Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 5 - Episode 3: "The Town That Wasn't"

Reviewed by: James Lantz

Original Broadcast Date: March 21, 1957

Writer: Harry Gerstad

Director: George Blair

Guest Cast:
Charles H. Gray as Officer Fanning
Dick Elliott as Judge Frank Plummer
Phillip Barnes as Rogers, The Fur Truck Driver
Terry Frost as Officer Hanlon
Michael Garrett as Mister Harris, The Medicine Truck Driver
Jack Littlefield as Joe, The Diner Owner
Frank O'Connor as Peters

"The Town That Wasn't"

A truckload of medicinal drugs has disappeared mysteriously on an open highway. The pharmaceutical company that sent them on the delivery route believe that their driver Mister Harris may wish to sell them illegally. Even Superman has had no luck in finding the missing goods. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet is shorthanded as cub reporter Jimmy Olsen is taking some time off for a week. As the young man is driving, Police Officer Fanning pulls him over. Jimmy was only driving thirty-five miles per hour in a forty-five mile zone. However, according to Fanning, Jimmy drove through the small town of Akport, a hamlet of four little wooden buildings that Jimmy didn't even see. As Fanning and Olsen arrive in the tiny village, Judge Frank Plummer is fining another "speeder" seventy-five dollars plus another five for insulting the judge. Jimmy is clearly in the middle of an unusual adventure that is certain to cut his vacation short.

Having given the judge fifty dollars, Jimmy is forced to return to Metropolis. He does not hear Fanning and Plummer's conversation. They have been using Akport to con drivers into paying expensive fines. Akport's corrupt police and judge even move the small town to avoid being captured by legitimate authorities. In addition to that, the two racketeers have also hijacked the medicine truck. Mister Harris was lured to Akport with a sign at the diner that offered steaks for fifty cents. After he had eaten, Officer Hanlon had placed him in the Akport jail on the false charge of having faulty brakes. Back at the Planet, Jimmy wants to write about the speed trap. However, he has been ordered by editor Perry White to help Clark Kent with the missing pharmaceutical story. Little do Clark and Jimmy realize that both of their investigations are connected. Superman may have his powerful hands full very soon.

Rogers, a truck driver hauling valuable furs, television tubes and other disposable items, has been caught in the same trap as Mister Harris. In the meantime, as Judge Plummer and Officer Fanning discuss plans to hijack an armored car tomorrow night, Hanlon tells them of Lois Lane's asking questions about the missing vehicles. Lois believes a restaurant is connected to the recent disappearances somehow. Now, in an effort to keep the star reporter at bay, the false policemen of Akport have placed her in prison with Rogers and Harris. With Superman unaware of Lois' recent predicament, it looks like Judge Frank Plummer's confidence gang may gain the upper hand on more unsuspecting passersby.

Metropolis Police Inspector Bill Henderson has no leads in the hijacking case, and Perry White is worried. Lois hasn't reported in to him since the day before yesterday from Dartsville off Highway Fifty-Three. Henderson, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen drive to the area to find the same spot where Jimmy had been pulled over and taken to Akport. There's even a rock over which the cub reporter had tripped. However, aside from footprints and some bent nails, the tiny village is nowhere to be seen. The mysterious hamlet has somehow been moved. Can Superman and his friends find Akport and rescue Lois and the truck drivers from Judge Frank Plummer's evil clutches before it's too late?

Clark, who was driving, Henderson and Jimmy are now in front of Judge Plummer for speeding. Clark doesn't have the funds to pay the fine and chooses ninety days in prison as punishment. Plummer, on the other hand, is trying to make arrangements to get money from the mild mannered reporter. Once Henderson identifies himself, and Jimmy is revealed as a "repeat offender," both Plummer and Officer Fanning have guns pointed at the trio. Superman must come up with a plan without compromising his secret identity if he is to get his friends out of danger.

Clark, Jimmy and Henderson are locked in a prison cell near Lois and the truck drivers as Judge Plummer and his men prepare to go after the armored car. Clark manages to let himself out while locking Henderson and Jimmy inside. This gives Kent a chance to work freely as Superman. The Man of Steel, brings the police car carrying Joe and Officers Fanning and Hanlon to a screeching halt. With that, Judge Frank Plummer and his entire confidence gang are placed in Akport's jail under Inspector Henderson's watchful eye. Lois, believing Clark has left to give the story on the hijackings to Perry, wants to return quickly to Metropolis to scoop him. Jimmy, however, wants to take things slow as he's worried about more speed traps. Meanwhile, having brought another group of criminals to justice, Superman is flying to his next adventure.

2Rating - 2 (out of 5): Charles H. Gray is perhaps best known for the role of Clay Forrester in Rawhide.

Dick Elliott will return in season six for "All That Glitters".

Phillip Barnes was a scenic artist for the 1992 film Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which later became a cult television series.

Terry Frost played numerous parts in various episodes of The Roy Rogers Show, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and The Lone Ranger.

Michael Garrett was Sergeant Strong in Martin Kane, Private Eye.

Jack Littlefield will be back for this season's "Close Shave".

Frank O'Connor has had many parts in movie serials. Look for him in Blackhawk: Fearless Champion of Freedom and Superman, both starring Kirk Alyn in the title roles.

During Superman's flight before this episode's closing credits, the S shield is backwards.

Officer Hanlon is reading a comic book. The cover is never shown as it is folded over. Perhaps it was an issue of Superman.

"The Crooked Road," an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that first aired on October 26, 1958, told a similar story. The thing is Hitchcock did it better even if it was broadcast after "The Town That Wasn't". Having seen "Road" not long before watching "Town" for this review, it was pretty impossible not to compare the two tales. While we do see Jack Larson in a Hitchcockian situation, the two shows are as different as night and day. "The Crooked Road" is an engaging tale, but "The Town That Wasn't" is slow and, quite frankly, has boring scenes in it.

"The Town That Wasn't" has the potential to have a three rating. Unfortunately, the parts in the prison throughout the episode move slower than Bruce Jones' entire three year run of The Incredible Hulk comic book. Even Noel Neill gives an unusually dull performance in those scenes. It's a shame that an actress of her caliber didn't seem to put her all into her work this time around.

"The Town That Wasn't" could have been as good as "The Crooked Road". One of the major reasons it isn't is because the criminals, their motives and intentions show up too soon in the episode. Things could have worked better if a twist had revealed everything in the end like in Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone. The Adventures of Superman may be based on a comic book, but even the tales DC Comics had published at the time had some surprises that kept the audience on the edge of their seat every now and then, unlike "The Town That Wasn't".

Dick Elliott is difficult to take seriously as a criminal mastermind, especially if you've seen him in The Andy Griffith Show. Elliot's strength is playing comedic parts, something that Judge Frank Plummer is not in my opinion. Had another actor played the character, perhaps the confidence gang in "The Town That Wasn't" would not come across as a bunch of bit part characters in The Abbott and Costello Show.

Jack Larson and Robert Shayne deliver the goods this time around. Their skills really stand out in what is, otherwise, an episode with some below average acting. However, Shayne and Larson were not enough to save "The Town That Wasn't" from slow scenes and a story that could have been told in a better way. At this point, season five of The Adventures of Superman has failed to impress me. In spite of this, I will hold onto to the slim hope that there will be some good entries along the way.



Back to the "Adventures of Superman - Episode Reviews" Contents page.

Back to the main TELEVISION page.