Superman (1978)

S U P E R M A N

1	EXT.  METROPOLIS STREET - NIGHT

	CLOSE ON a crumpled piece of rubbish lying in the gutter. HOLD for a beat as it is 	flattened by the wheel of a pushcart. The CAMERA BEGINS A SLOW PULL BACK and 	we SEE a street in  a city neighborhood still 	fighting its way out of the  grips of the 	depression.  Kids play stick ball, people stand about, out-of-work men recline on tenement 	stoops.

 	OVER this SUPERIMPOSE:  METROPOLIS 1938

2	The CAMERA TRACKS UP PAST a boarded-up store window with a "For Rent" sign 	painted on it. 	PAST some trash cans being investigated by foraging dogs, PAST the stoop 	of a brownstone where some care has been taken to keep things neat and clean, PAST the 	parlor floor where we SEE a young couple bending over a crib, shaking a rattle and cooing 	at a new-born baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The 	CAMERA CONTINUES TRACKING 	UPWARDS PAST the roof of the brownstone.

	The SOUND:  CAR HORNS,  RADIOS,  POLICE SIRENS, recede below as the  	CAMERA CONTINUES its CLIMB.  HIGHER AND HIGHER, PAST the skyscrapers in 	the distance: the Chrysler Building, the Fuller Building, and the great neon globe symbol 	atop the DAILY PLANET Building.

3	NEW ANGLE - HIGH LOOKING DOWN on the DAILY PLANET globe from up 	ABOVE.  The only SOUND now is the WIND.

4	The CAMERA TILTS TOWARD the star-filled sky and the full moon, then takes off.

	The CAMERA SPEEDS THROUGH the heavens PAST the moon, THROUGH the 	universe, TRAVELING ON, GATHERING SPEED, FURTHER and FURTHER 	THROUGH the limitless void, then it BURSTS THROUGH into another galaxy.

5	A minuscule red dot appears, growing larger, spreading evenly into a blazing red sun which 	FILLS THE SCREEN.  The fiery red sun grows smaller as we FALL THROUGH space and 	SEE, beyond it, the planet Krypton.

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6	EXT.  OUTSKIRTS OF KRYPTON  - DAY

	As we APPROACH the white, prismatic crystalline mountains of the planet, suddenly there 	is an ominous 	RUMBLING NOISE and before our eyes, the crystals crack. Fissures 	appear.

	We SEE a gleaming, quicksilver lake. Abruptly:  more RUMBLING NOISE and large, 	jagged crystals rend the placid surface, surging up violently.

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7	EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - DAY	

	Krypton is a magical city, constructed entirely of pure white crystalline matter that 	encloses and protects 	everything from the blazing red sun.  As we TRACK BACK, the 	futuristic glass buildings, glass skyways, tunnels and enclosed gardens, evidence of a far-	advanced civilization, sudden small  cracks appear in various structures. As we SEE 	this, we HEAR, VOICE OVER: the somber VOICES of different MEN, each saying, "No," 	in a firm VOICE. CAMERA CONTINUES PULLING BACK until we suddenly realize we 	have been seeing all this from a large picture window  in:

8	INT. COUNCIL ROOM - DAY

	A futuristically designed room that overlooks the city of Krypton. The room is austere, 	dominated by an enormous angled, black table. From somewhere inside the table itself, a 	series of very complicated equations 	appear. Seated around the table are the twelve 	members of the council of elders.

9	But the first glimpse of the room ENDS THE PULLBACK, as we SEE the chief FIRST 	ELDER who has been looking out of this picture window. As the last "No" is spoken, he 	turns TOWARD CAMERA, which has PULLED BACK PAST him at the window, and 	speaks:

						FIRST ELDER
					No.  I'm sorry, Jor-El, but the decision of 
					the Elders is unanimous.

	ON JOR-EL, Handsome, intelligent  man; great intensity about him.

						JOR-EL
				  (leaning forward, passionately)
					But you can't ignore these facts!
				    (gesturing toward the 
					  equations inside the black table)
					It's suicide!  Worse than that, it's genocide.

						FIRST ELDER
					Jor-El, Be warned. This tone of
					yours approaches insolence.

						JOR-EL
				    (a more reasonable tone)			
					My friends, I am not a rash, impulsive person. 
					I'm not given to wild, unsupported 	statements. 
					We must evacuate this planet immediately!

						FIRST ELDER
					You are one of Krypton's greatest 
					scientists Jor-El -

						JOR-EL
					Then -
	
						FIRST ELDER
					But so is Vond-El

						VOND-EL
					Thank you...
				(to Jor-El)
					And it isn't that we question
					your data. The facts are undeniable.
				    	   (gesturing towards the 
				    figures inside the table)
					It's your conclusions we find
					insupportable

						JOR-EL
				   (excited)
					I tell you this planet will
					explode in thirty days.

						VOND-EL
					And I tell you that Krypton is simply 
					shifting its orbit

						JOR-EL
					You ask me to stand by while every man , 
					woman, and child are destroyed.

						SECOND ELDER 
					We warn you Jor-El. This is insubordination.

						FIRST ELDER
 	    				    (firmly) 
					The Mater is closed. 
  			    (pause) 
					Do you agree?

	ON Jor-El. There is a long beat of silence.

						FIRST Elder 
					Do you defy the council?

						JOR-EL 
    			(bitterly) 
					I have sworn to uphold the laws of Krypton.

						FIRST ELDER 
					This discussion is terminated. The decision 
					of the council is final.
   			 (to Jor-El) 
					You will cease pursuing this matter. Any attempt 
					by you to continue, to create a climate of fear and 
					panic among the populace, will be deemed an act 
					of insurrection!

						JOR-EL
 					And if I don't obey?

						SECOND ELDER 
 	 			  (sadly) 
					Jor-El, be reasonable.

						JOR-EL 
    		(determined) 
					And If I don't.

						FIRST ELDER 
					You will be banished to endless imprisonment
					in the Phantom Zone - the eternal prison you 
					yourself created.

	PAN TO the tabletop where a large video-type screen appears, illuminated. At first, what 	looks like an abstract 	grid pattern manifests itself, but by degrees, it sharpens into a clear 	image of: The Phantom Zone.

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10	EXT. PHANTOM ZONE - SPACE

	Imprisoned in a crystalline structure that swirls through the interstellar space void are the 	four huge horrifying faces of the Phantom Zone villains:  the monstrous Non, the cruel 	General Zod, the masked visage of the beautiful raven-haired Ursa, the twisted, mocking 	grin of Jak-El (fuller descriptions follow later). Surrounded by massive tentacles, which 	both secure and monitor them, they writhe in anguish in their prison, fighting against the 	glass cage that pens them in eternal banishment. The impression we get is truly terrifying. 	Strange, MUFFLED VOICES: CRIES and HOWLS penetrate the stillness of the space 	void. Now the image begins to metamorphose once again into the video grid pattern as we-

										CUT TO:
11	INT. COUNCIL ROOM - DAY

	The image disappears from the black tabletop. PAN UP TO Jor-El, glaring at the elders.

						JOR-EL
					As an irredeemable criminal? You
					compare me to them?

						FIRST ELDER
					If you persist, you leave us no choice.

						SECOND ELDER
					Will you abide by the Council's opinion?

						JOR-EL
		 	  	  (very quietly)
					I have heard your decision.

						FIRST ELDER
				  (forcefully)
					Will you abide by the Council's opinion?

						JOR-EL
		  (firmly)
					Neither my wife nor I will attempt
					to leave Krypton.
			
										CUT TO:

12	EXT. OUTSKIRTS  OF CITY OF KRYPTON - DAY/NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT - Jor-El's house stands bathed in a strange glow of Kryptonian night.	
	
										CUT TO:

13	INT. JOR-EL'S LABORATORY - KRYPTON NIGHT

	A large room with complicated equipment scattered everywhere. Jor-El is working on 	something that looks like a computer in the center of the room. LARA, Jor-El's wife enters 	and watches him  as he places glowing crystals into the heart of the machine.

						JOR-EL
					I have programmed the memory cells with 
					answers to the problems he will face 
	
	Lara does not seem impressed.

						JOR-EL
			    (firmly)
					It's the only logical conclusion. If he remains 
					here, he'll be as dead as...

						LARA
					-- as we will be.

						JOR-EL
					Lara, please...

						LARA
					But why Earth, Jor-El. They're practically animals.

						JOR-EL
			    (patiently)
					They are primitive, Lara, but they are not animals.

						LARA
					A million years behind us.
			  (pleading)
					Jor-El, he's only a baby.

						JOR-EL
			   (comforting)
					Their atmosphere will sustain him. He will look 
					like one of them.

						LARA
					He'll be weightless.

					JOR-EL
				Yes, true. But on other worlds there would be other problems - 
				heat, cold, no life, no life support systems...No, Lara, believe me; 
				Earth is the least of evils. On Earth, his lighter gravity will render 
				him almost weightless - that can't be helped. But with his denser 
				molecular structure, he will also be strong.
			  (trying to see the good)
				He will be fast, He will be virtually invulnerable.

