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Superman

Stamp was fantastic as Zod, chewing the scenery with delightful relish and obvious skill. (There’s a huge difference between an actor being over the top by accident, and doing it with intent and flair.)

As a line, “Kneel before Zod!” is nothing much on paper. Stamp’s delivery created instant pop culture immortality.

Sadly, he was not himself immortal. RIP.
 
Obviously, growing up with those Christopher Reeve Superman movies, Stamp's Zod was part of my childhood, and one of my earliest movie villains. He also voiced the Jor-El AI on the early seasons of Smallville.

He did play great villains, as also seen in Alien Nation and the underrated Get Smart movie remake.
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Been reading the earliest Superman comics (1938-39) and I have to say his first encounter with the Ultra-Humanite was grizzlier than expected. The rough edges are yet to be smoothed down.
 
Been reading the earliest Superman comics (1938-39) and I have to say his first encounter with the Ultra-Humanite was grizzlier than expected. The rough edges are yet to be smoothed down.
Early, pre-war Superman is amazing. He treats Lois nearly the same contempt Lois gives Clark. Supes happily lets antagonists die, even causes a few deaths, and there's a real feeling of superiority coming from him. He spends a lot of time in disguises and takes on small issues by comparison, yet still gets involved in other nation's conflicts and settles them with force.

Kryptonian's were superpowered on their own planet, and originally the smaller size of Earth made Superman so strong, rather than the yellow sun. And Supes had limitations. In some ways, the first season of the George Reeves Adventures of Superman was a lot like this period, but a little less bloodthirsty.
 
Yeah, the first season of The Adventures of Superman verges on noir.

I remember the episode that most alarmed me as a kid was called "The Mind Machine," described at Wikipedia thusly:

A mobster kidnaps a scientist and takes possession of his invention. The crook uses the device to damage the minds of people testifying before an investigative committee. The victims die a short time later. Superman races to find the mobster before Lois Lane testifies before the committee. Guest Stars: Griff Barnett as Dr. Stanton, Harry Hayden as Wagner, Harold Kruger as Al (uncredited), Steve Carr as Dr. Hadley (uncredited), Lester Dorr as Bus Driver, James Seay as Senator Taylor, Ben Welden as Curley, Dan Seymour as Cranek.

Ben Welden had a long film career playing a lot of gangsters and gamblers. He appeared eight times on Superman.
 
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Yeah, the first season of The Adventures of Superman verges on noir.

I remember the episode that most alarmed me as a kid was called "The Mind Machine," described at Wikipedia thusly:



Ben Welden had a long film career playing a lot of gangsters and gamblers. He appeared eight times on Superman.
I watched that earlier this summer. Got the whole series on iTunes (or whatever they call it now) for a song back in May. Haven’t seen these episodes since I was a kid in the 70s.
 
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