Original subtitles

Of Superman.

Faster than a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

Look, up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane.

It's Superman.

Yes, it's Superman.

Strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities

far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman.

who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands,

and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great

metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice,

and the American way.

You mean to say you've got to close your circus, Tex?

Somebody took my operational fund out of my safe. As clean as a whistle.

No money, no circus.

And the police had no idea who might have done it? Not a fingerprint. Not a

clue of any kind.

I'd just been plumbed, stolen out of business.

Circus was my life.

My whole life.

Without it, just nothing.

Suppose we could recover the money for you.

Well, that'd be mighty fine, ma'am, but the police had tried.

They haven't come up with a thing. So, in one more week, no more cigarettes.

There isn't much time.

You know, it's bad luck to whistle in the dressing room. Who needs luck?

We've got luck.

Yeah, sure.

We take the money, the show closes, so we're out of a job. There's no

percentage. Look, what we took from Mr. Tex Dawson's safe is chicken feed

compared to what we're going to take from now on.

And we won't have to wait until the circus closes before we can start.

We'll do our real work every night after the performance.

Huh.

Right in our own line.

I am the world's greatest escape artist, right?

Of course.

Balls, straitjackets, handcuffs, safes, anything.

Everybody knows you're the greatest.

By the same token, I can break into anything.

Well, robbing Mr. Dawson's safe proved that. Correct.

There's just one trouble.

Most of the safes and vaults on ground floors are very well guarded.

I'm beginning to understand.

I am the world's greatest human fly.

Absolutely the greatest.

Therefore, you could climb the side of any building, enter through the window,

then lower the rope and pull me up. And you can open the safes? Just like that.

The Daily Planet's leaning pretty hard on the police department, Mr. White.

All we do is print the news, Inspector.

Five sensational robberies in three days just can't be ignored, you know.

Yeah, you're right, of course. And I'm just trying to save my own face.

If I don't get some action pretty soon, the commission is going to have me on

the carpet.

Well, I don't understand it. We know these crimes are committed, of course.

It just seems impossible.

How can you explain anyone opening these burglar-proof safes with such ease?

There's only one man in the country who might be able to do it.

And he's been in state prison for the past eight years. Yes, but even if he

weren't in prison, how would he get at these safes? That's the most puzzling

thing about these robberies.

There are plenty of good second-story men around.

But what kind of a man can burgle a place on the 30-second story?

Bye.

Is there a bugger alarm?

I disconnected it. Good.

Why would they need an alarm?

They have the protection of 17 stories.

Wait outside the door, Gus, and keep an eye out for the night watchman. Okay.

Superman, I'm glad it's you.

Where am I?

What's more to the point is, who are you?

Well, how did I get up here?

That's a question the police would like to have answered.

I don't understand.

Neither do I. Suppose we both get under police headquarters and have all of our

questions answered. Shall we go this way?

You mean you're going to fly me there?

Is there another way?

Be my guest.

He's still a little shaken up from his trip here, but I guess he can talk.

Hey, you.

We're reporters from the Daily Planet. Do you have a statement for the press?

The same thing I told the inspector.

It's a frame-up.

We don't even know who you are. Why should we want to frame you? How should

I know?

Maybe you needed a pigeon for a recent series of crimes, or maybe it wasn't the

police at all.

Just what do you mean by that?

All I know is that I was walking down the street one night and...

Somebody grabbed me from behind. The next thing I knew, I was with Superman

on the 17th floor of a building.

Are you accusing Superman?

I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm just telling you what happened.

Well, if you're so innocent, why won't you give us your name?

I explained that.

I'm a respectable businessman, and I don't want to embarrass my wife and

family with a scandal.

You were caught red-handed at the scene of a crime, and you're not going to be

released until you give a few answers.

Well, if that's your attitude, Inspector, I have nothing more to say.

I've been up with him all night, and that's as far as I've gotten.

He keeps on saying that Superman must have flown him up to the room, or how

else would he have gotten there?

How can you fight Superman?

I can't. But I can keep him so busy with his own troubles, he won't have time to

bother with us.

Come in, Atlas. Come in.

Where's Job?

You tell me you have a job for me. I do, Atlas. I do.

Pliny and myself have sort of formed a detective agency, and we'd like you to

work with us.

Atlas no detective.

Atlas the strongest man in the world. Sure, I know.

But what are you going to do when the circus closes?

I work.

I know I checked up on you.

You've registered with an agency for babysitters.

Atlas, put him down!

I'm sorry.

Atlas don't like for people to laugh on him.

Then forget this job as a babysitter and come to work with us.

After a while, we might even let you wear a badge.

Yeah?

Okay.

What do I do?

Well, the first thing we do is...

You tell Atlas you're a detective.

We are.

We just got word that some crooks were about to rob this vault.

So we've been hired to remove the money before they can get to it.

But why you want Atlas?

Your job starts now.

I want you to bend those bars.

Why, you've already got the safe open. Do as I say.

Or are the bars too thick for the great Atlas?

No bar's too thick for Atlas.