					LARA
			  (despair)
				He will be odd, different.

					JOR-EL
 				   (conceding)
				Well, physiologically, he...	won't quite fit.
									
										CUT TO:
14	CLOSE SHOT - CONCRETE DOME - NIGHT

	A sudden fissure cracks as the CAMERA TRAVELS THROUGH the window into the 	Council of Elders, still in session. They listen attentively to a uniformed OFFICER 	standing before them.	

					MILITARY OFFICER
				Energy input to Jor-El's personal quarters is now 
				in excess

					FIRST ELDER
				Are you absolutely certain?

					MILITARY OFFICER
				We were inspecting an energy shortage in his sector. Data 
				received indicates that the loss is due to a mis-use of energy.

					FIRST ELDER
		  (reluctantly)
				Then you must investigate...
	
					SECOND ELDER
				And if the investigation proves positive?

	A massive jagged crack suddenly runs down the length of the huge crystal window. For a 	second the Elders turn, regarding it, then turn back again to business.					
	
					FIRST ELDER
		   	  (sadly to officer)
				Then we will have to banish Jor-El to the 
				Phantom Zone...

										CUT TO:

15	INT. JOR-EL's LABORATORY - NIGHT

	Jor-El is closing panels around the machines in the center of the room.  It has taken a 	deltoid shape.

						JOR-EL
		   	  (urgent)
					Lara, there isn't much time.

	She turns away from him.

						JOR -EL
		   		  	  (patiently reasoning with her)
					You see...
		    			 (warmly)
					You still have some vestiges of primitive...
					what is the word they used to say?

						LARA
						'Feelings.'

						JOR-EL
				You've been doing some research in the archives.

 						LARA
				I want to know what my child is going
				to face.

						JOR-EL
		  	  	 (smiles)
				Then you have on of those 'feelings.'
				It was called: 'love.'

	A sudden tremor produces an ominous CREAKING SOUND, growing LOUDER. Now a 	large crack appears in the wall. Instinctively, Lara runs to her husband'' arm for safety. 	Then, at the last second, she 	overcomes this "weakness" and steps back from him.

						LARA
				And you? Don't you feel something?

	ON Jor-El - as he turns away, unable to admit the emotion he feels

									 	CUT TO:

16	EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - KRYPTON  DAY/NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT - Three Military Men descend a long glass-enclosed walkway to an awaiting 	land vehicle hovering above the ground. As they take their seats, the vehicle moves quickly 	along the glass street approaching a tall structure with crowds of people busily rushing by. 	A tremor shakes the ground and a thin fissure appears on the side of a building, visible to 	all. No one pays any attention to this as the land vehicle continues on.

										CUT TO:

17	INT. NURSERY

	Lara gently picks up a small baby from its cot. She carries it across the room, enters a glass 	elevator and descends.
	
										CUT TO:

18	EXT. CITY OF KRYPTON - NIGHT

	The police vehicle races along.

										CUT TO:

19	INT. LABORATORY

	The baby has been fastened in the module.

	Lara reluctantly steps back as Jor-El secures and seals all openings. The baby vanishes 	from sight.

	Pressing a series of control buttons, the module automatically slides into a larger deltoid 	spacecraft and is sealed in.

										CUT TO:

20	EXT. KRYPTON

	The police car races along its track - as giant crystal formations, erupt, bend, crack.

										CUT TO:

21. 	INT. LABORATORY

	A glass wall facing the capsule slides open as the capsule runs up a ramp into the launcher 	raised at 50 degrees. The ceiling above retracts exposing the entire room to the glow of 	Krypton night.

22	INT. POLICE CAR

	The helmeted figures of the police as the vehicle races through the glass tunnel.

										CUT TO:

23	INT. LABORATORY

	The glass wall closes. The whole room shakes in a violent tremor as Jor-El tries to get the 	engines fired.

										CUT TO:

24	EXT. KRYPTON

	The police vehicle approaches Jor-El's house, but never reaches it. A huge tremor 	dislodges a mass of crystal, 	which crashes down onto the track and crushes the vehicle.
	
										CUT TO:

25	INT. LABORATORY

	The tremor continues in the lab, tons of crystal begin to crash down into the room, as Jor-	El frantically tries to 	fire the rocket.

	With a last desperate effort, he lunges forward amid the tumbling debris and hits the button 	that IGNITES the ENGINE for take off.

										CUT TO:

26	INT. LAUNCH ROOM

	The ROCKET  glides off into the night as the whole house begins to collapse.

										CUT TO:

27	EXT. JOR-EL's HOUSE

	The house collapses in ruins.

										CUT TO:

28	EXT. MODULE - SPACE

	The space module races away from the disintegrating planet below toward the Zone of 	Silence.

										CUT TO:

29	EXT. ZONE OF SILENCE AND MODULE  - SPACE

	The four great villains, pressed against the window of their crystalline glass cage, watch 	the module hurtle past.

						VILLAINS
		 	  (echoing)
					Take us with you...

										CUT TO:

30	INT. ZONE OF SILENCE CAPSULE - SPACE

	Over the shoulder of the villains, the capsule heads off into the inter-galactic void.

										CUT TO:
31	EXT. ZONE OF SILENCE

	The villains turn their attention to the planet Krypton, now in total ERUPTION.

	The red sun eats its way into the core of the planet of Krypton, which suddenly 	EXPLODES and IMPLODES - leaving a vast black void and the villains forever in space.

	CREDITS ROLL
		
32	EXT.  MODULE - SPACE

	The module drives through space to the accompaniment of a steady electronic BLEEP.

										CUT TO:

33	INT. MODULE

	Several lights on the complex instrument panel flash simultaneously with the SOUND of 	the electronic 	BLEEP. A computer memory bank is repeating recorded data while 	machines register other space functions on graphs.

						COMPUTER
 (Jor-El's voice)
					Early concepts of matter appear
					in the ancient Greek philosophy. In
					the fifth century,  Democritus 
					defined a small unit as an atom,
					indivisible...

										CUT TO:

34	EXT. MODULE - SPACE

	The module voyages through space. A giant asteroid lost in the void is soaring toward the 	module at a tremendous speed. The module and the giant asteroid nearly collide. The 	module sways in the wake of the huge mass of matter spinning on and away into the void.

										DISSOLVE TO:

35	INT. MODULE

	The control panels continue to flash and all gauges are stable as the COMPUTER 	REPEATS recorded tapes.  The baby has grown in his metallic capsule with the survival 	tubes, instruments, and foam belts adapting to his increase in size as the years pass.

						COMPUTER
				  (Jor-El's voice)
					Index 19 Sonnet 101 -  'O Truant muse, 
					What shall be thy amends for thy neglect 
					of truth in beauty dy'd...?'

										CUT TO:

36	EXT. MODULE IN SPACE

	Traveling through space, we SEE a tiny yellow dot that becomes larger as the module 	enters our universe. The yellow dot grows rapidly into a flaming yellow sun.

										CUT TO:

37	INT. MODULE
	
	The control panel lights are flashing rapidly. The electronic BEEP quickens its squeal. The 	baby has grown.

						COMPUTER
				(Jor-El's voice)
					Index 44. Language Syntax 5 Oriental 
					dialects. Ching na Kai vo...

	END OF CREDITS

										CUT TO:
38	EXT. MODULE  - EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE - DAY

	The module enters Earth's atmosphere and we SEE the familiar astronaut's POV of the 	revolving globe of Earth, growing larger and larger until we can make out the recognizable 	shapes of land masses and oceans.

	SHOTS: As the module gets closer. it seems as if it will surely land in the heart of the 	Soviet Union (raising the question in the audience's collective mind for the first time: what 	would have happened if Superman had been Russian?) but just at the last minute, the old 	Earth takes another spin and the rocket heads for the dead center of the United States.

										CUT TO:

39	EXT. KANSAS WHEAT FIELD - DAY

	ESTABLISHING SHOT:  Miles and miles of wheat waving under a cloudless sky:  a 	feeling of broiling desolation.

	ON A ROAD:  A somewhat dilapidated farm pick-up truck comes chugging down the long, 	flat dirt road. A flatbed truck.

										CUT TO:

40	INT. CAB OF FLAT-BED TRUCK  - DAY

	Two people who look like they posed for Grant Wood's "American Gothic" seated in the 	cab of the truck. They are dressed in shiny, patched "Sunday Best" clothes, and obviously 	they have done their best to make the clothing presentable in spite of the odds.  The man is 	in his late 40's, the woman in her mid 40's - their weathered faces bespeak a hard life of 	working the land. "Private" people who mind their business, Christian folk whose morals 	are as basic as the soil they till, they are JONATHAN and MARTHA KENT.

	As the SCENE BEGINS, an ominous black shadow crosses the road, swiftly. At the same 	time:

	SOUND: The WHOOSH of the SPACE MODULE coming to Earth.

	Jonathan Kent reacts, startled, darting a moment to look in the direction of the NOISE, 	when:

	SOUND: The BANG of a BLOWOUT.

