Superman and the Mole Men (1951)

 “Why, you give the impression you’re leading a… a double life!”

 This is a fascinating little document. It may be the first ever full length superhero movie, but it feels in many ways like a typical 150s cheap sci-fi B movie. The Mole Men of the title look hilariously rubbish, with their obvious wigs and pantomime costume. And yet this silly little short film is full of heart and, in its own way, very faithful to the character of Superman. 

It's instructive, in particular, so compare this to the Christopher Reeves films of the '70s and '80s. There, Clark Kent's hat and oold-fashioned suit make him look like an old-fashioned, out of touch country bumpkin, a figure of mockery. He dresses the same way here, but it's 1951; he looks completely anonymous. And Reeves doesn't play Kent as a klutz or as any other kind of comic figure. He's an experienced, professional and very inquisitive reporter.

We also have a Superman here who is much closer to the liberal wish fulfilment figure of the early comics. The eponymous Mole Men aren't trying to conquer the surface: insteasd, they've been disturbed by humans drilling, have come up fpor a look, and are quickly persecuted by murderous lynch mobs. The enemy isn't them; it's human intolerance. This is an interesting message for the time of McCarthyism, when reds were under the bed. It's an allegory for all sorts of persecutions of all sorts of minorities, and Superman at one point accuses the mob of being "like Nazi stormttroopers". Even a silly little cheap B movie can have a subtext.

It's interesting to see how relatively underpowered Superman is here, but he's not fighting mighty foes but social evils, a fascinating dynamic. No wonder this little movie begat a long running television series. It's cheap, it's silly, yet it's also strangely heartwarming.