Adventures of Superman 1x1

1. Faster than a speeding bullet.

2. More powerful than a locomotive.

3. Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound.

4. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird!

5. It's a plane! It's Superman!

6. Yes, it's Superman,

7. strange visitor from another planet

8. who came to Earth with powers and abilities

9. far beyond those of mortal men.

10. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers,

11. bend steel in his bare hands,

12. and who, disguised as Clark Kent,

13. mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper,

14. fights a never-ending battle

15. for truth, justice and the American way.

16. And now, another exciting episode

17. in the Adventures of Superman!

18. Come with us now on a far journey,

19. a journey that takes us

20. millions of miles from the Earth,

21. where many years ago, the planet Krypton

22. burned like a green star in the endless heavens.

23. Here, civilization was far advanced.

24. It had brought forth a race of supermen.

25. Men and women like ourselves

26. but advanced to the absolute peak of human perfection.

27. As we near Krypton, we see high above the city

28. the magnificent Temple of Wisdom

29. with its marble columns and burning torches.

30. Jor-El, Krypton's leading man of science,

31. has been summoned to address

32. a special meeting of the governing council.

33. White-bearded Rozan, supreme leader of the council,

34. calls the meeting to order.

35. Members of the governing council,

36. you have been summoned here on urgent business.

37. As you are well aware,

38. Krypton has been experiencing some strange phenomena.

39. Only last week on the full moon

40. a great tidal wave threatened to engulf this city.

41. There have been mysterious quakes and eruptions,

42. some of which have caused extensive damage.

43. This is a matter of no little concern.

44. And I, therefore, as president of the council,

45. requested Jor-El, our brilliant young scientist,

46. to investigate these phenomena.

47. He is here with us now ready to deliver his report.

48. Gentlemen, Jor-El speaks.

49. Mr. President.

50. Council members.

51. I have completed my solar calculations.

52. And much as I dread uttering these fateful words,

53. I have come to the conclusion

54. that Krypton is about to be destroyed.

55. The sun is gradually drawing Krypton closer to it.

56. Within a month, possibly only a week,

57. perhaps even in a matter of days or hours,

58. the gravitational pull will be so strong

59. that Krypton will not be able to weather the strain.

60. When that time comes,

61. when we are drawn into the burning orbit of the sun,

62. our planet will explode like a giant bubble.

63. It will burst into a hundred million fragments

64. and every living thing on it will be destroyed.

65. The man is mad. He talks like one demented.

66. This is an insult to our intelligence.

67. Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. We must have order.

68. Sir, with your permission.

69. As you know, I've been working these many months

70. on the model of a spaceship,

71. which, in its final form, is designed

72. to carry the population of Krypton to another planet.

73. The model is completed and will be tested before sundown.

74. If, as I anticipate, the test is successful,

75. I will require the services of 5000 skilled workers

76. and unlimited material

77. to construct a fleet of spaceships before the end comes.

78. What does he take us for, fools?

79. Yes, tell us, Mr. Scientist,

80. where do we go in these fantastic spaceships of yours?

81. To the Earth, Kogan.

82. To the planet Earth, Kogan.

83. My studies tell me

84. the Earth has an atmosphere almost identical with our own.

85. You study too much, my friend.

86. Kogan is right, Jor-El.

87. You have been working too hard.

88. Wait.

89. Do you hear that, Rozan, gentlemen?

90. I hear only thunder.

91. It is not thunder.

92. It is an internal eruption,

93. gas exploding in subterranean pockets.

94. I warn you, the time will come...

95. And that time is perhaps very near at hand

96. when you will wish you'd heeded the words of Jor-El.

97. When Krypton is shattered into a hundred million stars.

98. When the glorious civilization we have built is no more.

99. When you and your families

100. are swept from the face of this planet like dust.

101. Oh, Lara. I didn't hear you come in.

102. You were too intent on your work.

103. What did the council say, Jor-El?

104. They laughed at me, marked me for a fool.

105. No matter. Let them laugh.

106. The model's ready to be launched.

107. I'll send it on its way

108. and watch its flight on the scanning screen.

109. If it arrives safely, I'll immediately build one

110. large enough to transport all three of us to Earth.