Good.

All we have to do is reconnect the burglar alarm.

Reconnected? That's right.

Reconnected.

Police still baffled by flying burglar.

What else can they expect us to be but baffled?

A burglar who seems to fly through the windows of skyscrapers. And escapes from

locked jail cells.

Only the commissioner isn't baffled. Nah. He says to stop this man.

Or else.

Yes?

Right.

The alarm just went off at the Cityside Loan Company.

Cityside Loan? That's on the 17th floor of the Mallory building.

Yeah, maybe we got him this time. Looks like he finally made a mistake.

Want to come along?

No, I better phone the lead. And you go ahead, Bill.

I'll join you later.

Superman, what are you doing here?

Oh, I just stopped by, Inspector.

When did you get here?

Just a moment ago.

Did you see anyone here?

No.

Did you do this?

Why, no, Inspector. It was this way when I arrived.

You know, these bars are built so they can't bend very easily.

I don't know of anyone who could do this but you.

I'm sorry, Superman, but I'll have to place you under arrest.

All right, Inspector.

I guess you will.

It worked, Pellini, it worked.

They put Superman in jail.

What'd he do?

What'd he do?

He get in our way, that's what he do.

Yeah, but if we pull another job while Superman's still in jail, then they'll

know he's not guilty.

That's right.

That's why we can only pull one more job.

But it has to be a big one.

A real big one.

We've got a pretty good case against you, you know.

He was found at the scene of the crime.

The bars were bent in a manner requiring super strength.

The safe was opened by a master cracksman or by someone who saw the

tumblers in combination with his X-ray vision.

And I was on the top floor of a building in a room that could only be entered by

a window.

Like I say, there's only one thing wrong with this plot.

Where's the loot?

You threw it out the window to your confederates down below.

Oh, I did.

To whom did I throw it?

Well, who knows? Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Clark Kent, maybe.

Now, look, Inspector, you don't really believe this drivel, do you?

Of course I don't, but it takes the commissioner off my back for a few

minutes. And you also must have had some reason for letting me arrest you without

any argument.

That's right.

Now, somebody obviously wanted me out of the way, so they arranged this crime to

look as though I'd done it.

But how was it done?

Well, how, we don't know. Who we do?

Obviously, it's the man who escaped from your jail.

Now, if we pretend to go along with his plans, Inspector, maybe he'll trip

himself up.

Now, that's a long shot.

Yes. Maybe we can even help him a little.

Help him? How?

By setting a trap high in the sky where our man obviously likes to work.

For example, the new Chapman building on 4th Street. That should be about

completed now, isn't it? It is completed. They placed the flagpole on

top of it today.

Good.

Now, if we could just arrange to get a certain story in the next edition of the

Daily Planet, that shouldn't be too difficult.

Here's Lois Lane now.

I think this is the biggest miscarriage of justice I've ever heard of. Now, now,

now, Miss Lane, you mustn't blame the good inspector. He's only doing his

duty. And you must admit on the face of it, I look pretty guilty. Oh, now,

that's ridiculous.

And everybody on the paper is working hard to prove it. Except Clark.

Nobody's been able to find him. Oh, I'm sure you'll find that he's doing the

best he can. But you can be a great help to me, Miss Lane.

Me? How?

Well, simply by publishing a little squib to the effect that the ball on top

of the flagpole in the new Chapman building is made of solid gold.

Solid gold?

Solid gold.

Sixty pounds of solid gold. That's what it says.

And to top it off, the famous cul-de-sac diamond is embedded in the gold ball.

Together, the gold ball and the huge diamond are worth a quarter of a million

dollars. This can be our last job, Pellini.

Except there's one thing I'm not so happy about.

It also says an armed guard is on duty 24 hours a day.

Don't worry about him.

Okay. Then tonight, right after the show.

And meanwhile, I'll go take a look at the building, the chaplain building. I

always like to look the building over in the daytime before I try scaling it at

night. Come on, Atlas.

One minute.

I don't like.

The gold ball and big diamond, she don't belong to us. Why we take?

Because Superman and some of his crook friends stole that stuff from a bunch of

widows and orphans.

And we are going to get it back for those nice old ladies.

And those poor little kids.

We nice fellas, huh?

The best, Atlas.

The very best.

Come on.

Anybody home?

What do you want?

My name's Olsen. I'm a reporter for the Daily Planet.

So?

My paper's doing a follow-up story on what happens to performers after the

circus closes.

What happens to anybody who loses his job?

He looks for another one.

Well, that's the general idea.

But what kind of jobs do they look for? What do they get?

For instance, an escape artist like Harmon the Great. What kind of a job is

he qualified for?

I am Harmon the Great.

Really?

And this must be your famous escape trunk.

No. Wow.

I can see why you're not worried about looking for another job.

This is stage money and phony jewelry. It belongs to Conco the Clown.

It has your name on it.

Mr. Olsen, you came here looking for a story.

That's right.

I can give you a better story than you figured on.

How would you like to do a series exposing all my famous escapes?

