It was a new hope that lived within George Reeves’ performance of Superman that fans found when he assumed the role. Right off the bat I can say that his physical appearance matched up better with Superman than Alyn’s.
While he was more pudgy than buff, the extra weight wasn’t obscene in making him look fat, just “bigger” and that made the character a little more imposing when you saw him crash through a wall or a building. Something that Reeves was quite fond of. And while, the flying in this series wasn’t much of an improvement over the previous series, it’s still well known. Instead of cartoonizing and flying off into the air, Reeves would run and jump off of hidden trampolines for take off and launch himself out of windows.
For landings he would jump off the trampoline off screen, grab on to a high bar and swing himself feet first towards his mark – giving the illusion that he was flying without problems. It was attempted to have Reeves wired to a rig for flying illusions, but after a first attempt and malfunctioning equipment, Reeves demanded that his Superman only fly in the same manner as before – by standing with his arms in the air. As far as characterization goes, Reeves was much better being charming as both Superman and Clark Kent.
While the differences in the charm are few and far between, there is definitely a well intentioned spirited performance that shines in every episode – whether he be saving mole men or guest starring on “I love Lucy.” It was only in his infamous death that this character be closed and never seen again. Nothing against the man, his performance or the manner in which he died – but there really was nothing left for him to do in terms of characterization. There was no demand for the character to grow or evolve within the period of time that he was on. Much like Heath Ledger, Reeves went out on top of his game – thus solidifying his performance as a great Superman in the eyes of all who saw it.
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GEORGE REEVES SUPERMAN