111. My one prayer is I haven't waited too long.

112. What do you mean, Jor-El?

113. The clouds are dark.

114. All day there's been a strange glow in the western sky,

115. different from anything we've seen before.

116. It seems to be oppressively hot.

117. Is that because we're being drawn closer to the sun?

118. Yes. The sun that will finally destroy us.

119. Where is Kal-El?

120. Asleep now, but he's been restless all day.

121. Jor-El, what was that?

122. An internal explosion, a bad one.

123. Jor-El! Easy, Lara, easy!

124. Jor-El!

125. Jor-El!

126. Lara, listen to me. This is the end. Krypton is breaking apart.

127. What can we do? Nothing.

128. I was a fool to have waited this long.

129. It wasn't your fault, Jor-El...

130. I should have built a larger ship months ago.

131. Now we have only the model.

132. Lara. Yes.

133. The model can carry only one of us. You, Lara.

134. No. If only one of us can be saved, it should be the child.

135. All right. Get him. Wrap him in the blanket and bring him here.

136. Here he is, Jor-El.

137. Do you have him well wrapped?

138. Yes. He's so good. Not even a whimper.

139. The model might carry both of you, Lara.

140. No, I'm not going.

141. You must.

142. My place is here with you.

143. Lara, please, there isn't time.

144. The take-off pressure is building up. In a few seconds...

145. I'd be lost in a new world without you, Jor-El.

146. If anyone is to survive, let it be our son.

147. It's gone, Lara.

148. Our son is on his way to Earth.

149. Must be getting a head cold.

150. Got a funny ringing in my ears.

151. Ain't only your ears. I hear it too.

152. You do?

153. Eben, it's getting louder. What is it?

154. I don't know.

155. Sarah, look!

156. Merciful heavens.

157. What is it?

158. Looks like one of them newfangled rockets.

159. There's a baby in it.

160. Land sakes alive!

161. Eben!

162. You can't do nothing! You'll get burned.

163. Gotta do something.

164. Here.

165. Burned much?

166. Not burned at all.

167. Blanket ain't even scorched.

168. Sarah, look.

169. It's gone!

170. Like it was never there.

171. But the baby, Eben. We can't be dreaming.

172. The baby's real.

173. Real as rain and just as pretty.

174. What do you reckon we ought to do with it?

175. Suppose we ought to turn it over to the authorities.

176. Well, I suppose so.

177. But who's gonna believe all this, Sarah?

178. We got nothing to show but the baby and a wild story.

179. They'll say we're crazy.

180. Let's keep the baby.

181. We always wanted children of our own.

182. Eben?

183. Eben, you think maybe we could keep it

184. and bring it up like our own?

185. Well, now, I don't know.

186. We could bring it up good, Eben.

187. Oh, reckon we could.

188. Then we can keep it?

189. We'll try, Sarah. We'll sure try.

190. Oh!

191. And so the infant child,

192. sole survivor of a lost civilization,

193. last of a race of supermen,

194. found a home on Earth with the kindly farm couple

195. Sarah and Eben Kent.

196. They named him Clark and raised him as their son.

197. And with each passing year it became more and more evident

198. that he was endowed with strange powers and abilities

199. far beyond those of ordinary human beings.

200. Then one day, when the boy was 12...

201. That you, Clark?

202. Clark?

203. Hi, Mom.

204. What's the matter, son?

205. Don't you feel well?

206. Clark, what is it?

207. Mom, why am I different from all the other boys?

208. Merciful heavens! Is that what's bothering you?

209. You had me scared for a minute.

210. Thought maybe you was coming down

211. with the measles or something.

212. But, Mom, why am I different?

213. Why can I do things that nobody else can do?

214. Why can I run faster, jump higher?

215. Why am I stronger than anybody?

216. You've known all them things for a long time, Clark.

217. Why, land sakes alive,

218. when you was a tiny little shaver no bigger than this,

219. why, you was strong as a grown man almost.

220. It's not just being strong, Mom. It's other things.

221. What things, son?

222. Well, today in school, for instance.

223. Yes?

224. We were playing baseball and the ball got lost.

225. Nobody could find it.

226. But all I had to do was look around

227. and there it was behind a rock.

228. You've got good eyes, that's all.

229. No, Mom, it's more than just good eyes.

230. I didn't see the ball behind the rock.

231. I saw it right through the rock,

232. like my eyes were an X-ray machine,

233. like the rock wasn't even there.