41	Jonathan Kent slams on the brakes. The truck lurches violently to the right; the front tire 	has burst. The 	truck swerves, narrowly missing the embankment, and stops.

						MARTHA
				  (shaken up)
					Oh, my!

										CUT TO:

42	EXT. WHEAT FIELD, ROAD - DAY

	Leaving the truck standing in the road, Jonathan steps out of the cab and looks at the 	punctured tire.

					  JONATHAN
				(muttering)
					Blamed cheap rubber them Detroit
					Wiseacres are puttin' out.
		
	Bitching, he goes around to the rear and unstraps the spare tire and hauls the jack out.

	NEW ANGLE - Martha gets out of the cab, stretches her legs and smoothes her wrinkled 	dress, gazing across the wheat fields as her husband, in b.g., places the jack under the car, 	then wedges a stone under the jack to hold it in place.

	ZOOM IN TO TIGHT CLOSEUP of Martha - Her face freezes in astonishment and 	disbelief as she sees something in the wheat field.

						MARTHA
					Jonathan!

	ON JONATHAN - who turns and looks, amazed.

						JONATHAN
					Great God almighty! What is it?

	MEDIUM SHOT - the space module has landed in the fields, The engines are silenced.

43	NEW ANGLE - Leaving the truck, they race into the midst of the field.  CLOSE IN ON 	them as they run.  Jonathan rushes to the strange, eerie metal craft nesting in the charred 	wheat.

						MARTHA
					Be careful, Jonathan!

	NEW ANGLE: Suddenly a wall of the module opens and a metallic capsule ejects with a 	little boy still 	fastened inside.

						JONATHAN
					What the heck --?

	CLOSER IN:  He looks inside the module, then leans over and touches the capsule, burning 	his hand.

						MARTHA
					Jonathan!

	NEW ANGLE:  The little BOY, aged 3, springs out of the electronically controlled belts,  	half-naked.

						MARTHA
				    (stunned)
					It's a ...baby.

						JONATHAN
					What's your name, boy?

						MARTHA
					Don't just stand there gapin' Jonathan. 
					Can't you see he's cold?

	Jonathan takes off his jacket, drapes it around the little boy. Now he looks again at the 	module.

						JONATHAN
				  (can't get over it}
					ho-leeeeeeee.

	TRACKING JUST AHEAD OF THEM - as she lifts the boy with much difficulty and 	walks back to the truck, regarding the child with wonder. Her husband walks ahead, 	shaking his head, looking back.

	MEDIUM SHOT - as the reach the truck.

						JONATHAN
					Well - gotta change that tire if were gonna
					get home.

						MARTHA
					   (pointedly)
						All of us.

	As she snuggles the boy to her, Jonathan starts to jack up the front end. He removes the 	lugs and the punctured tire.

	INSERT: The jack begins to shimmy as the truck shakes.

	CLOSEUP JONATHAN: Struggling with the spare tire cranks under the truck, wondering 	why the tire won't slide in.

	INSERT: The jack continues to shimmy. Then suddenly, the stone beneath it slips away.

	CLOSEUP MARTHA: She screams, wide-eyed, horrified.

	ON JONATHAN: Under the truck, he darts a quick look at his wife, then - as his scream 
	suddenly stops in a gasp - behind him.

	HIS POV: The baby boy holding up the truck, two wheels off the ground. As he looks in 	wonder toward his wife:

										CUT TO:

44	INT. TRUCK CAB - MED.  TWO SHOT - DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD - DAY

	The baby sits happily in Martha's lap. The couple ahead, lost in thought, serious.

					MARTHA
				The good lord works in mysterious
				ways.

					JONATHAN
				He sure as heck does that.

					MARTHA
				All these years, happy as we've
				been, how I prayed and prayed
				He'd see fit to give us a child.
				And just when I finally accepted
				my bitter lot...
					(firmly)
				No one must ever know.

					JONATHAN
				Folks'll ask question.
									
					MARTHA
				 (determinedly)
				We'll say he's a child to my cousin
				in North Dakota, and just now
				orphaned.
				   (cuddling the baby)
				Poor thing.

					JONATHAN
				Guess I'd better hitch up the rig
				and come back to get that...that
				thing he was settin' in. What
				do you make of that thing?
				Martha? You listening?

					MARTHA
				I was thinkin' what to call him.
				I was thinkin' I had an uncle who
				was a fine man, you recall him?
				The Church Sexton

					JONATHAN
				Who? Clark? I never cared two 
				hoots for that fella.
   					(pause)
				Jonathan Jr. That's got a ring to it.

					MARTHA
				  (gives him a look)
				We don't want a child called
				'Junior,' ain't that so, Clark?
				Why sure it is.

	He scowls a bit, then looks outside the window as he drives.

					JONATHAN
				Yup, better get that thing 'fore
				somebody finds it who shouldn't.

										CUT TO:

45	EXT. KENT FARMHOUSE  -  DAY

	The farmhouse and barn -- classic American  -- of the Kent's. As SCENE BEGINS, a 	sheriff car is parked in the driveway, the dust still rising from beneath its wheels. The 	SHERIFF, a hard, tough-looking man, is leaning on the door of his car. Standing across 	from him is Jonathan, and Martha stands just behind him. We have the feeling that this, 	because of the cut from the last scene, is taking place immediately afterwards, and, 
	further, that trouble is up. (It is, however, about five years later, as we shall shortly see.)

					SHERIFF
				There she was, right out in the 
				wheat field, near to the road.

	REVERSE TWO SHOT --  on the Kent's, looking very Grant Wood.

					JONATHAN
				You're sure of that, Sheriff?

					SHERIFF
				Sure as shootin', Mr. Kent
									
					JONATHAN
				Well, I heard some heifers with
				spunk and I heard of some with
				ambition, but how that cow jumped
				a fence and got half way to Danville
				is one for the books.
 
	And now we know that they are not speaking of the Krypton capsule.

					MARTHA
				  (smiles)
				We thank you kindly for bringin'
				her back, Sheriff Grizzard.

	They begin walking toward the red barn, nearby.  TRACK.

					SHERIFF
				Well, that's my job. ma'am. Part
				of it, anyway. Say, where's that
				darn kid of yours? Got his nose
				stuck in a book again, I bet.

					MARTHA
				Well,  now, Clark is a good pupil,
				and I thank the Lord he is.

					JONATHAN
				  (proudly)
				Got all A's this year. Teacher
				said he's the best 5th grader in 
				the -

					MARTHA
				  (sternly)
				Don't brag now,  Jonathan.

	They have reached the barn. They enter.

					 					CUT TO:

46	INT. BARN  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT of the barn --  piles of hay stand in the middle of the floor. Standing in the 	middle of them is a boy with a rake, a pleasant, unassuming lad wearing glasses; the young 	CLARK KENT. But instead of raking as he should be, he stands, almost mesmerized, and 	stares at the corner of the barn.

	HIS POV:  On one dark wall, amidst the rusty tools and plow parts, the pieces of the rocket 	and module that  the baby to Earth have been taken apart and hung. They are deliberately 	camouflaged, dusty and cobwebbed, 	but still recognizable to us who saw them before.

	ON CLARK again, as he hears VOICES and APPROACHING FOOTSTEPS coming. That 	snaps him back to present and he begins his raking chores.

	NEW ANGLE  --  as the adults approach.

					JONATHAN
				Clark, say hello to the Sheriff.
				He found our runway heifer.

	CLARK stops his work, lays pitchfork down, shakes hands in manly fashion
											 							CLARK
				Hi, Sheriff, Was she over to 
				the Harris North 40?

	Sheriff Grizzard pulls a fountain pen from his shirt pocket, begins writing on a form 	attached to a clipboard he carries.

					SHERIFF
				Why, that's right, son. How'd
				you know that?

					CLARK
				 (grinning)
				There's a bull there she's kinda sweet on.

					MARTHA
			 	(shocked)
				Clark!

					SHERIFF
			   	(with a wink to Jonathan)
				He is smart, ain't he Mebbe too smart 
				for his size.
			 (writes some more)
				Danged paperwork. Got to note down
				every piece of livestock rounded up
				in the country.

	Finished, he lays his pen down on a nearby tool shelf, absently. Then tears off the sheet of 	paper, 	folds it, puts it in his pocket.

	INSERT:  On the shelf as the fountain pen rolls off, falling behind it, between the shelf and 	the wall.

	NEW ANGLE  --  The Kents start out of the barn.

					JONATHAN
				Back to work now, son.

					CLARK
				Yessir. Nice to see you again, Sheriff.

	HOLD on CLARK as the others leave the barn. Now, satisfied that they are gone, he begins 	pitching forkfuls of hay at super-speed: a dazzling display with hay flying faster than the 	eye can see.

	CLOSEUP CLARK as he suddenly spots something. ZOOM IN TO his eyes.  SPECIAL 	EFFECTS:  His eyes widen and glow in a weird, special way. This is the visual clue to the 	fact that he is using X-Ray Vision.	

