Superman on Television

Adventures of Superman: Episode Reviews

Season 4 - Episode 13: "The Jolly Roger"

Original Broadcast Date: June 16, 1956

Writer: David Chantler

Director: Phil Ford

Guest Cast:
Leonard Mudie as Captain Blood
Eric Snowden as Captain Thudd
Myron Healey as Captain Mudd
William Henry as Captain Scud
Eve Brent as Alice
Dean Cromer as Tyler
Chester Marshall as the Ensign
Ray Montgomery as Riffles
Pierre Watkin as the Admiral
Patrick Aherne as Lt. Shultze

"The Jolly Roger"

Island Abel, in the South Seas, is about to be shelled by the United States Navy soon. Daily Planet editor Perry White has assigned reporters Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent to cover the event and take before and after photographs for the newspaper's Sunday supplement. The trio will take a flight from Hawaii to Island Abel. They will have to be gone by 4:00 PM when the bombing starts. Unfortunately, Clark, Lois and Jimmy have been captured by a group of men dressed as pirates. If they are the genuine article, Superman will need to work fast if he's to save his friends from naval torpedoes and possible bloodthirsty cut-throats.

The would-be pirates seem to merely only be play acting in an effort to bury treasure. Their leader Captain Blood is currently deciding what to do with Lois, Clark and Jimmy when the reporters meet Tyler and Riffles, bank robbers who had crashed on Island Abel three years ago. The pair of criminals are waiting for the right moment to steal jewels and gems from Blood's treasure chest. Between pirates, thieves and a naval bombing, it looks like Superman is going to have his hands quite full.

Captain Blood intends to execute Jimmy, Lois and Clark by decapitation. Meanwhile, his cohorts have been digging a hole to bury their treasure chest. They discover an old magnetic mine left over from the last war. Eventually, Lois must reveal the Navy's plans to shell the island. Tyler convinces Blood to tie up Lois, Clark and Jimmy before the pirates prepare for battle. With time growing short for everyone on Island Abel, Superman will need all the speed and power at his disposal if he is to rescue his friends from a possible new war.

Bound, gagged and blindfolded, Clark, Lois and Jimmy are prisoners of Captain Blood while his men prepare to attack the coming naval fleet with an old cannon. Tyler and Riffles, in the meantime, have set a trap with the old mine. Their targets are the three Daily Planet reporters. If they can eliminate them, the pair of thieves can make their getaway with the jewels they have taken from Captain Blood's treasure chest. Now more than ever, time is of the essence for Superman to go into action.

Superman has hurled the magnetic mine into the ocean. However, he is having difficulty convincing the Navy admiral that there are pirates on Island Abel. The entire fleet believes that the Man of Steel has lost his mind. Having untied Lois and Jimmy as Clark Kent, Superman comes up with a plan. As Captain Blood's men rush the costumed hero, Jimmy takes a photo of the action with his camera. Superman then develops the negative with his X-ray vision. As the Metropolis Marvel flies back to the admiral's ship with the picture, shells burst on his impervious skin, leading the United States Navy to hold their fire until they finish investigating the situation. With Tyler and Riffles stopped from taking a seaplane, the jewels they had stolen are currently in twenty fathoms of water. All that's required now is a solution from the United Nations or the United States State Department about the pirates and the rest of their treasure. However, Captain Blood, realizing Tyler and Riffles were thieves, had sunken the remainder of the precious gems in quicksand. Superman could easily recover the chest, but it's perhaps better if he didn't. He and his friends will need to return to Metropolis as soon as possible.

Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen have given the Island Abel story to editor Perry White. Unfortunately, he doesn't think readers will think it's credible. A shocked Lois asks if the chief believes what happened on the island.

"Yes, sure. Sure," Perry says, "But I'm not very bright."

"You know what? That's the first time I ever heard him admit it," comments Jimmy.

With that, Perry yells and throws a book at Jimmy as he leaves the editor's office.

Rating - 1 (out of 5): Leonard Mudie can be spotted as Barrows, Moriarty's Attorney in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

Eric Snowden was the special branch officer in The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Myron Healey played Doc Holiday in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and Major Peter Horry in Disney's The Swamp Fox.

William Henry can be seen in The Thin Man and Hondo.

Eve Brent often was credited under the name Jean Lewis. Look for her in such films as The Green Mile and Garfield.

Dean Cromer was Darganto in Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Officer Henderson (no relation to a certain inspector) in Highway Patrol.

Chester Marshall primarily played bit parts in television of the 1950s and 1960s. His biggest role to date is perhaps that of Prince Gregor in Season three's finale "King For a Day".

Ray Montgomery was Professor Howard Ogden in Ramar of the Jungle.

Pierre Watkin will return for season six's premiere "The Last Knight". He was also Police Chief Pat Patton in Dick Tracy.

Patrick Aherne was Sir Pertwee in 1955's The Court Jester.

Many of the sets and actors were also used in "Dagger Island".

As Superman makes his return flight to the Navy ships, there are moments when his S shield is backwards.

Aside from some incredible scenes with George Reeves as Superman, there really isn't much to like about "The Jolly Roger". Other episodes which I gave such a poor rating to at least had some redeeming qualities, albeit very few. This one was just painful to watch.

David Chantler is one of those writers that is touch and go for me. He's no Jackson Gillis, but some of his efforts have been decent. Some, as in the case of "The Jolly Roger," should have never been written. Chantler and his sister Peggy are capable scribes for The Adventures of Superman. We'll just have to see what their future entries have in store for us.

As far as villains go for "The Jolly Roger," there's really nothing beyond two second-rate bank robbers that were, quite frankly, poorly written like the rest of the guest characters in this episode. Captain Blood and his pirates seem like nothing more than escaped mental patients that simply need their medication. This is one of the many things that makes it difficult to take the entire half hour seriously. The actors are much better in their previous efforts, which makes viewers wonder why they did so poorly in this one.

"The Jolly Roger" is completely senseless in every way one could imagine. Great visual effects are the only saving grace. Unfortunately, they aren't enough to save the audience from endless bad acting and a script with a plot that is the weakest in the entire series so far. Skip this, and move on to something better, or watch seasons one and two over again. They won't make you forget "The Jolly Roger". However, you'll enjoy them a lot more in my opinion.

Season Rating - 3 (out of 5): This season was edging close to a 2.5 or 2 rating, but entries like "Jimmy The Kid" and "The Deadly Rock" do save it somewhat. The overall thirteen episode run for season four has been mediocre, showing a decline in quality. While this makes me less enthusiastic for the fifth season, I'm still hoping there will be some watchable efforts in that batch. Whatever the case may be for the future, the worst of The Adventures of Superman is a million times better than the worst of Smallville.

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