234. Son, your pa and me have been meaning to have a talk with you,

235. but somehow we just never got around to it.

236. Looks like now the time's come.

237. I'll tell you why likely you're different from other boys

238. and why you gotta be extra careful.

239. About 12 years ago, son,

240. your pa and me were driving along down by Jones farm.

241. And all of a sudden, we seen something up in the sky.

242. It was making...

243. Searching back in vivid memory,

244. Sarah Kent tells young Clark

245. the amazing story of how he came to Earth.

246. Of how a rocket streamed across the sky, almost deafening them.

247. Of how his father snatched him from the flames.

248. Of how, miraculously, neither he

249. nor the curious blanket in which he was wrapped

250. were scorched or burned.

251. The boy listened and he understood.

252. And so the years went by, spring melting into summer

253. and summer into fall and fall into winter.

254. The boy Clark grew into tall young manhood

255. while Eben and Sarah Kent grew older and grayer.

256. Gosh, ain't you through house-cleaning yet?

257. Don't you track any barn dirt in here.

258. Look at them shoes and look at them tracks.

259. They're the same shoes I had on yesterday

260. and the day before and the day before that.

261. Well, today ain't yesterday

262. or the day before or the day before that.

263. Well, what in tarnation is today?

264. All forenoon you was a-cookin' and a-bakin'

265. and a-fussin' around.

266. You got no idea what this day is?

267. Well, let me think.

268. Don't strain your brain, Pa.

269. It's just 25 years ago this very day

270. you pulled the baby out of that burning rocket

271. or whatever it was.

272. April 10th. Land o' Goshen! It plumb slipped my mind.

273. Didn't nothing occur to you when I asked Clark to ride into town

274. and fetch me a few yards of something I didn't need?

275. Well, I kind of wondered...

276. Had to get him out of the way

277. while I iced the cake and tidied up the parlor a bit.

278. Few of the neighbors are coming in to help us celebrate.

279. You better go get your chores done.

280. And change them smelly old clothes

281. 'fore he gets back, hmm?

282. Chores is done. All I gotta do now is put the tractor away.

283. Twenty-five years.

284. Doggone, it don't hardly seem that long.

285. No, sir, it sure don't.

286. Eben, what's the matter?

287. Help. Couch.

288. Ring the doctor, Sarah.

289. Is he...?

290. Is he all right, doctor?

291. I'm sorry, Sarah.

292. He was a good man, son.

293. He was a good husband.

294. And a good father.

295. Bus will be along any minute now, Clark.

296. I still hate to leave you, Mother.

297. I'm gonna be just fine

298. with Cousin Edith coming on to live with me and all.

299. Besides, you got a great responsibility

300. to the world, Clark.

301. You've gotta accept it.

302. Make use of your great powers.

303. You sure you packed that costume I made for you?

304. It's in the suitcase.

305. Nothing will ever hurt it, Clark.

306. Not acid, nor fire, nor nothing else.

307. It's made out of the red-and-blue blanket

308. you was wrapped in the day your pa and me...

309. I know, Ma.

310. Here comes the bus.

311. Goodbye, Mom.

312. Goodbye, son.

313. And so Clark Kent,

314. strange visitor from another planet,

315. takes the first step toward dedicating his amazing powers

316. to the cause of justice.

317. He has resolved to keep secret his Superman identity

318. and to adopt a pose of mild-mannered timidity as Kent

319. in order to safeguard the masquerade.

320. And in order to be at a place where he can learn immediately

321. of any emergency that might require his help,

322. he seeks a job as reporter on a great metropolitan newspaper.

