The 1959 death of George Reeves, an icon to millions as Superman, is a Hollywood mystery that continues to command interest nearly 50 years later. Despite being notoriously unresolved, the case is so well-documented that Hollywoodland screenwriter Paul Bernbaum was able to use equal parts factual research and inspiration to craft his original screenplay.
Bernbaum reflects, “I lived for Adventures of Superman as a kid. I read the comic books, I’d seen the cartoons, but there was something about Reeves – I knew he was an actor, and I knew it was a TV show, but I also knew that if Superman were real, he would be exactly like Reeves. He connected with me and with every other kid who used to watch. As an adult, looking back on my continuing fondness for the show, which included buying one of his original TV costumes at auction, I kept thinking that there had to be something special about the guy – and there was.
“I’d been playing around with writing a screenplay about him for years; Reeves’ life was colorful, compelling, and ultimately tragic. But I also wanted to dramatize the unease he felt at being Superman against the incredible impact that being Superman had on his fans. Here was an actor who wanted to be a star, and became a giant one, bigger than he ever could have imagined – but only to kids. Yet, even living with that disappointment, and the resentment of knowing that being Superman blocked any chance he had at what he considered a legitimate career, he always recognized the place he held in the hearts of millions of children. He never let them down; to them, he was Superman, and, to me, that made him a true hero.”
Hollywoodland producer Glenn Williamson comments, “What Paul did that was so original was to build the script around the detective, Louis Simo. This allowed him to be very authentic with George Reeves’ story. So you’re brought in by the famous mystery – and held by a multilayered and very human character story.”
Williamson began working to bring the script to the screen in the fall of 2001. He says, “I knew right away that these were roles any actors would love to play, and here was a script about a compelling universal theme; we all fixate on what we don’t have, and don’t see what we do have.
“From an historical standpoint, the death of George Reeves was a loss of innocence for a whole generation. It had an impact on millions of people. When you look at the headlines that ran after he died, just about every one said ‘Superman Dies’ or ‘Superman on Television Dies’ or some such – and not ‘George Reeves Died.’ Here was an actor, playing an invincible character, whose own mortality was cut short. We wanted to show who the person was, which in turn informs another man’s increasing awareness of who he is.”
Director Allen Coulter read the script a year later, and found it to be “smart and incredibly well-written, a tale of two men who want to be someone other than who they are. I also thought it was a unique take on a great period – from the heyday of the movies through the impact of early television – that hadn’t really been explored in a serious story. The minute I finished reading it, I called my agent.” Not long after, Coulter committed to make his feature film directorial debut on the project.
Movie Database
In Theaters
