2006 Movie News Archives

Hollywoodland poster

September 8, 2006: “Hollywoodland” Movie Review

Superman Homepage writer Barry Freiman was invited to a special advance screening of the movie "Hollywoodland", the story of the life and death of Superman actor George Reeves. Barry has written an indepth review of the film, which opens today across America...

    "Hollywoodland" weaves a cautionary tale about a seemingly simpler time. If the way Hollywood ate Reeves up and spit him out was at all exemplary of the so-called simple 1950s, I'm glad I was born in the 1960s. Future Supermen like Chris Reeve and Dean Cain may have felt typecast at times after playing Superman, but they never had to deal with what Reeves had to deal with. Reeves was essentially black-balled in Hollywood from playing any role other than Superman. When he clawed his way into a small but significant role in 1953 classic "From Here to Eternity", the role was virtually entirely cut out of the theatrical release after preview audiences - with Reeves in the theater - started laughing and screaming "There's Superman!" and "Where's Lois Lane?"

    "Hollywoodland" is fact-based but far from a documentary. Some aspects of Reeves's life are dramatized though, surprisingly, the broad strokes are all accurate. The anchor for audiences in the movie isn't Reeves though he's played masterfully by Ben Affleck in a return to greatness. It's the fictionalized investigator, Louis Simo, played by Adrien Brody ("King Kong", "The Pianist"), who audiences stand in the (gum-)shoes of as he evolves from selfish opportunist to Reeves's champion.

    The film posits (at least) three scenarios for how Reeves met his untimely end on June 16, 1959 - a murder, a manslaughter, and a suicide (the latter being the official ruling by the L.A. coroner). The film ultimately leaves it to audiences to decide how Reeves died while flashing back to how he lived.

Read Barry's complete review of "Hollywoodland" right here at the Superman Homepage!



2006 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2006 organized into various categories:

“Superman Returns” Movie News:

Christopher Reeve Movie News: Hollywoodland (George Reeves) Movie News: Direct-to-DVD Animated Movie News: Other Movie News:

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