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Superman In NYC
2005 & 2020

We had another trip to California booked for this summer, but COVID-19 cancelled all that. The plan was to hit a number of filming locations:

Vasquez Rocks - Major Star Trek location, Agua Dulce
Them! (1954) - Giant ant movie, Palmdale
Rebel Without A Cause (1955) - Griffith Observatory
Batman (1966-1968) - Batcave at Bronson Canyon
The steps from Laurel & Hardy's The Music Box (1932) - Silver Lake

Don't know when we'll be able to book that trip again but I thought I would make the best of it this summer and visit some Superman locations here in NYC. I had taken pictures of the Daily Planet from Superman (1978) back in 2005, which turned out to be a good thing, because access to the lobby is now restricted due to the coronavirus. The globe area is off limits to visitors and a security turnstile has been installed leading to the elevator area.

Daily Planet interior comparison shots included here are from 2005 - 28 years after filming in 1977. All others are from August 2020 - 43 years after filming.

1977

2005

1977

2020

Superman I & II were written as one story and filmed together. Director Richard Donner completed roughly 70% of Superman II before he was unceremoniously fired. Had he been able to film the Metropolis Battle, there would likely have been more location shooting. Instead, that sequence was filmed on a sound stage and very much looks it.

One peculiar aspect of that decision is in the strange bridge that cuts right across 42nd Street, blocking all traffic. There is nothing like that in the area, but it was clearly modeled after an actual bridge that traffic can pass under, a couple blocks west of the Daily Planet location. As seen here...

Christopher Reeve Memorial In National Cartoons