S U P E R M A N Original Screenplay By: Mario Puzo Final Screenplay By: David Newman Leslie Newman and Robert Benton PRODUCER: Alexander and Ilya Salkind July, 1976 DIRECTOR: Guy Hamilton 1 EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - NIGHT CLOSE ON a crumpled piece of rubbish lying in the gutter. HOLD for a beat as it is flattened by the wheel of a pushcart. The CAMERA BEGINS A SLOW PULL BACK and we SEE a street in a city neighborhood still fighting its way out of the grips of the depression. Kids play stick ball, people stand about, out-of-work men recline on tenement stoops. OVER this SUPERIMPOSE: METROPOLIS 1938 2 The CAMERA TRACKS UP PAST a boarded-up store window with a "For Rent" sign painted on it. PAST some trash cans being investigated by foraging dogs, PAST the stoop of a brownstone where some care has been taken to keep things neat and clean, PAST the parlor floor where we SEE a young couple bending over a crib, shaking a rattle and cooing at a new-born baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The CAMERA CONTINUES TRACKING UPWARDS PAST the roof of the brownstone. The SOUND: CAR HORNS, RADIOS, POLICE SIRENS, recede below as the CAMERA CONTINUES its CLIMB. HIGHER AND HIGHER, PAST the skyscrapers in the distance: the Chrysler Building, the Fuller Building, and the great neon globe symbol atop the DAILY PLANET Building. 3 NEW ANGLE - HIGH LOOKING DOWN on the DAILY PLANET globe from up ABOVE. The only SOUND now is the WIND. 4 The CAMERA TILTS TOWARD the star-filled sky and the full moon, then takes off. The CAMERA SPEEDS THROUGH the heavens PAST the moon, THROUGH the universe, TRAVELING ON, GATHERING SPEED, FURTHER and FURTHER THROUGH the limitless void, then it BURSTS THROUGH into another galaxy. 5 A minuscule red dot appears, growing larger, spreading evenly into a blazing red sun which FILLS THE SCREEN. The fiery red sun grows smaller as we FALL THROUGH space and SEE, beyond it, the planet Krypton. CUT TO: 6 EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF KRYPTON - DAY As we APPROACH the white, prismatic crystalline mountains of the planet, suddenly there is an ominous RUMBLING NOISE and before our eyes, the crystals crack. Fissures appear. We SEE a gleaming, quicksilver lake. Abruptly: more RUMBLING NOISE and large, jagged crystals rend the placid surface, surging up violently. CUT TO: 7 EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - DAY Krypton is a magical city, constructed entirely of pure white crystalline matter that encloses and protects everything from the blazing red sun. As we TRACK BACK, the futuristic glass buildings, glass skyways, tunnels and enclosed gardens, evidence of a far- advanced civilization, sudden small cracks appear in various structures. As we SEE this, we HEAR, VOICE OVER: the somber VOICES of different MEN, each saying, "No," in a firm VOICE. CAMERA CONTINUES PULLING BACK until we suddenly realize we have been seeing all this from a large picture window in: 8 INT. COUNCIL ROOM - DAY A futuristically designed room that overlooks the city of Krypton. The room is austere, dominated by an enormous angled, black table. From somewhere inside the table itself, a series of very complicated equations appear. Seated around the table are the twelve members of the council of elders. 9 But the first glimpse of the room ENDS THE PULLBACK, as we SEE the chief FIRST ELDER who has been looking out of this picture window. As the last "No" is spoken, he turns TOWARD CAMERA, which has PULLED BACK PAST him at the window, and speaks: FIRST ELDER No. I'm sorry, Jor-El, but the decision of the Elders is unanimous. ON JOR-EL, Handsome, intelligent man; great intensity about him. JOR-EL (leaning forward, passionately) But you can't ignore these facts! (gesturing toward the equations inside the black table) It's suicide! Worse than that, it's genocide. FIRST ELDER Jor-El, Be warned. This tone of yours approaches insolence. JOR-EL (a more reasonable tone) My friends, I am not a rash, impulsive person. I'm not given to wild, unsupported statements. We must evacuate this planet immediately! FIRST ELDER You are one of Krypton's greatest scientists Jor-El - JOR-EL Then - FIRST ELDER But so is Vond-El VOND-EL Thank you... (to Jor-El) And it isn't that we question your data. The facts are undeniable. (gesturing towards the figures inside the table) It's your conclusions we find insupportable JOR-EL (excited) I tell you this planet will explode in thirty days. VOND-EL And I tell you that Krypton is simply shifting its orbit JOR-EL You ask me to stand by while every man , woman, and child are destroyed. SECOND ELDER We warn you Jor-El. This is insubordination. FIRST ELDER (firmly) The Mater is closed. (pause) Do you agree? ON Jor-El. There is a long beat of silence. FIRST Elder Do you defy the council? JOR-EL (bitterly) I have sworn to uphold the laws of Krypton. FIRST ELDER This discussion is terminated. The decision of the council is final. (to Jor-El) You will cease pursuing this matter. Any attempt by you to continue, to create a climate of fear and panic among the populace, will be deemed an act of insurrection! JOR-EL And if I don't obey? SECOND ELDER (sadly) Jor-El, be reasonable. JOR-EL (determined) And If I don't. FIRST ELDER You will be banished to endless imprisonment in the Phantom Zone - the eternal prison you yourself created. PAN TO the tabletop where a large video-type screen appears, illuminated. At first, what looks like an abstract grid pattern manifests itself, but by degrees, it sharpens into a clear image of: The Phantom Zone. CUT TO: 10 EXT. PHANTOM ZONE - SPACE Imprisoned in a crystalline structure that swirls through the interstellar space void are the four huge horrifying faces of the Phantom Zone villains: the monstrous Non, the cruel General Zod, the masked visage of the beautiful raven-haired Ursa, the twisted, mocking grin of Jak-El (fuller descriptions follow later). Surrounded by massive tentacles, which both secure and monitor them, they writhe in anguish in their prison, fighting against the glass cage that pens them in eternal banishment. The impression we get is truly terrifying. Strange, MUFFLED VOICES: CRIES and HOWLS penetrate the stillness of the space void. Now the image begins to metamorphose once again into the video grid pattern as we- CUT TO: 11 INT. COUNCIL ROOM - DAY The image disappears from the black tabletop. PAN UP TO Jor-El, glaring at the elders. JOR-EL As an irredeemable criminal? You compare me to them? FIRST ELDER If you persist, you leave us no choice. SECOND ELDER Will you abide by the Council's opinion? JOR-EL (very quietly) I have heard your decision. FIRST ELDER (forcefully) Will you abide by the Council's opinion? JOR-EL (firmly) Neither my wife nor I will attempt to leave Krypton. CUT TO: 12 EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF CITY OF KRYPTON - DAY/NIGHT WIDE SHOT - Jor-El's house stands bathed in a strange glow of Kryptonian night. CUT TO: 13 INT. JOR-EL'S LABORATORY - KRYPTON NIGHT A large room with complicated equipment scattered everywhere. Jor-El is working on something that looks like a computer in the center of the room. LARA, Jor-El's wife enters and watches him as he places glowing crystals into the heart of the machine. JOR-EL I have programmed the memory cells with answers to the problems he will face Lara does not seem impressed. JOR-EL (firmly) It's the only logical conclusion. If he remains here, he'll be as dead as... LARA -- as we will be. JOR-EL Lara, please... LARA But why Earth, Jor-El. They're practically animals. JOR-EL (patiently) They are primitive, Lara, but they are not animals. LARA A million years behind us. (pleading) Jor-El, he's only a baby. JOR-EL (comforting) Their atmosphere will sustain him. He will look like one of them. LARA He'll be weightless. JOR-EL Yes, true. But on other worlds there would be other problems - heat, cold, no life, no life support systems...No, Lara, believe me; Earth is the least of evils. On Earth, his lighter gravity will render him almost weightless - that can't be helped. But with his denser molecular structure, he will also be strong. (trying to see the good) He will be fast, He will be virtually invulnerable. LARA (despair) He will be odd, different. JOR-EL (conceding) Well, physiologically, he... won't quite fit. CUT TO: 14 CLOSE SHOT - CONCRETE DOME - NIGHT A sudden fissure cracks as the CAMERA TRAVELS THROUGH the window into the Council of Elders, still in session. They listen attentively to a uniformed OFFICER standing before them. MILITARY OFFICER Energy input to Jor-El's personal quarters is now in excess FIRST ELDER Are you absolutely certain? MILITARY OFFICER We were inspecting an energy shortage in his sector. Data received indicates that the loss is due to a mis-use of energy. FIRST ELDER (reluctantly) Then you must investigate... SECOND ELDER And if the investigation proves positive? A massive jagged crack suddenly runs down the length of the huge crystal window. For a second the Elders turn, regarding it, then turn back again to business. FIRST ELDER (sadly to officer) Then we will have to banish Jor-El to the Phantom Zone... CUT TO: 15 INT. JOR-EL's LABORATORY - NIGHT Jor-El is closing panels around the machines in the center of the room. It has taken a deltoid shape. JOR-EL (urgent) Lara, there isn't much time. She turns away from him. JOR -EL (patiently reasoning with her) You see... (warmly) You still have some vestiges of primitive... what is the word they used to say? LARA 'Feelings.' JOR-EL You've been doing some research in the archives. LARA I want to know what my child is going to face. JOR-EL (smiles) Then you have on of those 'feelings.' It was called: 'love.' A sudden tremor produces an ominous CREAKING SOUND, growing LOUDER. Now a large crack appears in the wall. Instinctively, Lara runs to her husband'' arm for safety. Then, at the last second, she overcomes this "weakness" and steps back from him. LARA And you? Don't you feel something? ON Jor-El - as he turns away, unable to admit the emotion he feels CUT TO: 16 EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - KRYPTON DAY/NIGHT WIDE SHOT - Three Military Men descend a long glass-enclosed walkway to an awaiting land vehicle hovering above the ground. As they take their seats, the vehicle moves quickly along the glass street approaching a tall structure with crowds of people busily rushing by. A tremor shakes the ground and a thin fissure appears on the side of a building, visible to all. No one pays any attention to this as the land vehicle continues on. CUT TO: 17 INT. NURSERY Lara gently picks up a small baby from its cot. She carries it across the room, enters a glass elevator and descends. CUT TO: 18 EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - NIGHT The police vehicle races along. CUT TO: 19 INT. LABORATORY The baby has been fastened in the module. Lara reluctantly steps back as Jor-El secures and seals all openings. The baby vanishes from sight. Pressing a series of control buttons, the module automatically slides into a larger deltoid spacecraft and is sealed in. CUT TO: 20 EXT. KRYPTON The police car races along its track - as giant crystal formations, erupt, bend, crack. CUT TO: 21. INT. LABORATORY A glass wall facing the capsule slides open as the capsule runs up a ramp into the launcher raised at 50 degrees. The ceiling above retracts exposing the entire room to the glow of Krypton night. 22 INT. POLICE CAR The helmeted figures of the police as the vehicle races through the glass tunnel. CUT TO: 23 INT. LABORATORY The glass wall closes. The whole room shakes in a violent tremor as Jor-El tries to get the engines fired. CUT TO: 24 EXT. KRYPTON The police vehicle approaches Jor-El's house, but never reaches it. A huge tremor dislodges a mass of crystal, which crashes down onto the track and crushes the vehicle. CUT TO: 25 INT. LABORATORY The tremor continues in the lab, tons of crystal begin to crash down into the room, as Jor- El frantically tries to fire the rocket. With a last desperate effort, he lunges forward amid the tumbling debris and hits the button that IGNITES the ENGINE for take off. CUT TO: 26 INT. LAUNCH ROOM The ROCKET glides off into the night as the whole house begins to collapse. CUT TO: 27 EXT. JOR-EL's HOUSE The house collapses in ruins. CUT TO: 28 EXT. MODULE - SPACE The space module races away from the disintegrating planet below toward the Zone of Silence. CUT TO: 29 EXT. ZONE OF SILENCE AND MODULE - SPACE The four great villains, pressed against the window of their crystalline glass cage, watch the module hurtle past. VILLAINS (echoing) Take us with you... CUT TO: 30 INT. ZONE OF SILENCE CAPSULE - SPACE Over the shoulder of the villains, the capsule heads off into the inter-galactic void. CUT TO: 31 EXT. ZONE OF SILENCE The villains turn their attention to the planet Krypton, now in total ERUPTION. The red sun eats its way into the core of the planet of Krypton, which suddenly EXPLODES and IMPLODES - leaving a vast black void and the villains forever in space. CREDITS ROLL 32 EXT. MODULE - SPACE The module drives through space to the accompaniment of a steady electronic BLEEP. CUT TO: 33 INT. MODULE Several lights on the complex instrument panel flash simultaneously with the SOUND of the electronic BLEEP. A computer memory bank is repeating recorded data while machines register other space functions on graphs. COMPUTER (Jor-El's voice) Early concepts of matter appear in the ancient Greek philosophy. In the fifth century, Democritus defined a small unit as an atom, indivisible... CUT TO: 34 EXT. MODULE - SPACE The module voyages through space. A giant asteroid lost in the void is soaring toward the module at a tremendous speed. The module and the giant asteroid nearly collide. The module sways in the wake of the huge mass of matter spinning on and away into the void. DISSOLVE TO: 35 INT. MODULE The control panels continue to flash and all gauges are stable as the COMPUTER REPEATS recorded tapes. The baby has grown in his metallic capsule with the survival tubes, instruments, and foam belts adapting to his increase in size as the years pass. COMPUTER (Jor-El's voice) Index 19 Sonnet 101 - 'O Truant muse, What shall be thy amends for thy neglect of truth in beauty dy'd...?' CUT TO: 36 EXT. MODULE IN SPACE Traveling through space, we SEE a tiny yellow dot that becomes larger as the module enters our universe. The yellow dot grows rapidly into a flaming yellow sun. CUT TO: 37 INT. MODULE The control panel lights are flashing rapidly. The electronic BEEP quickens its squeal. The baby has grown. COMPUTER (Jor-El's voice) Index 44. Language Syntax 5 Oriental dialects. Ching na Kai vo... END OF CREDITS CUT TO: 38 EXT. MODULE - EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - DAY The module enters Earth's atmosphere and we SEE the familiar astronaut's POV of the revolving globe of Earth, growing larger and larger until we can make out the recognizable shapes of land masses and oceans. SHOTS: As the module gets closer. it seems as if it will surely land in the heart of the Soviet Union (raising the question in the audience's collective mind for the first time: what would have happened if Superman had been Russian?) but just at the last minute, the old Earth takes another spin and the rocket heads for the dead center of the United States. CUT TO: 39 EXT. KANSAS WHEAT FIELD - DAY ESTABLISHING SHOT: Miles and miles of wheat waving under a cloudless sky: a feeling of broiling desolation. ON A ROAD: A somewhat dilapidated farm pick-up truck comes chugging down the long, flat dirt road. A flatbed truck. CUT TO: 40 INT. CAB OF FLAT-BED TRUCK - DAY Two people who look like they posed for Grant Wood's "American Gothic" seated in the cab of the truck. They are dressed in shiny, patched "Sunday Best" clothes, and obviously they have done their best to make the clothing presentable in spite of the odds. The man is in his late 40's, the woman in her mid 40's - their weathered faces bespeak a hard life of working the land. "Private" people who mind their business, Christian folk whose morals are as basic as the soil they till, they are JONATHAN and MARTHA KENT. As the SCENE BEGINS, an ominous black shadow crosses the road, swiftly. At the same time: SOUND: The WHOOSH of the SPACE MODULE coming to Earth. Jonathan Kent reacts, startled, darting a moment to look in the direction of the NOISE, when: SOUND: The BANG of a BLOWOUT. 