If you ask Superman fans which sequence is their favorite, some of them will tell you that it’s the gauntlet sequence, that part of the film when Superman has burrowed down to the inner grounds on approach to Lex Luthor’s lair and runs the gauntlet of bullets, fire, and ice. It’s one of the most interesting aspects of the film that tests Superman’s abilities, and yet ironically it does not appear in the final theatrical version. Except for still photographs appearing in various places, it would not be seen by and large until the extended TV cut in February, and then the 2001 special edition DVD release, and finally the 2017 Warner Archive Blu-ray release.

Much of the sequence had been filmed in early September 1977 with Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, and Valerie Perrine, but Reeve and director Richard Donner returned in the first two weeks of January 1978 to conduct a number of reshoots on the sequence. This is evident in the shots of Luthor, Otis, and Miss Teschmacher watching Superman running the gauntlet throughout the sequence, with those shots of Superman appearing on Luthor’s monitors. That meant that only Reeve was needed for the reshoots.

The reshoots began on D Stage at Pinewood Studios 45 years ago today, on January 3, 1978, beginning with the sequence of Superman emerging from the trial by bullets and heading towards the trial by fire. This was shot several times between September 1977 and January 1978.

A few days later, on January 6, 1978, Donner would shoot part of Superman’s trial by ice at Pinewood’s North Tunnel with Reeve. Stuntman Alf Joint would handle the stunt work for Reeve in these shoots.

Then, on January 12, 1978, Donner would reshoot part of Superman’s trial by fire. While the front projection footage had already been filmed, this proved to be extremely tricky because the mannequin used for the shot had cast a shadow on the front projection plate, and the mannequin itself did not match Christopher Reeve’s own physique, which had increased over time. This forced the prop crew to construct a new mannequin from scratch to match Reeve’s current physique.

A few months later, on April 17, 1978, inset filming occurred on a portion of Superman’s trial by ice. Reeve would wear a frosted wig with fake frost designed by makeup artist Stuart Freeborn for the sequence, while a life size mannequin would also be used for the insert filming.

While the entire gauntlet sequence would not be seen by fans until the first broadcast of the extended TV cut in February 1982, we would actually get brief glimpses of the trial by fire in the theatrical version of Superman II from its initial release in Australia in December 1980 through its international releases in 1981 and the U.S. theatrical release in June 1981. Those outtakes would be integrated into the sequence of Superman sacrificing his powers inside the crystal chamber.

So the question is, why was the gauntlet sequence removed from the theatrical release of Superman: The Movie? Simply put, time and attention span. The final cut of the film was 143 minutes, and the film was already running longer than the average running length of 120 minutes to keep people’s interest in the film, so some footage had to go, and this was unfortunately one of the scenes that, while visually exciting, had to go. Even on the audio commentary for the 2001 special edition, Richard Donner admitted, “We should have left it in. I don’t know why we didn’t leave it in.”

Nowadays it is commonplace for films to have extended versions on DVD and Blu-ray, and in earlier formats such as VHS and laserdisc, to allow the canvas of those films to breathe more and to allow the home video buff to enjoy more of what was filmed. So we have Alexander and Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler to thank for restoring this sequence into the extended TV cut, and we have Richard Donner and Michael Thau to thank for restoring it into the special edition cut in 2001.

(Some screenshots in this blog appear courtesy of CapedWonder.com.)