Word: supermanic
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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When describing the various feats Superman [Aug. 1] is to perform in the movie, your article casually made mention of his flying round the world in 90 sec. with Lois Lane in his arms. It all sounds romantic I grant you, but anyone else would realize that this stunt is impossible-if not for Superman, then certainly for Miss Lane...
Given an arbitrary height of 300 ft. at which to fly, the distance traveled in 90 sec. would be a mere 25,000 miles. To make it in the alloted time, Superman would have to travel at a cool 1 million m.p.h. This may be within his capacity, but Miss Lane could never survive. The air friction at that speed would reduce her to a pile of red-hot carbon ash and cruelly terminate her affair with our red-caped hero. Finally, it is unlikely that Superman and his lady love would even stay in earth orbit at the speed...
Philosopher Clown. This apparently obdurate optimism may have been Shaw's final put-on. As machine-gun bursts of talk reduce argument after argument to rubble in Man and Superman, one becomes more and more aware of the self-divided ambiguity of Shaw's nature. Just as he was a celibate husband, he was a plutocratic socialist, a religious atheist, an irrational rationalist, a philosopher clown, a meditative activist and a sexually emancipatory puritan...
...individual integrity. It is not surprising that he portrays hell in this play as a kind of sumptuous nightclub of gourmandizing delights and heaven as a spartan gymnasium of progressive ar dor. Shaw speaks the language of militant betterment, and it is at the heart of Man and Superman...
However, in his role as director of a play that resembles a massive military cam paign as much as it does a drama, Van Bridge deserves the rank of four-star general. Everybody involved in Man and Superman merits praise without stint, for they have taken one of the masterworks of the 20th century theater and brought it to effulgent life...