Stamp Day for Superman

Had the thrill of seeing "Stamp Day for Superman" at a comic convention in 1986 with my two buddies Marc and Craig. Silliest damn Superman film I ever saw and all we did was laugh for years afterwards on how we wasted 45 minutes out of the day to see this silly flick. It is neat though. From what I remember, Supes buys war bonds or fights some evil madmen who are against the u.s. postal service. See it if you can, cause you'll never find it again -- not that I've been looking, but never saw another filming of it since 1986. How about a 6/10 just for "effort" and rarity of this short, campy flick.

This 1954 short was donated by Superman, Inc. to the U.S. Treasury to encourage the youth of the day to enroll in their school Stamp Day saving program. It is the only portion of the 1950's TV series in public domain, so whenever clips of the show are aired, this is the program they choose.

Stamp Day for Superman opens with Lois and Clark window shopping, when a burglar alarm sounds. Superman responds, and finds a contrite robber, who bemoans he never saved money and is reduced to crime to pay his bills. The rest of the story includes flying, crashing through walls, and a savings stamp book for Lois, Jimmy, Clark, and Superman. (yes, Superman!) Worthwhile for camp purposes, and the fact it was the last Superman segment shot in black and white

Stamp Day for Superman is a neat little relic. Sponsored by the U. S. Treasury, it is considered a "lost episode" of The Adventures of Superman that starred George Reeves as the man of steel and his alter ego, Clark Kent.

In this one, Clark Kent gets the idea to go to Jimmy Olsen's school to teach kids about Stamp Day. However, he has to deal with the fact that a man who Lois saw robbing a jewelry store has decided to hold her hostage.

Yeah, this does not put too much focus on the Stamp Day topic, but that is okay, as it helps makes the special more exciting. This episode is dated as this is made in the 1950's (especially when at the time, there was tensions after the Korean War) and the lesson is pretty much a product of the era it was made in (as saving stamps was discontinued in 1970). However, it is a good episode, as it has the same action as the show it's based on, and Superman does teach the kids of the era a good lesson that is of the time.

This is obviously just a very mid-fifties, government-issued propaganda short film that was meant to inspire kids and adults to buy stamps and save their money. It's the old "pay war bonds" ad that circulated ad nauseam in those days, so in that regard it is in no way original. However, the short nature of the film puts a huge constraint on any plot or narrative, but director Thomas Carr actually manages to pull it off quite well, all things considered. There are definitely a decent amount of chuckles and decent writing throughout, and while dated, it's honestly not the worst Superman thing ever made.

Seen as part of the MST3K reunion, the temptation to think this is not fair to look at on its own is silly. It's still pudgy George Reeves doing a glorified PSA so that kids can know that stamps are important. Woop-dee-do. But I actually enjoyed the villain here, who kidnaps and ties up Lois (Noel Neill as the least conventionally attractive yet probably most real-world accurate Lane), and gets his jollies being a jerk about stamps (it may have been the actor more than the material he was given, fair enough). And there's just sheer joy in seeing a 1950's Superman jump (!) out of a window and break through a wall to save the damsel in distress in an age where there's nothing but 28489292 million dollar special effects to show the same thing. It's dumb and silly but it's for the kids, you know? It's a PSA that holds up in its frozen-in-its-time place, if that makes sense: it's from an era of showing kids things with Clark Kent and Superman and Jimmy and everyone else and them buying into it knowing it's fake.