Every film has its share of lost scenes. The original version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, which went from 155 minutes in its first screening in 1927 to around 90 minutes for decades until restoration occurred in the late 1990s, resulting in a 120-minute cut in 2002, followed by the discovery of a surviving print in Buenos Aires that brought 25 more minutes of footage thought lost forever that brought the film to near completion in 2010. Even then, there is still some five to ten minutes of footage that could not be salvaged from that print simply due to the age of the Buenos Aires print.

There are international prologues to films that were filmed but never included in the U.S. releases. One is the international prologue to Gone With the Wind, which offered a brief text summary of the historical context of the American Civil War to foreign viewers. Another is the international prologue to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which featured narration by William Shatner and gave viewers a recap of the events of the second and third films. That prologue was seen in theaters in the United Kingdom and Brazil and on some overseas VHS and DVD releases, but it has never been released in the United States in any format.

There are tons of films and television series with deleted scenes that have appeared on DVD and Blu-ray, some integrated back into the context of the films and others that are not. We think of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, the recent Blu-ray version of the 1970s remake of King Kong, and James Cameron’s Aliens, Terminator 2, The Abyss, and Avatar, to name a few. David Lean’s epic Lawrence of Arabia was the first one I remember that saw a full restored and expanded version on VHS back in the day. The Blu-ray version of the Battlestar Galactica reboot series features several expanded versions of episodes, along with its share of deleted scenes that didn’t make the final cuts. Not to mention films shown on television that included deleted or alternate scenes that were only shown on television and have never been seen since. Hooper, Golden Girl, and Black Sunday immediately come to my mind.

There are lost cuts of films that are vastly different from what we finally saw in theaters, most notably the original cut of Star Wars, which seemed flat at first but was ultimately saved in the editing room. Such is the nature of filmmaking.

Superman: The Movie is no exception. It has its share of cut scenes and assembly cuts. At one point in the editing process a four-hour rough cut of the film was prepared for Warner Bros. executives.

Even with all of the scenes that appear in all versions of Superman, including the original theatrical version, the 1982 extended TV broadcast, the 2001 special edition DVD release, and the 2017 extended TV cut Blu-ray, there are still some scenes which have not appeared in any of these versions of the film.

The scenes in question take place midway through the film’s story. According to the script draft by Tom Mankiewicz dated April 6, 1977, three scenes occur which feature Superman in various moments. The first features Superman flying past the Concorde. This particular sequence we know was filmed because it was first included in the extended TV broadcast of Superman II in February 1984.

Further information by David Michael Petrou in his book The Making of Superman: The Movie reveals that at one point, “Ilya (Salkind) and Pierre (Spengler) were set to play the French pilots.” Storyboards for the sequence were drawn on February 20, 1978, and filming on the Concorde sequence occurred on June 25, 1978, with actors Michael Berh and John Rees as the Concorde pilots observing Christopher Reeve flying past them.

Also, notice the background plate of the skyline as Superman spins past the Concorde. This is either the same or a similar skyline that appears in the original 1978 teaser trailer for the film.

The second of the three sequences is of Superman rescuing an oil rig from disaster. Here’s how the moment appears in the Tom Mankiewicz script:

For some reason we do not know whether any elements of this sequence was filmed, though it is likely that it was not. Unless any footage is in the Warner Bros. film vaults, we can only conclude that it was not filmed at all. But it wouldn’t be the end for this sequence.

The third part of this sequence involves Superman’s flight with a bald eagle. Here is the script excerpt from Tom Mankiewicz dated April 6, 1977, which outlines the moment in its entirety:

It seems like a nice little shot, almost a ballet, that would have been a great added moment for the film. In early February 1978, the flying unit conducted tests with a golden eagle, two Lanner falcons, and a Saker falcon for the sequence, ultimately going with the Saker falcon. The footage of the Saker falcon was shot, and there was very likely footage filmed with Christopher Reeve also. For some reason the elements were never brought together, and the scene was ultimately scrapped.

However, in later years, a video surfaced of a BBC interview with Zoran Perisic explaining the Zoptic filming system, and scenes from the two Superman films were referenced, including a number of deleted and alternate scenes of Superman in flight that were not previously seen in any version of the film, as well as a Zoptic element of Terence Stamp from Superman II. The sequence ended with a gag take of Superman flying alongside a stuffed bird (reminiscent of the Groucho Marx variety shows of the 1950s) and Christopher Reeve laughing and playfully punching the stuffed bird away. Even though it was a gag outtake, the clip would have given us an idea of what Superman’s flight with the Saker falcon might have looked like.

But that’s not all. Next time: the lost ending of Superman.

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