	CLARKS' POV: A demonstration of X-Ray Vision for the audience. He is looking at the 	shelf where the pen rolled off. Suddenly, before our eyes, the tool shelf sort of dissolves 	(EFFECTS) and we SEE the wall behind it. ZOOM IN FURTHER: The fountain pen on the 	floor against the wall.

	NEW ANGLE  --  CLARK runs to the wall, pushes the heavy tool shelf aside with barely a 	touch, grabs up the fountain pen and races outside.

										CUT TO:

47	EXT.  FARMHOUSE  -  DAY

	Too late. The Sheriff's car is already gone. When CLARK appears, his parents turn to him.

					CLARK
				Sheriff Grizzard, wait! You
				forgot -

	Before MARTHA can speak, young CLARK whizzes off down the road at super-speed, 	moving like greased lightening.

	ON THE KENTS  --  She looks distressed, but he is beaming.

					JONATHAN
				That's my boy!
			   (he casts his eyes
			    to heaven)
				Kind of.

	She looks down the road.

	POV:  A cloud of dust raised by CLARK, all the way down to the horizon.

										CUT TO:

48	EXT. COUNTRYSIDE  -  DAY

	IN QUICK CUTS, the landscape constantly shifting, CLARK runs like Andy Clyde in 	"Million Dollar Legs":

	A)  He dashes across a corn field, incredibly fast.

	B)  He approaches a meadow with a long stretch of railroad tracks.

										CUT TO:

49	EXT. RAILROAD TRAIN

	TRACKING:  Racing alongside, CLARK, who runs alongside the tracks.

	SOUND:  APPROACHING RAILROAD TRAIN

	LONG SHOT:  Steam engine in the distance catches up, pulling a long passenger train. It 	pulls alongside the running boy,

	CLOSER ON THE TRAIN:  We can MAKE OUT a family in one of the compartments. A 	little girl is looking out of the window, her nose pressed to the glass.

										CUT TO:

50	INT. TRAIN COMPARTMENT  -  DAY	 

	The parents of the little girl are the same couple we saw in the opening Pan Shot of the 	movie, cooing over their baby.  They are six years older now, as is the little girl. She is 	LOIS LANE.

				
						LOIS
					(turning to her
				   folks, amazed)
				Golly!

						FATHER
				Did you say something, Lois?
																			LOIS
				   (excited)
					I saw a boy running as fast as
					the train! Faster even!

						MOTHER
				  	    (affectionate sigh)
					Lois Lane, you do have a gift for
					invention, I'll say that for you.

						LOIS
					But -

						FATHER
					Read your book,  dear.

	Resigned to not being believed, she goes back to a "Bobbsy Twins" book.

										CUT TO:

51	EXT.  SMALLVILLE STREET  -  DAY

	A typical small-town street. CLARK KENT, holding the fountain pen, leans against the 	door to the Sheriff's 	office as the Sheriff's car pulls up and stops.

						SHERIFF
				   (getting out of car,
				    astonished to see
				Clark)
					Clark Kent??? How... what...

						CLARK
				   (holding the pen out)
					You forgot your pen, Sheriff.

	The SHERIFF'S eyes open wide in amazement.

										CUT TO:

52	INT. KENT FRONT PARLOR - NIGHT

	FULL SHOT, WIDE:  It looks like a Norman Rockwell cover of the typical American farm 	family, circa 1943. Pa Kent sits in an overstuffed chair reading his paper. It is later in the 	same day. Clark sits at the dining table engrossed in gluing together a model plane. In b.g., 	Ma Kent comes in from the kitchen in her apron, wiping her hands on a towel, a troubled 	look on her face.

    					 MARTHA
  			   (this is difficult
   				  for her to say)	
				Clark...Son...that...thing you
	 			did with the Sheriff today...
				those...stunts...you don't do
				those things at school, do
				you?

					CLARK
 		    	   (uncomfortable about
   		 		this subject)
				No, Mom. You know I wouldn't 
				break my promise.

					MARTHA
				I know you're a good boy, Clark.
				No mother could ask for better.
				It's just that...

	CLOSEUP CLARK -- He looks away from her: unhappily:

					CLARK
				I know. I'm different.
	
	TWO SHOT - She comes to him; her heart goes out to him.

					MARTHA
				Oh, dear. That isn't what I --

					JONATHAN
				What your mother means, Clark, is
				that she don't want folks to think
				you're special.

					MARTHA
				I bless the day you came to us,
				son. You know that. But some
				people wouldn't understand.

					CLARK
				  (pats her hand
			   comfortingly)
				Don't worry, Mom. I know.
 
					MARTHA
				(brave smile)
				Anyway, we Kent's don't like
				showoffs, ain't that so? A
				body's got to be humble even if
				he knows that he's better'n his
				neighbors.

	ON PA KENT, raising his paper again.

					JONATHAN
				That's right, son. Mind your
				mother. She knows what's best.

	ON CLARK -- feeling a bit self-conscious, he gets up and walks out of the room. FOLLOW 	him out.

					CLARK
				Going to get a drink of water.
										CUT TO:

53	INT. CORRIDOR OF KENT FARM - NIGHT

	FOLLOWING Clark as he walks from the parlor, walking toward the kitchen. In the parlor, 	we HEAR Jonathan Kent chuckling. Suddenly, the laugh abruptly stops, followed by an 	audible gasp. A moment later, a crash, as if someone has fallen to the floor.

					MARTHA (O.S.)
			 	 (screaming)  
				Jonathan! What's wrong! What
				is it! Jonathan!

	Clark races back toward the parlor. 

										DISSOLVE TO:

54	EXT. COUNTRY CEMETERY - DAY

	FULL SHOT -- Young Clark stands by a freshly filled grave, holding the hand of his 	weeping mother. Both are dressed in mourning.

	CLOSER -- The tombstone reads "Jonathan Kent 1887-1943 R.I.P."

					CLARK
    			(anguished; to
 				himself, quietly)
			All those things I can do, all
			those powers...and I still
			couldn't save him.

	Tears fill his eyes, His mother pats his shoulder comfortingly.
									
										DISSOLVE TO:

55	EXT. KENT FARM  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT:  The barn. It stands, silhouetted against the night sky. CAMERA SLOWLY 	TRACKS TOWARD the barn , then THROUGH the door.

										CUT TO:

56	INT. BARN  -  NIGHT

	It is pitch dark inside. CAMERA CONTINUES TRACKING FORWARD when suddenly a 	small green light flashes somewhere in b.g. on the far wall. CAMERA MOVES IN 	CLOSER TO REVEAL that it is the glowing crystals Jor-El put in the module.

										CUT TO:

57	INT. CLARK'S BEDROOM  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  -- On the bed, Clark Kent, now in his 20's is asleep. Suddenly his eyes open. 	he sits 	up, looks around.

										CUT TO:

58	EXT. FARM  -  NIGHT

	ON the back door as it opens and Clark, fully dressed, emerges from the house, easing the 	back door open, and crosses to the barn.

										CUT TO:

59	INT. BARN  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  -  Clark enters the barn, crosses tot he source of the green light

	CLOSER IN  --  In the corner where the rocket is dismantled,  a door is opened. revealing a 	chamber filled with the crystals Jor-El placed in the ship. Emanating from it is a pulsating 	green light, which radiates the entire area. CLARK comes close, eyes widened, pulled by 	the force. His features illuminated by the eerie light, he reaches for the crystals.

										CUT TO:

60	INT. KENT HOUSE  -  DAY

	The following morning. MARTHA KENT. wearing her apron, stands at the foot of the 	stairs, calling up.

					MARTHA
				Clark? Clark?

	There is no answer. She starts up the stairs. We note how much she has aged.

										CUT TO:

61	INT.  HALLWAY, UPPER LANDING  -  DAY

	She crosses to the door to Clark's bedroom.

					MARTHA
				CLARK?

	No answer. She opens the door, peers in.

	HER POV:  The room is empty.

	ON MARTHA  --  who enters.  FOLLOW.

										CUT TO:

62	INT. CLARK'S ROOM  -  DAY

	She crosses to the window and looks out. CAMERA POSITIONED JUST BEHIND HER, 	OVER 	HER SHOULDER, ANGLE DOWN. ZOOM SLOWLY  PAST HER To the solitary 	figure of Clark. He stands alone, out in the field, staring off toward the north.

										CUT TO:

63	INT. KENT KITCHEN  -  DAY

	MED. SHOT:  MARTHA KENT is sitting at the kitchen table, facing TOWARDS 	CAMERA, looking at photographs in the family album. Her eyes raise from the 	photographs; we know she senses he has entered, but she does not turn around.

						CLARK
					    (awkward, odd)
					Mom...

						MARTHA
					(eyes front, voice
				 	  flat)
					I know.

	There is a palpable tension in the room: both people know what is happening and it is 	terribly hard for them. Both are trying desperately to keep in non-emotional and flat, for 	fear of breaking down.

						CLARK
					I have to leave.