41 Jonathan Kent slams on the brakes. The truck lurches violently to the right; the front tire has burst. The truck swerves, narrowly missing the embankment, and stops. MARTHA (shaken up) Oh, my! CUT TO: 42 EXT. WHEAT FIELD, ROAD - DAY Leaving the truck standing in the road, Jonathan steps out of the cab and looks at the punctured tire. JONATHAN (muttering) Blamed cheap rubber them Detroit Wiseacres are puttin' out. Bitching, he goes around to the rear and unstraps the spare tire and hauls the jack out. NEW ANGLE - Martha gets out of the cab, stretches her legs and smoothes her wrinkled dress, gazing across the wheat fields as her husband, in b.g., places the jack under the car, then wedges a stone under the jack to hold it in place. ZOOM IN TO TIGHT CLOSEUP of Martha - Her face freezes in astonishment and disbelief as she sees something in the wheat field. MARTHA Jonathan! ON JONATHAN - who turns and looks, amazed. JONATHAN Great God almighty! What is it? MEDIUM SHOT - the space module has landed in the fields, The engines are silenced. 43 NEW ANGLE - Leaving the truck, they race into the midst of the field. CLOSE IN ON them as they run. Jonathan rushes to the strange, eerie metal craft nesting in the charred wheat. MARTHA Be careful, Jonathan! NEW ANGLE: Suddenly a wall of the module opens and a metallic capsule ejects with a little boy still fastened inside. JONATHAN What the heck --? CLOSER IN: He looks inside the module, then leans over and touches the capsule, burning his hand. MARTHA Jonathan! NEW ANGLE: The little BOY, aged 3, springs out of the electronically controlled belts, half-naked. MARTHA (stunned) It's a ...baby. JONATHAN What's your name, boy? MARTHA Don't just stand there gapin' Jonathan. Can't you see he's cold? Jonathan takes off his jacket, drapes it around the little boy. Now he looks again at the module. JONATHAN (can't get over it} ho-leeeeeeee. TRACKING JUST AHEAD OF THEM - as she lifts the boy with much difficulty and walks back to the truck, regarding the child with wonder. Her husband walks ahead, shaking his head, looking back. MEDIUM SHOT - as the reach the truck. JONATHAN Well - gotta change that tire if were gonna get home. MARTHA (pointedly) All of us. As she snuggles the boy to her, Jonathan starts to jack up the front end. He removes the lugs and the punctured tire. INSERT: The jack begins to shimmy as the truck shakes. CLOSEUP JONATHAN: Struggling with the spare tire cranks under the truck, wondering why the tire won't slide in. INSERT: The jack continues to shimmy. Then suddenly, the stone beneath it slips away. CLOSEUP MARTHA: She screams, wide-eyed, horrified. ON JONATHAN: Under the truck, he darts a quick look at his wife, then - as his scream suddenly stops in a gasp - behind him. HIS POV: The baby boy holding up the truck, two wheels off the ground. As he looks in wonder toward his wife: CUT TO: 44 INT. TRUCK CAB - MED. TWO SHOT - DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD - DAY The baby sits happily in Martha's lap. The couple ahead, lost in thought, serious. MARTHA The good lord works in mysterious ways. JONATHAN He sure as heck does that. MARTHA All these years, happy as we've been, how I prayed and prayed He'd see fit to give us a child. And just when I finally accepted my bitter lot... (firmly) No one must ever know. JONATHAN Folks'll ask question. MARTHA (determinedly) We'll say he's a child to my cousin in North Dakota, and just now orphaned. (cuddling the baby) Poor thing. JONATHAN Guess I'd better hitch up the rig and come back to get that...that thing he was settin' in. What do you make of that thing? Martha? You listening? MARTHA I was thinkin' what to call him. I was thinkin' I had an uncle who was a fine man, you recall him? The Church Sexton JONATHAN Who? Clark? I never cared two hoots for that fella. (pause) Jonathan Jr. That's got a ring to it. MARTHA (gives him a look) We don't want a child called 'Junior,' ain't that so, Clark? Why sure it is. He scowls a bit, then looks outside the window as he drives. JONATHAN Yup, better get that thing 'fore somebody finds it who shouldn't. CUT TO: 45 EXT. KENT FARMHOUSE - DAY The farmhouse and barn -- classic American -- of the Kent's. As SCENE BEGINS, a sheriff car is parked in the driveway, the dust still rising from beneath its wheels. The SHERIFF, a hard, tough-looking man, is leaning on the door of his car. Standing across from him is Jonathan, and Martha stands just behind him. We have the feeling that this, because of the cut from the last scene, is taking place immediately afterwards, and, further, that trouble is up. (It is, however, about five years later, as we shall shortly see.) SHERIFF There she was, right out in the wheat field, near to the road. REVERSE TWO SHOT -- on the Kent's, looking very Grant Wood. JONATHAN You're sure of that, Sheriff? SHERIFF Sure as shootin', Mr. Kent JONATHAN Well, I heard some heifers with spunk and I heard of some with ambition, but how that cow jumped a fence and got half way to Danville is one for the books. And now we know that they are not speaking of the Krypton capsule. MARTHA (smiles) We thank you kindly for bringin' her back, Sheriff Grizzard. They begin walking toward the red barn, nearby. TRACK. SHERIFF Well, that's my job. ma'am. Part of it, anyway. Say, where's that darn kid of yours? Got his nose stuck in a book again, I bet. MARTHA Well, now, Clark is a good pupil, and I thank the Lord he is. JONATHAN (proudly) Got all A's this year. Teacher said he's the best 5th grader in the - MARTHA (sternly) Don't brag now, Jonathan. They have reached the barn. They enter. CUT TO: 46 INT. BARN - DAY WIDE SHOT of the barn -- piles of hay stand in the middle of the floor. Standing in the middle of them is a boy with a rake, a pleasant, unassuming lad wearing glasses; the young CLARK KENT. But instead of raking as he should be, he stands, almost mesmerized, and stares at the corner of the barn. HIS POV: On one dark wall, amidst the rusty tools and plow parts, the pieces of the rocket and module that the baby to Earth have been taken apart and hung. They are deliberately camouflaged, dusty and cobwebbed, but still recognizable to us who saw them before. ON CLARK again, as he hears VOICES and APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS coming. That snaps him back to present and he begins his raking chores. NEW ANGLE -- as the adults approach. JONATHAN Clark, say hello to the Sheriff. He found our runway heifer. CLARK stops his work, lays pitchfork down, shakes hands in manly fashion CLARK Hi, Sheriff, Was she over to the Harris North 40? Sheriff Grizzard pulls a fountain pen from his shirt pocket, begins writing on a form attached to a clipboard he carries. SHERIFF Why, that's right, son. How'd you know that? CLARK (grinning) There's a bull there she's kinda sweet on. MARTHA (shocked) Clark! SHERIFF (with a wink to Jonathan) He is smart, ain't he Mebbe too smart for his size. (writes some more) Danged paperwork. Got to note down every piece of livestock rounded up in the country. Finished, he lays his pen down on a nearby tool shelf, absently. Then tears off the sheet of paper, folds it, puts it in his pocket. INSERT: On the shelf as the fountain pen rolls off, falling behind it, between the shelf and the wall. NEW ANGLE -- The Kents start out of the barn. JONATHAN Back to work now, son. CLARK Yessir. Nice to see you again, Sheriff. HOLD on CLARK as the others leave the barn. Now, satisfied that they are gone, he begins pitching forkfuls of hay at super-speed: a dazzling display with hay flying faster than the eye can see. CLOSEUP CLARK as he suddenly spots something. ZOOM IN TO his eyes. SPECIAL EFFECTS: His eyes widen and glow in a weird, special way. This is the visual clue to the fact that he is using X-Ray Vision. CLARKS' POV: A demonstration of X-Ray Vision for the audience. He is looking at the shelf where the pen rolled off. Suddenly, before our eyes, the tool shelf sort of dissolves (EFFECTS) and we SEE the wall behind it. ZOOM IN FURTHER: The fountain pen on the floor against the wall. NEW ANGLE -- CLARK runs to the wall, pushes the heavy tool shelf aside with barely a touch, grabs up the fountain pen and races outside. CUT TO: 47 EXT. FARMHOUSE - DAY Too late. The Sheriff's car is already gone. When CLARK appears, his parents turn to him. CLARK Sheriff Grizzard, wait! You forgot - Before MARTHA can speak, young CLARK whizzes off down the road at super-speed, moving like greased lightening. ON THE KENTS -- She looks distressed, but he is beaming. JONATHAN That's my boy! (he casts his eyes to heaven) Kind of. She looks down the road. POV: A cloud of dust raised by CLARK, all the way down to the horizon. CUT TO: 48 EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY IN QUICK CUTS, the landscape constantly shifting, CLARK runs like Andy Clyde in "Million Dollar Legs": A) He dashes across a corn field, incredibly fast. B) He approaches a meadow with a long stretch of railroad tracks. CUT TO: 49 EXT. RAILROAD TRAIN TRACKING: Racing alongside, CLARK, who runs alongside the tracks. SOUND: APPROACHING RAILROAD TRAIN LONG SHOT: Steam engine in the distance catches up, pulling a long passenger train. It pulls alongside the running boy, CLOSER ON THE TRAIN: We can MAKE OUT a family in one of the compartments. A little girl is looking out of the window, her nose pressed to the glass. CUT TO: 50 INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT - DAY The parents of the little girl are the same couple we saw in the opening Pan Shot of the movie, cooing over their baby. They are six years older now, as is the little girl. She is LOIS LANE. LOIS (turning to her folks, amazed) Golly! FATHER Did you say something, Lois? LOIS (excited) I saw a boy running as fast as the train! Faster even! MOTHER (affectionate sigh) Lois Lane, you do have a gift for invention, I'll say that for you. LOIS But - FATHER Read your book, dear. Resigned to not being believed, she goes back to a "Bobbsy Twins" book. CUT TO: 51 EXT. SMALLVILLE STREET - DAY A typical small-town street. CLARK KENT, holding the fountain pen, leans against the door to the Sheriff's office as the Sheriff's car pulls up and stops. SHERIFF (getting out of car, astonished to see Clark) Clark Kent??? How... what... CLARK (holding the pen out) You forgot your pen, Sheriff. The SHERIFF'S eyes open wide in amazement. CUT TO: 52 INT. KENT FRONT PARLOR - NIGHT FULL SHOT, WIDE: It looks like a Norman Rockwell cover of the typical American farm family, circa 1943. Pa Kent sits in an overstuffed chair reading his paper. It is later in the same day. Clark sits at the dining table engrossed in gluing together a model plane. In b.g., Ma Kent comes in from the kitchen in her apron, wiping her hands on a towel, a troubled look on her face. MARTHA (this is difficult for her to say) Clark...Son...that...thing you did with the Sheriff today... those...stunts...you don't do those things at school, do you? CLARK (uncomfortable about this subject) No, Mom. You know I wouldn't break my promise. MARTHA I know you're a good boy, Clark. No mother could ask for better. It's just that... CLOSEUP CLARK -- He looks away from her: unhappily: CLARK I know. I'm different. TWO SHOT - She comes to him; her heart goes out to him. MARTHA Oh, dear. That isn't what I -- JONATHAN What your mother means, Clark, is that she don't want folks to think you're special. MARTHA I bless the day you came to us, son. You know that. But some people wouldn't understand. CLARK (pats her hand comfortingly) Don't worry, Mom. I know. MARTHA (brave smile) Anyway, we Kent's don't like showoffs, ain't that so? A body's got to be humble even if he knows that he's better'n his neighbors. ON PA KENT, raising his paper again. JONATHAN That's right, son. Mind your mother. She knows what's best. ON CLARK -- feeling a bit self-conscious, he gets up and walks out of the room. FOLLOW him out. CLARK Going to get a drink of water. CUT TO: 53 INT. CORRIDOR OF KENT FARM - NIGHT FOLLOWING Clark as he walks from the parlor, walking toward the kitchen. In the parlor, we HEAR Jonathan Kent chuckling. Suddenly, the laugh abruptly stops, followed by an audible gasp. A moment later, a crash, as if someone has fallen to the floor. MARTHA (O.S.) (screaming) Jonathan! What's wrong! What is it! Jonathan! Clark races back toward the parlor. DISSOLVE TO: 54 EXT. COUNTRY CEMETERY - DAY FULL SHOT -- Young Clark stands by a freshly filled grave, holding the hand of his weeping mother. Both are dressed in mourning. CLOSER -- The tombstone reads "Jonathan Kent 1887-1943 R.I.P." CLARK (anguished; to himself, quietly) All those things I can do, all those powers...and I still couldn't save him. Tears fill his eyes, His mother pats his shoulder comfortingly. DISSOLVE TO: 55 EXT. KENT FARM - NIGHT WIDE SHOT: The barn. It stands, silhouetted against the night sky. CAMERA SLOWLY TRACKS TOWARD the barn , then THROUGH the door. CUT TO: 56 