Adventures of Superman (TV Series) The Prince Albert Coat (1957) User Reviews

Very Corny But Fun

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 27 December 2006]

A good-hearted kid about 12 hears a plea on the radio about donating to a flood relief, so he asks his "great gramp," who he's apparently living with, if he cannot donate something. Gramps says okay and then goes to the park to play checkers.

A delivery truck comes for the clothes but you can see the two men are shady. The fact one is named "Cueball" is a tip-off. They are in "this racket," as they put it, just to get first dibs on anything good they see. The kid gives them some clothes.

Gramps comes back and is horrified to find out "Bobby" gave away his Prince Albert coat. In turns out the old man didn't believe in banks so he stuffed his life savings inside the coat: $10,000, which he was going to use for Bobby's education.

Bobby goes to the Daily Planet (how he got there is anyone's guess) and asks if someone can contact Superman for help. Meanwhile, a stage actor winds up with the coat because he discovers it and needs it for a performance. The crooks hear about the coat and they, too, go after it.

This turns out to be an extremely corny episode but still a lot of fun to watch.

The Guy Lived Through the Depression

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 13 February 2015]

This old guy has put all of his life saving in the lining of an old Prince Albert coat. His great grandson donates the coat to charity without his knowledge. The old guy didn't trust banks and at this time in history there were probably a lot of folk who felt the same way. Anyway, the kid feels terrible. Somehow he knows Clark Kent and entreats him to get Superman to help recover the coat. Actually the coat didn't get picked up by the charity group; instead a couple of former "jailbirds" get their hands on it. However, they sell the coat to a consignment shop and they in turn sell it to a Dickensian actor, who needs it in his performance. Of course, these bad guys are incredibly stupid and end up kidnapping Lois, Jimmy, and the little boy who started the whole thing. They are put in a smokehouse on an old deserted farm. How will Superman know where they are? There is a clue in the early part of the story that plays into the conclusion. Also, the ending is absolutely disappointing.

Adult topics with twists & turns

[djfone · 8/10 · 18 February 2024]

I find this to be one of the series' best episodes thanks not only to its more mature themes, but to the use of studio locations, which became more prevalent with the show's Season Five move to long-ago ZIV Studios in the 5900 block of Santa Monica Blvd., now fronted by a 7-11 and Los Tacos strip mall.

A little boy wanting to help the less fortunate. An elderly grandfather sharing the house. His life savings stashed into the lining of an old coat he had hidden away. A town in immediate peril expecting a dam collapse. A Dickensian actor in need of just such a coat.

This script echoes California's history both past and present (for 1957), with its faint echo of the St. Francis Dam Collapse of 1928 that roared through Saugus (now Six Flags Magic Mountain) killing nearly 500 people. The stage play and its stately star are familiar to anyone living in L. A. with its preponderance of actors and productions. The grandpa and his distrust of banks goes right to the heart of The Great Depression less than 30 years prior. And no state's residents live with more constant awareness of natural disasters than California, be they floods; wildfires; earthquakes; landslides, or tsunamis.

The ZIV Studio's massive soundstage and vehicle ramp is the episode's County public emergency center, tucked into a tight corner of the huge building with the sound-absorbing insulation removed from its wall. ZIV also used its 2-floor script readers offices for the HQ of "The Fireman's Friend" from "Money To Burn". One of those tiny offices doubled as the criminals' hideout in several episodes that season, even to the dingy decor and same window covering.

One reviewer here lamented this episode's "completely disappointing" denouement. I wonder if he saw it through to the end with its surprising double twist, announced by the unexpected arrival of the actor who portrayed the struggling shoe salesman mistaken for a TV talent scout from a memorable episode of "The Andy Griffith Show", bringing startling news for Grandpa and the boy.

D. J. Fone.