FOR once, Superman failed to save the day -- Lois Lane was dead, killed by the machinations of Lex Luthor, and the Man of Steel was left wailing in grief. But then the hero launched himself into the stratosphere and furiously circled the Earth until time itself reversed and he was given a second chance to make things right.
That's the memorable climax of the 1978 blockbuster "Superman: The Movie," and now it appears that the film's director, Richard Donner, has pulled off the same kind of a trick -- a miracle do-over that nobody saw coming. "Something was taken away from me and then I got a chance to go back and make it right, to make it the way I wanted it to be the first time around. How often does that happen in life? It's amazing."
The "dead Lois" in this case was Donner's planned "Superman" sequel and (to hear his side of the story) the callous villains who snuffed it were producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind. They fired Donner after he already had huge chunks of the second movie filmed and then brought in a new director, Richard Lester, who made a film that jettisoned plenty of Donner's beloved material. "They cut out a bunch of Marlon Brando scenes," Donner recalled incredulously. "Who does that?"
'Superman: The Movie': An article in Sunday's Calendar section about the release of the Richard Donner cut of "Superman Returns" on DVD said producer Ilya Salkind was Greek. Salkind was born in Mexico City.
But now (somebody cue the soaring music) the spinning silver of DVD has helped Donner turn back the clock. On Tuesday, "Superman II -- The Richard Donner Cut" arrives in stores. Most DVDs labeled "director's cut" are different only around the edges; this one goes in all new directions by lopping out huge chunks of the familiar theatrical version and weaving in "lost" scenes salvaged from the vaults.
There is even footage from screen tests shoehorned into the narrative to cover the script pages Donner never filmed. The most fascinating of them shows a skinny Christopher Reeve (it was before he bulked up for the role) as a tuxedoed Clark Kent in horn-rims, an outfit that makes him look like a nephew of Atticus Finch on prom night. In that scene, Lois Lane pulls out a .38 revolver and takes a shot at Clark to prove he's Superman -- it's one of the new scenes that enhances the "His Girl Friday" vibe of the Lois and Clark relationship. "The Donner Cut" also has more menace, more Brando and more emphasis on father-and-son mythology.