INT. BARN - NIGHT It is pitch dark inside. CAMERA CONTINUES TRACKING FORWARD when suddenly a small green light flashes somewhere in b.g. on the far wall. CAMERA MOVES IN CLOSER TO REVEAL that it is the glowing crystals Jor-El put in the module. CUT TO: 57 INT. CLARK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- On the bed, Clark Kent, now in his 20's is asleep. Suddenly his eyes open. he sits up, looks around. CUT TO: 58 EXT. FARM - NIGHT ON the back door as it opens and Clark, fully dressed, emerges from the house, easing the back door open, and crosses to the barn. CUT TO: 59 INT. BARN - NIGHT WIDE SHOT - Clark enters the barn, crosses tot he source of the green light CLOSER IN -- In the corner where the rocket is dismantled, a door is opened. revealing a chamber filled with the crystals Jor-El placed in the ship. Emanating from it is a pulsating green light, which radiates the entire area. CLARK comes close, eyes widened, pulled by the force. His features illuminated by the eerie light, he reaches for the crystals. CUT TO: 60 INT. KENT HOUSE - DAY The following morning. MARTHA KENT. wearing her apron, stands at the foot of the stairs, calling up. MARTHA Clark? Clark? There is no answer. She starts up the stairs. We note how much she has aged. CUT TO: 61 INT. HALLWAY, UPPER LANDING - DAY She crosses to the door to Clark's bedroom. MARTHA CLARK? No answer. She opens the door, peers in. HER POV: The room is empty. ON MARTHA -- who enters. FOLLOW. CUT TO: 62 INT. CLARK'S ROOM - DAY She crosses to the window and looks out. CAMERA POSITIONED JUST BEHIND HER, OVER HER SHOULDER, ANGLE DOWN. ZOOM SLOWLY PAST HER To the solitary figure of Clark. He stands alone, out in the field, staring off toward the north. CUT TO: 63 INT. KENT KITCHEN - DAY MED. SHOT: MARTHA KENT is sitting at the kitchen table, facing TOWARDS CAMERA, looking at photographs in the family album. Her eyes raise from the photographs; we know she senses he has entered, but she does not turn around. CLARK (awkward, odd) Mom... MARTHA (eyes front, voice flat) I know. There is a palpable tension in the room: both people know what is happening and it is terribly hard for them. Both are trying desperately to keep in non-emotional and flat, for fear of breaking down. CLARK I have to leave. She still does not turn and face him; trying to keep control of herself. MARTHA I knew there'd be this day. I guess I knew it from the minute you came to us. He comes around to her side and touches her hair, thereby making her look up at him. her eyes fill with tears. CLARK I talked to Ben Hubbard this morning. He'll be more than glad to bring in the crops on shares. MARTHA He's a good man, Ben is. Your father always said so. A long pause. It is difficult to say anything. CLARK (emotionally) Mother... MARTHA (she pats his hand) I know son, I know... DISSOLVE TO: 64 EXT. KENT FARM - DAY MED. SHOT at the gate to the road. CLARK in windbreaker and slacks, has a rucksack at his side. MRS. KENT holds out a brown bag, the same kind she used to give him his school lunch in. The wind is blowing. MARTHA I made you... (fighting back tears) ...some sandwiches. (she hands them to him, then takes something from her apron pocket) And this...this is your father's INSERT: Jonathan Kent's old-fashioned pocket watch. She Places it in CLARK'S hand. CLOSER TWO SHOT MARTHA You remember this? CLARK, deeply moved, can only nod. MARTHA He always wanted you to have it. Silently, CLARK closes his hand around it. Then. stiffly, he turns away, opens the rucksack and puts the watch and the lunch bag inside. INSERT: ON THE INTERIOR OF THE RUCKSACK: It glows with green light; inside are all the components and glowing stones and chips and discs seen earlier. He closes the bag. As we SEE this: MARTHA (O.S.) Do you know where you're headed? CLARK (O.S.) North. It's north TWO SHOT: Unable to restrain it anymore, they reach ouch to each other and move into a tight hug. MARTHA Keep warm now. CLARK I will. They pull back from the embrace. CLOSEUP MARTHA MARTHA And remember us. Always remember us. CUT TO: 65 EXT. ALASKA HIGHWAY - DAY MED. WIDE SHOT -- CLARK KENT, clad in his light windbreaker, his rucksack behind him, stands on the side of the road, thumb out, hitch-hiking. The wind blows around him mightily, ruffling his hair, but he doesn't seem to mind the cold. His face shows calm determination. From the distance, a truck appears, pulls up, stops. The DRIVER throws the door open. TRUCK DRIVER Get in, quick! My God, a body could freeze to death just leavin' the door open. As CLARK climbs in the cab of the truck: TRUCK DRIVER Where you headed? CLARK North. The truck drives off. CUT TO: 66 EXT. ALASKA - DAY FULL SHOT -- a narrow, snow covered road which runs alongside a vast Arctic lake. In the middle of the lake, great icebergs float. The truck comes to a stop, lets CLARK out. The DRIVER looks at him quizzically a moment, then drives on. NEW ANGLE -- CLARK stands at the edge of the ice-filled lake, looking due north. 67 EXT. ALASKA - DAY FULL SHOT -- A narrow, snow -covered road ends in the Arctic North. In b.g. , Eskimo igloos can be SEEN. CLARK stands on the roadside, thumb out. DOLLY IN TIGHT TO him. CUT TO: 68 INT. ESKIMO IGLOO - DAY An Eskimo man stands at the opening of his igloo. CAMERA POSITIONED BEHIND him so that we SEE over his shoulder. There, far away, is CLARK as we left him at the roadside, wearing only his thin jacket. The Eskimo bursts out laughing and ducks back in. PAN OVER TO a fur rug where his wife is seated, preparing food. Chattering in Eskimo talk, he points outside, laughing. The woman rises and rushes to the opening of the igloo, peering out. HER POV; Nothing to be seen. CLARK is gone. VERY WIDE SHOT. ON HER: She turns and mutters, annoyed, to her husband. CUT TO: 69 EXT. SOMEWHERE NEAR THE NORTH POLE - DAY WIDE SHOT -- A flat, desolate plain; off to one side is an enormous outcropping of rock jutting out of the barren snow-covered land. At the moment, there is a terrible blizzard going on. the CAMERA PANS ACROSS the frozen waste to REVEAL CLARK KENT standing there, wearing only his lightweight jacket, the rucksack on the ground behind him. WIDE SHOT - As the wind continues to grip across the barren plain, CLARK looks around, then selects as area. He marks its perimeter with heat vision, burning deep lines into the snow and ice. DISSOLVE TO: 70 THE SAME AREA - LATER WIDE SHOT -- Once the boundaries are drawn, CLARK concentrates on the area within the perimeter, and we SEE the entire mass of snow begin to melt away as huge flames shoot around the gigantic excavation. DISSOLVE TO: 71 THE SAME AREA - STILL LATER WIDE SHOT -- Now an enormous crater has been carved out of the rock and ice. CLARK stands on the edge, focuses into the crater. We SEE a crystalline foundation solidify and expand with ultra-violet radiation glowing around the excavation site -- a wall is formed. Another burst of energy intensifies and constructs a second solid side joined at right angles. DISSOLVE TO: 72 EXT. SAME AREA - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- CLARK is now on the opposite side of the excavation. We SEE a bright cone of light, then gasses rising and solidifying into multi-colored molecules that expand into a third impregnable wall. Through a blaze of sparkling light, the third wall increases in size and spreads out to cover the fourth remaining side, soon transformed into white crystalline matter. DISSOLVE TO: 73 EXT. SAME AREA - DAY WIDE SHOT -- The Fortress of Solitude is now complete. It rises up in the northern landscape, but its materials are harmonious. The walls of the Fortress are white opaque crystalline. CUT TO: 74 INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - DAY Note: Inside it is multi-leveled, but there are no staircases, as Superman flies form level to level. The interior is spacious, though the decor is Spartan, minimal. There is a large circular control room, futuristically designed. It is highlighted by computers, transmitters, receivers, rows of buttons, moving graphs, in gleaming metals and plastics unknown on Earth. The central area, where the memory crystals are stored and activated and where Superman communicates with his dead father, is overlooked by "floating" balconies which lead to hidden bedrooms, corridors, etc. In another part of the area is a self contained, windowed chamber which will be the Molecule Restructuring Machine. In the There is a kitchen-dining area, the decor is so futuristic as to be barely recognizable (there is no stove, for example). The dining set contains no chairs, but is built in platforms that seem to float. There are no closets in the structure because one has only to touch the wall and it opens a storage space. On the higher levels there is an area that opens out onto a balcony - the only window in the Fortress. Everything is transparent, crystalline, reminding us of Krypton (because Jor-El designed it and perhaps reminds Superman of his ancestral home). CUT TO: 75 INT. MEMORY CRYSTAL AREA - DAY It is barren except for a large bench with a strange box in the front of it. To the left are two walls with a glowing row of shelves of crystals on each. CLARK takes the first crystal from the first shelf and places it in an appropriate "play-back" mechanism in the box in front of the bench. As soon as he does: 76 EFFECTS: The light in the Fortress begins to change very dramatically. There is something magical and awe-inspiring about these effects, which will continue to happen each time this process is repeated. The process of "materializing" JOR-EL. For it is he, JOR-EL, looking as he did when last seen on Krypton, who suddenly seems to materialize out of thin air; he appears simultaneously in different area of the room, and in different sizes and dimensions as well. JOR-EL My son, you do not remember me. I am Jor-El. I m your father. By this time, you will have reached your eighteenth year in Earth time and I will have been dead for many, many years in Krypton time measure. Although there are certain things you already know of human ways and wisdoms, there are many questions that have puzzled and confused you as you search for the answers to your life. Although I am speaking from the past, I have tried to anticipate them. ON CLARK - unsure. CLARK Can I ask direct questions, Father? JOR-EL Speak. CLARK Who am I? CAMERA begins, in effect, a SLOW 360 DEGREE PAN FROM young CLARK, MOVING AROUND the interior of the Fortress as we SEE many of the features described above. The figure of JOR-EL appears and fades in different dimensions, different areas as each DISSOLVE OUT indicates the passage of time. At no point until the culmination of the 360 PAN do we see CLARK KENT again. JOR-EL Your name is Kal-El. You are the only survivor of the planet Krypton. Although you have been raised as a human, you are not one of them. Your road has been a difficult one; it will continue to be. You have great powers but you are confused as to how to use them. All this I know. Here in this fortress, a place of solitude, I will train you for the tasks that lie ahead. Now let us work together to complete your education. Over the years I have instructed you in all the languages, arts, and sciences of Earth as well as the far more advanced knowledge of Krypton. Now, my son, we turn to a more difficult subject - virtue. How does a good man live? This is not yet -- not even on Krypton -- a precise science. So I can only tell you what others have thought and what -- what I myself believe -- His voice DISSOLVES OUT. DISSOLVE TO: PAN CONTINUES AS LIGHT CHANGES, as if it is now darker or lighter outside the opaque fortress, as JOR-EL now materializes in another area. continuing his lessons: JOR-EL Though you are a superior to others, do not set yourself above them. Lead by inspiring. Weigh carefully -- as even ordinary men should -- the rewards life offers. never use your powers for personal gain, Kal-El. Never. DISSOLVE TO: 77 CIRCLING CONTINUES Again with light changes, coming back around now to its original point, as again JOR-EL materializes in another part of the chamber: JOR-EL Your education is complete, Kal-El. (A touch of pride in his boy) You have asked good questions. And I think together we have always found the answers. So now...now it is time to return to the world you will live in. CLARK (O.S.) Will I be accepted as I am? As he asks this question, CAMERA COMPLETES 360 DEGREES (and a lot of years) and COMES TO REST ON...SUPERMAN. And there he is. In the flesh, and in the traditional costume: Blue outfit, red trunks and cape, yellow monogram. The big S. A handsome, strong man in his 30's, who wears the weight of his mission lightly, but takes everything with the proper seriousness. His intelligence shines through all the macho aspects of his personality. And at all times, even in the middle of action and violence, he retains a kind of twinkle in his eye that lets us know that he sees everything from a slightly off-center position; that, while acknowledging his bizarre life-style he can also see that it has its humorous side when looked at from the proper perspective. He is warm, likable, and generous. But when he becomes Clark Kent, the disguise takes on almost schizoid dimensions: a great personality change, exaggerating all this "everyday, normal" qualities that are so inherently foreign to his true personality, And yet, as we will see, there is a part of him that yearns and longs to be Clark Kent, free form the overwhelming responsibilities that come, unmasked, from being who he is: SUPERMAN. JOR-EL Do not reveal your gifts - they will only bring jealousy and pain. Live as one of them, but keep in your heart the pride of your heritage. When new questions arise come back here and I will try to help. He smiles. Jor-El clicks off the recording gadget in his hand and his image starts to fade away. Then, he suddenly remembers something else and clicks the gadget back on. His image returns to full strength. JOR-EL Oh... (for the first time a bit unsure of himself) ...Lara, that is your mother, mentioned a word to me the other day. It is something irrational to us here. But for you, where you are, it has a strength and a meaning, so...so from a galaxy far beyond your ken, from our...ourselves, we send you our...love. HOLD IN POSITION as he switches off the recorder and his image slowly fades away. CUT TO: 78 EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - DAY Two feet stepping down the pavement. PAN UP to SEE CLARK KENT walking the streets of Metropolis, attaché case in hand. He now looks like his classic comic-book persona: the conservative suit, the horn-rimmed glasses, the white shirt and neat tie, the attaché case, etc. A brisk breeze blows and we NOTE that most people are dressed for cooler weather. Metropolis looks remarkably like New York. It is almost Christmas: displays and light flashing in store windows, sidewalks crowded with shoppers. FULL SHOT -- As CLARK reaches the street corner, looking around and admiring the skyline, fascinated by the big city, he starts across the street, toward the building marked DAILY PLANET, oblivious to the red light turning green and the oncoming traffic. A taxi comes hurtling on. 79 NEW ANGLE The cab smashes into CLARK. The DRIVER, horrified, jumps out and looks to see what expects will be a victim. But CLARK KENT just walks away. CLARK Excuse me. NEW ANGLE - A second CAB DRIVER, who plowed into the rear of the first cab, jumps out, rushing forward angrily. SECOND CABBIE You moron! Whaddaya stop short for in the middle of -- The first driver, staring at his cab's front end, looks up in dumb-founded amazement at the second driver. Both look in wonder now at the front end of the cab that hit CLARK. INSERT - The front end of the cab has CLARK'S impression cut deeply into the hood, through to the engine block to the windshield. NEW ANGLE - CLARK waves a cheery farewell to the two non-plussed cabbies, mouthing a friendly little "sorry!" to them, and - having crossed the street by now -- almost backs right into the lobby doors of THE DAILY PLANET where he was headed. As he enters, PAN UP the skyscraper to its tower (this is not the same newspaper building we saw in the opening shot, but new, more modern quarters) where we SEE the great symbol that tops it: the globe and the enormous electric sign, "THE DAILY PLANET -- Metropolis' Greatest Newspaper." 