	She still does not turn and face him; trying to keep control of herself.

						MARTHA
					I knew there'd be this day. I
					guess I knew it from the minute 
					you came to us.

	He comes around to her side and touches her hair, thereby making her look up at him. her 	eyes fill with tears.

						CLARK
					I talked to Ben Hubbard this
					morning. He'll be more than
					glad to bring in the crops on
					shares.

						MARTHA
					He's a good man, Ben is. Your
					father always said so.

	A long pause. It is difficult to say anything.

						CLARK
				 (emotionally)
					Mother...

						MARTHA
				  (she pats his hand)
					I know son, I know...

										DISSOLVE TO:

64	EXT. KENT FARM  -  DAY

	MED. SHOT at the  gate to the road. CLARK in windbreaker and slacks, has a rucksack at 	his side. MRS. KENT holds out a brown bag, the same kind she used to give him his school 	lunch in. The wind is blowing.

						MARTHA
					I made you...
					    (fighting back tears)
					...some sandwiches.
					    (she hands them to
					 him, then takes
					 something from her 
				apron pocket)
					And this...this is your father's

	INSERT:  Jonathan Kent's old-fashioned pocket watch. She Places it in CLARK'S hand.

	CLOSER TWO SHOT			

						MARTHA
					You remember this?

	CLARK, deeply moved, can only nod.

						MARTHA
					He always wanted you to have it.

	Silently, CLARK closes his hand around it. Then. stiffly, he turns away, opens the rucksack
	and puts the watch and the lunch bag inside.

	INSERT:  ON THE INTERIOR OF THE RUCKSACK:  It glows with green light; inside 	are all the components and glowing stones and chips and discs seen earlier. He closes the 	bag. As we SEE this:

						MARTHA (O.S.)
					Do you know where you're headed?

						CLARK (O.S.)
					North. It's north

	TWO SHOT:  Unable to restrain it anymore, they reach ouch to each other and move into a 	tight hug.

						MARTHA
					Keep warm now.

						CLARK
					I will.

	They pull back from the embrace.

	CLOSEUP MARTHA

						MARTHA
					And remember us. Always
					remember us.

										CUT TO:

65	EXT. ALASKA HIGHWAY  -  DAY

	MED. WIDE SHOT  --  CLARK KENT, clad in his light windbreaker, his rucksack behind 	him, stands on the side of the road, thumb out, hitch-hiking. The wind blows around him 	mightily, ruffling his hair, but he doesn't seem to mind the cold. His face shows calm 	determination.

	From the distance, a truck appears, pulls up, stops. The DRIVER throws the door open.

						TRUCK DRIVER
					Get in, quick! My God, a body
					could freeze to death just 
					leavin' the door open.

	As CLARK climbs in the cab of the truck:

						TRUCK DRIVER
					Where you headed?

						CLARK
					North.

	The truck drives off.

										CUT TO:

66	EXT. ALASKA  -  DAY

	FULL SHOT  --  a narrow, snow covered road which runs alongside a vast Arctic lake. In 	the middle of the lake, great icebergs float.

	The truck comes to a stop, lets CLARK out. The DRIVER looks at him quizzically a 	moment, then 	drives on.

	NEW ANGLE  --  CLARK stands at the edge of the ice-filled lake, looking due north.

67	EXT. ALASKA  -  DAY

	FULL SHOT  --  A narrow, snow -covered road ends in the Arctic North. In b.g. , Eskimo 	igloos can be SEEN. CLARK stands on the roadside, thumb out. DOLLY IN TIGHT TO 	him.

										CUT TO:

68	INT. ESKIMO IGLOO  -  DAY

	An Eskimo man stands at the opening of his igloo. CAMERA POSITIONED BEHIND him 	so that 	we SEE over his shoulder. There, far away, is CLARK as we left him at the 	roadside, wearing only his thin jacket.

	The Eskimo bursts out laughing and ducks back in. PAN OVER TO a fur rug where his 	wife is seated, 	preparing food. Chattering in Eskimo talk, he points outside, laughing. The 	woman rises and rushes to the opening of the igloo, peering out.

	HER POV;  Nothing to be seen. CLARK is gone.  VERY WIDE SHOT.

	ON HER:  She turns and mutters, annoyed, to her husband.

										CUT TO:

69	EXT. SOMEWHERE NEAR THE NORTH POLE  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  -- A flat, desolate plain; off to one side is an enormous outcropping of rock 	jutting out of the barren snow-covered land.

	At the moment, there is a terrible blizzard going on. the CAMERA PANS ACROSS the 	frozen waste to REVEAL CLARK KENT standing there, wearing only his lightweight 	jacket, the rucksack on the ground behind him.

	WIDE SHOT  -  As the wind continues to grip across the barren plain, CLARK looks 	around, then selects as area. He marks its perimeter with heat vision, burning deep lines 	into the snow and ice.

										DISSOLVE TO:

70	THE SAME AREA  -  LATER

	WIDE SHOT  --  Once the boundaries are drawn, CLARK concentrates on the area within 	the perimeter, 	and we SEE the entire mass of snow begin to melt away as huge flames 	shoot around the gigantic excavation.

										DISSOLVE TO:
71	THE SAME AREA  -  STILL LATER

	WIDE SHOT  --  Now an enormous crater has been carved out of the rock and ice. CLARK 	stands 	on the edge, focuses into the crater. We SEE a crystalline foundation solidify and 	expand with ultra-violet radiation glowing around the excavation site -- a wall is formed. 	Another burst of energy intensifies and constructs a second solid side joined at right angles.

										DISSOLVE TO:

72	EXT. SAME AREA  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  -- CLARK is now on the opposite side of the excavation. We SEE a bright 	cone of light, then gasses rising and solidifying into multi-colored molecules that expand 	into a third impregnable wall. Through a blaze of sparkling light, the third wall increases in 	size and spreads out to cover the fourth remaining side, soon transformed into white 	crystalline matter.

										DISSOLVE TO:

73	EXT. SAME AREA  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  -- The Fortress of Solitude is now complete. It rises up in the northern 	landscape, but its materials are harmonious. The walls of the Fortress are white opaque 	crystalline.

										CUT TO:

74	INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE  -  DAY

	Note:  Inside it is  multi-leveled, but there are no staircases, as Superman flies form level to 	level.  The interior is spacious, though the decor is Spartan, minimal. There is a large 	circular control room, futuristically designed. It is highlighted by computers, transmitters,  	receivers,  rows of buttons, moving 	graphs, in gleaming metals and plastics unknown on 	Earth. 

	The central area, where the memory crystals are stored and activated and where Superman 	communicates with his dead father, is overlooked by "floating" balconies which lead to 	hidden bedrooms, corridors, etc. In another 	part of the area is a self contained, windowed 	chamber which will be the Molecule Restructuring Machine. 

	In the There is a kitchen-dining area, the decor is so futuristic as to be barely recognizable 	(there is no stove, for example). The dining set contains no chairs, but is built in platforms 	that seem to float. There are no closets in the structure because one has only to touch the 	wall and it opens a storage space. On the higher levels there is an area that opens out onto a 	balcony  -  the only window in the Fortress. 

	Everything is transparent, crystalline, reminding us of Krypton (because Jor-El designed it 	and perhaps reminds 	Superman of his ancestral home).

											CUT TO:

75	INT. MEMORY CRYSTAL AREA  -  DAY

	It is barren except for a large bench with a strange box in the front of it. To the left are two 	walls with a glowing row of shelves of crystals on each. CLARK takes the first crystal from 	the first shelf and places it in an appropriate "play-back" mechanism in the box in front of 	the bench. As soon as he does:

76	EFFECTS:

	The light in the Fortress begins to change very dramatically. There is something magical 	and awe-inspiring about these effects, which will continue to happen each time this process 	is repeated. The process of "materializing" JOR-EL.

	For it is he, JOR-EL, looking as he did when last seen on Krypton, who suddenly seems to 	materialize out of thin air; he appears simultaneously in different area of the room, and in 	different sizes and dimensions as well.

						JOR-EL
					My son, you do not remember me.
					I am Jor-El. I m your father. By 
					this time, you will have reached
					your eighteenth year in Earth time
					and I will have been dead for many, 
 					many years in Krypton time measure. 
					Although there are certain things you
					already know of human ways and
					wisdoms, there are many questions 
					that have puzzled and confused you
					as you search for the answers to your
					life. Although I am speaking from the
					past, I have tried to anticipate them.

	ON CLARK  -  unsure.

						CLARK
					Can I ask direct questions,
					Father?

						JOR-EL
					Speak.

						CLARK
					Who am I?

	CAMERA begins, in effect, a SLOW 360 DEGREE PAN FROM young CLARK, 	MOVING AROUND the interior of the Fortress as we SEE many of the features described 	above.		

	The figure of JOR-EL appears and fades in different dimensions, different areas as each 	DISSOLVE OUT indicates the passage of time. At no point until the culmination of the 	360 PAN do we see CLARK KENT	again.

