When I read of director Richard Donner's passing today all of my thoughts turned to Superman because it was the first movie I truly remember seeing on the big screen.
I was six years old when it was released in December 1978. My family was living in Victoria, B.C. as my Dad was on sabbatical for that academic year. This was about a year and a half after Star Wars was released but I was not allowed to see it and did not see it until nearly 10 years after it came out. So Superman was my Star Wars.
Whether it was the destruction of Krypton, Superman rescuing Lois Lane and catching the helicopter, Superman flying Lois around New York City or Superman turning back time to bring Lois back to life over the objections of Jor-El, I was witnessing something much larger than life. As great as the performances put on by Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty and Marlon Brando, it was Richard Donner who put it all together.
While I enjoyed Superman II when it came out in 1981, the film had a much more disjointed feel to it. I would later learn that Superman producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler had fired Donner and replaced him with Richard Lester (who is probably best remembered for directing The Beatles' films A Hard Day's Night and Help!) who reshot much of the film. I never saw any of the subsequent Superman sequels after that. I've also never seen Donner's director's cut of Superman II which came out in 2006.
Perhaps I should see it. It might augment my memory of Superman. On the other hand, it has been nearly 43 years since I first saw Superman and still remember much of it to this very day. That in of itself is much of a tribute that can be made to Donner. R.I.P.
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