"THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL --
Through the years several people have asked about the rumor that George Reeves has a part in The Day The Earth Stood Still as a newspaper reporter. It seems that once rumors get started they are hard to quell. The following is from a letter to me dated 3/23/97 from writer and film researcher, Allan Asherman. "Sometime ago Cinefantastique magazine did an issue devoted to The Day The Earth Stood Still, and in that issue they printed a photo of a TV reporter talking to Mr. Carpenter and Bobby while the two were visiting the spaceship. This is a scene from the film, and the interviewer is played by an actor named Glen Hardy. Elsewhere in that issue was a detailed list of cast and credits from the film. Someone probably looked at the photo of Glen Hardy and concluded that he was George Reeves, but no matter how it happened George Reeves does not actually appear in the film at all. Anyway, since that magazine was published, at least one reference book on science fiction films has published a cast list of The Day The Earth Stood Still listing George Reeves. Considering the exposure and coverage on this wonderful film, I have seen some other surprising errors, including casts listing 'Bobby'Gray (instead of Billy Gray) and Hugh 'Beaumont' (instead of Hugh Marlowe). But the George Reeves error is a most glaring bit of misinformation and a fine example of how faulty research can lead to one mistake spreading into other books and articles.
4. JERRY SEINFELD --
TAC contributor Nelson Jimenez recently sent me a page from Jerry Seinfeld's book, SeinLanguage. Jerry remarks that "of all the Supermans, comic books,
movies,cartoons,George Reeves will always be my favorite. Because the real thing about being Superman, the thing that makes it so interesting is it's a thing you're saddled with. On his planet he was normal. But here, he's Superman. And it was that way for George Reeves. Being Superman was a thing
he just ended up with." Jerry goes on to list some questions he'd like to ask of the Adventures of Superman. I've picked out my favorites:
a. Where were the other police besides Inspector Henderson?
b. Why were the crooks always, and only, in groups of two, a dumb one and a smart one? Often with names like "Lefty" and "The Boss." Who was "The Boss" the boss of? Lefty?
c. Why did Superman have no feet in the opening sequence?
d. What was that planet in the background that looked like a "C"?
e. Why didn't Superman ever just tell Lois and Jimmy, "Look, you're not helping. You're only making my job harder. Would you both please let me deal with crooks? Believe me, I can handle it."
