Superman and the Mole Men

Superman and the Mole Man (1951) starring George Reeves, Phyllis Coates, Jeff Corey

In Superman and the Mole Men, drilling the deepest oil well ever creates an opening for the subterranean Mole Men to visit the surface. They’re simply curious … But paranoid townspeople fear their glowing in the dark means radiation … And soon, one bigot leads a posse to kill them. Unless Superman intervenes.

Thoughts

• Nicely done. Superman and the Mole Men was (effectively) the pilot for the Adventures of Superman TV show. The theatrical release was a way of limiting losses, if the show flopped. Which, it didn’t. It was, however, turned into a 2-part episode.
• Current advocates of “tolerance” should watch this to get a clue about what the word actually means.
• Superman stands up for the little guy — literally.
• Fear of radiation causing some of the bigotry. And, just plain bigotry for the rest.
• “They’re not human!” Well, unless pygmies & dwarfs aren’t human, that’s silly.
• How dumb can the bigoted villains be and still breathe? Let’s blow up the dynamite shed!
• Those bigots aren’t just stupid … they’re very stubborn. If there’s a problem with the movie, it’s a lack of motivation. Why are so many people following Luke Benson? Does he own half the town? He’s not that charismatic …
• And, he pulls a gun on the Sheriff so he can go & murder the Mole Man in the hospital. Consequences, anyone?
• On the poster, the “mole men” are green-skinned, presumably to look more inhuman. In the actual movie, they’re simply short, balding, dressed in black, with fur around the back of their hands and head. About as “inhuman” as a dwarf, pygmy, or midget. Although, they do glow in the dark. But it’s not radiation, just phosphorus dust.

Quotes:

Superman: You’re not going to shoot those little creatures. In the first place, they haven’t done you any harm. In the second place, they may be radioactive.

Lois: You know about Superman?
Clark: If I don’t, who should?

Superman: I’m going to give you one last chance to stop acting like Nazi storm troopers.

Editorial review of Superman and the Mole Men courtesy of Amazon.com

Reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in the small town of Silsby to witness the drilling of the world’s deepest oil well. The drill, however, has penetrated the underground home of a race of small, furry people who then come to the surface at night to look around. The fact that they glow in the dark scares the townsfolk, who form a mob, led by the vicious Luke Benson, intent on killing the strange people. Only Superman has a chance to prevent this tragedy.