						JOR-EL
					Your name is Kal-El. You are
					the only survivor of the planet
					Krypton. Although you have 
					been raised as a human, you are 
					not one of them. Your road has
					been a difficult one; it will continue
					to be. You have great powers but
					you are confused as to how to use
					them.  All this I know. Here in this
					fortress, a place of solitude, I will
					train you for the tasks that lie ahead.
					Now let us work together to complete
					your education. Over the years I have 
					instructed you in all the languages, arts,
					and sciences of Earth as well as the far
					more advanced knowledge of Krypton.
					Now, my son, we turn to a more 
					difficult subject  -  virtue. How does a 
					good man live? This is not yet -- not
					even on Krypton -- a precise science. 
					So I can only tell you what others have
					thought and what -- what I myself believe --

	His voice DISSOLVES OUT.

										DISSOLVE TO:	

	PAN CONTINUES AS LIGHT CHANGES, as if it is now darker or lighter outside the 	opaque fortress, as JOR-EL now materializes in another area. continuing his lessons:

						JOR-EL
					Though you are a superior to others,
					do not set yourself above them.
					Lead by inspiring. Weigh carefully
					-- as even ordinary men should --
					the rewards life offers. never use
					your powers for personal gain, Kal-El.
					Never.

										DISSOLVE TO:

77	CIRCLING CONTINUES

	Again with light changes, coming back around now to its original point, as again JOR-EL 	materializes in another part of the chamber:

						JOR-EL
					Your education is complete, Kal-El.
					   (A touch of pride in
				   his boy)
					You have asked good questions.
					And I think together we have
					always found the answers. So
					now...now it is time to return
					to the world you will live in.

						CLARK (O.S.)
					Will I be accepted as I am?

	As he asks this question, CAMERA COMPLETES 360 DEGREES (and a lot of years) and 	COMES TO REST ON...SUPERMAN.

	And there he is. In the flesh, and in the traditional costume: Blue outfit, red trunks and 	cape, yellow monogram. The big S. A handsome, strong man in his 30's, who wears the 	weight of his mission  lightly, but takes everything with the proper seriousness. His 	intelligence shines through all the macho aspects of his personality. And at all times, even 	in the middle of action and violence, he retains a kind of twinkle in his eye that lets us 	know that he sees everything from a slightly off-center position; that, while acknowledging 	his bizarre life-style he can also see that it has its humorous side when looked at from the 	proper perspective. He is warm, likable, and generous. But when he becomes Clark Kent, 	the disguise takes on almost schizoid dimensions: a great personality change, exaggerating 	all this "everyday, normal" qualities that are so inherently foreign to his true personality, 	And yet, as we will see, there is a part of him that yearns and longs to be Clark Kent, free 	form the overwhelming responsibilities that come, unmasked, from being who he is:  	SUPERMAN.   

						JOR-EL
					Do not reveal your gifts - they
					will only bring jealousy and
					pain.  Live as one of them, but 
					keep in your heart the pride of
					your heritage.  When new
					questions arise come back here
					and I will try to help.

	He smiles.  Jor-El clicks off the recording gadget in his hand and his image starts to fade 	away. Then, he suddenly remembers something else and clicks the gadget back on. His 	image returns to full strength.

						JOR-EL
					Oh...
					    (for the first time
					 a bit unsure of
  himself)  
					...Lara, that is your mother,  
					mentioned a word to me the other 
					day. It is something  irrational to us
					 here.  But for  you, where you are, 
					it has a  strength and a meaning, so...so
					from a galaxy far beyond your ken, 
					from our...ourselves,  we send you 
					our...love.

	HOLD IN POSITION as he switches off the recorder and his image slowly fades away.

										CUT TO:

78	EXT. METROPOLIS STREET - DAY

	Two feet stepping down the pavement. PAN UP to SEE CLARK KENT walking the streets 	of Metropolis, attaché case in hand. He now looks like his classic comic-book persona: the 	conservative suit, the horn-rimmed glasses, the white shirt and neat tie, the attaché case, 	etc. A brisk breeze blows and we NOTE that most people are dressed for cooler weather. 	Metropolis looks remarkably like New York. It is almost Christmas: displays and light 	flashing in store windows, sidewalks crowded with shoppers.

	FULL SHOT  --  As CLARK reaches the street corner, looking around and admiring the 	skyline, fascinated by 	the big city, he starts across the street, toward the building marked 	DAILY PLANET, oblivious to the red light turning green and the oncoming traffic. A taxi 	comes hurtling on.

79	NEW ANGLE

   	The cab smashes into CLARK.  The DRIVER, horrified, jumps out and looks to see what 	expects will be a victim.  But CLARK KENT just walks away.

						CLARK
					Excuse me.

	NEW ANGLE  -  A second CAB DRIVER, who plowed into the rear of the first cab, jumps 	out, rushing forward angrily.

						SECOND CABBIE
					You moron! Whaddaya stop short
					for in the middle of --

	The first driver, staring at his cab's front end, looks up in dumb-founded amazement at the 	second driver. 	Both look in wonder now at the front end of the cab that hit CLARK.

	INSERT  -  The front end  of the cab has CLARK'S impression cut deeply into the hood, 	through to the engine block to the windshield.

	NEW ANGLE  -  CLARK  waves a cheery farewell to the two non-plussed cabbies, 	mouthing  a friendly  little "sorry!" to them, and - having crossed the street by now -- 	almost backs right into the lobby doors of THE DAILY PLANET  where he was headed. 	As he enters, PAN UP the skyscraper to its tower (this is not the same newspaper building 	we saw in the opening shot, but new, more modern quarters) where we SEE the great 	symbol that tops it:  the globe and the enormous electric sign, "THE DAILY PLANET  --  	Metropolis' Greatest Newspaper."

80	INT.  CITY ROOM - DAILY PLANET  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT:  The city room of a large city newspaper. This is where it all happens:  rows 	and rows of desks, thirty or forty REPORTERS, EDITORS, COPY BOYS and OTHER 	EMPLOYEES scurrying back and forth, typing, running with copy and galleys. HOLD long 	enough TO ESTABLISH the atmosphere.

	Then BEGIN DOLLY BACK to a corner of the city room where a few star reporter desks 	look a bit larger and widely spaced than the others. Behind them is a frosted glass door, on 	which is painted:  "Perry White, Managing Editor."

	On one of the desks:  Seated at the typewriter, working away with intense concentration 	punctuated by 	occasional smiles, approving nods and triumphant "Hah's!" is a young 	woman who seams, even at first glance, to really "have her act together."

	Physically, she's a knockout:  long brunette hair, smart clothes on a smart figure, a kind of 	ease with herself and her looks that adds up to sexy. Mentally, she's just as good: bright, 	talented, ambitious. A girl with a wry sense of humor that she can turn on herself as well as 	on any adversary, and withal a woman who never forgets that she is a woman, this 	grown-up version of that little girl we last saw  with her nose pressed against the 	glass of 	a train window as it sped through Smallville  --  this is LOIS LANE.

						LOIS
					    (calling out to anybody
					 within  earshot)
					How do you spell "massacre?"

	A REPORTER at a nearby desk looks up from his work:

						REPORTER
					E, R.

	A few feet away, a fresh-faced young cub reporter stands aiming a dart at a dartboard target
	nailed up on a nearby wall. A teen-age eager beaver, this is JIMMY OLSEN

						JIMMY
					No, it's R, E.

	He throws his dart; bullseye. Under the dartboard is a glass bowl filled with quarters and a 	sign:  PAY THE KITTY, LOSERS."

	ON LOIS  --  typing rapidly.

						LOIS
					Jimmy's right.

	Jimmy, pleased, comes over to LOIS, tries to see what's in the typewriter. MOVE IN on 	them.

						JIMMY
					What're you writing, Lois?

						LOIS
					(never slowing down
					 the speed at which
					  she e types)
					an Ode to Spring. are there one
					or two "T's" in bloodletting?

						JIMMY
					Two.

						LOIS
					    (as she types the finish, 
					 reading her closing aloud 
					 with great relish)
					'And the people on the street,
					the little man who runs the
					corner newsstand, the old lady
					sunning herself on the stoop
					the kids playing stick ball --
					none of them will ever forget
					the night of senseless bloodletting
					that turned a friendly block part into 
					a nightmare.'
						(MORE)

										 
80	CONTINUED:

						LOIS (CONT'D)
					(with triumphant
					  satisfaction, she 
					  yanks the page out
				  	  of the typewriter)
					Ha! Eat your heart out, Dorothy
					Kilgallen!

	She gathers up her story, stands up from her desk and starts toward PERRY WHITE'S 	office. JIMMY OLSEN tags along at her heels. TRACK WITH her as she walks across the 	city room.

						JIMMY
					(lost in admiration)
					Boy!

						LOIS
					(wryly, as is her 
					  style sometimes)
					Gets you where you live, huh?

						JIMMY
					How come you get all the
					good stories, Lois?

						LOIS
					It's because I'm an intrepid
					girl reporter, Jimmy.
					  (short pause)
					Besides, the chief of
					detectives has the hots for me.

