Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 16: "Double Trouble"

Original Broadcast Date: January 02, 1953

Writer: Eugene Solow

Director: Tommy Carr

Guest Cast:
Howland Chamberlain as Doctor Albert Schumann/Fisher
Selmer Jackson as Colonel Jake Redding
Tom Keene as Major Lee
Rudolph Anders as Doctor Rudolf Albrecht
John Baer as Kreuger
Stephen Carr as Count Otto Von Klaben/Madame Charpentier
John Crawford as The Ambulance Driver
Jimmie Dodd as Jake The Fingerprint Man
Ross Ford as The Henchman

"Double Trouble"

A ship is docked at Metropolis Harbor, and an ambulance waits outside of the United States Customs area. Otto Von Klaben is onboard in his guise of Madame Charpentier. Former Nazi espionage agent Fisher, an associate of Doctor Rudolf Albrecht, is dressed as a health official in search of Von Klaben because he has an item that is very important to Albrecht. Von Klaben then kills Fisher after a brief discussion with the spy. Meanwhile, Jimmy Olsen is waiting to get an interview with his favorite movie star Denise Dario thanks to Lois Lane. Jimmy encounters Madame Charpentier, who gives him a box for the ambulance driver as the Daily Planet cub reporter helps her get to her taxi. Now, Jimmy is unwittingly in the middle of one of the most dangerous adventures of his career.

Believing that there is serum in the package from Madame Charpentier, Jimmy has given it to the ambulance drivers. They take him to Doctor Albrecht at gunpoint. Jimmy tells Albrecht that he merely did as the French woman had instructed while waiting for his interview. Albrecht opens the box with protective gloves, and he starts to believe Jimmy until he discovers that the small parcel is empty. Thinking Jimmy knows more than he lets on, Albrecht holds him prisoner in a secret, electrified room. Jimmy is completely unaware that he may be involved in a mystery that could change the world forever.

Lois Lane had witnessed Jimmy entering the ambulance at the pier. Clark Kent is discussing the situation with Metropolis Police Inspector Bill Henderson. Kent feels that the murder of Fisher is somehow connected to Jimmy's disappearance. It is at this point Henderson reveals the facts available to him. Madame Charpentier had embarked from Germany and had encountered Fisher when the boat docked in Metropolis. Fisher was then found dead in Madame Charpentier's stateroom. However, there are male fingerprints all over the place. It is believed that Fisher's men were not expecting to find a woman, or rather a female impersonator whose passport was a forgery. Madame Charpentier may be the only key to finding Jimmy Olsen, but even Superman may not be to locate him/her.

To learn more about Madame Charpentier, the Metropolis police have been attempting to contact authorities in Germany. Foul weather there has prevented any communication. This truly is a job for Superman. The Man of Steel flies there and meets with American Army Intelligence Officer Colonel Jake Redding as Clark Kent. Kent learns that Madame Charpentier is really Count Otto Von Klaben. This, however, is not what surprises Clark, for he has just met Doctor Albert Schumann - a man who is a dead ringer for the murdered Fisher. Von Klaben was an orderly who had worked for Schumann, but he had been discharged two weeks ago without any word on where he would go next. To complicate matters, there doesn't seem to be anything missing from the military hospital. Superman's investigation seems to have reached a dead end.

Clark and Colonel Redding have just gone to see Major Lee, officer in charge of medical supplies, to see if there is anything of value on the army base. A million dollars worth of radium the size of a peanut is stored in a lead lined safe near Lee's office. Doctor Schumann was the last to be seen with it in the past couple of weeks. Lee, Redding and Kent go to check the radium when Schumann, who is Fisher's twin brother, closes and locks the vault. It is air tight and dark within the structure, giving Clark a chance to unlock the door with Superman's strength. The three men are now free. Unfortunately, Schumann has escaped. This mystery is becoming more complicated for Superman.

Von Klaben had taken one of three trains that had left Metropolis at noon, and the radium was smuggled in a pair of lead lined earrings worn by his Madame Charpentier persona. Von Klaben was to give them to Doctor Albrecht, whom he had double-crossed. Superman has just found both Von Klaben and the radium. All that's left for our hero to do is rescue Jimmy Olsen before it's too late.

The police have surrounded Doctor Albrecht's residence. The German villain is trying to escape, but he didn't count on being stopped by Superman. Inspector Henderson takes the not-so-good doctor into custody as the Man of Steel frees Jimmy. With the bad guys off to prison, Jimmy can now get back to the Daily Planet to give the story of his strange adventure to editor Perry White.

Rating - 3 (out of 5): Howland Chamberlain has played a variety of parts in his career. Fans of Dustin Hoffman films will know him as Judge Atkins in Kramer Vs. Kramer. Look for his other notable role in the movie High Noon, in which he portrayed the hotel clerk.

Quite a few of Selmer Jackson's roles in film and television were those of military officials, and The Adventures of Superman was among them. Look for him as General Summers in season two's "Jet Ace".

Born in Germany, Rudolph Anders began his acting career there. He would play Nazis in American films during World War II under his birth name Rudolph F. Amendt. He would return to his moniker of Rudolph Anders in his post-war work. Anders will return to Metropolis in season two for "Lady In Black"

If you look closely, you will notice a blooper in this episode. As Superman returns to Metropolis from Germany, his S shield is backwards. Now, that could mean that Bizarro is in this episode without getting any credit, or the frame of film was placed incorrectly. You decide.

This one could have been a great episode, and the story had potential. Unfortunately, the overall effort is average at best. It does have its moments, which is why I gave it a rating of three. But great flying sequences and Stephen Carr and George Reeves' performances are overshadowed by the fact the cast and crew do not seem to have their hearts in their work.

Eugene Solow's previous effort, "The Haunted Lighthouse", was a lot better. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I'm being so hard on "Double Trouble". Its writer and cast did stupendously during their last collaboration. This time, the acting is overblown, and the writing feels like it's filler material similar to a guest scribe's work in the comic books after a big story arc is finished. The script should have been given a second or third draft before it was filmed.

One question kept popping into my mind as "Double Trouble" progressed. Why did the spies need the radium? This fact is never explained throughout the episode. Every villain needs a motive for their crimes, but one is not given in this story. The audience is left scratching their heads and wondering what Albrecht and Von Klaben intend to do with the stolen material. More thought needed to be put into that important detail.

I said before that the acting was overblown. Let me rephrase that by saying that Rudolph Anders' performance was exaggerated to the point of nearly being on par with William Shatner's in any episode of T.J. Hooker. It's often difficult to take Anders seriously as a villain in "Double Trouble". I've never seen any of his film or TV appearances beyond The Adventures of Superman. I cannot form an opinion on anything besides that. I can only hope Anders is better in "Lady In Black".

Speaking of acting, it feels like Phyllis Coates and Jack Larson phoned in their lines throughout this episode. Robert Shayne doesn't do badly, but he also didn't do his best this time around. George Reeves and Stephen Carr were the saving graces of "Double Trouble". Carr particularly showed how wide his range can be as a thespian. He is absolutely fantastic in roles such as this one.

There are some really great flying sequences in "Double Trouble". It still amazes me to see them in an age full of CGI. It's a pity that future seasons of The Adventures of Superman never had them because of George Reeves' fall on the set of the series.

"Double Trouble" is better than "Rescue". However, it's not as good as other episodes in the first season. The cast and crew just didn't do their normally wonderful jobs with acting, writing, directing, etc. It feels like this story was meant to fill an empty space in the series.

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