323. Mr. White's on the phone.

324. As soon as he's through, I'll tell him you're still waiting.

325. Thank you.

326. I don't care what it costs.

327. That's the way I want it. That's the way I'm gonna get it.

328. Tell that to Mr. Maguire. If he doesn't like it, he can lump it.

329. White speaking.

330. White speaking. What?

331. Absolutely no. Certainly not. And that's final!

332. Yes?

333. That young man is still waiting, Mr. White.

334. What young man?

335. Clark Kent. Who's he?

336. A young man who's applying for a reporter's job.

337. He's been here since 3:00, Mr. White.

338. You told me to...

339. I don't care what I told you.

340. I'm not hiring reporters at 20 minutes of 6:00.

341. Anyway, I'd like to fire some instead of hire 'em.

342. Send Lois Lane in here.

343. Yes, Mr. White.

344. Well, obviously Mr. White doesn't want to see me.

345. I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Kent.

346. He's not in a very good humor today.

347. Perhaps if you come back tomorrow.

348. Oh, that's all right, miss.

349. I'm gonna get to him somehow.

350. But thank you very much.

351. You wanted to see me, chief?

352. Nothing works around here. Nothing.

353. What's the trouble?

354. I just can't get the top off of that thing.

355. Here, let me try.

356. I'll be a monkey's uncle.

357. Who the blazes are you?

358. My name is Clark Kent, sir.

359. I told that girl not to...

360. Please don't blame your receptionist, Mr. White.

361. She doesn't even know I'm in here.

362. What do you mean she doesn't know? How did you get past her?

363. Well, I didn't. You see, I came in through the window.

364. Is that supposed to be funny?

365. That window's 28 stories above the ground

366. and the side of the building is as flat as this desk

367. except for a narrow ledge.

368. Mr. White!

369. Who gave you permission to barge in here like a bull?

370. Got a flash, there's a dirigible flying over the airport

371. with a guy hanging from a rope.

372. Let's see, Jim. I still wanna know...

373. Listen, chief.

374. "An oil company blimp attempting to land at Metropolis Airfield

375. "in a high wind pulled 11 men aloft

376. "clinging to the landing ropes.

377. "Ten dropped off safely but one man is still hanging to a rope

378. "while the blimp cruises

379. "1000 feet above the field, unable to land.

380. More to follow."

381. You get down there right away, Lois.

382. And you too, Olsen.

383. Tell Ludlow to assign a photographer, two of them.

384. Okay, chief. Come on, Jim. Right.

385. Hello, Pete. Hold the Seven Star for a page one replate.

386. No, I don't know when. Just hold it.

387. Mr. White...

388. Now, look here, young man, I'm too busy to talk to you.

389. Well, if I could...

390. That is, if that man could be rescued

391. and I got his exclusive story, sir...

392. What? Would you give me a job?

393. Don't bother me. Well, would you, Mr. White?

394. Yes, yes. Now leave me alone.

395. Thank you, sir.

396. Crazy. Just crazy.

397. Step on it, Jim.

398. The speed limit's 35, Miss Lane. I don't wanna get a ticket.

399. You're right.

400. Just like I told Mr. Kent,

401. there I was hanging there for what seemed like years...

402. Then your hands slipped from the rope?

403. A thousand feet up. I knew I was a goner.

404. That's enough pictures, Joe.

405. Get them on metal for the next edition.

406. Then I thought I must have flipped my lid

407. from being so scared

408. because right then this guy in a red-and-blue costume

409. comes flying through the air and catches me.

410. It's ridiculous.

411. There can't be any such thing as a man who flies through the air.

412. Well, I know it, Mr. White. But it happened.

413. I'm here, ain't I? And I'm alive.

414. It happened all right, chief.

415. Just as we got to the airport,

416. we saw something streak across the sky and catch this man.

417. We thought we were crazy too.

418. My brain was whizzing around in my head,

419. and the next thing I knew, this... this superguy

420. landed me behind one of the hangars like on a featherbed.

421. Then I made like a schoolgirl and passed out, fainted.

422. And when you came to, Kent was there?

423. Yes, sir, and he hustled me around

424. by the side of the administration building,

425. got me into a cab, then we came straight here.

426. Pretty smart, Kent.

427. We've got a clean beat over every other paper in town.

428. Does that mean I get the job, sir?

429. There's your answer, son.

430. Oh, thank you, Mr. White. Thanks a million.

431. There are one or two things

432. I haven't got quite straight in my mind, Mr. Kent.

433. For example, how did you leave here later than we did

434. and beat us to the airport?

435. Is that all? Not quite.

436. How come you found the man behind the hangar

437. at just the right moment to get his exclusive story

438. when every top, experienced reporter in the business

439. was breaking his neck...

440. Or her neck. Or her neck

441. to get that story?

442. Maybe I'm a superman, Miss Lane.