A few weeks ago, I discovered Turner Classic Movies was airing some of the old Superman serials featuring Kirk Alyn. Five chapters every Saturday morning. At the moment, I'm watching Chapter 8 of the second storyline: "Atom Man vs. Superman". The serials are kind of corny in the same way that every serial was back in the day. Cheesy cliffhangers that are retconned in the following chapter. Flimsy motivations. Absurd notions about science. Plot holes you could drive a truck through.
But the main actors do a better than decent job. Kirk Alyn in particular makes a very credible Clark Kent, although his Superman is not perhaps as physically impressive as later actors. Noel Neill also does a great job that I don't think carried over as well into the George Reeves era -- she has a Debbie Reynolds thing going on that probably would've made her more of a name had she been few years younger and gotten into movies after serials started fading to the wayside. Lyle Talbot also does an excellent job as Lex Luther and looks the part better than any actor who's taken the role since.
The film quality itself looks excellent for as old as the films are. (More than likely, this is a result of the DVD release.) Worth tuning in at least for a few episodes.
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