George Reeves

I just watched "So Proudly We Hail" on TCM, and I must say it is easy to see why there was hope for a successful leading-man career for Reeves, had his acting career not been interrupted by his military service in WWII.

Unlike other more established actors who went to war, like Henry Fonda and James Stewart, Reeves was only beginning to build his acting career. Whereas Fonda, Stewart, Gable, etc. were able to pretty much pick up where they left off, after the war Reeves had to settle for serials, which led the way to his definitve role: "Superman."

Reeves's fine performance in "So Proudly We Hail" should have been a forebear of good things to come. However, if not for WWII, we might not have the fond memories of Reeves's "Superman." He is still the standard to which all the actors who have attempted the "Man of Steel" must measure up.

In an interesting bit of cinematic irony, there is a scene in "So Proudly. . ." where Paulette Goddard's character tells a story about Superman to a group of war orphans. Although George was not in the scene, I couldn't resist a chuckle.