Superman Double Punch

"Superman" was filmed at a fast pace in 1951, and Phyllis Coates was once knocked cold when she missed her mark as Frank Richards threw his punch. In the second part, if you listen very carefully, you will hear a remark that should have been edited out.

[@bman342a]

Phyllis Coates was a literal and figurative knockout

[@jimnolt-TAC]

Can't argue with that!

[@kevinmadden1645]

You bet!

[@josephvitielo1693]

Hotter than Neill for sure

[@josephvitielo1693]

Rip Ms Coates

[@johnnyjack1552]

Was accidentally punched during filming of Adventures of Superman: Night of Terror (1952), knocking her unconscious. The actor (Frank Richards) who punched her apologized profusely, but the actual punch was left in the episode, as there was no time to reshoot the scene.

[@RollowArlin]

lf you where Ms. Coates would you want a reshoot ?

[@jamesrobbison]

@@RollowArlin lol good question!😆

[@user-ou5hz2sp3s]

This was a great episode because Superman rescues everyonex in the nick of time.

[@princejohn6560]

I only came here after reading an article on Phyllis Coates' death and how she was knocked out cold in this episode

[@jmen4ever257]

me too!

[@jamesb.9155]

Phyllis Coates is still with us here in late 2023, aged 96!

[@jimnolt-TAC]

@jamesb.9155 -- Phyllis Coates, the last surviving regular Superman cast member, passed away on October 11, 2023.

[@jamesb.9155]

We all loved her.@@jimnolt-TAC

[@davehad-enough2369]

Always loved the black & white seasons - some good effects and action. And some really good flying that deserved more money thrown at it. Will always remember this show.

[@bsmith9506]

The Phyllis Coates episodes (Season One ) are the best!

[@darrylruiz2573]

Love Noel but Phyllis.was tough and wasn't afraid to hit a bad guy with her purse and boy could that girl scream!

[@harmonysinger8077]

Loved them both, Phyllis was tougher. Noël friendlier.

[@kevinmckenna4847]

She was one good looking dame….

[@jimnolt-TAC]

Phyllis will turn 96 in January. I knew her quite well for a few years... from abut 1998 - 2002.

[@fjn263]

I LOVE the first Lois Lane. She was tough as nails and had a great blood curdling scream! Can't find it on KZbin, unfortunately.

[@bsmith9506]

They used to be on KZbin, but when the YT downloader "app" was circulating and people were getting the episodes for free they took them off.

[@michaelmantle6043]

One of my uncles was a member of the production crew during the first two years of TAOS. He was still alive when this video was posted, and I showed it to him. After viewing it several times, he assured me that it definitely was the director, Lee Sholem, calling for the cut and print of the scene. It was inadvertently left in the final print after editing. No Monkey Mystery here.

[@jimnolt-TAC]

I'll take your uncle's word for it. Thanks.

[@bsmith9506]

Good one lol!

[@harryputang5352]

So the actor actually acting like Superman...was actually a hard boiled egg with a red Cape? Wow this is so informative 🤙

[@tackysum]

Phyllis was hot! I preferred her portrayal of Lois - her Lois was a spitfire and didn't back down.

[@metrogoldwyn]

agree 100%.wish she had stayed on.Noel Neill's interpretation of the role was a little too goody two-shoes!

[@InCountry6970]

Yes, indeed, she was a feisty reporter and good looking

[@bsmith9506]

The first season was the best! It had a dark noir feel to it. Phyllis Coates always fought back - smacking The Human Bomb in the face, breaking a vase over the head of the guy who was breaking statues, and swinging her suitcase at this guy in a motel. And in The Unknown People she fought back when the Town Hooligan tried to move her aside. The first season was for adults. The second was toned down and the color episodes were for kids. I own the first season and select episodes of season 2 but season 1 is my favorite.