80 INT. CITY ROOM - DAILY PLANET - DAY WIDE SHOT: The city room of a large city newspaper. This is where it all happens: rows and rows of desks, thirty or forty REPORTERS, EDITORS, COPY BOYS and OTHER EMPLOYEES scurrying back and forth, typing, running with copy and galleys. HOLD long enough TO ESTABLISH the atmosphere. Then BEGIN DOLLY BACK to a corner of the city room where a few star reporter desks look a bit larger and widely spaced than the others. Behind them is a frosted glass door, on which is painted: "Perry White, Managing Editor." On one of the desks: Seated at the typewriter, working away with intense concentration punctuated by occasional smiles, approving nods and triumphant "Hah's!" is a young woman who seams, even at first glance, to really "have her act together." Physically, she's a knockout: long brunette hair, smart clothes on a smart figure, a kind of ease with herself and her looks that adds up to sexy. Mentally, she's just as good: bright, talented, ambitious. A girl with a wry sense of humor that she can turn on herself as well as on any adversary, and withal a woman who never forgets that she is a woman, this grown-up version of that little girl we last saw with her nose pressed against the glass of a train window as it sped through Smallville -- this is LOIS LANE. LOIS (calling out to anybody within earshot) How do you spell "massacre?" A REPORTER at a nearby desk looks up from his work: REPORTER E, R. A few feet away, a fresh-faced young cub reporter stands aiming a dart at a dartboard target nailed up on a nearby wall. A teen-age eager beaver, this is JIMMY OLSEN JIMMY No, it's R, E. He throws his dart; bullseye. Under the dartboard is a glass bowl filled with quarters and a sign: PAY THE KITTY, LOSERS." ON LOIS -- typing rapidly. LOIS Jimmy's right. Jimmy, pleased, comes over to LOIS, tries to see what's in the typewriter. MOVE IN on them. JIMMY What're you writing, Lois? LOIS (never slowing down the speed at which she e types) an Ode to Spring. are there one or two "T's" in bloodletting? JIMMY Two. LOIS (as she types the finish, reading her closing aloud with great relish) 'And the people on the street, the little man who runs the corner newsstand, the old lady sunning herself on the stoop the kids playing stick ball -- none of them will ever forget the night of senseless bloodletting that turned a friendly block part into a nightmare.' (MORE) 80 CONTINUED: LOIS (CONT'D) (with triumphant satisfaction, she yanks the page out of the typewriter) Ha! Eat your heart out, Dorothy Kilgallen! She gathers up her story, stands up from her desk and starts toward PERRY WHITE'S office. JIMMY OLSEN tags along at her heels. TRACK WITH her as she walks across the city room. JIMMY (lost in admiration) Boy! LOIS (wryly, as is her style sometimes) Gets you where you live, huh? JIMMY How come you get all the good stories, Lois? LOIS It's because I'm an intrepid girl reporter, Jimmy. (short pause) Besides, the chief of detectives has the hots for me. They pass the dartboard area. Automatically, LOIS stops, takes her dart, aims and throws. A poor shot, missing the center area. She starts to continue on to PERRY'S office. JIMMY (a gentle reminder) Uh...Lois...? He points. WHAT HE POINTS AT: The pot. The kitty. With a look, LOIS digs a quarter from her purse, goes and drops it in the pot. LOIS Need I ask who's favored to collect at the end of this week. JIMMY On the salary he pays me, I can't make my rent without it. She continues to the door to PERRY WHITE'S office. She knocks and then enters without waiting to be invited. CUT TO: 81 INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE - DAY Big but not fancy - the office of a working editor. Copy pinned up on the bulletin board and piled up on the desk, along with photos, wire service tear sheets and a few plaques and awards and signed photos of politicians framed on the walls. Behind the desk, in his customary outfit (rolled-up shirt sleeves, tie loosened, top button opened), and his customary expression (harried), is the no-nonsense, hard-working, 50'ish editor of the paper. Somewhere beneath all that bark and gruffness is a nice guy who loves his grand- children, but his employees don't get to see much of that side of him. LOIS, however, can kid him all she wants and he gives it to her right back; all this friendly animosity, however, is just their way of liking and respecting each other. The man is PERRY WHITE. LOIS lays the story on his desk, LOIS (feeling cocky) Here's the story on that East 19th Street murder spree. Page one with a banner headline seems about right to me. PERRY It does, huh? (gesturing to somebody behind LOIS) Clark Kent, I'd like you to meet Lois Lane. She turns, surprised. She didn't realize, as she barged right in the office, that there was somebody else in the room. And neither did we, until now. NEW ANGLE -- Seated in a chair against the wall by the entrance is CLARK KENT. He rises on the introduction. His manner is polite and friendly, but we can SEE immediately that he is taken by LOIS. CLARK I'd like to. LOIS (ever arch) Well! PERRY (his sarcastic humor) She gives me advice on how to run my paper. As he says this, he turns slightly to a little shelf beside his desk on which stands a one- burner hot-plate with water boiling on it. Next to the hot-plate is a fresh, un-opened jar of instant coffee, which PERRY now picks up and tries -- to open. LOIS And he ignores me. The door opens and JIMMY enters, smiling as he hears this usual plaint from LOIS. He lays a sheaf of copy on the desk and turns to go, but PERRY passes him the unopenable coffee jar. As JIMMY begins struggling with it: CLARK (to LOIS) I'll bet you have some good ideas. LOIS (a smile to CLARK, then turns to PERRY) Hey, you're getting a better class of people in your office these days, Boss. PERRY I thought so, too, till you came in. CLARK smiles, recognizing this banter is typical of their relationship. He automatically takes the coffee jar that, red-faced from his struggle and failure, passes as LOIS rises, saying: LOIS (to CLARK) Well, nice to meet you. CLARK is now smiling at LOIS, not even looking at the jar. We are sure he is about to "give himself away," to open it with a mere twist of the wrist. But no -- his smile turns to a frown, an expression of great effort as he "tries" to unscrew the top and "tries" again, in vain. LOIS is apparently paying no attention, busy pitching to PERRY: LOIS Okay, boss? I'm off to a hot tub and then a cold martini with the Deputy Mayor in one of METROPOLIS' more recherché bistros. Without even looking at him or it, she grabs the coffee jar from CLARK, not missing a beat as she says: LOIS Not that I won't forget to pump him about those kick-back rumors -- And she gives the jar a sharp rap on the edge of the desk and then unscrews it effortlessly. With a little smile, she passes it back to CLARK. PERRY Lois, take Kent there and introduce him around LOIS Okay, but...why? (to CLARK) No offense. CLARK Well, I... PERRY He's coming to work for the paper. I'm putting him on the city beat. CLOSEUP - LOIS -- she turns and looks at CLARK in a new way. She hadn't realized he was a reporter. PERRY (to LOIS) Not only is this guy good, not only does he show the proper respect for his editor-in -chief -- (he is baiting her a bit) -- not only does he have a snappy, punchy prose style, but I swear to to you that he is the fastest typist I've seen after forty years in the business. FAVORING LOIS -- She tenses just a bit, feeling the pressure of competition. They turn to leave. ANGLE WITH PERRY behind them. PERRY Kent. Before you go, don't forget to sign your W-2 form. CLARK Oh, listen, Mr. White. Could you arrange for half my salary to be sent on a weekly basis to this address? He scribbles something on a piece of scrap paper on PERRY'S desk. FAVORING LOIS -- watching this. LOIS Your bookie? CLARK (a bit shocked) No. LOIS (archly, outing him on) I know. He sends a check every week to his dear gray-haired old mother. CLARK Actually, she's silver-haired. LOIS (stunned; he actually does send his mother money) Not...gray. CLARK Not really, no. As they exit: LOIS Are there any more at home like you? CLARK Not really, no. CUT TO: 82 EXT. STREET NEAR THE DAILY PLANET - NIGHT CLARK and LOIS are walking down the street, later that night. TRACK WITH them, as they pass a liquor store. LOIS Well, how are you enjoying your first day on the job? CLARK I think I lost a week's salary at the dart board. LOIS (kidding) Some people aren't the athletic type. CLARK But otherwise it's swell. LOIS 'Swell.' When was the last time I heard anybody say - where are you from , anyway? CLARK I doubt you ever heard of it. A little town called Smallville. By now they pass the liquor store and we can SEE in b.g. some commotion inside, though they don't notice it. LOIS Well, you're going to find Metropolis is a pretty tough town compared to -- At the moment, behind them, TWO HOODS, guns drawn, come barreling out of the liquor store, just behind them, chased by the old OWNER. OWNER Stop them! They robbed me! NEW ANGLE -- WIDE -- As the HOODS run toward an idling getaway car parked a few yards ahead of CLARK and LOIS, a police car, SIREN SCREAMING, comes tearing down the street behind the liquor store. ON THE GETAWAY CAR -- The THIRD HOOD, the driver, flings the door open, screaming: THIRD HOOD Get in! Get in! NEW ANGLE - WIDE -- Two COPS leap from the police car, take firing positions across the fenders, One FIRES a warning SHOT into the air. COP Hold it right there! REVERSE -- The HOODS grab the startle LOIS and CLARK, holding them as shields between them and the COPS. LOIS Get your hands off me! FIRST HOOD (holding CLARK) Don't try anything funny, pal. CLOSEUP - CLARK -- Tense. Will he do something? ON LOIS and her captor. SECOND HOOD Tell your boyfriend to just be cool. LOIS He can't even open a coffee jar. They edge toward the getaway car when suddenly, another police car tears up the street coming towards them, turns sharply to block the street car. Two more COPS jump out. Now they're trapped. Just to the right, before the getaway car, is an alley. Still dragging their hostages, they pull them into the alley. The THIRD HOOD FIRES at the COPS from inside his car. bullet are exchanged. as the crook leaps from the car, he is gunned down in a HAIL OF BULLETS. CUT TO: 83 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT Another patrol car comes down the end of the alley, sealing it off. he HOODS panic, FIRES off some SHOTS. The COPS return the FIRE. LOIS and CLARK race for a wall to get out of the line of fire, but it is so chaotic, with bullets coming from behind and ahead, that it ain't easy. ON A COP - hit, falls across the fender. ON THE FIRST HOOD -- FIRES off THREE SHOTS. ON THE COPS AT THE END OF THE ALLEY -- SHOOTING. THE SECOND HOOD - hit, falls to the ground. ON LOIS -- she stumbles and falls. ON CLARK -- behind her, by the wall, as bullets hit him. They bounce right off his chest, but nobody sees it. ON LOIS AND THE FIRST HOOD - As she gets up, the HOOD grabs her, holds his gun to her head. FIRST HOOD Shoot me and the chick gets it first. CLARK Lois! QUICK CLOSEUP - CLARK Poised, frozen. Will he...? NEW ANGLE -- The COPS behind them close in the alley, FIRING. ON ONE OF THEM -- He carefully takes aim, one hand gripping his other wrist to steady it. POV - HIS GUNSHOT -- The hood holding LOIS is the target. Suddenly just as: SOUND: The COP FIRES -- The HOOD ducks and LOIS pops up n range. CLARK KENT dashes forward, his hand raised in front of LOIS. INSERT: The bullet hits CLARK right in the palm of his hand. He closes his fist around it. NEW ANGLE -- The hood throws his gun down (out of bullets) and makes a run for it. One of the COPS chases after him and brings him down in a flying tackle. The SECOND HOOD lies shot in the middle of the alley. CLOSER -- CLARK and LOIS as the POLICE run towards them. LOIS My God! I could have been killed! Why didn't you -- The COP who fired the POV shot rushes over. COP Are you folks okay? Geez, fella I thought I hit you. CLARK No. I'm okay. COP I didn't know who were the good guys and who were the bad guys for a minute there. LOIS (annoyed) I'm neither. COP Huh? LOIS Male chauvinist. And with that she turns and stomps off down the street in a huff. CLARK, with a farewell smile to the POLICE, runs to catch up with her. DISSOLVE TO: 84 EXT. ANOTHER STREET - NIGHT A dark, narrow, deserted street in Metropolis, a few minutes later. TRACKING with them as they walk. LOIS See? Didn't I tell you this was a tough town? CLARK Unbelievable. LOIS Not in Metropolis it isn't. This is the home of the sneak attack, the stab in the back, the -- Precisely at that moment, a figure leaps from the shadows of a doorway and grabs LOIS' purse and yanks it from her. LOIS Hey! CLARK What the -- ! The Man starts to run. LOIS Stop him, Clark! CLARK He may have a gun! LOIS (impatiently) Oh, for God's sake! The hell with it; she has no time to stand and argue