Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 2 - Episode 22: "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor"

Original Broadcast Date: February 08, 1954

Writer: David Chantler

Director: Thomas Carr

Guest Cast:
Herb Vigran as Legs Leemy
Keith Richards as a Henchman
Dick Rich as Toots
Charles Anthony Hughes as the Director of Mercy General Hospital
Ron Hargrave as the Boy Mayor
Robert Crosson as the Boy Police Chief
Jack Pepper as the Daily Planet's Custodian

"Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor"

Daily Planet editor Perry White had a rough night and could not get to sleep. By the time he finally was able to rest, he awoke to discover that he was late for work. He arrived at the Planet Building to find a man removing his nameplate from his office door. The angry chief enters to find Superman at his desk. He is there to initiate an idea that he and some of the most important people in Metropolis, including Mister White, had been discussing for quite some time - a Boy's Day Program that allows the young men of the city to learn civic duties and responsibilities by giving them important jobs for twenty-four hours. This means one thing that irritates Perry to no end. Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen will be running the Planet for the entire day. Perry's heart and blood pressure may not be able take what Jimmy could have in store for him.

Nearly seven years ago, there was not enough evidence to convict Legs Leemy of robbing an armored car of two million dollars. Tomorrow, the statute of limitations on trying Leemy for this crime will be up at midnight. To prove something to Perry, Jimmy manufactures a story saying that new information in the case could send the thief to prison. Leemy reads this in the latest edition of the Daily Planet. Now, he intends to find out what the new boy editor has learned. Jimmy may not realize that his first day as the chief may be his last day on Earth.

As Jimmy goes through files on Legs Leemy, Clark Kent enters to advise the boy editor to be careful about the stories he puts in the Planet. While he does this, Kent flips the switch on the editor's intercom so he and Perry can listen to what is going on in the chief's office. What they hear shocks them. Legs Leemy has entered with two of his men. What he wants is everything Jimmy has on the armored car robbery. Meanwhile, Leemy's gang will keep Lois and Jimmy captive until after midnight, when the theft charge is dropped. Leemy is even willing to spend a year in prison for carrying a gun as long as he gets what he demands from Jimmy. Otherwise, there will be trouble for the young man and Lois. Jimmy seems to be in a situation from which even Superman cannot rescue him.

The police have got the Planet Building surrounded. Meanwhile, Legs has revealed that he has the money he had taken from the armored car with him. However, his gang is disappointed when they learn that they won't get to keep it. Later, Perry brings in some sandwiches, which are thrown off the balcony because Leemy believed that they could be poisoned. While the thief is doing this, Lois admires his henchman Toots' machine gun. She then tricks him onto letting her hold it. Now, Lois has the firearm in her possession. Will she use the weapon to help her and Jimmy escape from Legs Leemy and his thugs?

Lois has fired the Toots' gun at the ceiling. The slow witted criminal believed it was the only weapon they had until Legs pulls a pistol on Lois and Jimmy. Their attempt to escape has failed, and it looks like they may not leave the Planet Building alive.

Legs Leemy is counting the stolen money to divide it with his men. Jimmy notices that he's put more bills in his pile than in the other one. He is given some cash by Toots and the other thief for keeping Legs honest. Jimmy then notices the currency's serial number matches one that was in the file on the armored car heist. He lets this fact slip. Now, because of their knowing too much, Legs Leemy and his gang will make certain that Jimmy and Lois never leave the office if they try anything funny.

Leaving Perry White to stew in the mild mannered reporter's office, Clark Kent has left for Mercy General Hospital as Superman. The Metropolis Marvel has made an unusual request of the director. He needs something that could assist him with a plan. If it works, Lois and Jimmy can be rescued, and Legs Leemy will go to prison for the rest of his life.

