Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 2 - Episode 1: "Five Minutes to Doom"

Original Broadcast Date: September 14, 1953

Writer: Monroe Manning

Director: Thomas Carr

Guest Cast:
Dabbs Greer as Joe Winters
Lois Hall as Mrs. Winters
Lewis L. Russell as W.T. Wayne
John Kellogg as Turk
Dale Van Sickel as Baker
Sam Flint as The Warden
Jean Willes as Marion Cummings
William E. Green as The Governor
Kim Charney as Billy Winters

"Five Minutes to Doom"

Former county building inspector Joe Winters is on death row for killing a superintendent named Baker. Winters claims to be innocent of the crime. The Daily Planet is offering ten thousand dollars to his family for the exclusive on the events leading up to the murder. Clark Kent and Lois Lane are at the state prison listening to Winters' story, but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot confess to something that he didn't do.

Placing his hand on Winters' wrist, Clark listens as Winters tells him and Lois of what had happened the day Baker had died. On a job for an overpass contracted by prominent Metropolis citizen W.T. Wayne, Winters had suspected that inferior grades of metal were used. However, in order to prove this, he had to inspect the construction. Baker would not allow this and had become angry with Winters. Many who had been working on the site had witnessed their conflict. A few days later, Winters wanted to put a gauge on some steel reinforcements, but Baker had poured cement on them the night before, thereby preventing Winters from looking things over. This angered Winters, and as he was about to call the county office about his suspicions, Baker attacked him. As the two men traded punches, a shot was fired. The bullet hit Baker, and Winters was accused of murder. The gun found near some tools belonged to him and had his fingerprints. Still, Winters claims to be an innocent man even though he is hours away from going to the electric chair.

Clark believes that Joe Winters did not kill Baker. His placing his hand on Winters' wrist had measured his pulse and heart beat. Both were steady, which can mean only one thing. Winters is telling the truth. Now, one question remains in Superman's mind. If Joe Winters didn't murder Baker, who did?

A man who had visited another prisoner while Lois and Clark were speaking with Winters has just called W.T. Wayne. Fearing that the two reporters will learn the truth before Winters goes to the electric chair, Wayne calls someone to help him with his next sinister objective - eliminating Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Lois and Clark have picked up a hitchhiker who had left behind his lunch box after being dropped off. Lois notices that the man didn't take it with him. This prompts Clark to have a closer look with his X-ray vision. There is a bomb inside. Desperate, Clark tells Lois to drive faster as he jumps out of the car with the package in hand. He is, of course, uninjured, but the explosion destroyed his reporters' clothes. The Superman costume underneath is now exposed. Hidden in the bushes, he asks Lois for his trenchcoat. Now, even though they are safe from harm, Lois and Clark realize that they are in the middle of something big.

Daily Planet editor Perry White has approved an investigation into Joe Winters' innocence and W.T. Wayne's activities. Clark and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen are in the construction shack where Baker had been killed. According to the coroner's report, the bullet had struck Baker from behind. This leads Jimmy to discover an area in a storage unit with a door that leads outside the building. The gun was possibly fired from there. Now, thanks to Jimmy, it's becoming more clear that Joe Winters may not be a murderer.

As the clock ticks closer to the hour of Joe Winters' execution, the Daily Planet staff is looking over documents showing the types of steel that W.T. Wayne had used to construct the overpass. All that's needed now is to match this with reports Wayne had made for the county. If the reports were falsified, there might be a chance for Joe Winters to get another trial and be set free. Lois agrees to try and get an interview with Wayne in order to help Winters. What she doesn't realize is that she could be opening the door to danger.

Lois was able to enter W.T. Wayne's office. However, he claims to not have any reports on the overpass. His secretary Marion Cummings shows Wayne papers that prove that he was mistaken. An angry Wayne tears up the documents and throws the pieces into a nearby wastebasket. After Lois leaves, Miss Cummings reveals to her boss that she believes that something underhanded is going on. The irate Wayne responds by threatening Miss Cummings. W.T. Wayne will clearly stop at nothing to keep his business dealings a secret, even if it means that Joe Winters will die for a crime he might have not committed.

When Lois' direct approach failed, Jimmy got an idea. Posing as bumbling vacuum cleaner salesman, the cub reporter makes a mess of Wayne's office while using the machine to pick up the torn paper fragments Lois had seen. Meanwhile, Clark is in the county courthouse looking at reports signed by Joe Winters. However, the scraps from Wayne's garbage reveal that conflicting statements also contain Winters' signature. Clark and the others are one step closer to saving Winters. All that's needed is examination of the bullets inside his gun. Should fingerprints on them be different, Winters will be free, but only one hour remains until Winters goes to the electric chair. Even the terrific speed of Superman might not save an innocent man from paying for another person's crime.