[@porflepopnecker4376]

@@bsmith9506 Totally agree with everything you said.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

@@metrogoldwyn I agree...but she did have a track record of sorts, having appeared in the Superman Serial movies a couple years before the TV show...I understand that Phyllis was never too happy with the pay structure she was receiving, and had, after season One, had made arrangements for other movie parts, so she decided to bag the TV Superman thing...She did feature in a few, lower budget movies in the 1950s, and even appeared in Perry Mason (who DIDN'T ? lol) a couple of times...like most non-A-list actresses, she bailed out of the acting scene, and married well....She was born in 1927-the same year as my now 94yo mother!...I believe she is still alive and kicking.

[@ziggycat999]

The first season of "Superman" was done by directors and writers whom were accustomed to the action and violence of the 1940's serials but not the new TV medium.Kellong's,the sponser,protested a dog murder,elderly woman in a wheelchair thrown down the stairs ,and a woman (Lois) being punched in the face a couple of episopes.Seasons afterwards were writtened for juveniles.

[@bruceflashback3877]

I liked the whole series, but as I like the first season best.

[@jimmiesmith5811]

+Bruce flashback yeah the first season had more action the second was ok too but after that they started to tone it down little by little so it could more kid friendly

[@harmonysinger8077]

1st season was the best It was lot like a "whodunnit" and murder mystery, etc. Much more sophisticated.

[@JohnnyGNV]

Some of the "distant" shots of Superman fighting are edited in with a stuntman double, if you look quickly, you can see it's not George Reeves, then of course the close ups are George Reeves, who by the way made an imposing Superman and will always be Superman to me -

[@curbozerboomer1773]

I thought so!...BTW...Ms. Coates was the best Lois, by far!...she exuded a feisty nature, which apparently cost her that knockdown!...Wow!...nowadays, someone would be sueing!...Phyllis was also the best- looking Lois...she had been a pin-up gal in the late 40s, and it shows, in the way she carries herself...it is possible that she is still alive and well!

[@josephvitielo1693]

Noel Neil was the Pinup girl not Coates

[@kevinmadden1645]

Phyllis Coates(real name Gypsy Evarfs) was very hot as evidenced by her four marriages .

[@jamesb.9155]

He was a real fighter, a boxer in the ring in his youth.

[@SteveEE-ub8hb]

I thought I was the only one that knew those facts that's exactly what happened. and it's actor Ben Weldon that falls down and hits his head on the edge of a desk and says what he isn't supposed to say

[@jmen4ever257]

The thug with the knife supes punchs at the end? Think I heard the bit there.

[@garymazzeo3490]

Th 1951-52 season had much better stories,crime mystery and better writers. Phyllis Coates actually was a better Lois Lane (tough and fiesty) characters.After she left some of the stories got silly...stolen Lemon pies talking mules .

[@GoldwaterB]

The BEST Lois Lane.

[@mitchellmitchell564]

Why didn't Kirk Allyn ever double for George Reeves or have the cables put on him for take offs?

[@jimnolt-TAC]

The most obvious answer, I believe, is that Kirk Alyn was involved with other projects, and besides, he was not a stunt man.

[@deepseadirt1]

I love when George is stabbed in the chest right on the "S" and the criminal faints. They do this several times during the run of the show. In this case the thug faints and George still punches him out.

[@caatcher]

The shots of crooks bending their knives on George's chest are always fun, but they're unrealistic. Try stabbing a brick wall sometime. Yes, bending knives is where I draw the line on realism. Flying, not so much. Also, note the cigarette machine at the beginning.

[@michaelwilliam9494]

If you go to the wiki page for Phyllis it also mentions how she got knocked out while filming this episode.

[@RollowArlin]

They cast her as a' bitchy' woman that she was not and when casting realized their mistake, they brought in Noel Neil from the movie serial shorts of Superman. Both gals were tiny, light weight women that George could easily pick up. Poor Mr. Reeves. Always wondered how he could kill himself and then wipe his fingerprints off the gun he did it with.

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

Airdate Oct. 24th, 1952. Phyllis Coates 1927-2023. 1:28 She should have left the suitcase and run. 1:36 Ouch 2:29 "Oh God Dammit".

