Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 2 - Episode 4: "Jet Ace"

Original Broadcast Date: October 05, 1953

Writer: David Chantler

Director: Thomas Carr

Guest Cast:
Lane Bradford as Captain Chris White
Selmer Jackson as General Summers
Larry J. Blake as Steve Martin
Ric Roman as Nate
Richard Reeves as Frenchy
Jim Hayward as Tim Mallory
Sam Balter as The Tower Radio Broadcaster

"Jet Ace"

Captain Chris White is a top civilian airplane pilot for the United States military. His uncle, Daily Planet editor Perry White, and reporters Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent are in the office of General Summers listening to Chris' latest test flight over a load speaker. Everything seems to go smoothly until Chris has trouble with his craft. The controls are jammed, and he is about to lose consciousness. The ship is making a sudden descent. Pretending to be scared, Clark leaves to change into Superman. The Man of Steel helps to level the machine so it can land without problems. Chris White is safe, but one question is on everyone's mind. What caused Chris' airplane not to respond to his commands?

The Daily Planet staff is at the military base because they are friends of Chris White. The rest of the news media is prohibited from covering the test flight. However, Steve Martin, a reporter for the Daily Blade, has somehow managed to get inside. He's clearly angry for not getting an exclusive story, and General Summers clearly dislikes Martin. Martin is thrown out of Summers' office. Shortly afterwards, Perry and Summers convince Chris to take a much needed vacation at his uncle's cabin. Both Summers and Perry believe that Chris has been working too hard. Whatever reports Summers needs from Chris can be sent by mail helicopter. Chris agrees to Summers and Perry's terms, provided he can do some hunting during his time off. Chris intends to make the most of his days of recreation and relaxation.

It is now evening at Perry's lodge cabin. Chris is making preparations for tomorrow morning's hunting trip when two suspicious men named Nate and Frenchy arrive to talk to him. They have been ordered to take Chris to their boss. When he refuses to go willingly, the pair of thugs knocks out the test pilot. The next morning, the mail helicopter pilot found no sign of Chris, and his rifle was on the ground outside. General Summers has also not heard from Chris or received his report. Now more than ever, Perry is worried about his nephew. He has sent Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen to investigate and can only hope that Chris is found before it's too late.

Clark and Jimmy have found Chris' rifle outside of the cabin on the ground. Knowing that this is unusual, they try to get inside to see if Perry's nephew is okay. Clark breaks the front door's lock, but before he and Jimmy can learn anything, Nate and Frenchy return. This time, they have been ordered to find Chris White's flight report. It looks like Clark and Jimmy are now in the middle of yet another strange mystery.

Frenchy and Nate haven't found Chris' report. After they leave, Clark orders Jimmy to stay at the cabin. This gives him a chance to follow the two hoodlums as Superman. The Man of Tomorrow stops their car and holds the doers shut while interrogating Nate and Frenchy. They received telephone calls in Room 20 of the Excelsior Hotel from a mysterious man. He had ordered them to kidnap Chris and get his documents on the test flight. The unknown person is to contact them again at 5:00 PM. Frenchy and Nate will not make their meeting because they'll be in police custody. Little does the villain who has taken Chris White realize that a surprise from Superman will be waiting for him.

No matter what his masked captor tries, Chris refuses to reveal anything about the test flight, but Chris knows that the man was working for some foreign power who wanted to see it fail and will stop at nothing to get its secrets. The disguised spy hits a bound Chris and calls Nate and Frenchy, only to find another voice on the line. Surprised by this turn of events, the kidnapper unties Chris to take him elsewhere. Chris catches him off guard with a punch. He then removes his abductor's mask, revealing the villain to be none other than Steve Martin. However, this new revelation could cost Chris White his life.

Perry, Clark and Jimmy are waiting impatiently for news from Metropolis Police Inspector Bill Henderson, who had a man intercept Martin's call to the Excelsior Hotel. Unfortunately, he had gotten suspicious and hung up before his location could be traced. All hope in finding Chris seems to be lost.

Martin is leading Chris to the cabin at gunpoint in hopes of getting his hands on the test flight report. When mail helicopter pilot Tim Mallory arrives, Chris asks if he sent an important envelope for Perry White. Mallory could not recall, but he promised to check on it. However, this may not give Chris the time he needs to save his life. After Mallory leaves, Martin ties Chris up again and sets a fire bomb and some kerosene near the hunting lodge's gas tank. Chris' life is hanging by a thread, and Superman doesn't even know where to find him.

Tim Mallory has entered Perry's office to tell the editor, Jimmy, Lois and Clark that he never received an urgent letter from Chris even though the test pilot had told him about it two hours ago. In the confusion of the conversation, Clark leaves so Superman can save Chris with seconds to spare. The Man of Steel also retrieves the hunting rifle, which Kent later learns contains Chris' report to General Summers. Now all that's left to do is set a trap for Steve Martin, and Clark has an idea on how to do just that.