Oh, that'd be great, but are you sure you want to tell? Well, the circus is

closing. I have no further use for the tricks.

I'm sorry for that, but it would be a great story.

Yeah, well, there's no use beginning with the easy ones. Locks, handcuffs,

everybody knows how to do those stunts. They do?

But what about my famous trunk escape?

Would you like to know how that's done?

Really?

Would you really show me how to do that?

I sure will.

Do you remember how it goes?

Sure.

They, uh, they strap you in a street jacket, lock you in a trunk, and then

lower the trunk into a tank of water.

Precisely. Now, uh, would you like to try this on for size?

There. How does that feel, Mr. Olsen? Well, it's a little snug. Good.

Now the next step.

I will lock you in the trunk.

And as soon as I get the... Wait, first.

Don't you think you ought to tell me how to get out of this?

All in good time, Mr. Olsen. All in good time.

If you'll just step inside.

That's right. Now, just bend down.

Well, Clark's still missing. We're a bit shorthanded on this flying burglar

story. But Mr. Kent's trying to get a hold of Jimmy, take him off the feature

till Clark gets back.

What feature's that, Miss Lane? Always interviewing the circus performers, you

know, to see what they're going to do when the circus closes. Like the old

tattooed man and the escape artist and how they're going to make a living.

Well, I hope they don't turn to crime.

My job is tough enough without having an escape artist in jail.

Escape artist?

Inspector, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I'm thinking I've already had an escape artist in my jail.

That's right.

That's how all those safes were opened so easily.

And those bent bars?

Atlas the strong man.

And the 30-story work?

Pelini the human fly.

Well, how do you like that? They took three men, put them together to make one

imitation Superman.

Hey, wait a minute. Jimmy may be with them right now. I'd better go call the

office.

Inspector, can you get me out of here? I'll get a court order today.

No, wait a minute. There may not be time for that.

Would you mind if I escaped?

Well, I can't give you my official permission, but I can turn my back.

Thank you, Jimmy. You might be in danger.

Ready? It's time to get going. I'm ready.

Put that trunk in here, will you, Atlas?

Hey, you forgot to tell me how to get out.

Huh? I've been in here for hours.

A nosy reporter.

Huh?

Oh, it's a new act I'm working on, Atlas.

Ventriloquism. I just want to see if I can throw my voice underwater.

Put me down. Let me out of here.

You're pretty good.

Just like inside.

Drop it in there and let's get going. We've got a big job ahead of us.

Superman. How did you manage to get yourself in this one?

I was practicing the underwater escape bed.

Yes, I can see that.

See, it's kind of a dangerous thing to fool around with. What do you mean

dangerous? I got out, didn't I? So you did.

So you did.

Where's Harmon the Great?

I don't know. I guess I lost him in the shuffle. I don't know where he went.

Well, I think I do.

I'll tell you what. I want you to collect Miss Lane and meet me at the

Chapman building as quickly as you can because I have a very good story for

you. We'll be there.

Okay.

And there's not much to all this.

Pretty hard.

That's how you got to treat those crooks.

Remember the widows and orphans.

Okay. Now, you remember how we work it. Sure.

Good.

Now, as soon as I get down the road, you follow.

You sure you can make it with that weight? Oh, sure.

Atlas.

Superman, you're supposed to be in jail.

Well, you can see I'm here. You used to be big hero, fine man.

Atlas tried to be like you. Now you crook.

Crook? You steal gold and diamonds from widows and orphans.

Those two men were fooling you, Atlas. They're the crooks. You don't crook?

No. Who go ball? I go down rope.

I have strong talk with them. Oh, we can make it quicker than that.

He dropped it. Almost killed us.

We jumped pretty far.

Nothing to it. Just hang on.

That fool all right. Now I almost killed you.

Got it.

That'll make a great picture for the front page, Jim.

That is a good picture, Olsen.

And partly on the strength of it, the police have released Atlas.

Golly, that's great. So he can stay with the circus.

And now that you've recovered your money, Mr. Dawson, you won't have to

close your show.

Oh, I'm afraid it's not that easy, ma'am.

Two of my star performers turned out to be bad apples.

The show won't be much without them.

Well, can't they be replaced?

Sure. A couple of great acts I could get over from Europe.

But by the time I could manage it, I couldn't make my play dates a contracted

for. Well, Mr. Dawson, tell me, how much time do you have?

A couple of weeks.

What would you think of Superman as a replacement for those new acts?

He'd be the greatest attraction imaginable.

But I hardly think he'd do it.

Oh, I think he will, Mr. Dawson. In fact, I can almost assure you he will.

Golly, Clark, won't that be wonderful, seeing Superman in the circus?

Hey, we can all go together.

Oh, I'm sorry, Lois. I forgot. You know, I'm going on my vacation next week, and

I've already made arrangements.

You know, Clark, sometimes I think you're jealous of Superman.

Could be, Lois. I never thought of it before, but...

Don't miss

the next real packed episode in the amazing adventures of Superman.

Superman is based on the original character appearing in Superman

magazine.