Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 6 - Episode 2: "The Magic Secret"

Original Broadcast Date: February 10, 1958

Writers: Robert Leslie Bellem and Whitney Ellsworth

Director: Phil Ford

Guest Cast:
Freeman Lusk as D.W. Griswald
Buddy Lewis as Eddie Vogel
George Selk as Professor Von Brunner
Jack Reynolds as Kramer
Kenneth Alton as Burns

"The Magic Secret"

Investment counselor D.W. Griswald is in reality the head of a crime organization. Including tonight's jewel heist, Superman has foiled four of his operations. While the Man of Steel does not know Griswald's identity, he sends him a warning via a walkie talkie carried by one of the thieves under the gang leader's command. The device used by Griswald is burned once Superman's eyes help back his words. Now, D.W. Griswald has every intention of destroying Superman for good. If he succeeds, the city of Metropolis will tremble as a new reign of terror overtakes it.

Daily Planet editor Perry White is giving high praise to reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane for their work. However, he is not happy with Jimmy Olsen. He was to review a show at the Orphium Theater. Instead, the article mainly talked about a magician whom he called a miracle worker. Jimmy was particularly fascinated by levitating a woman, something Perry knows how to do thanks to his being a member of the Amateur Magic Society. Clark persuades the reluctant chief to do the trick with Lois as the volunteer. To prove he's not "rusty" from not doing it in ten years, Perry succeeds in suspending Lois in the air, leaving Jimmy obsessed about learning how to make a lady float. If Perry teaches him, he could be expelled from the exclusive club of illusionists. However, this won't stop young Mister Olsen. He intends to learn every magic act possible. This could lead him to get into yet another mess, and Superman may not be there to help him out of it.

Professor Von Brunner, who has had dealings with D.W. Griswald in the past, has a means of dealing with Superman. He explains it to Griswald and his assistant Eddie Vogel. Von Brunner knows that only Kryptonite can harm Superman. While he doesn't have any, he has created two installations. One is like a radar that can collect Kryptonite energy from particles in space. The other fires deadly beams of the stored radiation into a concrete underground bunker that's sixty feet deep. Knowing Superman won't walk directly into any trap of Kryptonite, Griswald has a plan to test Von Brunner's invention. It is widely known that Clark Kent is friends with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Superman. If Kent knows Lois and Jimmy are in trouble, Superman will come to the rescue. All that's needed is a way to get the bait to lure the Man of Steel, and Griswald intends to use magic and the Daily Planet to do it.

A classified advertisement in the Planet claims to teach anyone magic tricks, including levitation, for only five dollars. Jimmy borrows the money from Lois, who goes with him to his appointment with Griswald to "protect her investment". She clearly doesn't want any part of Griswald's plan, but she goes with Jimmy to the installation at the cub reporter's insistence. Lois was right to be suspicious of Griswald, for he and Eddie have lowered her and Jimmy into the concrete bunker. Once Griswald contacts Clark Kent, his diabolical plan to kill Superman can be set into motion. Can the Last Son of Krypton escape the lethal trap that has been created by Professor Von Brunner before the icy fingers of death pull him into oblivion?

As he and Eddie sit with Professor Von Brunner in the scientist's observatory, Griswald calls Clark claiming to be a kidnapper who wants to go straight. No police are to be involved in finding Lois and Jimmy, and the safest way to get to the location Griswald gives is by helicopter. However, the crime boss knows that Superman will arrive soon. True to form, the Man of Tomorrow enters the concrete bunker to help Lois and Jimmy. At Griswald's command, Professor Von Brunner bombards the hole with lethal Kryptonite rays. Superman is now weakened. Worse yet, the walls are literally closing in on him and his friends. It looks like even the Last Son of Krypton's titanic strength may not be able to save Jimmy and Lois this time.

Even without his powers, Superman has been able to do the levitation trick on Lois. Her body is now rigid enough to keep the walls of the bunker from crushing her, Jimmy and Superman. Jimmy climbs out of the hole to redirect the Kryptonite beam. The target is now Professor Von Brunner's observatory. The resulting explosion makes D.W. Griswald call the police to turn himself in, for it's better to deal with hundreds of them than with one angry Superman.