[@TWS-pd5dc]

As Superman "lands" you can clearly see the 3 thugs are not Frank Richards, Richard Benedict and John Kellogg (all 3 veteran character actors who usually played bad guys). The stunt man may have been Dale Van Sickel, he was usually Reeves stunt double.

[@TWS-pd5dc]

I believe the stuntman here was Dale Van Sickel? He later played Baker, the murdered foreman in the first episode of season 2 and was in the Fireman's Friend episode. Not a bad actor. Also, you can clearly see that when Superman lands the man holding the gun is not actor Richard Benedict (Baby Face Stephens), likely another stunt man.

[@jimnolt-TAC]

Correct on all counts. You're good.

[@TWS-pd5dc]

@@jimnolt-TAC The funniest thing I noticed (from watching the episodes a million times on dvd!) was the Mind Machine episode, the final fight. Also with 3 "thugs" getting clobbered by the Man of Steel! But watch when great character actor Dan Seymour takes a punch from Superman and is knocked out. He's slumped against the wall, seemingly out cold. But when "Al" breaks a stool against Superman a piece flies off and the "knocked out" Seymour puts his hands up blocking the piece from hitting him! It's easy to miss, I only noticed it a few years ago.

[@plazpastic]

I take it the knockout occurs in the first punching action and then a jump cut was added where she isn't knocked out. I would imagine the action was ruined with all the reactions to the actual blow. I tried to get a freeze frame. And I think the guy was very cramped throwing the punch by Lois being too close. And actually whacks her with a elbow. That will certainly deal a knockout as well.

[@kenherrera2819]

You are correct. When you freeze frame you can clearly see the fist did not strike her but she took the full force of his elbow to the left side of her face. The scene is immediately cut and what follows is Lois falling to the ground, clearly shot after she recovered from being knocked out. You can tell this because of the trajectory of the fist, just before the cut it is moving away from Lois, but at the cut it is moving to the right of her face away from the bad guy.

[@Netman0007]

Christopher REEVE. NOT Reeves! There's no "S" on the end of his name! I hate when people do that.

[@tangrine16]

ME TOO!

[@chrisflaherty8991]

I must have missed whoever mentioned Christopher Reeve. George Reeves is a different actor.

[@WS3RD]

You are like me. I bet you have friends who say "Walmart's", and back in the day "K-Mart's". Drives me effin' NUTS!

[@bsmith9506]

The only S is on his chest!

[@joeweider9471]

@@bsmith9506 it's not an 'S'...

[@RicardoRoams]

Phyllis Coates is still alive and in her 90's.

[@jimnolt-TAC]

She is, indeed. Turned 91 in January, 2018. It's difficult for her to get around though. She's the last of the Superman cast.

[@allenfreeland6494]

God bless her in 90 something.

[@johnnyjack1552]

96

[@unclebobunclebob]

Phyllis Coates was way better than the second Lois on the show. Way better.

[@ebsenraptzski9522]

you would do both

[@kevinmadden1645]

The first season was the best season of all six as well.

[@unclebobunclebob]

@@ebsenraptzski9522

[@harmonysinger8077]

I liked both PC and NN, but they were very different.

[@robertyoungblood2826]

This Lois Lane was much more serious than the other one in the TV series. The other one was more cute! R. Youngblood

[@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771]

Robert Youngblood This one was prettier.

[@johnnytd1128]

No this lois was cuter cute although the other lois played more shows and was cute as well, she had better shaped tits

[@roberthaworth8991]

The producers called for more kid-friendly storylines and characterizations after Season 1, which could get pretty gangsta at times.

[@johnnytd1128]

If you notice, the hotel place where lois lane was knocked out was call "REST WELL" on the door sign😂😂

[@kenp7814]

I'm impressed those bad guys could take a punch from superman and keep fighting

[@r0bw00d]

He was being gentle. (o:Þ

[@brookjersey]

No. Watch Mind Machine episode when the last guy Superman punched. He actually killed him. 2nd season when he did those hand chops. 1st season Superman could have done worse but most of time just knock em out cold with punch.