with CLARK. With spunky determination, she takes off after the purse-snatcher. PAN to WATCH her - The robber has an excellent head start on her; no way she can catch him. CLOSEUP - CLARK -- Watching, tense. ON LOIS -- who finally gives up, slumped, exhausted. LOIS Twice in one night. I'd better go in training. CLARK runs over to her. CLARK It isn't worth getting a heart attack over, Lois. LOIS (catching her breath) You're great with the advice, Clark. Maybe you'd better take over the lovelorn column. CLARK Supposing that man had hurt you? Is it worth risking your life over ten dollars, two credit cards, and a lipstick? I mean, it's not as if -- CLOSEUP - LOIS -- She looks at him with a very strange expression. LOIS How did you know that? CLOSEUP CLARK - CLARK -- A faint flicker of nervousness. He realizes he almost blew his cover. CLARK Know what? TWO SHOT LOIS You described the exact contents of my purse. CLARK (lightly) I just took a shot at it. He steps out into the street to hail a distant cab (and to put an end to the discussion) CLARK Taxi! CUT TO: 85 EXT. STREET - METROPOLIS - NIGHT The runaway thief, slowed down, comes down a street and stops by a garbage can. He opens the purse, takes out the money, then dumps the rest. Now he turns into a very elegant hotel that looks like the Plaza. We get a better LOOK at him: A burly guy in his late 30's, not very bright, but eager to please his superiors. This is OTIS. CUT TO: 86 INT. LOBBY PLAZA HOTEL - NIGHT OTIS suspiciously watches the movement n the lobby of the hotel. At the right moment, he goes into the Men's Room. CUT TO: 87 INT. MEN'S ROOM - PLAZA HOTEL - NIGHT With no one present, OTIS opens the door to a toilet, marked "Out of Order," and enters. CUT TO: 88 INT. TOILET - PLAZA HOTEL - NIGHT Seated on the toilet bowl, OTIS pulls the flush. We SEE the toilet compartment descend like an elevator. CUT TO: 89 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN HIDEOUT (HALL) - NIGHT The entire lair has cost Lex Luthor a great deal of money and time to put this together; his headquarters located hundreds of feet below the street, below the subways, down at sewer level. The place is fantastic: baroque and bizarre, it matches the mind of its creator. The important rooms are Luthor's office, over-decorated in pure kitsch, with an enormous desk, scabbards and tapestries on the walls; a large window outside of which various trompe l'oail "drops" serve as a "view," depending on the whim of Luthor or his cronies (beach scenes, mountain views, skyscraper vistas, etc.), a low table of the kind usually used for a chess board, but supporting a Monopoly game instead, which are part of the closed- circuit television system keyed to the various strange entrances to the underground lair, i.e., under each monitor is its "entrance" address: 59th Street, Park Avenue, Plaza Hotel, Central Park, 67th Street, etc. Other rooms include the TV bank room, located on a gantry over a running sewer canal (to be described in fuller terms later); a library, which descends into a jungle of pipes and cables (fuller description follows later); and the hallway. At the moment we are in the hall, which leads into the office at one end, and various smaller rooms at the other. Its most distinguishing feature is a mammoth wall covered by a large curtain -- what it conceals will be revealed later. As SCENE BEGINS, we are in the hall where suddenly a door opens and OTIS, seated on his toilet elevator, appears. We understand that this is where the lift landed, As OTIS steps out quietly, another MAN comes down the corridor wheeling a large table, its bumpy, irregular surface covered with a canvas, heading for the office. This is ALBERT. He is one of three other (besides Otis) members of the group. The most striking of the three is a man in his late 30's. He is totally bald. His taste in clothing runs to black. This is a brilliant man, but one whose mind and character have been so warped that all his energy and intelligence is applied to evil and/or anti-social schemes. He is a scientific genius who uses all his expertise to further his insatiable appetite for land and real estate. As a personality, he could give ten psychiatrists five years work: a genuine case of rampant pathological aberration that manifests itself in a changeability that is so marked as to go beyond the term "mercurial." He is one minute charming, sweet, paternal with his underlings; the next minute he can (and often does) become savage, cutting sadistic, caustic. he keeps everyone around him in a perpetual state of nerves because they never know whether they will be kissed or kicked from one minute to the next. there is in him as well, a genuine sense of humor, though invariably warped, and a great streak of self-pity, that causes him to wallow in anguish from time to time. His own nervous habits are equally peculiar, i.e., he eats Kleenex nervously, chewing on it to calm himself. The man is an energy center, a neurotic dictator, and, in his own way, a compelling personality. There ought to be a sense of delight in him as well. This is the greatest criminal on Earth -- LEX LUTHOR. The second person is a strikingly attractive woman, about 30. Her looks and manner bespeak class and a former elegance, but time with Lex Luthor has taken its toll; she has a slightly wasted look about her, a sense of having slipped and gone over one very important hill not too long ago. She is bright and flip and handles Lex's changing manner a bit more easily than the others, though its has made her permanently jumpy. She functions as his girlfriend, side-kick, and personal secretary, and her sense of security in her position as well as the security in knowing that Lex, in his weird way, really has affection for her, allows her to sass him and smart-mouth him once in a while, Nobody else would ever dare. God help her, as she often thinks to herself, but for some reason (a masochistic one for sure) she loves Lex Luthor. This is EVE TESCHMACHER. The third man is a rather frail, insubstantial man in his mid-40's. Timid, nervous enough to jump at his own shadow, he is clearly an intelligent specialist who at one time made some horrendous slip in life that forced him, more out of weakness than out of choice, to join the criminal element. Thoroughly under the boss' domination, he is Lex Luthor's personal architect, as well as his chief aide in engineering and planning . Perhaps there is a faint trace of a German accent. his is ALBERT. It is ALBERT who now wheels his table into the office, as OTIS follows discreetly some steps behind. 90 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE - NIGHT As ALBERT enters, he looks questioningly O.S. left. ALBERT Ready? LUTHOR'S VOICE Lay it on me. ALBERT I hope you like it. LUTHOR'S VOICE So far, Albert, it's nothing to write home about, y'know? Y'know? (NOTE: Luthor's constant "y'know" is a nervous twitch, though a verbal one. What drives him crazy is when people actually reply to it.) ON LUTHOR - Now we SEE him for the first time, seated behind his massive desk. ALBERT I know, but -- LUTHOR (sharply) Stop saying you know when I say 'y'know.' I know you know. (with barely a glance to OTIS hovering back) Yes, I know you're here, Otis. What do you want, a brass band? ON OTIS -- at a loss for words; as always awkward and unsure of himself in front of his boss. OTIS I...uh... NEW ANGLE LUTHOR No speeches, Otis. Just watch what Albert has prepared. (to ALBERT) What are you waiting for? ALBERT whisks the cloth away to reveal an incredibly detailed table-top moquette representation of a section of the Southwestern United States, particularly the California desert area. I has desert, canyons, glass "rivers and lakes," mountain ranges and one very specific structure, a tatty little drive-in taco stand, just counter operation with one teeny table in front. On top of its roof, the letters proclaim PANCHO'S TACO PALACE. OTIS and EVE make proper sounds of appreciation as ALBERT looks proud. Then all look expectantly to LUTHOR. ON LUTHOR LUTHOR We are pleased. He reaches forward, pulls a Kleenex from the desk dispenser and begins to chew it. He rises from his desk and walks over to the model. PAN with him, STAY WIDE. Now he inspects it more closely. LUTHOR (expansively) You'll be designing monuments soon, Albert! Hotels! Palaces! ALBERT (carried away) Bunkers! LUTHOR (sternly; on of his lightening-fast switches in tone) I take the man out of Argentina - and it was no picnic finding him y'know? And what does he think about? Bunkers. Still living in the past, when I am about to realize the greatest real estate scheme in the history of the world! EVE (disparagingly) You and your real estate. LUTHOR Me and my real estate? How many other girls, Miss Teschmacher, are lucky enough to have a Park Avenue address like this? EVE It isn't a Park Avenue address. really. LUTHOR So it's six hundred feet below Park Avenue, It's still a Park Avenue address. NEW ANGLE as EVE gets up. perches on the edge of his desk. EVE Why does it all mean so much to you? All the time, 'land, land, land.' LUTHOR My father always said to me, 'Son, don't invest your money in anything but land. Land! Stocks rise and fall, banks fall, people are no damn good, but they'll always need land and for that they'll pay through the nose. 'Remember that ,' my father said. 'Land." EVE Your father was a sick weirdo. LUTHOR I know that. Bu tin this case he was right. Arnold 'Buster' Luthor, the most inept check forger of his time -- (dramatically) A pity he didn't live to see his son strike out for the big city. A pity he didn't live to see how, from humble beginnings, I created an empire. EVE (her bullshit detector is always on) This?? LUTHOR Compared to what came before? A year of living in the sewers? (nostalgically) A part of that will always be with me. EVE So I've noticed. LUTHOR (to the heavens above) Criers and complainers! That's what I get! Moaners and groaners! Me, Lex Luthor, who figured out how to live in luxury without ever paying one cent in taxes. Lex Luthor, who built this fantastic kingdom under the sea, so to speak, hidden and undetected by the fools who eke out their miserable lives on the streets above. EVE (longingly) Streets, Sunlight. When was the last time I saw sunlight. LUTHOR (threateningly) You'll be seeing stars in a minute, Miss Teschmacher. y'know? EVE Even that would be an improvement. LUTHOR strides around his table-top map like Napoleon. LUTHOR An improvement! What will you say when - (point to map) -- when you share in the glory of the greatest land grab since they bought Manhattan Island for 24 bucks. (to ALBERT) Do you know what my IQ tested at in the third grade? ( to EVE) Tell him. EVE 190. ALBERT My! LUTHOR Yes. Makes you look like a dummy, doesn't it? (a quick George Scott grin) Life is never boring with me. Admit it. He turns a full radiant smile on them. TWO SHOT -- EVE and ALBERT, poker-faced EVE Never, Lex. Satisfied, LUTHOR spins on his heal and begins to walk toward OTIS, who instinctively backs up. PAN AND MOVE IN. LUTHOR Now then, Otis. Did you get what I asked for? OTIS Yessir. Just what you wanted. FAVORING OTIS - who steps forward to the table-top display and mysteriously removes a small box from his jacket pocket. The others crowd around, waiting. Now OTIS opens the box and removes a toy pine tree from a model train set and proudly places it on the model terrain. OTIS There. LUTHOR (snatching it up) Not there! A pine tree in Death Valley? Idiot! This is for the North Woods section! OTIS Did I do good, Mr. Luthor? LUTHOR (big smile) Excellent, Otis. (big scowl) But what took you so long? He stalks him, advancing till he has OTIS backed up against the edge of the desk. his eyes narrow. LUTHOR What's the matter, Otis? ON OTIS OTIS (nervous, guilty) Matter? With me? Nothing's the matter. ON LUTHOR LUTHOR Otis, were you up to your old tricks? LUTHOR reaches forward on his desk, pulls a Kleenex out of the dispenser and begins to chew it. LUTHOR (stricken) I broke the man out of prison -- OTIS I'll always be grateful, Mr. Luthor. LUTHOR I gave him steady employment -- OTIS I'll never forget you for that, Mr. Luthor. LUTHOR I gave him this new face. OTIS (who is pretty ugly) I...uh...check. LUTHOR gets up from his desk and sort of writhes over to the squirming OTIS. LUTHOR And now he lies to me. He has been stealing ladies' purses again. (zeroing in ruthless) Haven't you? Haven't you, you miserable petty crook? OTIS (mortified) I guess I...uh...regressed. MED. CLOSEUP - LUTHOR - He gives OTIS a look that could freeze water. Then turns and walks back to his desk with elaborate weariness, gesturing like a man who has to bear a terrible burden in order to get his work done. LUTHOR (glaring) Feed the pets, Otis. ON OTIS - cringing at the prospect. Gasps from EVE and ALBERT. WIDE SHOT - NEW ANGLE -- They start across the enormous room toward the curtained wall on the far side. OTIS can barely walk, so fearful is he. LUTHOR prods him ahead of him with a sharp jabs in the spine. DOLLY IN AND TRACK with them. EVE Speaking of feeding things, what about dinner? LUTHOR What about dinner? I have to worry about the crime of the century, that's all. Y'know? Am I supposed to worry about what's in the refrigerator, too? (to ALBERT) What's in it? ALBERT There's some slice American cheese...and...a half a bottle of club soda, I think. LUTHOR Wonderful. Otis will go above and steal some Big Macs. EVE Again??? LUTHOR (sternly) First the pets, Otis. 91 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S HALL - NIGHT As the approach the wall, we SEE that it is covered by a massive curtain. A complicated ladder arrangement stands adjacent to it. An electronic opening system with a button is mounted on the wall above it. As they get near it: LUTHOR (content) Ahhhh, my favorite part of the day. Who else could have thought of this aquarium? ALBERT Nobody else. LUTHOR Shut up, apple-polisher. LUTHOR mounts a ladder arrangement that stands adjacent to the massive curtain. An electronic opening system with a button is mounted on the wall above it. ANGLE UP, VERY WIDE, FAVORING LEX, who is very full of himself: LUTHOR Y'see. it's just a matter of applying superior intellect to known fact, Example. Fact: for years, children have been flushing baby alligators down the drain when their mothers got sick of them. As well as pet turtles with patriotic and civic mottoes painted on their backs. Supposition: these creatures live and grow and thrive and prosper in the sewers of the city. Application: build a conduit channel them into a private underground tank. Result? He presses the button. The curtain rises, revealing an enormous glass-walled