cover the entrance in the back.

Carnahan, you and I will cover this entrance.

If Kent is captured inside the building,

they're sure to take him out one way or the other,

and we'll be able to trail them wherever they take him.

Okay.

All right, up.

Surprised?

No, I don't suppose I should be.

After all, you did say you were gonna

revenge yourself on us.

Do you intend to shoot me right here in my own office?

That would be too easy.

When I get through with you,

even Superman wouldn't know you.

Start walking.

Downstairs?

So the police can follow us?

I'm not that stupid.

We go upstairs, to the roof.

The roof?

You can't take me anywhere from there.

That's what you think.

If they caught him,

they ought to be coming out by now.

Unless they went out the other entrance.

[PROPELLERS WHIRRING]

A helicopter.

And Kent's probably in it.

He'll get clear away before we can get trail him.

If anybody ever needed Superman,

Kent needs him now.

Well, Mr. Nosy Reporter,

you've turned in your last story.

In a minute, you'll be lowered

into that vat of acid.

You wouldn't dare.

You're just bluffing, trying to frighten me.

Wanna bet?

But-- But that's illegal.

The police wouldn't let you get away with it.

I wouldn't count on that, if I were you.

First, they'd have to find this old factory,

and they're not about to do that.

How would Inspector Henderson trace us here?

Oh, I guess he couldn't.

I'll say he can't.

No more than he'll find Perry White,

Lois Lane and that cub, Olsen.

Are they here too?

They're nowhere near here.

Well, what have you done with them?

It's not what I've done, but what I'm about to do.

I don't mind telling you that they're doomed.

Just like in the old-time movie serials.

Movie serials?

Yes.

For instance, we have Mr. White

in the old sawmill, back of Centerville.

He's tied up like a bale of laundry.

And in just about...

10 minutes,

he'll go sliding into the buzz saw.

Oh, no. Fact.

And in just about 15 minutes, Lois Lane will perish too.

She's tied to the railroad tracks on the main line,

just east of Rockport Junction,

where the Midwestern Flier

hits better than 80 miles an hour.

You know what that means.

It's horrible.

Isn't it?

And then there's Jimmy Olsen.

Would you like to know where he is?

Right now, he's driving his car

back of Crestvale, up into the mountains.

But what he doesn't know

is that we've poured acid over the brakes

and the steering gear.

And in, oh, say, about 20 minutes,

he'll be going down a sharp curve and then blam!

You'll never get away with this.

If you're depending on Superman, I wouldn't.

He doesn't even know what's going on.

Are you sure?

Well, if he did, he'd be here.

I don't see him around, do you?

No.

And he's not going to be.

[LAUGHS]

It's a cinch you're not going to get word to him.

Start the motor.

I've always liked

these old-fashioned but imaginative ways

of getting rid of one's enemies.

You do seem to have gone to a great deal of trouble.

No trouble at all.

Although, I had hoped that you'd take it a little harder.

You know, begged for mercy and that sort of thing.

Sorry to disappoint you.

Well, that's life. Or death.

Farewell, Mr. Kent.

[LAUGHS]

[���]

Let's get out to the helicopter.

I don't want just part of the force

working on the case.

I want all of them.

Get word to every reserve officer and patrolman.

Put them on 24-hour duty.

Search every house and building in Metropolis if you have to.

But find Lois Lane, Clark Kent, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White.

They've got to be somewhere.

They've got to be somewhere.

But where?

I don't want excuses. I want action.

And send out an APB to pick up every man

wearing a lead mask, understand?

Now that we've got the helicopter hidden away,

all we have to do is wait for the sawmill clock

to start the machinery.

Then goodbye, Perry White.

[���]

Oh, Superman. Are you all right, sir?

Yeah, I-- I thought I was done for.

There we are.

Oh, how about Miss Lane and Jimmy Olsen?

They're gonna be all right, sir, I hope.

The man in the lead mask

told me exactly what he had in mind for them.

I just hope I'm not too late to save them.

Excuse me, sir.

[WIND WHOOSHING]

[TRAIN HORN BLOWING]

[HORN BLOWING]

Are you all right, Miss Lane?

All thanks to you.

But what about Mr. White?

Well, he's all right now.

Thank heavens.

But I'm very worried about Jimmy Olsen.

I don't know far he's driven on Crestvale road.

But Jimmy's a good driver.

That's not gonna help him much now, Miss Lane.

You see, his brakes and his steering gear

have been sabotaged. Excuse me, please.

[WIND WHOOSHING]

The rest of the boys should be getting here

any minute now.

[TRAIN HORN BLOWING]

There goes the express. Right on time.

So we can check off Clark Kent, Perry White and Lois Lane.

That leaves just Olsen to go.

And if that acid works the way it should,

his car should be going out of control

any minute now.

[LAUGHS]

I'd love to see the expression on his face.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

[���]

[TIRES SCREECHING]

[TIRES SCREECHING]

[TIRES SCREECHING]

Help!

Help!

[WIND WHOOSHING]

Help.

Nice and easy.

Give me the other one.

[LAUGHS]

Oh, golly, Superman, am I glad to see you.

Well, the feeling is mutual, I assure you.

How did you manage to get yourself

in a spot like that?

[PANTING] Oh, I-- I tried to save myself.

When the car went over the cliff, I jumped out.

But I jumped the wrong way.

I'll bet you had your eyes closed.

Yeah. How did you guess?

Figures.

Golly.

What about Miss Lane and Mr. White?

Oh, they're all right now.

That reminds me.

Jimmy, you'll have to hitch yourself a ride home.

I have to go and find out, uh,

just who this criminal is, responsible for all this.

Oh, that shouldn't be hard. I wrote his address down.

You did?

Nice going.

[WIND WHOOSHING]

[���]

So naturally when we got down to headquarters,

the rest was easy.

Superman used his x-ray eyes to see which one had the key

which unlocked all the lead masks.

Naturally, he was the ringleader.

Now they'll all go to prison for a long, long time.

Well, we surely owe our lives to Superman.

All of us.

We certainly do, don't we, Clark?

Well, all I can say is, if it weren't for Superman,

I wouldn't be here.

You know, there's one thing I don't understand, boss.

We saw Kent go in that tub of acid, but we didn't--

Shut up, you fool!

Don't ever say anything about that again.

Don't even think it.

Nobody'd believe it, huh?

Nobody.

I don't even believe it myself.

[���]

NARRATOR: Don't miss the next thrill-packed episode

in the amazing Adventures of Superman.

Superman is based on the original character

appearing in Superman magazine.