Cultural Allusions in Superman: The Movie (1978)

[Silver Nemesis]

I had intended to post this thread last month to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Superman: The Movie, but unfortunately I've had internet problems for the past four weeks that prevented me from doing so. But here it is, better late than never.

We already covered the possible comic influences on this film in another thread: https://www.batman-online.com/forum/index.php?topic=2197.0

Now I'm looking at influences derived from other sources – from films, music, architecture, literature, history, politics, real life people and events. Some of these will be obvious, but I'm going to list them all anyway in the interests of being comprehensive. Please feel free to add more references if there are any I've overlooked.

The film begins in June 1938 with a child reading an issue of Action Comics. Superman debuted in Action Comics Vol 1 #1 which was published in June 1938.

The opening narration mentions "the world-wide depression" of the 1930s. This refers to the Great Depression that began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929.

Krypton's sun (named Rao in the comics, but unnamed in the film) is a red supergiant. Although red supergiants exhibit tremendous size and luminosity, they are cooler than younger stars. This might explain why Krypton is depicted as a frozen ice planet in the movie.

Superman is descended from the House of El. In Hebrew, 'El' means 'god' and is derived from a root word meaning 'might, strength, power'.

The look of the spaceship that carries Kal-El to Earth was designed to resemble a star in reference to the Star of Bethlehem. The scene where the Kents see the spaceship plummet to Earth and discover the orphaned child at the crash site consciously evokes the three wise men following the star to find Jesus in The New Testament.

The Smallville scenes were visually influenced by the films of John Ford and the paintings of Norman Rockwell. The wide-angle location shots are redolent of the films of both Ford and David Lean. The following comparison is with a scene from Ford's The Searchers (1956).

The comparison below is with a shot from David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Note how the silhouetted human figure in each shot is dwarfed beneath the dominant skyline.

The extended cuts of the film feature cameos by Kirk Alyn and Noel Neill as the parents of Lois Lane. Alyn was the first actor to portray Superman in live action, having played him in the black & white film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). Neill had portrayed Lois Lane opposite Alyn in both of those serials, and later reprised her role opposite George Reeves in seasons 2-6 of the Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) TV show. Neill later appeared in Brian Singer's Superman Returns (2006).

The 1954 recording of 'Rock Around the Clock' by Bill Haley & His Comets can be heard on Brad's car radio during the Smallville sequence.

John Williams' Smallville theme echoes the music of American composer Aaron Copland. It also strongly resembles Williams' earlier score for Mark Rydell's The Cowboys (1972) starring John Wayne. Listen to the section from 3:30 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jEf6HMxm74#t=3m30s

And from 2:10 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXYj8nChItw#t=2m10s

The extended cuts contain a less-than-subtle piece of product placement involving a box of Cheerios. This breakfast cereal first went on sale in America in 1941.

The distinctive look of the Fortress of Solitude as it rises from the snow evokes Caspar David Friedrich's 1824 painting 'The Sea of Ice'.

The holographic projection of Jor-El's face recalls the eponymous character's illusory appearance in the film version of The Wizard of Oz (1939) produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Christopher Reeve cited Cary Grant's portrayal of Dr. David Huxley in Howard Hawks' Bringing Up Baby (1938) as an influence on his own performance as Clark Kent. Common characteristics include bumbling, stammering and being bossed around by the headstrong female lead.

While leaving The Daily Planet building, Lois tries to introduce Clark to someone named Rex who passes them by in a hurry. This is a cameo by New York film critic Rex Reed, who is apparently portraying himself in the film.

John Williams' 'The March of the Villains' was influenced by the works of Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Compare it with the follow excerpt from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (1936).

Lex Luthor's subterranean hideout is visually modelled on Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan. Otis passes through the concourse of the real Grand Central Terminal on his way to Luthor's lair.

There are several black and white photographs visible in the background of Lex's hideout. It's difficult to tell who these pictures portray, and I can't find any information about them online. But I think one of the photographs may be a portrait of Heinrich Himmler, a prominent Nazi and head of the SS.

The model of Air Force One that Superman rescues is based on the SAM 27000, a Boeing VC-137C that entered service in 1972 during President Nixon's administration and was retired during President George W. Bush's first term of office in 2001.

While briefing his reporters, Perry says he wants Superman's name to go together with The Daily Planet like "death and taxes". This refers to an idiom commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin, though the earliest recorded example of its usage can be traced to a 1716 quote by English actor and dramatist Christopher Bullock:

"Tis impossible to be sure of anything but Death and Taxes."

Perry also alludes to the Book of Exodus when he says that whoever lands an interview with Superman "is going to wind up with the single most important interview since... God talked to Moses!"

During the interview scene, Lois and Superman both mention the title character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play and 1911 novel Peter Pan.