tank, open on the top, that is exactly what LEX LUTHOR described: filled with the most grotesque collection of monsters you have ever seen. Giant albino alligators, all of them horribly white from living in the dark sewers: enormous turtles with American flags and mottoes on their backs; giant swimming rats, snakes, eels and God-knows-what-else. They thrash around in the most revolting brackish, filthy water imaginable. LEX LUTHOR'S response to the sight of his "pets" is ecstatic. H begins to croon to them in a baby-talk falsetto voice the way certain, otherwise normal people do when speaking privately to their dogs of cats, As we WATCH this grotesque aquarium: LUTHOR There's my pwecious sweet wittle babies, yes. The sweetie babies, yes. Who's my baby little sweet heart? Yes. Yes look at Simba. Favoring the most ugly albino alligator of all. LUTHOR Isn't he growing into a big fella, yes, yes, Daddy's big fella. My little Simba, yes. (suddenly, harsher to OTIS) Feed them, Otis. ON OTIS - who turns pale at the thought. OTIS Please... LUTHOR (warningly) Otis... Looking like a man ascending the gallows, Otis ascends the ladder to the very top, where we SEE that a feeding platform extends over the top of the open tank. He crawls out on that, in total terror. The alligators and rats begin leaping from the water, snapping at him. A large box of God-knows -what with a shovel in it is there: the food. Otis pulls on rubber gloves and then begins shoveling the garbage into the tank. As the voracious beasts leap and snap at the food, we HEAR O.S.: LUTHOR (crooning) Yes, my little babies are sooo hungry, aren't they? Yes Daddy's going to make your tummies feel sooo good, yes... CUT TO: 92 INT. CITY ROOM - DAILY PLANET - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- a lot of frenetic activity although the clock on the wall indicates that it is eight o'clock at night. The CAMERA DOLLIES through all the chaos toward the door to Perry White's office as it opens and PERRY WHITE comes out, a sheaf of galleys in his hand. PERRY (calling out) Olsen, take this Loch Ness update down to composing and tell them to use it as fill unless something comes in on that jewel robbery. He crosses to one of the reporter's desks, picks up the phone. JIMMY OLSEN takes the galleys from him and disappears O.S. PERRY (into phone) Harry? That's it. Put 'er to bed. He hangs up, turns to the room full of reporters. PERRY (to all) Okay, people. All around him reporters jump to their feet and run for the door. The CAMERA TRACKS IN FRONT of PERRY as he crosses to LOIS' desk. PERRY Lois, the kickback story... LOIS (the smart alec) Nine to five it's a Pulitzer Prize, I know. PERRY I was going to say that there's only one 'p' in subpoena. What the hell did you major in at Radcliffe? Middle English? (he turns to CLARK who sits nearby) Nice job on the teamster's update, Kent. PERRY WHITE turns and walks away. CLARK Thanks. Chief. ON CLARK - as he looks around to make sure that no one is watching, then, using super- breath. he clears off his desk. PAN IN MED. SHOT as he walks over to LOIS who is sitting back enjoying a cigarette, her feet up on her desk. LOIS What now, my love? CLARK Huh? LOIS Big night coming up? CLARK Oh, not really. I guess I'll just watch a little TV and -- (bravely) -- unless...would you be interested in dinner? LOIS Thanks, Clark, but I'm booked for the night. CLARK (disappointed) Oh. LOIS It's not what you think. Darn it. I'm going out on a story. The Secretary of Defense is landing at the airport tonight and this kid's going to be there to make sure he answers a few questions he'd rather duck. CLARK (half in admiration) Don't you ever give up? FAVORING LOIS - who sighs, ruminating a bit. LOIS For what? Oh, I've see the way the other half lives. My sister, for instance. it looks terrific, but is that what I really want? Three kids, two cats, and fifteen needlepoint pillows? I'd go bananas after one week. Hell, I need this crazy existence of mine. (she lights one cigarette from the butt of the last) Like I need the plague, right? That's what your thinking. CLARK (seriously) No. I'm just thinking that you smoke too much, if you don't mind my saying so. LOIS (dismissing the thought) There's no real proof that tobacco -- CLARK (shakes his head) Lois, you should see what the inside of your lungs look like. NEW ANGLE -- She rises, grabs her reporter's notebook, start toward the elevators. LOIS I appreciate the advice, okay? But I've got a story to do. He catches up to her. CLARK Can I take you to the airport? LOIS Not unless you can fly. CLARK (fast) Come again? They have reached the elevators. The elevators door opens. She enters. LOIS (with a farewell wave) Up, up and away. The elevator doors shut. HOLD ON CLARK. A moment later, the other elevator stops and opens its doors. A man is in it. As CLARK enters: CLARK Down? The doors shut. CUT TO: 93 EXT. ROOF OF THE DAILY PLANET - NIGHT A helicopter sits on a landing pad, its blades turning, its motor on. From the rooftop fire door exit, LOIS emerges, bends down and runs in that position under the blades and into the chopper. The pilot helps her in. As she straps her safety belt on, the pilot start the craft, which begins to rise. Suddenly a great gust of wind spins the helicopter around. It slams into the tower with one pontoon hanging over the edge of the building - this is the passenger (Lois) side. CLOSER - The jolt slams the pilot forward against the windshield, knocking him unconscious. CUT TO: 94 TRACKING WITH CLARK As he walks down the street, coming from the office. As he reaches the cross street -- WIDEN -- he sees a small crowd across the street that has gathered on the corner, looking up and pointing, excited. he looks up to see what they're looking at. 95 ANGLE UP - POV The chopper in trouble on the roof. CUT TO: 96 EXT. ROOF OF THE DAILY PLANET BUILDING - NIGHT CLOSE on the chopper -- The pilot is out cold, Lois frantic, sees her predicament and looks down at her side. 97 HER POV A sheer drop to the street. 98 ON THE CHOPPER As she unbuckles her safety belt and tries to crawl over the pilot to the door on his side that will lead her to the rooftop and safety. The helicopter rocks back and forth violently WIDE SHOT -- The blade of the propeller jams against the exit door on the roof, blocking it. CUT TO: 99 EXT. STREET - NIGHT CLOSEUP - CLARK KENT -- horrified at what he sees. CLARK Lois! Then, with a look of determination on his face, he turns and pushes his way through the mob of people. HIS POV -- On a corner, by an alley, is a phone booth, of the type that is glassed from about the shoulders up and solid panels below. It seems to be unoccupied. ON CLARK - He races to it. In one motion he pulls open the door and pushes in. As he does so: FEMALE VOICE Hey! As he steps back, startled, PAN DOWN HIS POV - a very LITTLE OLD LADY. already on the phone. regarding him furiously. LITTLE OLD LADY Find your own phone booth, sonny! ON CLARK - muttering to himself, he runs toward the alley. 100 EXT. ROOF OF DAILY PLANET - NIGHT ON the chopper -- Lois starts to crawl over the pilot when, suddenly, the balance of the chopper shifts. It tilts the other way with a great lurch, throwing her door open and sending her flying out into space. As she goes, she screams and grabs the undone safety belt - the only line she has. CUT TO: 101 EXT. STREET - NIGHT CLARK races into an alley. PANNING WITH him at SUPER-SPEED: Now, before our eyes, CLARK KENT metamorphoses into SUPERMAN. The CLARK KENT outfit and manner seem literally to vanish as the classic image of the heroic SUPERMAN in full costume materializes. As he races into an alley where this happens, a Super-Fly style BLACK PIMP in incredibly wild and garish pimp clothes comes out of a doorway just in time to see SUPERMAN in full regalia. BLACK PIMP (mightily impressed) Hey, Jim ! That outfit is bad- SUPERMAN (no time for small talk) Excuse me. And with burst of energy, he rises from the ground and flies up into the sky. CAMERA ZOOMS WITH him as he soars to the heights. ON THE PIMP - watching him fly off. BLACK PIMP (calling to the departing SUPERMAN) Where you get them cloths, baby? Who's your tailor? CUT TO: 102 EXT. STREET - NIGHT ON THE CROWD -- watching Lois dangling from the helicopter when: 103 THEIR POV - SUPERMAN Appears flying toward the disabled helicopter. FIRST VOICE Look! SECOND VOICE It's a bird! THIRD VOICE (woman) No, it's some kind of plane! FIRST VOICE Damned if I know, lady. CUT TO: 104 CLOSER ON THE HELICOPTER LOIS Dangling from the open cockpit hanging on by her safety belt. Slowly, carefully, she tries to pull herself into the cabin. Suddenly, she tries to pull herself into the cabin. Suddenly the helicopter slips and tilts even more precariously over the edge. LOIS (screaming) HELP! PILOT (frantically) Don't move! LOIS freezes. Nevertheless the helicopter begins to slip forward, sliding closer and closer to the edge. TIGHT ON LOIS - a, from EDGE OF FRAME, we SEE SUPERMAN'S mighty arm reach out and grab her around the waist. She is positioned so that her back is partly to SUPERMAN. SUPERMAN Easy now, miss, I've got you??? LOIS (in a panic) You've got me? Who's got you??? SUPERMAN (firm) Do as I say. Let go! LOIS (meaning it) Oh, God! I'm going to die! SUPERMAN ( a warm chuckle) Not while I'm around you're not. C'mon... She lets go. He grabs her tight. WIDER ANGLE -- Holding LOIS with one arm, SUPERMAN grabs the bottom of the helicopter with the other hand and lifts it clear of the building. O.S. SOUND: A GASP from the street below. PAN UPWARDS as SUPERMAN slowly lifts the helicopter and carries it to a flat, open area of the roof. Firs he sets LOIS down and then the helicopter on to the roof. ON LOIS -- watching him, in a state of shock. LOIS Who...who... SUPERMAN Let's just say I'm a friend. (motioning to the helicopter) And watch yourself from now on with those things, Okay? (grins) I mean if the good lord wanted people to fly he would have given them wings. Then, from behind the jammed exit door, a furious POUNDING. PERRY WHITE'S VOICE (from inside) Open this damn thing! ON SUPERMAN - As he hears Perry, he takes his cue to split. He leaps from the edge of the building, does a loop in the air, and flies away. 105 EXT. SKY OVER DAILY PLANET BUILDING - NIGHT SUPERMAN starts to drift down from the roof to the alley, fully expecting to go back to being Clark Kent in a moment. ON HIM as he floats down, Suddenly he frowns and looks sharply across the street. 106 HIS POV ZOOM INTO an EXTREME TELEPHOTO SHOT a s BURGLAR emerges from a window in a large apartment house and steps out on a ledge. He drops a fistful of glittering jewels into a bag tied at his waist, then positions suctions cups already attached to his hands and knees. He begins slowly, laboriously, to ascend the side of the building, breathing hard and looking up with concentration. CLOSEUP - BURGLAR -- Suddenly astounded. his face registers shock. BURGLAR'S POV - SUPERMAN strolling down toward him. defying logic and gravity, coming from the top floor. He nods at the BURGLAR like one stroller acknowledging another pleasantly. SIDE VIEW -- The BURGLAR, greatly unnerved, begins to crawl faster, frantically trying to get away. As a result, his suction cups don't stick firmly and he slips and falls from the building. WIDE SHOT -- as SUPERMAN dives and catches him. In one orchestrated movement, he swoops down and deposits the BURGLAR before PATROLMAN MOONEY who has been quietly walking his beat. SUPERMAN (thrusting the dazed BURGLAR toward the cop) I think you two might have something to talk about. TWO SHOT -- The BURGLAR and PATROLMAN MOONEY look at each other in disbelief at what just happened. CUT TO: 107 EXT. SKY ABOVE METROPOLIS - NIGHT SUPERMAN in mid-air again. Suddenly, exhilarated, literally high, he executes a complicated loop, feeling a kind of release, a physical joy in flying. As he comes out of his loop: SOUND: the CROWD below is CHEERING. SUPERMAN looks down, surprised in this private moment. 108 ON THE GROUND The CROWD that has formed is looking up at him, waving, pointing. 109 ON SUPERMAN Seeing them. smiling and thrilled for a moment. Then suddenly he turns shy (the Kent training) and flies off abruptly. CUT TO: 110 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT He lands in an alley. DOLLY IN CLOSER. He stands still a moment, leaning against the wall, his face reflecting all the emotions from exuberant joy to terrible embarrassment, is eyes closing for a moment as he tries to master the changes he is going through tonight, the trip he is so literally o. HOLD ON him like this, when: SOUND: a CLUNKING, as something being set down on a steel floor. His eyes open. His head turns. HIS POV - On the street off the alley, a GANG OF THUGS has pulled a truck up to the loading platform of a warehouse. Its tailgate is down. They are carrying television sets and other purloined appliances, out of the place and into the back of their truck, all in silence. CUT TO: 111 EXT. WAREHOUSE LOADING PLATFORM -- NIGHT As they load up the stuff, one of the CROOKS on the platform picks up a lightweight carton labeled "Hair Dryer" and tosses it to his accomplice inside the truck, but a hand catches it mid-way before it gets there. PULL BACK TO REVEAL SUPERMAN holding the box. SUPERMAN Doing a little spring cleaning, boys? FIRST CROOK Who the -- ? From behind him, another crook creeps up, a crowbar raised. FIRST CROOK What kinda outfit is that, ya fruit? The guy behind brings the crowbar crashing down on Superman's skull. An amazing result: as if he hit it against solid steel. It vibrates so terrifically in his hands that it nearly kills him. As he stands shaking from it: SUPERMAN Bad vibrations, man. He turns, fists clenched, and starts toward the others, who cower against the wall. CUT TO: 112 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT SUPERMAN reaches the end of an alley. As he saunters by, three kids, who do not even notice him behind them, are busily engaged in spray-painting graffiti on a blank wall. ON THE KIDS -- As one of them raises his spray can with a great flourish and points it, we SEE suddenly on the wall (SPECIAL EFFECTS, BURNED IN WITH HEAT VISION) glowing for a moment, this legend: DO NOT WRITE ON WALLS. The kids look at each other with terrified consternation even as the legend cools and abruptly fades, leaving a pristine wall. They drop their spray cans and run. CUT TO: 113 INT. POLICE STATION HOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- PATROLMAN MOONEY and the BURGLAR stand before the DESK SERGEANT. Another cynical OFFICER leans on the desk, amused. DESK SERGEANT Sure, Mooney. A big fella came flying down out of the sky. BURGLAR (still in shock) He saved my life.! He had a red cape. DESK SERGEANT (this gets better and better) Red cape. Sure. The other cop dissolves in guffaws and starts to leave. DESK SERGEANT O'Malley, how can ya leave now? And miss all this? O'MALLEY Oh, I got to go home. (a mocking nod to them) Raquel Welch is waintin, y'know. BURGLAR (consolingly, pats Moony's shoulder) It's okay, pal. We know, don't we? CUT TO: 114 EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF PLANET BUILDING - NIGHT The CROWD has grown. Their heads are craned up. looking right. n the edge of the CROWD. a TV mobile unit is filming the action also waiting. MAN IN CROWD There he is! FOLLOW his pointing finger up and right as Ooooohs and Ahhhhs rise from the CROWD. 