See Superman Fly! (1948) (brief video)
During the filming of Superman in 1948, due to a lack of technical resources to simulate a person flying, they resorted to a surprising technique: drawing it by hand.
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) January 4, 2026
Awesome creativity! pic.twitter.com/E7iMTSszYt
"during the filming of Superman in 1948, due to a lack of technical resources to simulate a person flying, they resorted to a surprising technique: drawing it by hand.
Awesome creativity!"
3 comments:
I'll give you the lowdown on that: Notoriously parsimonious producer Sam Katzman asked his effects man at Columbia how much it would cost to depict Superman flying by using cartoon animation. The man said something like, "I can do it for a dollar per foot (of film), or I can do it for 50 cents per foot, but it'll look lousy." Sam: "Do it for 50 cents." And so it was. Even the cheap TV series looked better!
"...a lack of technical resources to simulate a person flying..." is pure BS. The Lydecker brothers at Republic did magnificent work getting Captain Marvel and Rocketman to fly believably, using life-size dummies carefully photographed outdoors against real backgrounds and propelled on invisible wires. And the major studios certainly had the resources to do realistic effects work if they chose to.
Sam Katzman was the classic example of failing upward. He began as an independent "Poverty Row" producer, worked his way up to Monogram in the 40s, then went to Columbia to turn out ultra-cheap serials and B-movies, the movies improving as the decade progressed, then ended his career at lofty MGM, producing Elvis movies! Of course, he really wasn't a failure- his films always made money, and some were entertaining.
Classic Sam: screening one of his latest epics, sitting between 2 yes-men. When the picture ends, he turns to the man on his left and says, "It stinks!" Turns to the man on his right and says, "Ship it!"
-RM
"Schitzo Sam"?
--GRA
A reporter interviewed him on the set of one of his movies at Monogram, and he must have had a few drinks too many for lunch- he called his own films "moron movies" !
Lon Chaney, also known to imbibe a bit much, said something similar on the set of one of the Mummy sequels- a role he hated- he said someone would have to be crazy to pay to see these movies! (Hey, some of us still watch those today, though for free!)
-RM
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