It has been reported that Chris White was killed in the cabin fire. Perry and the others, along with Steve Martin, all have been invited to the next military test flight. However, when Martin hears Chris' voice on the speaker, he cannot believe his ears. Once he is face-to-face with Perry's nephew, he panics. Chris, Clark, Lois, Perry and Jimmy pursue him through the base corridors as he fires his gun wildly. Clark's hand secretly prevents a bullet from hitting Chris. When Martin runs out of ammunition, he and Chris trade punches. Lois urges Clark to help Chris, but he feels the pilot needs to "have a good time". Chris eventually overtakes Martin. With Martin unconscious and about to face charges of treason, sabotage and attempted murder, Chris comments on wishing he had had help from Superman.

"Well, that's more than you got from Clark," Lois says.

"From where I stood, you put on a pretty good Superman performance yourself, Chris," Kent replies.

Rating - 5 (out of 5): Lane Bradford's filmography consists mostly of westerns. However, he'll be be back in The Adventures of Superman in the episodes "Test of a Warrior" and "The Phantom Ring".

Selmer Jackson makes his second appearance in The Adventures of Superman in "Jet Ace". His third and final one will be the episode "Blackmail".

Have you been to Watts lately? If so, you probably saw Larry J. Blake as Mister Watkins in the Sanford and Son episode "The Puerto Ricans Are Coming!". His son Michael Francis Blake briefly followed in his father's footsteps before becoming a make-up artist for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Spider-Man 3.

Ric Roman has been to both Metropolis and Gotham City. In addition to this episode and "The Deadly Rock", he played Moe in two episodes of Batman starring Adam West. Roman is also best known for his role of Capitan Briones in Zorro.

If you look closely, you can spot Jim Hayward in Mister Ed and The Beverly Hillbillies. Watch for him in The Adventures of Superman episodes "The Deadly Rock" and "Great Caesar's Ghost".

Sam Balter has mainly played radio and television announcers. He'll continue to do so in four more episodes in season two of The Adventures of Superman.

Look closely at the scene in which Superman is interrogating Nate and Frenchy. His boots disappear and re-appear in from one shot to the next.

The Daily Blade once again makes an appearance in the television series. The Blade was an infamous newspaper that often practiced yellow journalism in The Adventures of Superman radio show during the post-war "Operation: Tolerance" serials.

While it isn't a direct adaptation, "Jet Ace" is very similar to the July, 1943 serial in The Adventures of Superman radio show titled "Mister Prim and the Dragonfly Adventure". The character of test pilot Chris White was featured in that story arc.

A regular reader of these reviews had pointed out that many of the words I write make it seem like they are airing or I'm watching them for the first time. This is perhaps due to the fact that I haven't seen many, particularly the color ones, in roughly fifteen to twenty years, and I don't recall many things about certain episodes. Plus, I try to look at The Adventures of Superman in a different way from when I first saw it growing up in Ohio. Shows like "The Monkey Mystery" and "Panic in the Sky" will always stand out for me, but I cannot remember, for the life of me, "The Perils of Superman" or "The Phantom Ring". I think this is why I treat The Adventures of Superman like a new television series.

In spite of Robert Maxwell's no longer being producer, one can see elements from his run in some episodes in the second year of The Adventures of Superman. There won't be a significant change in the series until the color episodes in seasons three through six. That's because of Frederick Wertham's witch hunt on the comic book industry. Anyway, things from Maxwell's reign still remain even though Whitney Ellsworth took over. This is especially true of "Jet Ace", which, even with a slightly lighter tone, has a bit of film noir mixed into it.

We got a taste of Perry's family during season one's "Drums of Death". Now, we see his nephew Chris, a character taken from the aforementioned "Mister Prim and the Dragonfly Adventure". I like seeing relatives of the supporting cast in the Superman characters. They do tend to provide some insight on how he or she is. I wish we could see more of Chris. He really had potential and showed that even an ordinary Joe can do the right thing and be a hero like Superman.

Okay, we don't get much on Martin's background beyond some implications that he works for a foreign power possibly located behind the Iron Curtain. When one considers the time in which "Jet Ace" was filmed, not much else needs to be revealed about the not-so mild mannered reporter for the Daily Blade. He's one of those villains that really doesn't require much explanation of his motives. Had too much been said about Martin, it would have really ruined the episode for me.

"Jet Ace" has all the great elements of the best episodes in The Adventures of Superman. The acting is top notch, and there's lots of action mixed in with great character moments. Lane Bradford steals the show from the main cast without overshadowing their importance in the story. It's a pity he never returned as Chris White. It would have been great to see him teaming up with the Man of Steel to stop the forces of evil on and off throughout the remainder of the series' run.

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