Adventures of Superman (TV Series) Drums of Death (1953) User Reviews

Haiti, Voodoo, Treasure

[biorngm · 7/10 · 19 October 2017]

Review - Drums of Death revised Enough Superman feats to comply with an otherwise lame story off campus of the Daily Planet, and without Lois Lane. The guest actors make the action move along quite well, but the premise is weak with buried treasure. It was obvious to me as a child that the voodoo man was Johnson in makeup. It remains unclear to me exactly what was the Crystal Treasure Johnson was seeking? What did Kate's photography have in relation to the Citadel and the treasure? The treasure is buried, so what was Johnson concerned about Kate taking pictures? Superman's x-ray vision, super hearing, strength stopping the wine press and removing makeup were enough to satisfy a child's imagination during the episode run, I guess. Long-time character actors Henry Corden and Leonard Mudie did make the show enjoyable as these gentlemen logged many credits over the years playing their various parts. Above average fare due to the guest actors.

How Was the Shoe Polish Budget?

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 30 January 2015]

This episode involves a search for Perry White's daughter, a photographer, and Jimmy Olsen, who have been taking pictures in Haiti. So off go Perry and Clark. They suspect a guy whom they have a photo of, wearing a set of buffalo horns (probably from the trunk of a cheap Western because I swear I've seen it worn by actors playing Sitting Bull). Anyway, it appears that the duo has been captured by people supposedly practicing voodoo. There is more to it than that. There are some tense scenes where Clark wants to get into Superman mode but Perry demands that he hang around. Clark frequently needs to get away to save people, but he can't blow his cover. Eventually he's able to stay behind as Perry and an anthropologist head into the jungle. This episode employs the grape press, not unlike the room in Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum." From the very start it is so obvious that a white person is playing a black person. With all the other black actors, he stands out like a sore thumb.