115 ANGLE UP TO SEE SUPERMAN flying between buildings, soaring above their heads. 116 ON THE CAMERAMAN, filming frantically. CAMERAMAN (yelling) Hey! Down here! 117 HIS POV: SUPERMAN suddenly swoops down, smiling, and gives a little salute to the TV camera, then flies up and away. There is a little bit of an ego trip going on here. Drifting down, he suddenly cocks his head. ZOOM ONTO his ear, to denote super-hearing. SOUND: (what he hears) A faint, far-off but frantic "MEOW! MEOW!" CUT TO: 118 EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET - NIGHT AERIAL VIEW: LOOKING DOWN, we SEE a cat in the top branches of a tree. At the base. a LITTLE GIRL looks up, but not -- for once -- at SUPERMAN. She is looking at the cat. SOUND: Another MEOW of distress. LITTLE GIRL (in despair) Frisky,! Oh, Frisky, please come down! Instantly, SUPERMAN soars INTO FRAME, into the tree. He scoops up Frisky, and gently holding him to his chest, glides down and lays him in the arms of the LITTLE GIRL. LITTLE GIRL (hugging her cat) Oh, Frisky, you naughty thing -- Then, almost as an afterthought: LITTLE GIRL Thanks, mister. SUPERMAN (smiling) Anytime. She runs up the steps and inside SUPERMAN shakes his head and then flies off. CUT TO: 119 EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - NIGHT In an affluent area (perhaps around the Plaza Fountain) another CROWD, looking mostly well-heeled, many of them are people who have just left the theater or a restaurant, congregate, gazing at the sky as eagerly as the other crowds. A very coifed WOMAN in a mink wrap, holding a large handbag rather loosely, gives the signal. RICH LADY (pointing a be-ringed hand) Look! Look there! Heads turn to look. But we HOLD TIGHT on her FROM BEHIND as a hand comes INTO FRAME and unclasps her bag, reaches in, pulls out a fat money purse, closes the bag again. PULL BACK TO SEE the pickpocket. It is OTIS, doing his thing. FOLLOW him as he moves happily through the CROWD, all of whom are looking up. Great pickings. he picks the pocket of a MAN, pulls out a wallet. He moves on to a nearby WEALTHY COUPLE when the WOMAN suddenly moves away. WOMAN (disappointed) Well, there he goes. Show's over. Her ESCORT lays a hand on her arm, stopping her. ESCORT Oh, he'll be back. Let's stick around. OTIS nods happily and moves on to his next victim. CUT TO: 120 EXT. SKY - NIGHT PICKING UP SUPERMAN as he flies on a bit further, doing one little loop over the empty street just for the hell of it. As he right himself, he is very near the East River, which can be SEEN. 121 HIS POV, LOOKING DOWN AND WIDE: The East River looks like a postcard picture - - still, dark, vast. lights glittering cross the water. Peaceful. Then, abruptly, a big customized Cadillac, with phone antennas and other distinguished marks, comes screeching at a great speed right out onto one of the piers. This is all at a great distance from SUPERMAN. The Caddy stops on a dime at the edge of the pier. CUT TO: 122 EXT. PIER - EAST RIVER - NIGHT ON the Cadillac - The front doors fly open and out pop two MAFIOSO types, big gorillas. They pull out a third hood. He is terrified, and he should be: his arms are tied and his feet are encased in a cement block. They drag him to the end of the pier. VICTIM (panic) No! No! FIRST MAFIOSO (disgusted) Listen to him. All he can do is squeal. SECOND MAFIOSO Tell it to the fish, squealer! They push him off the dock. FIRST MAFIOSO So long, Chicken of the Sea! ON THE VICTIM in the water, struggling desperately to cling to one post of the dock. He loses his grip on it, flails around. VICTIM Helllllllp!!!!!! CUT TO: 123 EXT. SKY ABOVE THE RIVER - NIGHT SUPERMAN hears the cry for help. Instantly he turns and flies toward it. FOLLOW him down. CUT TO: 124 EXT. PIER AREA - NIGHT As he arrives, the Cadillac is speeding away. He regards it with a suspicious look (and will remember it) but he has no time to stop now. he lands at the end of the dock and looks down. HIS POV: Still water. CLOSEUP SUPERMAN (SPECIAL EFFECTS). He activates the x-ray vision; eyes dilate. 125 POV: An x-ray vision of the watery depths. Except that this is the East River so what we SEE is a lot of garbage and the victim sinking in it. 126 FULL SHOT -- SUPERMAN dives into the river. HOLD a beat. Nothing. Then, in a mighty rush, up comes SUPERMAN, bearing the soggy HOOD, not to mention an old boot, a blown out inner tube and other charming items. PAN as he lands on the dock and sets the man down. The guy, with his cement base, bobbles back and forth like one of those children's toys that can be punched but never fall down. Anyway, he's alive, if in shock. SOUND: A LOUD EXCHANGE of GUNFIRE, which, in the still night air, carries far down the river. SUPERMAN looks up sharply. HIS POV: Down river, something is happening. CUT TO: 127 EXT. 79TH ST. BOAT BASIN - NIGHT A police chase is coming to an end on the wharf. TWO MEN, pursued by a handful of police, are running by a handful of police, are running down the wooden planks, FIRING as they go. They jump aboard a fueled and ready cabin cruiser. The police FIRE at the boat as it quickly pulls away from the dock and cuts out into the river. 128 EXT. PIER - NIGHT TWO SHOT: SUPERMAN quickly abandons the saved squealer and soars up over the river in the direction of the GUNFIRE. HOLD on the victim. still bobbling back and forth. CUT TO: 129 EXT. CABIN CRUISER - NIGHT The cabin cruiser maintains a rapid speed as it heads downstream. CUT TO: 130 INT. CABIN CRUISER - NIGHT The THREE GANGSTERS are shaking hands and laughing at their escape from the police. stare ahead, their jaws dropping. THEIR POV: SUPERMAN stands, arms crossed, on the prow of the ship. CUT TO: 131 EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - PLAZA FOUNTAIN - NIGHT The well-heeled CROWD as before: some familiar faces have left and many new ones have arrived. But the CROWD is, if anything, larger than before. And, though they murmur to each other, they are all keeping eyes up, waiting for Superman to appear. All except OTIS. ON OTIS: Sneakily emerging from the rear of the CROWD. His pockets are bulging with loot, his wrist incronguously sports a larger diamond bracelet, and his other hand is weighted with a Saks shopping bag. Whistling innocently, he skitters ferret-like, away from the CROWD. As he does, we HEAR the suddenly "Oooooh" in delight. 132 ON SUPERMAN -- flying over the crowd. 133 ON OTIS -- sizing the moment of distraction, he darts swiftly away from the area and down the nearest side street. FOLLOW. CUT TO: 134 EXT. AN ALLEY - NIGHT OTIS ducks into an alley. Suddenly he stops, dropping the shopping bag. HIS POV: the other end on the alley. SUPERMAN stands there, legs planted firmly on the ground, one finger pointing in the "Uncle Sam Wants You" pose, directly at OTIS. SUPERMAN And now...you. He begins to walk TOWARD CAMERA. (OTIS) CUT TO: 135 EXT. SLUM TENEMENT - NIGHT FULL SHOT - On the steps of a tenement stand about eight wary, very tough-looking HOODS. Four are white -- bent nose "Godfather" types, with suspicious bulges in their pockets. Four are black, mean dudes with afros and combs stuck in their hair. They are regarding each other warily, but mainly keeping a lookout on the street, protecting what is going on inside the building. PAN UP the building TO the top (fourth) floor, and ZOOM INTO window, which is half- open. CUT TO: 136 INT. TENEMENT ROOM - NIGHT FULL SHOT - This room has been converted into a narcotics "factory." A large table in the center of the room is piled high with a great mountain of white powder. Heroin, and worth millions in street value. Scales and plastic baggies are on a nearby table, as FOUR CROOKS, two black and two white, get ready to start bagging the stuff. IN b.g. through the half-open window the night sky can be SEEN. One CROOK steps to the table, touches his finger to the heroin, then lick it - the classic bit. CROOK (approvingly) Pure. A hundred percent pure. By the time we cut this stuff, it oughta be worth 20 million easy. Suddenly, like a pinpoint gale wind, a tremendous gust of wind blows through the window and hits the heroin. As the white powder flies all around the room, it begins to look like a blizzard, he four CROOKS are yelling and screaming hysterically. CUT TO: 137 EXT. SKY - NIGHT SUPERMAN has stopped in mid-air, eyes narrowed, and is blowing super-breath, hard, through that tenement window. CUT TO: 138 INT. TENEMENT ROOM - NIGHT The dope flying like a white tornado; the crooks yelling. 139 EXT. SLUM TENEMENT - NIGHT The BODYGUARDS race up the stairs, guns drawn, shoving to get past each other, pulling knives, chains, you name it. CUT TO: 140 INT. TENEMENT ROOM - NIGHT As the guards burst through the door, they are confronted with the sight of the four CROOKS covered with heroin, looking like they had been dipped in flour. CUT TO: 141 EXT. SKY OVER THE SKYSCRAPERS AD APARTMENT BUILDINGS - NIGHT SUPERMAN flies through the cement canyons of Metropolis and looks down. 142 POV: The black customized Cadillac he last saw on the docks, instantly recognizable. It is heading up to a street corner, then makes a right turn. 143 WIDE SHOT - HE begins to fly after it, then stops and turns ninety degrees. 144 NEW ANGLE - The Caddy has made a left now and is coming down a parallel street. Rather than bothering to chase it all the way around this "U," he flies right between two closely set apartment buildings - zipping through the air shaft - so that he catches up with the car as it comes down. CUT TO: 145 EXT. STREET - NIGHT Dropping just behind the car, which is traveling at normal speed, he grabs the back bumper and lifts the back up about six inches off the ground. the rear tires spin; the front tires dig in; the Cadillac goes nowhere. CUT TO: 146 INT. CADILLAC - NIGHT The two MAFIOSOS who dumped the squealer off the docks are dumbfounded. FIRST MAFIOSO What is it? Whaddya doin'! SECOND MAFIOSO (the driver) I don't know! IT ain't movin'! It ain't movin'! FIRST MAFIOSO Well step on it! Give 'er the gas! INSERT: The driver puts his foot full on the gas pedal. all the way down. CUT TO: 147 EXT. STREET - NIGHT SUPERMAN now drops the back end back on the street. The car, with full throttle down, instantly charges ahead at 100 mph, completely out of control, and smashes into a lamppost. CUT TO: 148 EXT. POLICE PRECINCT STATIONHOUSE - NIGHT The DESK SERGEANT we saw earlier comes out of the stationhouse with another cop; they are looking down, watching their steps as they walk down the street. POLICEMAN TWO (shaking his head) What a night! DESK SERGEANT You can say that again. The nuts were coming out of the woodwork. If I get one more call about an Unidentified Flying Object - with red boot - well, I'll be - Looking up now, he stops and stares at the street in amazement. So does POLICEMAN TWO. DESK SERGEANT (awed) Well, I'll be - THEIR POV: The cabin cruiser in he street, balanced on its keel, with the THREE GANGSTERS wrapped and tied with heavy anchor chains. CUT TO: 149 EXT. THE TOP OF THE CABIN CHRYSLER BUILDING - NIGHT SUPERMAN stands on the ledge, leaning against the spire, surveying the lights of the city below him. There is a smile of enormous satisfaction on his face. On the horizon, the sun begins to rise. FADE TO BLACK FADE IN: 150 EXT. ARCTIC CIRCLE - DAY WIDE SHOT -- of the Fortress of Solitude. CUT TO: 151 INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE - DAY WIDE; SUPERMAN and JOR-EL, who has materialized. JOR-EL looks concerned, listening to SUPERMAN, who looks conflicted. SUPERMAN I don't know what to say. (awkwardly) Look, I -- I just - JOR-EL (quietly) Enjoyed it? SUPERMAN (nods, ashamed, not looking at him) I guess I got carried away JOR-EL (gravely) My son, I foresaw this. I knew - SUPERMAN (impassioned) No! You couldn't imagine - JOR-EL How good it felt! SUPERMAN How good it felt - He falls silent again, ashamed. JOR-EL ....to feel yourself. Very well. You are revealed to the world. But still you must keep your secret identity. First of all, you will need it as an escape valve. You cannot be special twenty-eight hours a day - SUPERMAN Twenty-four. JOR-EL Or twenty-four as it is in Earth time. Furthermore, if you will reveal yourself, your enemies will have a way of getting at you where you are vulnerable: by hurting the people you care for. (sadly) Ah, this Earth...this world you live in, Kal-El... (suddenly impassioned) Resist its temptations, its rewards, especially its political system. SUPERMAN There are none of them any good anyway. JOR-EL And it is forbidden for you to interfere with human history. All you can do, Kal-El, even now that you have...found yourself...is help them to evolve. Set an example. Show them they must strive towards the light. And... remember us... FADE TO BLACK. FADE IN: 152 INT. CLARK'S APARTMENT - METROPOLIS - NIGHT OPEN TIGHT on a TV screen (TV EFFECTS). As the NEWSCASTER on the Evening NEWS is talking. Throughout the following, the TV screen ALTERNATES SHOTS of the Newscaster with SHOTS of SUPERMAN in action: footage taken by TV crews during Superman's recent day and night of crime-busting, beginning with the rescuing of Lois and so on. TV NEWSCASTER Good evening. What kind of day was it? A day that saw what many believe to be the most extraordinary phenomenon of our time. Our news film confirms eye-witness reports of a caped figure, resembling a man, who appeared flying in the sky over Metropolis. Yes, I said flying. I addition, sources close to the Chief of Police report that this creature, or man, or whatever it is, is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, to run faster than a speeding bullet, is more powerful than a locomot...well, its just incredible, that's all. At this point, BEGIN SLOW DOLLY BACK TO REVEAL that we are in CLARK KENT'S modest apartment living room. The decor is bland and unmemorable: a few clown prints or hunting scenes on the wall, functional furniture and so on. Seated