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It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! (1975) on Netflix

NR19751h 29mComedyFantasyMusical

Superman faces Dr. Abner Sedgwick, a ten-time Nobel Prize loser who wants to destroy the world's symbol of good. Daily Planet columnist Max Mencken resents Lois Lane's attraction to Superman.

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  • Netflix1.9/5
  • IMDb3.8/10501 votes
  • Rotten TomatoesNot available

Trailer

Plot summary

Dr. Abner Sedgwick has been passed over for the Nobel Prize ten times. He believes the scientific establishment has dismissed his brilliance, so he sets out to destroy the world's symbol of good: Superman. Superman tries to stop him. At the Daily Planet, columnist Max Mencken also resents Lois Lane's attraction to Superman. Lois Lane is drawn to Superman, while Superman also struggles with his own self-image. The story comes from a 1960s Broadway musical, and this television version shortens the show, updates its sound, and turns a troupe of evildoers into Mafia-style gangsters. A new song, It's a Great Country, was added for the broadcast.

Cast

Show all 19 cast

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! (1975)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

  • Closing after three and a half months, the 1966 Broadway musical cost an unprecedented $600,000 and was Broadway's biggest flop at the time, though the numbers have been disputed: Hal Prince reported a capitalization of $400,000, and other shows proved to be bigger flops.
  • For a 1975 ABC late-night TV special, the show was filmed on video over three days and heavily rewritten, with a troupe of evildoers changed from Chinese acrobats to Mafia-style gangsters and the numbers "Doing Good", "It's Super Nice", "So Long, Big Guy" and "We Don't Matter at All" dropped.
  • "You've Got Possibilities" was the only number from the score often performed outside the show, and it outgrew the musical: Peggy Lee and Matt Monro both recorded it in 1966, and it was used in a 2005 Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits commercial.
  • For a Dallas Theater revival, artistic director Kevin Moriarty got Charles Strouse's permission in 2008 to revise the musical and hired Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who moved the setting to 1939 and made the Clark Kent, Lois Lane and Superman love triangle its focus.
  • During the 2010 Dallas run, Patrick Cassidy developed laryngitis in the role of Max Mencken, and choreographer Joel Ferrell took over the part until Cassidy recovered.
  • The final part of the overture, featuring the title song from the original cast album, was used as the opening and closing theme music for all newscasts on Washington's WTOP-TV/WDVM-TV from 1970 until 1982.

Stills

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