A bad thunderstorm has made it impossible for Perry to telephone the governor. This has become truly a job for Superman. The Man of Steel flies at tremendous velocities to get a reprieve for Joe Winters. With the paper in hand, Superman arrives just as the switch on the electric chair is thrown. His invulnerable arm stops it from going down completely. The flow of power is stopped so Winters can be freed. An innocent family man was saved from certain death by Superman.

Joe Winters is a free man, and W.T. Wayne is in prison thanks to fingerprints found on the bullets in the gun that was used to murder Baker. Plus, Marion Cummings is willing to testify against Wayne at his trial. Perry, Lois, Clark and Jimmy are discussing Wayne's criminal activities when Jimmy thinks of something.

"You know," He says, "I betcha if I really tried, I could have sold him that vacuum cleaner."

Rating - 5 (out of 5): Dabbs Greer is perhaps best known as Reverend Robert Alden on Little House on the Prairie. Fans of The Adventures of Superman will also recognize him as the man saved from falling in "Superman on Earth". Greer will make his third appearance in the series in the dual role of Mister Pebbles and Dan Dobey in "The Superman Silver Mine".

Lois Hall had played a wide variety of parts in her career, including Doctor Mary Warren in a season three episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Who Watches The Watchers". "Five Minutes to Doom" is her only appearance in The Adventures of Superman.

John Kellogg is an actor to watch out for. In addition to being in season one's "Night of Terror", he'll appear in the next episode "The Big Squeeze" as Luke Maynard.

Dale Van Sickel has been in pretty much every genre of film and television, including an episode of The Green Hornet. He will return to The Adventures of Superman in the episode "Money to Burn".

Sam Flint, like Dabs Greer, had appeared in "Superman on Earth". He played the Kents' family doctor. He also had an uncredited role as the county sheriff in the classic Hitchcock film Psycho.

Submitted for your approval, Jean Willes had entered The Twilight Zone as Ethel McConnell in "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?". She was also in the film So Proudly We Hail!, which also starred George Reeves.

Kim Charney, the lad playing Billy Winters, originally was not to speak in his scene with Dabbs Greer and Lois Hall at the beginning of the episode. However, he had accidentally said "Bye" to Greer before he and Hall leave. The boy's dialogue was kept due to time and budget.

Look closely at Lois' car just as she's about to get out to check on Clark after the bomb's explosion. The reflection of the camera crew and boom mike operator can be seen in the door.

Season two began with some significant changes. Robert Maxwell was no longer producer. Whitney Ellsworth would do this duty for the remainder of the series' run. In addition to that, Noel Neill would return to the role she made famous in the Superman movie serials - Lois Lane. Tommy Carr had protested her playing the role. For some reason, he felt her acting was not up to his standards. On the first day of filming, Ms. Neill was having a rough time, and Carr was particularly difficult with her. It was George Reeves that urged him to go easy on her because she was just arriving into a group that had worked together for quite some time.

With Whitney Ellsworth being producer, the blood and thunder of the film noir atmosphere from Robert Maxwell's run begins to gradually go away. The series also used the comic books as source material for much of season two. Thanks to Jon Wilson and Michael J. Hayde for pointing out which episodes are adaptations of the comics.

"Five Minutes to Doom" is not based on any particular comic book story. However, it does contain elements that were often featured in Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman tales. In fact, Superman saving somebody on death row is shown in Action Comics #1.

Jack Larson showed us in season one that he could be frightened in moments of great tension and suspense. Beginning with "Five Minutes to Doom", he proves to the audience that he has great comedic timing. Watch the scene where he poses as a vacuum cleaner salesman. I guarantee it will leave you in stitches.

Admittedly, I do miss Phyllis Coates. This is no way any disrespect to Noel Neill. I love the way she portrays Lois as much as I do Ms Coates' acting. There will always be debates about which actress is a better Lois, but I feel that both do very well even if they play her differently. Both women seem to work well with George Reeves and have helped Lois become a true icon. However, one can see that Ms. Neill seems to be having more fun in the role that she originated in the serials. This can be seen very well after Clark removes the bomb from Lois' car. Her smile feels genuine as she delivers her dialogue with Reeves. No wonder she's been named the First Lady of Metropolis.

Season two starts off with a bang. We are given a tremendous episode that leaves the viewer on the edge of his/her seat. The tension as Winters and the other characters look at the clock could be cut with a knife. This, along with the things I mentioned before, makes this an extremely superb show. If "Five Minutes to Doom" is any indication of what's to come, I can hardly wait to see the rest of season two.

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