Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 101

'Superman IT: A sequel tops the original By Gene Siskel Movie critic I IAGARA FALLS, Ont. Two weeks ago Warner Bros, threw a $100,000 party here tor approximately 100 members of the print and electronic man or a multimillion-dollar film about Superman in which Marlon Brando has agreed to play Superman's father? "The main reason, other than money, that I became involved in the film was Brando," said Hackman. "I figured that if he was going to be in it, it might be turn out to be a good picture. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any scenes with him." Hackman had to console himself with a $2 million salary. With such heavy-duty stars as Brando and Hackman in the fold, the Salkinds could afford to take a risk on the actor who would play the Man of Steel.

Although the very biggest names in the business (Newman, Redford, McQueen) were considered for the part, the Salkinds ended up taking a flier on a little-known, then 24-year-old TV soap opera actor named Christopher Reeve. "The credit for my casting goes to Richard Donner," said Reeve, "who directed the first movie. The Salkinds didn't want me, but Richard kept pulling my composite (photo album) out of the 'Out' basket and putting it in their in' file. He must have seen some potential in me, because I weighed only 190 pounds then." Reeve weighs 220 pounds when he plays Superman, putting on the extra weight with a high-calorie diet and a body-building program. "The others responsible for the success of the films are the Newmans," said Salkind, referring to screenwriters Leslie and Robert Newman.

"Mario Puzo (the first writer hired) gave the project its weight, but the Newmans came up with the story and the dialog." In the original version written by Puzo, Clark Kent was going to be a TV reporter and Lois Lane was to be an anchor-woman in love Continued on page 6 I In "Superman II," Christopher Reeve tangles with the villainous trio from Krypton (Sarah Douglas, Terence Stamp, -1 and Jack O'Halloran, at lower left) and old familiar archenemy. I Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). I smsks; imBT" i wmm media. The party, which included everything from boat rides by the falls to prestamped postcards, was given on behalf of "Superman II," the latest Warner Bros, release. But it was $100,000 needlessly spent.

"Superman II" doesn't need any favors from the press. It's a thoroughly delightful sequel-better than the original and is already socko at box offices throughout Europe, where it opened last December. The Niagara Falls location for the party was chosen because of a scene early in the movie, in which Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) attempts to rescue Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) from the Niagara rapids without confirming her strong suspicion that he is indeed Super-. man. (He manages to pull that one off, but later winds up confessing his identity as well as his love.

It's the film's strong love angle that will have everyone buzzing, at least everyone whose- age is into double figures.) The first "Superman" movie, produced at a cost of approximately $35 million, has now grossed $250 million worldwide, according to uya Salkind, its 33-year-old executive producer. (The film ranks 7th in Variety's list of all-time box-office champs.) The sequel, which cost about as much, may do even better at the box office, partially because of its clever release pattern. The film was opened first in Europe because it had been completed in the fall and because winter playdates in Europe are quite profitable. The film was held, however, for summertime American release, because the summer is a much stronger moviegoing time in North America. (The original film was released in December, 1978, in this country.) But numbers are not really to the point.

What makes "Superman II" work is its mostly fast-paced direction by Richard Lester and its leading performances by Reeve, Kidder, and bad guy Gene Hackman. "There's something about the story that makes it a hit in any culture," Reeve said. "It has a classic myth that's very appealing the story of a guy who is a jerk one minute and can save the world the next." "The 'Superman' movies are simply a delightful way to spend a couple of hours," said Hackman. "They're very valid entertainment." "These are very boring times we live in," said Lester, the English filmmaker best known for directing the first two Beatles movies. "The 'Superman' movies take you away from all that boredom." Indeed they do.

To watch them is to return to one's own youth, to those innocent days when hurrying to turn the page of a comic book was about as tense as life ever' became. The history of the "Superman" film project is fascinating all by itself. The Salkinds, a European show business family, secured the movie rights in 1972. But their most shrewd maneuver was getting Marlon Brando to commit himself early on in the project to playing the role of Superman's father. "We paid Marlon $2.7 million against 11.3 per cent of the first film's profits," said producer Pierre Spengler, 33, who owes his job to being Ilya Salkind's boyhood friend.

"He worked only two Salkind added, "but he was not overpaid. He was the first to give credibilty to the project." Brando did more than that. He brought investors to the Salkinds. How? Well, pretend for a moment that you are a wealthy individual thinking of investing in a movie. Which project would you have invested in back in 1974 a multimillion-dollar film about Super- 'VlJ r'" i.

mmsmmmmmpi I "Jt.J.-.- A new, eyebrow-raising element has been added to the sequel: Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and the Man.of Steel unmistakably in love. CHICAGO TRIBUNE Arts A Boote Jure 14, 1981, Secflon 6 Page.