	They pass the dartboard area. Automatically, LOIS stops, takes her dart, aims and throws. 	A poor shot, 	missing the center area. She starts to continue on to PERRY'S office.

						JIMMY
					   (a gentle reminder)
					Uh...Lois...?

	He points. WHAT HE POINTS AT:  The pot. The kitty.

	With a look, LOIS digs a quarter from her purse, goes and drops it in the pot.

						LOIS
					Need I ask who's favored to
					collect at the end of this week.

						JIMMY
					On the salary he pays me, I
					can't make my rent without it.

	She continues to the door to PERRY WHITE'S office. She knocks and then enters without 	waiting to be invited.

										CUT TO:

81	INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE  -  DAY

	Big but not fancy - the office of a working editor. Copy pinned up on the bulletin board and 	piled up on the desk, along with photos, wire service tear sheets and a few plaques and 	awards and signed photos of 	politicians framed on the walls. Behind the desk, in 	his 	customary outfit (rolled-up shirt sleeves, tie loosened, top button opened), and his 	customary expression (harried), is the no-nonsense, hard-working, 50'ish editor of the 	paper. Somewhere beneath all that bark and gruffness is a nice guy who loves his grand-	children, but his employees don't get to see much of that side of him. LOIS, however, can 	kid him all she wants and he gives it 	to her right back; all this friendly animosity, however, 	is just their way of liking and respecting each other. The man is PERRY WHITE.

	LOIS lays the story on his desk,
		
						LOIS
					 (feeling cocky)
					Here's the story on that East 19th
					Street murder spree. Page one with
					a banner headline seems about right
					to me.

						PERRY
					It does, huh?
					  (gesturing to somebody
					    behind LOIS)
					Clark Kent, I'd like you to meet
					Lois Lane.

	She turns, surprised. She didn't realize, as she barged right in the office, that there was 	somebody else in the room. And neither did we, until now.

	NEW ANGLE -- Seated in a chair against the wall by the entrance is CLARK KENT. He 	rises on the introduction. His manner is polite and friendly, but we can SEE immediately 	that he is taken by LOIS.

						CLARK
					I'd like to.

						LOIS
					(ever arch)
					Well!
			
						PERRY
					(his sarcastic humor)
					She gives me advice on how to 
					run my paper.

	As he says this, he turns slightly to a little shelf beside his desk on which stands a one-	burner hot-plate with water boiling on it. Next to the hot-plate is a fresh, un-opened jar of 	instant coffee, which PERRY now picks up and tries -- to open.

						LOIS
					And he ignores me.

	The door opens and JIMMY enters, smiling as he hears this usual plaint from LOIS. He 	lays a sheaf of copy on the desk and turns to go, but PERRY passes him the unopenable 	coffee jar. As JIMMY begins 	struggling with it:

						CLARK
				  	(to LOIS)
					I'll bet you have some good ideas.

						LOIS
					 (a smile to CLARK, then
					   turns to PERRY)
					Hey, you're getting a better class of 
					people in your office these days, Boss.

						PERRY
					I thought so, too, till you came in.

	CLARK smiles, recognizing this banter is typical of their relationship. He automatically 	takes the coffee jar that, red-faced from his struggle and failure, passes as LOIS rises, 	saying:

						LOIS
					   (to CLARK)
					Well, nice to meet you.

	CLARK is now smiling at LOIS, not even looking at the jar. We are sure he is about to 	"give himself away," 	to open it with a mere twist of the wrist. But no -- his smile turns to a 	frown, an expression of great effort as he "tries" to unscrew the top and "tries" again, in 	vain. LOIS is apparently paying no attention, busy pitching to PERRY:

						LOIS
					Okay, boss? I'm off to a hot tub
					and then a cold martini with the
					Deputy Mayor in one of 
					METROPOLIS' more recherché
					bistros.

	Without even looking at him or it, she grabs the coffee jar from CLARK, not missing a beat 	as she says:

						LOIS
					Not that I won't forget to pump him
					about those kick-back rumors --

	And she gives the jar a sharp rap on the edge of the desk and then unscrews it effortlessly. 	With a little smile, she passes it back to CLARK.

						PERRY
					Lois, take Kent there and introduce
					him around

						LOIS
					Okay, but...why?
					   (to CLARK)
					No offense.
			
						CLARK
					Well, I...

						PERRY
					He's coming to work for the 
					paper. I'm putting him on the
					city beat.

	CLOSEUP - LOIS -- she turns and looks at CLARK in a new way. She hadn't realized he 	was a reporter.

						PERRY
					 (to LOIS)
					Not only is this guy good, not only
					does he show the proper respect for
					his editor-in -chief --
					(he is baiting her a bit)
					--  not only does he have a snappy,
					punchy prose style, but I swear to
					to you that he is the fastest typist
					I've seen after forty years in the
					business.

	FAVORING LOIS  --  She tenses just a bit, feeling the pressure of competition.

	They turn to leave. ANGLE WITH PERRY behind them.

						PERRY
					Kent. Before you go, don't
					forget to sign your W-2 form.

						CLARK
					Oh, listen, Mr. White. Could you
					arrange for half my salary to be sent
					on a weekly basis to this address?

	He scribbles something on a piece of scrap paper on PERRY'S desk.

	FAVORING LOIS  --  watching this.

						LOIS
					Your bookie?

						CLARK
					    (a bit shocked)
					No.
			
						LOIS
					(archly, outing him on)
					I know. He sends a check every week
					to his dear gray-haired old mother.

						CLARK
					Actually, she's silver-haired.

						LOIS
					    (stunned; he actually
					does send his mother
					money)
					Not...gray.

						CLARK
					Not really, no.

	As they exit:

						LOIS
					Are there any more at home like
					you?

						CLARK
					Not really, no.

										CUT TO:

82	EXT. STREET NEAR THE DAILY PLANET  -  NIGHT

	CLARK and LOIS are walking down the street, later that night. TRACK WITH them, as 	they pass a liquor store.

						LOIS
					Well, how are you enjoying your
					first day on the job?

						CLARK
					I think I lost a week's salary at
					the dart board.

						LOIS
					 (kidding)
					Some people aren't the athletic
					type.

						CLARK
					But otherwise it's swell.

						LOIS
					'Swell.' When  was the last time I heard
					anybody say  -  where are you from ,
					anyway?

										 
 						CLARK
					I doubt you ever heard of it. A little
					town called Smallville.

	By now they pass the liquor store and we can SEE in b.g. some commotion inside, though 	they don't notice it.

						LOIS
					Well, you're going to find
					Metropolis is a pretty tough
					town compared to --

	At the moment, behind them, TWO HOODS, guns drawn, come barreling out of the liquor 	store, just behind them, chased by the old OWNER.

						OWNER
					Stop them! They robbed me!

	NEW ANGLE  --  WIDE  -- As the HOODS run toward an idling getaway car parked a few 	yards ahead of CLARK and LOIS, a police car, SIREN SCREAMING, comes tearing down  	the street behind the liquor store.

	ON THE GETAWAY CAR  --  The THIRD HOOD, the driver, flings the door open, 	screaming:

						THIRD HOOD
					Get in! Get in!

	NEW ANGLE  -  WIDE  --  Two COPS leap from the police car, take firing positions 	across the fenders, One FIRES a warning SHOT into the air.

						COP
					Hold it right there!

	REVERSE  --  The HOODS grab the startle LOIS and CLARK, holding them as shields 	between them and the COPS.

						LOIS
					Get your hands off me!

						FIRST HOOD
					(holding CLARK)
					Don't try anything funny, pal.

	CLOSEUP  -  CLARK  --  Tense. Will he do something?

	ON LOIS and her captor.

						SECOND HOOD
					Tell your boyfriend to just be cool.
																			LOIS
					He can't even open a coffee jar.

	They edge toward the getaway car when suddenly, another police car tears up the street 	coming towards them, turns sharply to block the street car. Two more COPS jump out.

	Now they're trapped.

	Just to the right, before the getaway car, is an alley. Still dragging their hostages, they pull 	them into the 	alley.

	The THIRD HOOD FIRES at the COPS from inside his car. bullet are exchanged. as the 	crook leaps from the 	car, he is gunned down in a HAIL OF BULLETS.

										CUT TO:

83	EXT. ALLEY  -  NIGHT

	Another patrol car comes down the end of the alley, sealing it off.

	he HOODS panic, FIRES off some SHOTS. The COPS return the FIRE. LOIS and CLARK 	race for a wall to get out of the line of fire, but it is so chaotic, with bullets coming from 	behind and ahead, that it ain't easy.

	ON A COP  - hit, falls across the fender.

	ON THE FIRST HOOD  -- FIRES off THREE SHOTS.

	ON THE COPS AT THE END OF THE ALLEY  -- SHOOTING.

	THE SECOND HOOD  -  hit, falls to the ground.

	ON LOIS  -- she stumbles and falls.

	ON CLARK  -- behind her, by the wall, as bullets hit him. They bounce right off his chest, 	but nobody 	sees it.

