Superman and the Mole Men (1951)

 

Before The Adventures of Superman became a television series in 1952, the film Superman and the Mole Men (1951) was released to theaters. It would be added to the 1953 television season as the two-parter titled "The Unknown People."

In this episode, Clark Kent / Superman (George Reeves) and Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates) go to a Texas town to cover the drilling of the world's deepest oil well for The Daily Planet. They discover that the well has struck radium rather than oil.

One night, a couple of mute, bald dwarves dressed in black come out of the well and start exploring the surface world, leaving glowing flowers and children's toys in their wake.

Predictably, townspeople freak out over the strange-looking men whom they call "monsters." One of the mole men gets shot while trying to flee a lynch mob and, saved by Superman, ends up in a hospital where folks don't want to treat him.

Other mole men come to retrieve their injured friend. They're carrying a huge device that shoots laser beams. It's not clear why it is too big for any one of them to fire alone. Perhaps it was never intended to be used as a weapon.

It looks like there will be a stand-off between the townspeople and the mole men. Superman, of course, intervenes before things get further out of hand. The mole men are permitted to return to their underground world. From below, they fire a beam that destroys the drill and seals the well. Closing off any future exploration.

To this day, I love "The Unknown People," despite the cheesy effects, unconvincing makeup and mime-school costumes. I love what it says about our irrational fear of strangers, our need to attack what we don't understand, and how we so quickly assume those who are not like us are dangerous. And the trouble prejudice causes.

Needed messages these days, for sure.

Superman and the Mole Men can be rented on YouTube and Amazon.