[@TWS-pd5dc]

@@brookjersey Superman didn't kill any of the 3 thugs in Mind Machine, he just knocked all 3 out.

[@simonovessimon4242]

thanks jim nolt for this post and explanation ..i have ALWAYS CONSIDERED YOU " THE 5TH BEATLE" OF THE SUPERMAN SERIES WITH YOUR INTRICATE KNOWLEDGE AND INFO..

[@jimnolt-TAC]

I appreciate your comment... very kind of you.

[@jimnolt-TAC]

Thanks, Simonoves simon. As Tiger said in The Brainy Burrow: "I try Albert... I try."

[@magisterguidice]

Wow Superman seems to have changed his face during the close ups!

[@MultiJimmyb]

There was stunt body doubles used, dude.

[@faceman68]

When they play that episode again, I will listen carefully next time.

[@thomasbinninger1355]

faceman68 is that a popeye doll in the background.in the first scene?

[@joeweider9471]

@@thomasbinninger1355 it IS 'cut, print'

[@spockboy]

2:23 Superman has rolls!

[@curbozerboomer1773]

George actually wore a padded suit!

[@spockboy]

@@curbozerboomer1773 They padded it with stomach rolls? : )

[@georgevincent1834]

Wow...an actual Superman clip where Jimmy Olson ISN'T getting belted over the head with the butt of a gun while making a feeble attempt to rescue Lois.

[@josephcostello695]

She was better looking then any of the women who play that part in any of the movies. Terri Hatcher is still the best looking Lois lane

[@metrogoldwyn]

Didn't Coates actually portray Terri Hatcher's mother on an episode of "Lois and Clark" years later?

[@r0bw00d]

Do not read the opening tittle card in fullscreen; you won't be able to read it.

[@johnmulder2325]

classic.

[@diddymuck]

wow. more insights and production info, please!!!

[@auletjohnast03638]

SHE WAS THE BEST LOIS LANE! I COULDN'T STAND THE RED HAIRED ONE!

[@r0bw00d]

I know you old people are deaf and blind, but there's no need to shout when you're typing.

[@GoldwaterB]

I didn't hear the remark that should have been edited out. What was it?

[@MultiJimmyb]

Could not here the GD words at all.

[@Digitallighttechnici]

I don't really know why (Jim does) but the same episodes of the 1951 series were edited differently in some instances. Somewhere out these is a 16mm print of Frank Richards punching Phyllis Coates right in the face WITHOUT it being edited to a closer shot of him passing her face in the standard way, as this clip shows. I remember seeing it when WPIX got new 16mm prints of the entire series when it began broadcasting the series in color in 1965. It received new color prints AND new black and white prints at the time.

[@jimnolt-TAC]

There is the Maxwell edit (as producer Bob Maxwell intended). When Kellogg's became the sponsor, the company demanded some changes. That why you can find two different versions of some episodes.

[@eggbertinkabod1121]

@@jimnolt-TAC SHUT UP

[@eggbertinkabod1121]

🙄

[@TWS-pd5dc]

Yes, the first season episodes were very violent. There was a death either on or off camera in almost all the episodes. And man episodes had "edits" that we never saw until the series was released on DVD. I clearly remember watching this as a child and the scene never showed Lois getting knocked out, it cut to Mitch outside just as the punch by Solly was thrown. Other episodes that had cuts: The Evil Three, The Chinese Jade, The Birthday Letter, Crime Wave, Ghost Wolf, Monkey Mystery. Mostly the edits were due to the violence of the scene but I do recall in Birthday Letter the little girl's leg braces being forcibly taken off while she cried "don't do that!". It really was an unbelievably cruel scene, not surprised it was cut. The show really seemed more marketed to adults than children!

[@moboutmen]

Yeah, the dog getting gassed scene bothered the Hell out of me as a tyke watching Channel 11 in early 1960s NY.