It is now three minutes before the statute of limitations ends for Legs Leemy. Superman has just gone to the Daily Planet's basement. He has placed the liquid he received from Mercy General's director onto a cloth and into the ventilation duct to the editor's office. The substance is a new harmless anesthetic that has just put Leg's Leemy and his thugs to sleep along with Lois and Jimmy. Clark Kent and Perry enter to allow Lois and Jimmy to get some air to awaken them. A policeman arrives with a boy mayor and boy chief of police to take the criminals away. As editor of the Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen has made one of the most important arrests in the city, but Perry White wants to go back to bed and hope that all of the cub reporter's antics were just a bad dream.

Rating - 3 (out of 5): Character actor Herb Vigran was in last season's "No Holds Barred". He'll return for season three's "Superman Week".

Keith Richards is not to be confused with the Rolling Stones' guitarist of the same name. This Keith Richards played Victor Hugo in the series The Count of Monte Cristo. In addition to various roles in shows like The Lone Ranger, Richards will make two more appearances in The Adventures of Superman.

Dick Rich won't be in future episodes of The Adventures of Superman. However, check him out in such shows as Gunsmoke and Wanted Dead or Alive.

Charles Anthony Hughes often played doctors and officials. Look for him in such roles in East of Eden and The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok.

Ron Hargrave, in addition to his acting, is known for writing the song "High School Confidential".

Robert Crosson played in six episodes of Dragnet and had an uncredited role of Albert in the Bing Crosby classic White Christmas.

Jack Pepper was a vaudevillian actor who was friends with Bob Hope. In fact, his last television appearance is in the September 22, 1969 episode of The Bob Hope Show.

Look closely when Jimmy's name is placed on the editor's office door. The sign reads "James J. Olsen - Editor". However, in season one's "The Case of the Talkative Dummy" Jimmy introduces himself to Harry Green as James Bartholomew Olsen. Plus, Herb Vigran's character of Cy Horton in season three's "Superman Week" reads Jimmy's identification as James B. Olsen. The middle initial J in this episode is a continuity error.

This episode is adapted from the story "Jimmy Olsen, Editor" that appeared in Superman #86, cover dated January 1954.

This one had potential. It really did. In spite of that, I nearly gave it a two, but my second viewing of the episode helped increase its rating. Had this been a part of the color years, maybe it would have a four. However, we've been looking at a season that has given us superb entries like "Five Minutes to Doom" and "Panic in the Sky". Average shows like "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor" stick out like a sore thumb.

The story of "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor" isn't that bad. Unfortunately, most of the actors, except for George Reeves, don't seem seem to have their hearts in their performances. Even John Hamilton doesn't seem like himself for reasons I can't begin to fathom. He, Jack Larson and Noel Neill aren't out of character, but they didn't really put their best foots forward this time around.

Herb Vigran did okay as Legs Leemy, but it feels like he was given the script at the last minute. This makes the viewer wonder if Vigran had any time to get to "know" his character before the episode had been filmed. There are moments when even he isn't convinced by his performance as Legs. Herb Vigran seems better suited for his role in "No Holds Barred". Let's hope he does better in "Superman Week".

A Boy's Day Program in Metropolis is a dated, but good, concept. These days, it would probably be called Youth Day as young women would participate as well. It would have been nice to see a girl wanting to become a reporter like Lois, but that in itself could make a great episode of The Adventures of Superman. The idea of someone being taken under Lois' wing was used a little bit in the radio show. Unfortunately, television audiences weren't so lucky to get this. Still, the Boy's Day was the series' answer to fighting juvenile delinquency at the time, and it succeeds, which is ironic considering that one year or so later, Doctor Fredric Wertham and the United States government would blame the Man of Steel for causing the very thing against which he was fighting.

I would say skip "Jimmy Olsen, Boy Editor" for its phoned-in performances, but the story itself was decent enough to save it. It's just a pity the cast didn't feel like it was on the same page as Thomas Carr and David Chantler. Oh well. Hopefully, the next episode will show us that the actors in the series are back on track. Let's keep our fingers crossed, gang.

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