Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 12: "The Deserted Village"

Original Broadcast Date: December 5, 1952

Writers: Ben Peter Freeman And Dick Hamilton

Director: Tommy Carr

Guest Cast:
Fred Sherman as Doctor Oscar Jessup
Maudie Prickett as Mrs. Matilda Tazey
Edmund Cobb as Peter Godfrey
Malcolm Mealey as Alvin Godfrey
Ann Tyrrell as Miss Walton

"The Deserted Village"

A sign reads, "Cliffton By The Sea - Pop. 525". A mysterious hand holds a piece of chalk that crosses out the number two on the wooden panel. There is a sinister looking fog throughout a deserted hamlet. A large being clad in what seems to be a protective suit is throwing rocks through windows of various houses as he lumbers through the streets. Phones are ringing off the hook throughout Cliffton. One of the persons trying to call is Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane. Mrs. Matilda Tazey, a woman who had cared for Lois during her childhood, always sends her a gingerbread man for her birthday, and Lois wants to thank her. Lois has also tried to contact neighbors and businesses in Cliffton with no response. The operator even tells her that the telephone lines are not down. Concerned, Lois is now going with Clark Kent to Cliffton in hopes of discovering what's happened there.

Only one digit, the number five, remains on the population number when Lois and Clark see the sign for Cliffton. Meanwhile, the being in the protective suit is about throw another rock in another window as a fog hangs low onto the ground. A dog is in the mist barking at the person. The animal passes out before the stone is hurled by the man. He thinks nothing of the canine at his feet and leaves. Lois have Clark finally arrive in Cliffton, only to find it devoid of people. Now more than ever, Lois wants to to know what strange mystery is in the deserted village.

Lois and Clark have finally found a house in Cliffton that isn't empty, but they also discover that the dog in the yard is dead. The poor creature was neither injured nor old. The home belongs to Doctor Oscar Jessup, whom Lois and Clark hear moaning as they approach the front porch steps. As they revive him, Clark notices a gas mask and a gun in Jessup's desk drawer. Jessup himself is claiming to have had a fainting spell, but Clark knows otherwise. He sees shards of glass and a rock on the floor. Lois gives Jessup a glass of water. He recognizes her and tries to warn her and Clark to leave Cliffton However, neither of the two reporters intends to go away until they see Mrs. Tazey and get to the bottom of this unusual situation.

Doctor Jessup had lead Lois and Clark to believe that Mrs. Tazey is gravely ill. They follow him to her house to find a woman who seems to be in good health. However, she, too, is acting peculiar. Like Doctor Jessup, Mrs. Tazey is trying to get rid of Lois and Clark. The pair refuses to give up until they learn what's going on in Cliffton. Clark notices that Mrs. Tazey has a gas mask hidden in a basket of roses that she had picked from her garden. It's obvious that both Doctor Jessup and Mrs. Tazey are keeping something from Lois and Clark.

Lois is having tea with Mrs. Tazey in hopes of finding out what she can about why the townspeople are gone. Only Doctor Jessup, Mrs. Tazey, pharmacist Peter Godfrey and his son Alvin still reside in Cliffton. Meanwhile, Clark is investigating the death of the dog, which he learns belonged to Doctor Jessup. The canine appeared to be exposed to poison gas that stays close to the ground The strange thing is that the animal's body is missing when Clark and Doctor Jessup go to look at it. The good doctor is still warning Clark to stay out of people's business in Cliffton, but the mild mannered reporter has lost his patience. He is bound and determined help Lois solve the weird mystery in the village in which she'd grown up.

Clark has found large footprints hidden in a bush near Doctor Jessup's house when he meets Peter Godfrey. Godfrey tells Clark that people left Cliffton because the oyster beds died out. He also speaks about horrible fogs in the area. Clark believes that they are the poison gas that killed Jessup's dog Ranger. Godfrey's son Alvin arrives tells both his father and Kent that had been working in the back of the drug store for the past hour. He does not know what happened to Ranger's body. The big fellow also advises Godfrey of a prescription that he had left sitting. Clark is becoming more and more suspicious. With the remainder of Cliffton's population watching them in the shadows, Lois and Clark may never learn the cause of Cliffton being deserted.