The main love theme by John Williams is thought to have been inspired by Richard Strauss' Tod und Verklärung (1889). Listen carefully and you can hear Williams referencing the 6-note transfiguration motif from Strauss' composition. Listen from the 8:00 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XkQi_dfWEA#t=8m

When Superman and Lois go flying they pass several recognisable New York landmarks including the World Trade Centre and the Statue of Liberty.

A gatefold copy of the 1968 album Traffic by the British rock band of the same name can be seen in the background of Lois' apartment. It is open on a picture of group members Dave Mason and Jim Capaldi.

Luthor's collection of wigs was perhaps inspired by Dr. Mabuse's similar collection in Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922). Like Luthor, Mabuse was also a diabolical mastermind. He is considered to be one of the earliest cinematic supervillains.

When speaking to Otis and Miss Teschmacher, Luthor makes an allusion to Leo Tolstoy's 1867 novel War and Peace:

"Miss Teschmacher, some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe."

Luthor's line "Oh Lord... You gave them eyes, but they cannot see" is a reference to Psalms 115:5:

"They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see."

Luthor's real estate scam recalls the scheme executed by Noah Cross in Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974). Both villains purchase large amounts of seemingly worthless real estate with the intention of increasing its value through nefarious means. Cross plans to do this by drying up the land to reduce its value, then purchasing it and irrigating the area so it can be developed into an outer district of Los Angeles. Luthor plans to purchase a similar stretch of worthless desert land, then detonate a nuclear warhead at a fracture point in the San Andreas Fault to destroy the coastal area west of the fault line. Both villains plot to turn desert land into valuable urban real estate.

Richard Donner has cited the paintings of Norman Rockwell as an influence on the film's visuals. There's a shot of Jimmy Olsen looking towards Hoover Dam from atop a nearby canyon outcrop which is framed similar to Rockwell's 1969 painting 'Glen Canyon Dam'. Note the off-centre positioning of the dam itself in both images, as well as the human figure in the foreground with their back to us.

The song Lois listens to while driving through the desert is 'Give a Little Bit' (1977) by Supertramp.

In the sequence after the missile hits the San Andreas Fault, several real locations are shown along the West Coast of America. These include the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and the Hoover Dam in Nevada.

The shot of Superman holding up the subterranean rock evokes the image of Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders in classical mythology.

The final shot of the film, where Superman flies into space as the sun rises behind the Earth, echoes the lunar sunrise from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Geoffrey Unsworth was the cinematographer on both films.

And that's all I've got.

[thecolorsblend]

A portrait of Mussolini is also included among Lex's collection of photographs. Perhaps I'm overthinking it but I've never been able to quite grasp the significance of that portrait and how it relates to his character as shown in STM.

[thecolorsblend]

Did the "Rock Around The Clock" song in this scene...

... foreshadow this scene?

I mean, "around the clock"... time travel... idk, there could be something there.

Mind you, the lyrical intent of "Rock Around The Clock" was probably a polite euphemism for a very different activity but hey...

[Silver Nemesis]

A portrait of Mussolini is also included among Lex's collection of photographs. Perhaps I'm overthinking it but I've never been able to quite grasp the significance of that portrait and how it relates to his character as shown in STM.

Good catch. I didn't spot that one.

I think the set dressers just put those pictures there as a joke to emphasise how evil Lex is. While the comic book Lex sees himself as a misunderstood humanitarian, the movie version delights in being "the greatest criminal mind of our time". Decorating his lair with portraits of ruthless fascists seems appropriate for someone of his mindset, similar to how Klytus expresses admiration for Hitler in Flash Gordon (1980), or Mr Burns boasting about the quality of the shells he manufactured for the Nazis in The Simpsons.

Thinking about it more deeply, Mussolini did make the trains run on time. And Lex's hideout is situated in the middle of the Metropolis underground system. Perhaps there's a connection there. Or not.

[Paul (ral)]

Fantastic post SN!

[Silver Nemesis]

Fantastic post SN!

Thanks ral. I'm never sure if people are interested in these cultural reference threads/features, but in case they are I've got one on Batman Forever in the works.

The Supermanthemovie Facebook account has tracked down one of the photos from Lex's lair. The picture I mistook for Himmler is in fact a publicity photo of Hackman as Harry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation. I've seen The Conversation many times, but I never would've correctly identified that image based on the fleeting glimpse in Donner's film. So major props to whoever runs the Supermanthemovie Facebook page. Here's the original picture.

[thecolorsblend]

The extra-long extended cut (or a deleted scene?) shows the Air Force One crew joking about peanuts. This was a reference to Jimmy Carter, who was President at the time and who famously owned a peanut farm.