in a lounge chair in front of the TV set, with his feet propped up on a vinyl hassock, is SUPERMAN. As we first SEE him, he is grinning at al the fuss - rather pleased with his new celebrity status. The effects of the ego trip we saw earlier are still there. But as the news report continues, he becomes gradually more and more thoughtful and serious. TV NEWSCASTER White House comments are guarded at present. The President is said to be studying the matter, while sources close to the Senate Majority Leader are said to be investigating possible CIA links. As further accounts of this incident have poured in, speculation has arisen in some quarters that the whole thing may be some sort of fantastic hoax. Randolph Goss of the Richardson Foundation said, 'We ought to remember what Orson Welles did to the country with his "Men Form Mars" the thing before we go running around buying this one whole hog.' By now SUPERMAN looks really distressed. he gets up -- CAMERA FOLLOWING - and walks across the room to a mirror on the wall. He looks hard at himself, expressionless, as the TV continues O.S. MOVE IN TO A VERY TIGHT CLOSEUP of SUPERMAN in mirror. TV NEWSMAN The Mayor of Chicago commented that it all seemed t be a publicity stunt designed to draw attention to Metropolis - a city that has been having its share of financial problems of late. Photo experts are presently examining film you are now seeing. Their question is everybody's: true or false? Miracle or fraud? At which point, CUT FROM CLOSEUP of the brooding SUPERMAN. CUT TO: 153 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN HIDEOUT - OFFICE - NIGHT On the TV screen as we SEE the end of the same newscast. TV NEWSCASTER Man or myth? he answer is up to you. REVERSE - On a battered OTIS, who sits glumly watching, EVE is putting his arm in a sling OTIS Man. WIDEN THE SHOT TO REVEAL LEX LUTHOR seated at is desk, watching the TV with a dark, worried, preoccupied expression. He is chewing Kleenex with great intensity. ALBERT stands nearby. LUTHOR I needed this, Y'know? I really needed this. just when I'm nearing the fruition of my project, Big Bird flies into town. (histrionics) Go ahead! Kill me by inches! Put me on the agony rack! EVE You think he's for real? LUTHOR (ominously) He's from another world. REACTIONS: EVE and ALBERT, surprised. LUTHOR Is that real enough for you? OTIS (miserably) It is for me. LUTHOR Y'know? I'm sure of it. Y'know? And there's a strong streak of goody- goody in him that is going to blow this deal for me if I don't do something about it. (working himself into a snit) Something! CLOSEUP - LUTHOR LUTHOR (furious, insulted) Why?? If you were the strongest, most fantastic creature in the world, who would you pit yourself against? Me! Y'know? for the challenge of it! CUT TO: 154 INT. LOIS LANE'S APARTMENT - DAY CLOSEUP - CLARK KENT CLARK It's ridiculous! PULL BACK TO REVEAL: A lovely apartment in a high-rise building with a balcony- terrace off the living room. Lots of books, modern art posters on the walls, etc. A desk with a typewriter. CLARK is seated on the sofa, LOIS next to him, about two feet of space between them. LOIS I'm telling you, I was there. CLARK You were probably so scared you didn't look to see what the trick was. LOIS (outraged) It wasn't a trick! CLARK Oh sure. A man flies in the sky like a pigeon and it wasn't a trick. LOIS Clark Kent, if you had only seen it the way I did, you - CLARK It was done with wires. They must have rigged him like they do with Peter Pan. LOIS There weren't any wires. I looked. CLARK Mirrors, then. It's done with mirrors. LOIS He grabbed me! He held me! He set me down gently! How could that be done with mirrors? CLARK Look, there was probably a trampoline on the roof somewhere and this joker just took a big bounce. LOIS Why would he do that? How would he know I was going to suddenly slip. CLARK (fussily) I don't know, Lois, but I do know a fraud when I hear one. This thing goes against all natural laws. LOIS (studies him) You're just jealous. CLARK Jealous? Of what? LOIS Of this...Superman. CLOSEUP CLARK -- as he hears the name for the first time. CLARK What'd you call him? LOIS (O.S.) Superman. (pleased with it) Pretty good name for him, isn't it? BACK TO TWO SHOT CLARK Is that what they're calling him? LOIS They will once I hang it on him in tomorrow's edition. CLARK (mulling it over) Super...man. Hmmm... LOIS (she gives him an arch look) It isn't that I still don't like you, Clark. It's just that...well, once you've had something like that happen to you, it kind of changes a girl. (she rises) I'm going to make some coffee. You want some? CLARK (disheartened) No thanks. PAN with LOIS as she walks across to the door that opens to the kitchen. LOIS I know, I know, I sound like a starstruck kid and I've only said three words to the man. She enters the kitchen; the door swings shut behind her. HOLD in living room, PANNING back to CLARK. LOIS (O.S.) 'Help' and 'Thank you.' That's not much of a basis for a meaningful relationship, is it? Anyway, for all I know, he's got a wife and kids on some other planet. The whole thing sounds unrealistic, I know that. So I called this guy that's married to a girl I went to college with. He's a shrink. I mean, I'll try anything once. So I made As she is talking, CLARK walks out to the terrace. CUT TO: 155 EXT. TERRACE - DAY Suddenly he cocks his head sharply: his super-hearing has picked up something. ZOOM to a rooftop across the street, which is covered with TV aerials. The super-hearing picks the announcement coming over the airwaves. As this broadcast continues to be HEARD ON SOUND TRACK, INTERCUT THE FOLLOWING SHOTS: 156 1. CLARK listening, disturbed. Looking down the block. 157 2. ZOOM three blocks to window of an apartment building, a family group runs from all parts of the apartment to see this bulletin on their television set (Mom in her apron running from the kitchen, Son in undershirt with shaving cream on his face running in from the bathroom, etc., etc.) 158 3. Another ZOOM from Clark's POV: The street below, where a bunch of cab drivers have abandoned their cabs and are clustered around one of their number who sits on his fender, holding a portable radio. 159 4. Another ZOOM LUTHOR'S VOICE (from radio) A challenge to this... (scornfully) ...flying person. At Twelfth and Main there is a furniture warehouse. Somewhere inside is a pellet filled with a propane lithium compound. In exactly fifteen minutes it will automatically drop into a beaker of acid. Approximately twenty-two seconds later a poison gas will annihilate everyone within a forty block radius. I would remind Mr. Do-Gooder that within this area is one on the city's largest hospitals...we have fifteen minutes to find out if you are what you claim to be or if we have been the victims of mass hysteria. 160 ON CLARK - a look of determination on his face, he starts to metamorphose into SUPERMAN. LOIS (O.S.) (still talking from the kitchen) ...and then he said, 'maybe the man's a father figure.' So I said, 'look, my Pop's a swell guy, but he doesn't go flying around town in a red cape..." Clark's blue serge suit, tie and shirt disappear, leaving him in his Superman costume. The Transformation is not quite complete however, because he still has on his glasses, when: ON THE DOOR TO THE KITCHEN -- as it swings open and LOIS comes out. She spots SUPERMAN, freezes. There is a beat of silence. ON SUPERMAN -- Nervous. How to explain. CLOSE ON LOIS LOIS Oh, Clark. (she suppresses a giggle) You dear, sweet man. That silly costume must have cost you a fortune. Suddenly we realize that Superman's disguise is, in fact, perfect: that Lois cannot believe Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same. SUPERMAN (speechless) I...I... WIDE SHOT -- as LOIS crosses to him. LOIS I'm sorry for laughing, Clark. I'm very touched you went to all this trouble to impress me, but... (she starts to laugh again) I'm sorry. It's just that you look so... LOIS turns away because she can't control her laughter. LOIS I'm sorry, Clark. But I mean it's just not you. I'm very touched - She explodes with laughter and dashes into the kitchen in order to spare him. ON SUPERMAN -- He glances in a mirror, shrugs. SUPERMAN (wryly) Maybe it needs a tuck in the waist. He jumps on the balcony railing and flies off. HOLD for a beat, then LOIS, having regained her composure, comes back out of the kitchen. She looks around, but Clark is nowhere is sight. LOIS (calling out) Clark, I...Clark? (to herself) Oh, now I've gone and hurt his feelings. CUT TO: 161 EXT., WAREHOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- The entire area has been cordoned off, dozens of fire trucks and police cars are drawn up. The warehouse itself is floodlit. The CAMERA DOLLIES IN to the main entrance where a number of MEN from the bomb squad stand, strapping on their protective gear, we HEAR: O.S. SOUND: a WHOOSHING NOISE. A moment later SUPERMAN lands directly in front of the warehouse and waves the police back. He turns to the door. looks at it a moment. CUT TO: 162 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD OTIS, ALBERT and EVE stand by a bank of TV monitors set up on a walkway in the bowels of the Metropolis sewers. Below them, the brackish canal. LUTHOR is coming down the walkway toward them, when OTIS sees SUPERMAN on one of the monitors, standing by the warehouse door. OTIS He's there. LUTHOR scurries over to look. CUT TO: 163 EXT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT SUPERMAN opens the door -- a heavy metal one. Suddenly there is a TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION (a lot of flames and smoke) directly in front of SUPERMAN'S chest. HOLD for a beat as the SCREEN IS FILLED with smoke. ON THE BOMB SQUAD - Behind SUPERMAN, the blast has knocked them on their ass. They run for cover behind police cars. ON THE DOOR - As the smoke clears, we SEE that the explosion didn't even slow SUPERMAN down. He tears apart what's left of the massive door as though it were tinfoil and steps inside. CUT TO: 164 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT LUTHOR is now seated at a console of buttons in front of the monitors, scowling. Two of the monitors show the exploded door simultaneously from both sides of the warehouse doorway. LUTHOR Nuts. He made it. EVE (impressed) Tough guy, huh? As LUTHOR snarls, EVE checks one item off her clipboard. CUT TO: 165 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT ON SUPERMAN -- as he flings the door aside, steps into the first chamber and looks around. HIS POV: A room decorated to look exactly like a tacky living room: a sofa with gold threads in the fabric, a free form coffee table, reproductions of woodland scenes on the wall. CUT TO: 166 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD ON LUTHOR, EVE, and ALBERT watching the monitors intently. EVE Bet he makes it. LUTHOR You're on. And with that he presses a small red button on the control board. 167 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- as a door slams shut behind SUPERMAN, blocking off his exit. CLOSER IN -- as a panel in the wall slides open and a machine gun barrel protrudes. The CAMERA WHIP PANS AROUND the room as a number of other panels slide open and the same thing happens. All of them begin FIRING at once -- a DEAFENING BARRAGE of BULLETS. ON SUPERMAN -- as the bullets strike him and bounce off. He strides through the HAIL of FLYING METAL to the door at the other end of the room. CUT TO: 168 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT LUTHOR (very annoyed) Shut up. EVE I didn't say a word. LUTHOR presses another button. CUT TO: 169 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT SUPERMAN enters a second room, decorated in rattan lawn and patio furniture. Suddenly thousands of gas jets are turned on. Flames come shooting out of each of them. In an instant, the room becomes a furnace: the furniture ignites instantly and there are flames everywhere. SUPERMAN simply walks right through the wall of fire, unscathed, and starts toward the door of the third room. 170 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S TV MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT LUTHOR sits with his head in his hands. The others watch the monitors, astonished. LUTHOR Damn! (raises eyes, puts a finger on a button) This will get him. EVE Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen., CUT TO: 171 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- SUPERMAN enters the third room. After about three steps he disappears from view, in the middle of an incredible blizzard. CUT TO: 172 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT ON LEX -- watching the television monitor, which is nothing but snow. LUTHOR (to EVE) What's the temperature now? EVE (checking a gauge) Fifty degrees below and still falling. LUTHOR When it gets to seventy-five below, stabilize it. 173 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT -- as the blizzard stops and the air slowly clears. Standing in the middle of the room is a large amorphous mound of ice and snow. The CAMERA DOLLIES IN TO A CLOSEUP and a thin crack appears running down the center of the shape. A moment later, it breaks open to reveal SUPERMAN, unharmed, as he steps out of the shell of ice. CUT TO: 174 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT LUTHOR pops a KLEENEX in his mouth -- maybe two -- and chews in rage. CUT TO: 175 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT as SUPERMAN comes through the door into a fourth room. HIS POV: across a large, open area is a metal vial, hanging over it, suspended by a thin cord is the capsule filled with the poison gas and, surrounding the whole affair is a wire mesh fence. A clock on the wall indicates that there are less then eight seconds left. CUT TO: 176 INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD - NIGHT ON LUTHOR -- He leans forward, eagerly watching the monitor screen. His hand is on one of the dials. He twists it slowly toward the danger level. CUT TO: 177 INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT ON SUPERMAN -- He crosses to the fence, studies it for a moment. SOUND EFFECT: A FAINT HUMMING. CLOSER ON SUPERMAN'S HANDS -- as he reaches toward the wire fence, grips it. SPECIAL EFFECTS: sparks, bolts of lightening come shooting out of the fence which is charged with electricity. Nevertheless, he rips the fence apart. ON THE CORD HOLDING THE CAPSULE -- Suddenly it gives way. ON SUPERMAN -- with super-speed he reaches out, grabs the capsule just before it drops into the vial of acid. SUPERMAN pops it into his mouth and swallows it. He looks around, a worried expression on his face; then spots the