Gunshots have just been fired. Clark runs to the source of the sound to find Mrs. Tazey had tried to fire at the gigantic man in the protective suit. There's something else. Lois is missing, and Mrs. Tazey is afraid that she went where the grotesque being came from - an area near the sea.

Clark has found Lois in grotto where some mining has occurred. Some drill core has been uncovered. There is a substance on it that makes Clark understand why Cliffton ids deserted, but he'll need to get it tested somewhere else as Superman. Lois is in grave danger by herself with a large man murdering people with poison gas. She promises Clark to go to Havenhurst to wait for him. However, once Clark goes away, she enters the prospectors' cave once again. Lois has possibly put herself in harm's way once again.

The large man in the protective gear has caught Lois. Doctor Jessup tries to help her, but he is knocked out in the process. Mrs. Tazey enters the grotto to confront the giant when she is attacked by Peter Godfrey. Superman arrives to deal with the gargantuan being and Godfrey. With both of them unconscious. the Man of Steel rescues Lois, Mrs. Tazey and Doctor Jessup. It is then revealed that the big, strangely garbed man was Alvin Godfrey. He and his father conspired together to take Cliffton's deposits of Hydrozite, a substance used in hydrogen bombs, thereby ridding the town of its people before anyone else, including newspapers, can learn of their discovery. The Godfreys, however, didn't count on the intervention of Superman.

Lois now must head back to Metropolis to write the story for the Daily Planet and search for Clark Kent. She finds him as he's putting the number three on the Cliffton sign's population. This makes Lois want know haw he found out about what happened in small village.

"A little bird told me," Clark says "And if you're a good girl, someday, I'll tell you who that little bird is."

Rating - 4 (out of 5): With the exception of Ann Tyrrell, who is making her only appearance in The Adventures of Superman, the guest cast members have appeared in previous episodes. In fact, Malcolm Mealey, who portrayed Alvin Godfrey, played Wayne Winchester in "No Holds Barred".

The film noir aspects of the first season return after taking a slight break in the previous episode. Do they work for the series? Yes. Do they work for the Superman character? That depends on the way things are done. The violent, creepy atmosphere functioned in the radio program, which is where the TV shows seem to be getting their inspiration. It's my belief that the people involved with The Adventures of Superman were trying to attract adult audiences by giving it elements that "grown ups" can enjoy.

This episode honestly deserves four point five or even a five, but there is a small error in the conclusion. George Reeves writes the number 3 on the Cliffton sign. Now, Let's do the math. Doctor Jessup, Mrs. Tazey, Peter and Alvin Godfrey are the only four people in the village. The police arrest father and son Godfrey after Superman deals with them, leaving Mrs. Tazey and Doctor Jessup in Cliffton. This is fact two persons, not three. Who and where is the third person? Maybe I'm just being to picky.

As one watches "The Deserted Village", the revelation that Alvin Godfrey is the big man terrorizing Cliffton really isn't that much of a suspenseful twist. This is especially true if you listen to his dialogue to his father about a prescription. Whether this was intentional or not, it becomes obvious to the viewer that Alvin is up to something. With only four people in town, I don't think a pharmacist would have to sell medication if all the remaining folks are as healthy as they seem to be.

While there aren't as many fight scenes as in the previous story, they are extremely well done. The same is true for the flying special effects. It's a pity that we never got to see more scenes like this after George Reeves' fall during the filming of an episode.

In spite of the flaws mention in the previous paragraphs, "The Deserted Village" is well written with great performances from every member of the cast. It's a little unusual to see Malcolm Mealey as a villain after watching him in "No Holds Barred". However, I was really impressed with the acting in this episode. I was particularly surprised by how Fred Sherman changed his voice completely from the one used in "Rescue". I was extremely amazed by everyone in this episode.

The chemistry between Phyllis Coates and George Reeves really stands out in "The Deserted Village". I have nothing against Noel Neil, and she does a fine job in her episodes of The Adventures of Superman and the Kirk Alyn Superman movie serials. However, there is something about Coates' portrayal of Lois Lane that works perfectly with the atmosphere of the first season. Plus, she and Reeves work so perfectly together. It's a pity they never got to collaborate more often.

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