As a more general comment, the helicopter crash is shot and scored in a manner similar to the disaster films which were popular in the 70's. Bending spoons a bit, you could argue that Donner interjecting Superman's rescue of the helicopter as a bit of a repudiation of the disaster film genre by interrupting the disaster with 1940'sesque swashbuckling heroism. Not sure if that counts as a two-fer but there you go.

[GoNerdYourself]

As a more general comment, the helicopter crash is shot and scored in a manner similar to the disaster films which were popular in the 70's. Bending spoons a bit, you could argue that Donner interjecting Superman's rescue of the helicopter as a bit of a repudiation of the disaster film genre by interrupting the disaster with 1940'sesque swashbuckling heroism.

I can see that. The film was released was a few years after the disaster fad arguably hit its peak with The Towering Inferno. Like Irwin Allen's disaster films, Superman featured a wide assortment of big name actors to glam up the marque, including aging names in supporting roles. John Williams had also scored  three major disaster films prior to Superman: The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, and Earthquake. 

Coincidentally, two of Superman's villains starred in disaster flicks: Gene Hackman (The Poseidon Adventure) and Robert Vaughn (The Towering Inferno). 

[Silver Nemesis]

Considering Airport '77 cracked the top twenty at the domestic box office in 1977, and the sequel came out just one year after Superman, I'd say the disaster movie theory is a sound one. It's like what we were saying in another thread about Batman 89 needing to fit in with the established landscape of eighties cinema. In Batman's case, that meant being an action movie. For Superman, it meant reflecting the disaster movie trend.

[The Laughing Fish]

I found this essay providing an in-depth analysis on Superman and religious symbolisms found in S78 and Superman II, and I thought it would be a good idea to share:

https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1771&context=jrf

There is a lot to take in this document, but here are some of the parallels that fascinate me the most:

Christians today usually wear crosses around their necks, a stylised symbol of the Roman instrument of Jesus's slow and agonising death. Likewise, Superman was slowly being put to death by Lex Luthor when he exposed him to lethal green Kryptonite. A chain with an attached piece of it was placed around his neck as both the cause and sign of Superman's slow, agonising death. Following Jesus's crucifixion, he was placed in a burial tomb/sepulchre (John 19:41-42). Superman's intended resting-place was a water-filled cavernous swimming pool-cum-tomb which Luthor pushed Superman into. Why this watery death? Presumably because water baptism is also a symbol of Christ's death and burial (Rom. 6:4).

Superman saved Lois Lane by flying very fast above the Earth's atmosphere and reversing the planet's axial spin. Consequently, Lois's crushing death was corrected when "time is turned back and Lois resurrected."43 Superman had demonstrated control over the physical world just like Jesus who could calm wild winds (Matt. 8:26; 14:32), quell sea tempests (Matt. 8:23-27), and walk on water (Matt. 14:25, 28-31). Symbolically speaking, Superman had to go beyond Earth to the heavens to achieve his most miraculous effect. When he resurrected Lois, he acted like Jesus who brought back from the dead, the ruler's daughter (Matt. 9:23-35), the only son of the widowed mother (Luke 7:11-15), and Lazarus (John 11:41-44). Less spectacularly but still significant, Superman could not be held up by crowds, as evidenced prior to his drilling entry through the main street into Luthor's underground lair. Likewise, Jesus could pass through crowds easily (Luke 4:29-30).

As to the truth of his powers, the fundamental question was posed by a TV reporter at Superman's first public appearance in S1: "Your guess is good as anybody's. True or false? Miracle or fraud? The answer is up to you. Man or myth" [my emphasis]. The same questions are asked about Jesus Christ, but if the answer can be taken from the first word order pattern, then there can be only one conclusion, he was a True Miracle Man.

I know more often than not, people scoff at the most recent Superman films for Christ references, but if they looked at Donner's stuff, his movie was the first to put it on the big screen for the modern era. Whether or not his take was more subtle than others is a different conversation altogether.

I guess Donner and co always wanted Superman to spin the world backwards to reverse time because they were inspired by such religious subtext, and the plot itself was always an afterthought.

There were some people who didn't take kindly to the religious symbolism in Donner's Superman though.

Donner initially disowned Superman's religious origins. Presumably because of duress: "I had life threats, because people accused me of approaching Brando as God and his son was Jesus...we had Scotland Yard, the FBI, and the LAPD looking in to them. I literally had people saying that my blood would run in the streets for doing that. 7

However, many years later, Donner gladly admitted to the Christic subtext: "It's a motif I had done at the beginning when Brando sent Chris [Reeve] to Earth
and said, 'I send them my only son.' It was God sending Christ to Earth."8 It was a dramaturgical decision that made good sense, for just as Superman was literally a
super-man, Jesus was "the ultimate Super Jew of his day,"9 the "Christian super-hero,"10 the pop culture "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).11 Indeed, many Jesus-Superman parallels exist within S1 and S2 because both films were planned, scripted and partially shot back-to-back.