Lois, like Jimmy, had to climb out of the bunker once she and Superman were safe. She and the cub reporter are now in Perry White's office discussing the adventure with the editor and Clark Kent. Lois is full of aches and pains because Superman didn't carry her out, and Jimmy didn't have a rope for her to climb. The chief has decided to give Lois a raise for her work on the Griswald story. That could help her, but she and Perry would like to know where Clark was during the whole ordeal. He claims to have been practicing the levitation trick.

"Well, in that case maybe you should have come along," Lois says. "Superman might have taught it to you."

"Why, Lois!" Clark replies, "What a wonderful idea. As a matter of fact, I think he did."

Rating - 4 (out of 5): Freeman Lusk was General Cutler in 1951's The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Buddy Lewis can be seen in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Chicago Confidential, Women and Bloody Terror and In Broad Daylight.

George Selk is perhaps best known as Moss Grimmick in Gunsmoke.

Jack Reynolds portrayed Joe Reno in 1958's Gang War and the sheriff in Bullwhip.

Kenneth Alton played McCrary, the pickup truck driver in 1957's Kronos.

George Reeves blows a line in Perry's office. He calls the group to which Perry belongs the Society of American Magicians. It's really the Amateur Magic Society.

As Lois is levitated, the bar from Si Simonson's hydraulic arm casts a shadow on the wall behind Noel Neill.

I'm still recovering from season five. This made me pleasantly surprised by how good "The Magic Secret" was. The reason I didn't give it a perfect score is because lack of background information on D.W. Griswald, Professor Von Brunner and Perry's membership in the Amateur Magic Society. I would have liked to have seen more about those particular elements. I also wonder how Superman learned the levitation trick. Aside from that, this episode is nearly up to the quality of the black and white years. This is something that has been missing in much of the color entries.

Okay, Superman was exposed to Kryptonite. Yet, Jimmy diverted the gun that fired the lasers. After that, Supes should have easily been able to carry Lois out of the pit. Why didn't he? This feels like a blatantly missed special effect or an omission possibly due to the censorship of the time. Still, it sticks out like a sore thumb in what is an otherwise stupendous episode.

Once again, Jimmy has gotten his friends into another fine mess. However, this time, it isn't poorly written and irritating like the one in "Whatever Goes Up". The villain used what he learned from the magician article in the Daily Planet in a way that could later bait a trap for Superman. That works well for the episode. Plus it gave me the sensation that I was watching something from season two, which is probably my favorite in the series.

I liked seeing Perry perform magic and, in turn, watch Superman perform the same trick with Lois to save the day. However, I would have liked a little more on Perry's history with Amateur Magic Society. It would have been nice if there was a mention of Superman being an honorary or regular member. This could explain how he could make Lois float. Perry's teaching him would have gotten the chief expelled as was mentioned in the beginning. When the audience sees Superman levitating Lois without explanation, they are left with the question of how he knows how to do that. It would have been great if a line or scene could have given us answers.

Both D.W. Griswald and Professor Von Brunner are what this series has needed since season five, some villains that could really give Superman a run for his money. It's not that I want Big Blue to lose or be hurt. I just like when a nemesis proves to be a challenge for a hero. Sure, I would have loved to know more about the professor and Griswald, and it would have been great for them to have been recurring heavies in the show. They did give up slightly too easily toward the end. However, I found both Von Brunner and Griswald to be wonderful bad guys in a terrific episode.

The overall acting is well done by the main cast and guest stars. This helps raise the bar on the quality of "The Magic Secret". Seeing George Reeves and company enjoy their work again certainly helps viewers have a good time watching every minute of this half hour. I hope the series continues on this positive trend for the remainder of the final season.

"The Magic Secret" isn't without its flaws. It does, however, show that The Adventures of Superman has come back from a disastrous slump that really made the quality decline. If season five left you disappointed, do not despair, dear fans. This episode and the previous one will bring you back to this great series once again. I'm sure everyone will have as much fun watching this one as I did.

Back to the main TELEVISION page.