Hollywoodland-Where Nothing's As It Seems

Produced by Miramax Films and distributed by Focus Features, the movie Hollywoodland, directed by Allen Coulter, delves into the mystery of the strange death of George Reeves, the actor who played televisions Superman from the fall of 1952 through the spring of 1958 for a total of 104 episodes.

The death having been quickly ruled a suicide, there were still questions, and Reeves mother demanded answers to them. The film takes them up in the form of detective Louis Simo, played by Adrien Brody. Reeves himself is played by Ben Affleck, while his fiancee, Leonore Lemmon, is portrayed by Robin Tunny (formerly Veroica Donovan of "Prison Break"). Other characters of importance in the film include actress Toni Maddox (Diane Lane), with whom he had engaged in an affair, and who had been married to Eddie Mannix (Bob Hoskins), a studio mogul.

The film covers a lot of old territory that was all but forgotten over the years, such as Reeves tumultuos relationship with Lemmon, with whom he was rumored to have argued with openly in public.

Officially, Reeves was said to have been despondent over what he considoered the end of his career. The Superman series was over, and though he had grown to hate his identification with the character, it seems to have been a fact that he was so typecast by the role it was difficult, in fact all but impossible, for him to find work.

Plus, he was getting on in years. At 34 when the series stated shooting, Reeves was and is the oldest person to ever play the part. Though there were rumors of the shows return, Reeves himself did not look forward to such a prospect, and must have wondered how well suited he was for the immortal character at by then the age of 43.

He was particularly embitterred when he thought about his past. He had appearred in "Gone Withg The Wind" as one of Scarlett O'Hara's suitors, and had received critical acclaim for his work in 1942's "So Proudly We Hail". Afterwards, he had enlisted in the Army Air Force during World War II, and from there it seemed imposible to get his career back on track, despite having made short films for the war effort.

When he was offerred the role of Superman, he initially turned it down, as television was not seen as a viable entertainment medium. For whatever reason, he changed his mind and accepted the role, though never expected much to come of it. He was surprised when it became one of the biggest hits on television.

For some time, he revelled in the role, and accepted his obligations as a role model for children, taking it so seriously he stopped smoking and avoided appearring in public with any of his girlfriends.

How he came to be involved with Toni Mannix isn't exactly clear, but they seem to have been involved in various charitable projects. From there they became romantically entwined, which may have drawn the ire of husband Mannix and his associates.

Yet, there can be no doubt that Reeves identification as Superman was a serious hindrance to him finding serious work, and he started to resent it.

A case in point would be his 1956 appearrance on the old "I Love Lucy" show. In this epeisode, Lucy was competing with a neighbor over who could throw the best childrens party. The neighbor had arranged an impressive list of performers and guests, and so Lucy urged husband Ricky to ask "Superman" to attend Little Ricky's party. Unfortunately, she bragged to her neighbor about "Superman's" appearrance before it could be confirmed, later finding out that Superman could not be availiable. In a desperate attempt to save face, she donned a pair of tights and a cape and on the day of the party climbed out on the ledge, where she intended to make an appearrance as "Supergirl". Upon crawling out on the ledge, she found herself trapped, unable to get back inside.

Suddenly, as expectations, and tempers, were escalating in degree to the losing of patience and faith in the arrival of the promised guest, suddenly through another window bounded in "Superman". The superhero had saved the day. When he was informed by co-c0nspirator Ethel Mertz that Lucy was out on the ledge, and acertained that she was trapped, he then saved Lucy's hide.

Upon learning from Ricky Ricardo how long he had been married to the idiotic pea-brain he had just rescued, the hero quipped, "and they call me Superman".

And that is just the point of my retelling of the story. Indeed, they called him nothing but Superman, all through the show. There may have been some vaque reference to the fact that he was an actor, but nothing concrete. The name George Reeves was never mentioned on the show. As if that were not enough, neither did the name George Reeves appear on the credits, which merely listed the appearrance of Superman as licensed by and appearring courtesy of DC Comics.

And so it went. By the time the series ended, up until his death, Reeves had appearred in only one other significant film-"From Here To Eternity", in a role that was so minor it was easy for the false rumor to be circulated that his part had been cut off when a screening audience, upon seeign him, shouted, "it's Superman". It was a myth, but it grabbed hold of the poublic imagination, and helped to concretize the notion of Reeves despondency. It was just one of several such myths to be circulated.

At any rate, the fact of his depression was probably well grounded, and may have been worsened by an auto accident in which he sufferred a concussion some months prior to his death. There was also a heavy driking habit. For the two months prior to his death, Reeves liquor bill approximated a staggerring 3500 dollars a month, in 2005 dolars.

He died on the night of a party, from which he excused himself to go to bed. His blood alcohol level was three times what would now be considered the legal limit for alcohol intoxicaion. It seemed a clear cut case of suicide. Yet, there were strange circumstances.

Though he had been shot in the head, the gun lay on the bed betwen his feet. Plus, there were two bullit holes in the floor. Additionally, there was shell casing under his body. Finally, the gun was devoid of prints, of either Reeves or anyone else.

I tend to believe Reeves killed himself, despite these understandably suspicous circumstances. Taken one at a time-

Leonore Lemmon herself took credit for the bulets in the floor, claiming she had been fooling around with the gun some weeks prior to this. If it is true that the two of them fought in public, this is easily explained as a case of frayed tempers, and a display of threatening intimidation on her part.

The gun had been heavily oiled, and according to police a newly and heavily oiled gun will not take or hold prints.

The bullet casing under his bed may mean nothing of any significance.

That brings us to the positioning of the gun between his feet on the bed. This is easily explainable if he were sitting upright, yet fully on the bed, at the time he took his own life. The impact would have knocked him backward, and at the same time the recoil from the gun may have sent it flying in the oppossite direction, thus landing at the pisiton at which it was found. In order to hold a gun in such a position, it would be difficult to maintain that strong a grip on it, thus the recoil effect.

Of course, it is possible that he was killed by Lemmon, or by hired thugs in the employ of Mannix or one of his associates, or by some long rumored shadowy mob connection, angered at yet a different affair that has never been substantiated.

It does sem odd though that this would occur during the night of a party at which there were at least four different people yet present, despite Reeves having retired to bed.

This movie might be well worth a look, as a kind of film noir set in the fifties, and as a kind of nod to the old Micky Spillane type mystery/crime drama that was prevalent during the time. And, while I don't dispute that the mysterious circumstances of Reeves death do indeed warrant more attention than perhaps they were given at the time, I think for the most part it is safe to conclude that Reeves did more than likely kill himself-aided and abbetted by the promising illussons and, all too often, heart wrenching betrayal of that promise that is still Hollywoodland.