[@unclebobunclebob]

@BrokenAeroVT The best thing about the Superman TV show was how ridiculous the whole thing is. It's plots and circumstances and the actions of everyone in the show basically make no sense and are at times outrageously incongruous. Just about every scene offers an unintentional laugh. I watch it every day at 6 a.m. here in the Chicago area. It's a gas.

[@bsmith9506]

Not Season 1, which was the first and best of the entire series. The plots were serious, except for the fact that a costumed man flew in the air, broke through walls and bullets bounced off his chest, lol.

[@unclebobunclebob]

@@bsmith9506 Could the guy who knocked Phyllis out be made up to look any more like a bad guy?

[@jacobk8725]

Look at 2:08 and clearly not Reeves but his double.

[@SteveEE-ub8hb]

it's like correction it wasn't actor been welton that was another episode the mind machine I give up getting my episodes mixed up together still George Reeves was the greatest

[@tangrine16]

She was a 'fast filly' in real life!

[@bjbell52]

Why was Superman unable to stop the guy from stabbing him with his super strength?

[@WakandaBabe]

He LET him to show the effect it would have, which was 'zero'.

[@mickyyoon110]

1988 years!

[@dl5707]

ironian, the knife bent because it couldnt penetrate superman!

[@InCountry6970]

Wouldn't the knife just push through the bad mans grip and not bend at all ??

[@thomasbinninger1355]

Is that a popeye doll in the background?

[@stevearmstrong5324]

Superman came in through a window? LOL!

[@stevenrobertson1021]

She is still alive

[@jimnolt-TAC]

Indeed she is. As of this day (July 26, 2023) she is 96 years old.

[@dgray9020]

Phyllis Coates passed away October 11, 2023.

[@stevenrobertson1021]

She's why the first season was the best. RIP

[@antifatbastard]

The guy said 'Oh God'...

[@joeweider9471]

No

[@TweetsNPenney]

that was the director saying cut-print!!!!

[@tangrine16]

YES IT WAS!

[@mrbb33]

What did Superman fly through? The wall? Window?

[@lordgreystoke-6390]

Came in through the ceiling.

[@nobodyuknow6337]

I hated the Louise Lane character in this series. She was pushy but dumb. I think also, the timing was off in the scene where he punches her out. He waits until she walks "into" the door, not through it to grab it. She didn't touch the knob so apparently the script meant for him to grab her before she tried.

[@rufust.firefly4890]

Ann Doran.

[@Eyes-of-Horus]

Sure took Superman a long time to dispatch the criminals. With his strength it should have taken one punch each. Yes, Phyllis Coates was the hottest Lois Lane and she was a much better Lois than Noel Neill, even though Noel was Lois in the movie serials.

[@cat-lw6kq]

I think its more real that superman held back his punches..he had to keep from really hurting the bad guys.

[@Sean19EightySix]

1:36

[@stevesmodelbuilds5473]

Superman had curlier hair for some of that fight...

[@02chevyguy]

I know it adds an air of suspense to the scene, but why do these guys always wait so long before they shoot their victims? :)

[@porflepopnecker4376]

Because it adds an air of suspense to the scene. :)

[@02chevyguy]

@@porflepopnecker4376 Well, true.

[@miked6335]

The James Bond villians always try to talk 007 to death!

[@John_Michael2000]

I did hear the god dammit...but why?

[@jimnolt-TAC]

My guess is that someone got hurt.

[@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771]

Hmm

[@ironian]

Haha, that is the fakest looking knife ever in Hollywood history.

[@tangrine16]

I'VE SEEN WORSE!

[@rayjohnson4741]

Noel was better Lois lane

[@curbozerboomer1773]

You are in the minority on that.

[@danclark1348]

A knife wouldn't bend. It would break, if the person stabbing was strong enough in thrust. Even when I was young I knew that. Why these special effects poorly done.

[@DJL0455]

Phyllis Coates... schwing!

[@jimnolt-TAC]

She was something!