The episode begins with a man walking into Perry White's office wearing a lead mask. (This mask looks very similar to the one used in "The Man with the Lead Mask" in a season two episode.) He explains to Perry, Lois, Jimmy and Clark that he is going to get revenge on them and Superman for writing stories that ruined the best paying racket that he and his friends ever had. He tells them that his mask is made of lead and that Superman can not see through it and that there are ten others wearing the same mask. Superman can not watch all ten at the same time. The man also tells them that he loves gimmicks and that he has a special one for each of them.
Clark walks outside to see the others wearing the lead masks and then he goes to see Inspector Bill Henderson, while Lois and Perry leave to go to a political luncheon and Jimmy is left in charge of Perry White's office. Lois and Perry get into a car and the man with the mask is sitting in the back seat. He points a gun at them and tells them to drive out of the city.
They arrive at a shack where another man with a mask is waiting. Perry tells the two of them that he knows where he is. The leader says he does not think that he does. He tricks Perry into giving directions if he were to call Jimmy and tapes his answer. After Perry proves that he does know, the man asks him to call Jimmy and repeat himself. Perry declines and the man plays back the tape on the phone to Jimmy.
Jimmy writes the directions down, he leaves and the two men with the masks lead Lois and Perry out to a car. Clark is still at Inspector Henderson's office trying to call Jimmy. Clark tells Bill that he is going back to the Daily Planet building and Bill calls for backup.
Inspector Henderson shows up at the Planet with four men to cover every exit so that Clark does not get kidnapped. The leader is waiting for Clark in his office and takes him up to the roof and leaves by helicopter. This is something Inspector Henderson did not expect.
This is where all the gimmicks come into play. The two men have Clark hanging over a vat of acid and the leader explains to Clark that he loves the old movie serials; he has Perry tied to a log at a saw mill, Lois tied to a rail road and with Jimmy they put acid on his brakes and steering gear. After he told Clark of their plights, he and his friend lower Clark into the acid and they watch him go into the tub.
When the two men leave, Clark comes out as Superman. (When George Reeves comes out of the tub, he is wet but when he breaks through a wall, he is dry.) Superman flies to save Perry first. Just like in the movie serials, the hero gets there in the nick of time. Superman crashes through the wall, runs up to the saw and the teeth break off on his chest. He unties Perry and flies off to save Lois.
Superman gets to Lois and unties her just before the train comes. (This is an interesting special effect. You see stock footage of a train and then one piece of track that Noel Neill is tied to. A good illusion for the time it was filmed.) After Superman saves Lois, he flies off to save Jimmy.
Jimmy is driving down a very curvy road and his brakes and steering wheel are damaged. (It is interesting that the steering wheel is off and the car still manages to follow the road.) When Superman flies down to Jimmy, his car runs off a cliff and Jimmy is hanging on the side. Superman pulls him up and tells him that he jumped when the car went off the road. Superman says he has to try to find the men with the masks and Jimmy gave him the directions that he got from the tape recorder.
The next to last scene is where everyone is at Perry White's office explaining that with their testimonies; the crooks will go away for a long time. (George Reeves had a prophetic line "If it weren't for Superman, I wouldn't be here." Too bad he passed away a short time later.)
In the last scene, the two crooks are in jail. The one turns to the other and says that both of them saw Clark Kent goes into the acid and then The other tells him to shut up, he does not believe it, and nobody will believe that Clark Kent is Superman.
This is a very good episode, the acting is good, the writing is good and the special effects are good, even with the bloopers in them. An episode the whole family will enjoy, unfortunately, there is only one more episode to the series.moreless
Episode Summary
EDIT
A master criminal plans terrible traps for each of Superman's friends: Lois, Jimmy, Perry White and Clark Kent.
-
GUEST STAR
Michael FoxMasked Man # 1 (Ring Leader)
-
GUEST STAR
Steve MitchellMasked Man # 2
-
GUEST STAR
Yvonne WhiteEthel
-
George Reeves
Clark Kent/Superman
-
Noel Neill
Lois Lane (9-18-53)
-
Jack Larson
Jimmy Olson
-
John Hamilton
Perry White
-
Robert Shayne
Inspector Bill Henderson
Watch Online
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
See All-
TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
-
QUOTES (0)
ADD QUOTES- ADD QUOTES from this episode.
-
NOTES (1)
ADD NOTES-
GOOF: George Reeves, who directed this episode, would have done better to have chosen another camera angle when saving Perry White from the buzz saw. In the episode, Superman steps in front of the saw dislodging all its teeth. From the angle of the camera, Superman is a good five feet away from the blade and clearly never came close.
-
-
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.
-
What did you think of George Reeves playing Superman
03/24/1221
-
Season 2 episode question
05/22/093
-
Best & Worst Epsiodes Of Season One
03/25/085
-
Jack Larson
08/03/073
-
Perry White
08/03/074
-
All That Glitters
S 6 : Ep 13
Aired 4/28/58 (27:00)
-
The Perils of Superman
S 6 : Ep 12
Aired 4/21/58 (27:00)
-
The Brainy Burro
S 6 : Ep 11
Aired 4/14/58 (27:00)
-
Three in One
S 6 : Ep 10
Aired 4/7/58 (27:00)
Related Shows
Season 6 Episodes
See AllEp 13
All That Glitters
Ep 12
The Perils of Superman
Ep 11
The Brainy Burro
Ep 10
Three in One
Ep 9
Superman's Wife
Ep 8
The Gentle Monster
Ep 7
The Big Forget
Ep 6
The Superman Silver Mine
Ep 5
The Atomic Captive
Ep 4
The Mysterious Cube
Ep 3
Divide and Conquer
Ep 2
The Magic Secret
Ep 1
The Last Knight
-
TheNthDr EDITOR
User Score: 177
-
MacDeacon
User Score: 215
-
BetaPlusGood
User Score: 68
-
char2renee
User Score: 47
-
jr196301
User Score: 46
-
CaptainMidnight
User Score: 42
-
shatterdaymorn
User Score: 37
-
wudaddy79
User Score: 22
-
gwactuary
User Score: 19
-
EarlyMemphis
User Score: 18
More
Less
