Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 1 - Episode 26: "The Unknown People - Part 2"

Original Broadcast Date: November 21, 1951

Writer: Richard Fielding

Director: Lee Sholem

Guest Cast:
Jeff Corey as Luke Benson
Walter Reed as Bill Corrigan
J. Farrell MacDonald as Pop Shannon
Stanley Andrews as The Sheriff
Billy Curtis as Mole-Man #1
John T. Bambury as Mole-Man #2
Jerry Maren as Mole-Man #3
Tony Boris as Mole-Man #4
Stephen Carr as Eddie
Hal K. Dawson as Chuck Weber
Margia Dean as The Mother
Byron Foulger as Jeff Reagan
Harry Harvey as Doctor Saunders
Irene Martin as Mrs. Pomfrey
John Phillips as Matt
Ray Walker as John Craig
Beverly Washburn as The Little Girl

"The Unknown People - Part 2"

Pandemonium has struck the small oil town of Silsby. Luke Benson's bloodthirsty mob has shot one of the two Mole-Men. The creature has been caught by Superman before he could fall into the town's water supply. The other subterranean dweller is being pursued by Benson and the other men, who see grass glowing as they follow. The being is now trapped in a shed that Luke has set on fire. It looks like there may be no hope in sight for the Unknown People.

The uninjured Mole-Man has managed to escape the flaming shed and return to his underground world. Meanwhile, Doctor Reed, with the assistance of Clark Kent, is removing the bullet from the other creature in spite of Doctor Saunders' objections. This does not sit well with the angry townspeople. The sheriff, John Craig, Bill Corrigan and Lois Lane try to stop them with no success. Bloodlust has blinded the citizens of Silsby, and they intend to kill the Mole-Man recovering in the hospital.

Three of the Mole-Men have arrived on the surface with a weapon of some kind. At the same time, Superman has stopped a bullet from hitting Lois and has taken the mob's guns away. This doesn't stop the panic when they learn of the underground beings returning. Silsby is in an uproar, and the sheriff is locked in his own jail. The small oil community is now plummeting into chaos.

Superman has just retrieved the recovering Mole-Man in order to bring him to his comrades. While the Man of Steel is in the hospital, Luke Benson is preparing to fire his gun at the other three subterranean beings. They use their fantastic weapon on him in retaliation. However, Superman's indestructible body prevents anyone else from being harmed.

"You saved my life," says Luke Benson.

"That's more than you deserve," Our hero replies.

The Mole-Men have gone back to their underground realm thanks to Superman's persuading them to do so. Afterwards, Bill Corrigan reveals that the glowing material that was on things touched by the Mole-Men was harmless, as Clark Kent had suspected earlier. No radium has poisoned anyone in Silsby. Suddenly, the World's Deepest Oil Well has just been blown up by the unusual creatures upon their return to their home.

"It's almost as if they were saying, 'You live your lives, and we'll live ours'," Lois Lane says.

And thus ends the strange mystery of the Unknown People for Superman and his friends.

Rating - 5 (out of 5): Did you follow the Yellow Brick Road? If so, you probably met up with Jerry Maren. Mole-Man #3 was also one of the Lollypop Guild Munchkins in the classic film The Wizard of Oz. Thanks to Steve Younis for pointing this fact out.

Lippert Pictures, Incorporated, who released Superman and the Mole-Men in cinemas, was responsible for the 1948 film Jungle Goddess, which served as episode three of season two of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The movie's star was none other than George Reeves.

The flying sequences at the dam is partially animation like that which was used in the Superman movie serials.

When the Mole-Men go to and from the surface, the area is surrounded by derricks and other equipment. However, when the oil well is blown up in the conclusion, it is completely isolated.

The scene in which Luke Benson's men chase the Mole-Man into the shed is relatively longer in Superman and the Mole-Men. Notably missing from the television version is a part in which the little creature frightens a drinking homeless man. The cut is perhaps due to time or censorship, brought about by Kellogg's, sponsor for The Adventures of Superman. There is also a conversation between the sheriff and John Craig that was removed from "The Unknown People - Part 2". The dialogue also explains that Clark Kent is in the hospital while Superman is elsewhere.

Phyllis Coates would not return for the next season of the series because of disputes with producers about the show's intended direction in spite of Tommy Carr and George Reeves asking for her to return. Coates had always tried to distance herself from Superman related projects, but she'd later play Lois Lane's mother in "The House of Luthor" finale for season one of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

I said last time that this story was like the "Operation: Tolerance" episodes of the radio series. Evidence of this can particularly be seen in "The Unknown People - Part 2". This perhaps due to the fact that Robert Maxwell had been one of the masterminds behind the post-war serials in the Theater of the Mind. The anti-bigotry message seems to carry on in Superman and the Mole-Men as it would later do so in Star Trek and Marvel Comics' X-Men. In fact, I would often compare The Adventures of Superman audio dramas from 1940-1951 to Trek in my reviews of that series. This is maybe coloring my opinion of this and the previous episode because I really enjoyed listening to the radio show.

Granted, this works better as Superman and the Mole-Men. The division into two parts does interrupt the flow of the story's action and pace. Still, we are given a compelling tale that is well done by all the cast and crew. Superman and the Mole-Men launched The Adventures of Superman television show and made it the legendary series it is to this very day. "The Unknown People - Part 2" closed the first season and told us that there was more to come. I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next.

Season Rating - 4 (out of 5): The season started strongly with the weakest entry not really coming about until episode nine ("Rescue"). There are a couple average stories ("Double Trouble" and "Drums of Death") that stick out like a sore thumb among classics like "The Stolen Costume" and "The Haunted Lighthouse". However, the first year of the series is a very great one that gives us some of the most memorable shows in The Adventures of Superman.

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