	ON LOIS AND THE FIRST HOOD  -  As she gets up, the HOOD grabs her, holds his gun 	to her head.

						FIRST HOOD
					Shoot me and the chick gets it first.

						CLARK
					Lois!

	QUICK CLOSEUP  -  CLARK  Poised, frozen. Will he...?

	NEW ANGLE  -- The COPS behind them close in the alley, FIRING.

	ON ONE OF THEM  -- He carefully takes aim, one hand gripping his other wrist to steady 	it.

	POV  -  HIS GUNSHOT  -- The hood holding LOIS is the target. Suddenly just as:
	
	SOUND:  The COP FIRES  --

	The HOOD ducks and LOIS pops up n range.

	CLARK KENT dashes forward, his hand raised in front of LOIS.

	INSERT:  The bullet hits CLARK right in the palm of his hand. He closes his fist around it.

	NEW ANGLE  --  The hood throws his gun down (out of bullets) and makes a run for it. 	One of the COPS chases after him and brings him down in a flying tackle. The SECOND 	HOOD lies shot in the middle of the 	alley.

	CLOSER  -- CLARK and LOIS as the POLICE run towards them.

						LOIS
					My God! I could have been 
					killed! Why didn't you -- 

	The COP who fired the POV shot rushes over.

						COP
					Are you folks okay? Geez, fella
					I thought I hit you.

						CLARK
					No. I'm okay.

						COP
					I didn't know who were the good
					guys and who were the bad guys
					for a minute there.

						LOIS
					(annoyed)
					I'm neither.

						COP
					Huh?

						LOIS
					Male chauvinist.

	And with that she turns and stomps off down the street in a huff. CLARK, with a farewell 	smile to the POLICE, runs to catch up with her.

										DISSOLVE TO:

84	EXT. ANOTHER STREET  -  NIGHT

	A dark, narrow, deserted street in Metropolis, a few minutes later. TRACKING with them 	as they walk.

						LOIS
					See? Didn't I tell you this was a 
					tough town?

						CLARK
					Unbelievable.

						LOIS
					Not in Metropolis it isn't. This
					is the home of the sneak attack,
					the stab in the back, the --

	Precisely at that moment, a figure leaps from the shadows of a doorway and grabs LOIS' 	purse and yanks it from her.

						LOIS
					Hey!

						CLARK
					What the  --  !

	The Man starts to run.

						LOIS
					Stop him, Clark!

						CLARK
					He may have a gun!

						LOIS
					  (impatiently)
					Oh, for God's sake!

	The hell with it; she has no time to stand and argue with CLARK. With spunky 	determination, she takes off after the purse-snatcher. PAN to WATCH her  -  The robber 	has an excellent head start on her; no way she can catch him.

	CLOSEUP  -  CLARK  --  Watching, tense.

	ON LOIS  --  who finally gives up, slumped, exhausted.

						LOIS
					Twice in one night. I'd better
					go in training.

	CLARK runs over to her.

						CLARK
					It isn't worth getting a heart
					attack over, Lois.

						LOIS
					 (catching her breath)
					You're great with the advice, Clark.
					Maybe you'd better take over the 
					lovelorn column.

						CLARK
					Supposing that man had hurt you?
					Is it worth risking your life over ten
					dollars, two credit cards, and a 
					lipstick? I mean, it's not as if --

	CLOSEUP  -  LOIS  --  She looks at him with a very strange expression.

						LOIS
					How did you know that?

	CLOSEUP CLARK  -  CLARK  --  A faint flicker of nervousness. He realizes he almost 	blew his cover.

						CLARK
					Know what?

	TWO SHOT

						LOIS
					You described the exact contents
					of my purse.

						CLARK
					   (lightly)
					I just took a shot at it.

	He steps out into the street to hail a distant cab (and to put an end to the discussion)

						CLARK
					Taxi!

										CUT TO:	

85	EXT. STREET  -  METROPOLIS  -  NIGHT

	The runaway thief, slowed down, comes down a street and stops by a garbage can. He 	opens the purse, takes out the money, then dumps the rest. Now he turns into a very elegant 	hotel that looks like the Plaza. We get a better LOOK at him:

	A burly guy in his late 30's, not very bright, but eager to please his superiors. This is OTIS.

										CUT TO:
86	INT. LOBBY PLAZA HOTEL  -  NIGHT

	OTIS suspiciously watches the movement n the lobby of the hotel. At the right moment, he 	goes into the Men's Room.

										CUT TO:

87	INT. MEN'S ROOM  -  PLAZA HOTEL  -  NIGHT

	With no one present, OTIS opens the door to a toilet, marked "Out of Order," and enters.

										CUT TO:
 
88	INT. TOILET  -  PLAZA HOTEL  -  NIGHT

	Seated on the toilet bowl, OTIS pulls the flush. We SEE the toilet compartment descend 	like an elevator.

										CUT TO:

89	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN HIDEOUT (HALL)  -  NIGHT

	The entire lair has cost Lex Luthor a great deal of money and time to put this together; his 	headquarters located hundreds of feet below the street, below the subways, down at sewer 	level. The place is fantastic: baroque and bizarre, it matches the mind of its creator. The 	important rooms are Luthor's office, over-decorated in pure kitsch, with an enormous desk, 	scabbards and tapestries on the walls; a large window outside of which various trompe 	l'oail "drops" serve as a "view," depending on the whim of Luthor or his cronies (beach 	scenes, mountain views, skyscraper vistas, etc.), a low table of the kind usually used
	for a chess board, but supporting a Monopoly game instead, which are part of the closed-	circuit television system keyed to the various strange entrances to the underground lair, i.e., 	under each monitor is its "entrance" address: 59th Street, Park Avenue, Plaza Hotel, 	Central Park, 67th Street, etc. Other rooms include 	the TV bank room, located on a gantry 	over a running sewer canal (to be described in fuller terms later); a library, which descends 	into a jungle of pipes and cables (fuller description follows later); and the hallway.

	At the moment we are in the hall, which leads into the office at one end, and various 	smaller rooms at the 	other. Its most distinguishing feature is a mammoth wall covered by 	a large curtain -- what it conceals will be revealed later.

	As SCENE BEGINS, we are in the hall where suddenly a door opens and OTIS, seated on 	his toilet elevator, appears. We understand that this is where the lift landed, As OTIS steps 	out quietly, another MAN comes down the corridor wheeling a large table, its bumpy, 	irregular surface covered with a canvas, heading for the office. This is ALBERT. He is one 	of three other (besides Otis) members of the group.

	The most striking of the three is a man in his late 30's. He is totally bald. His taste in 	clothing runs to black. This is a brilliant man, but one whose mind and character have been 	so warped that all his energy and intelligence is applied to evil and/or anti-social schemes. 	He is a scientific genius who uses all his expertise to further his insatiable appetite for land 	and real estate. As a personality, he could give  ten psychiatrists five years work: a genuine 	case of rampant pathological aberration that manifests itself in a changeability that is
	so marked as to go beyond the term "mercurial." He is one minute charming, sweet, 	paternal with his underlings; the next minute he can (and often does) become savage, 	cutting sadistic, caustic. he keeps everyone around him in a perpetual state of nerves 	because they never know whether they will be kissed or kicked from one minute to the 	next. there is in him as well, a genuine sense of humor, though invariably 	warped, and a 	great streak of self-pity, that causes him to wallow in anguish from time to time. His own 	nervous habits are equally peculiar, i.e., he eats Kleenex nervously, chewing on it to calm 	himself. The man is an energy center, a neurotic dictator, and, in his own way, a 	compelling personality. There ought to be a sense of delight in him as well. This is the 	greatest criminal on Earth  --  LEX LUTHOR.

	

	The second person is a strikingly attractive woman, about 30. Her looks and manner 	bespeak class and a former elegance, but time with Lex Luthor has taken its toll; she has a 	slightly wasted look about her, a sense of having slipped and gone over one very important 	hill not too long ago. She is bright and flip and handles Lex's changing manner a bit more 	easily than the others, though its has made her permanently jumpy. 

	She functions as his girlfriend, side-kick, and personal secretary, and her sense of security 	in her position as well as the security in knowing that Lex, in his weird way, really has 	affection for her, allows her to sass him and smart-mouth him once in a while, Nobody else 	would ever dare. God help her, as she often thinks to herself, but for some reason (a 	masochistic one for sure) she loves  Lex Luthor. This is EVE TESCHMACHER.

	The third man is a rather frail, insubstantial man in his mid-40's. Timid, nervous enough to 	jump at his own shadow, he is clearly an intelligent specialist who at one time made some 	horrendous slip in  life that forced him, more out of weakness than out of choice, to join 	the criminal element. Thoroughly under the boss' domination, he is Lex Luthor's personal 	architect, as well as his chief aide in engineering and planning . Perhaps there is a faint 	trace of a German accent. his is ALBERT.

	It is ALBERT who now wheels his table into the office, as OTIS follows discreetly some 	steps behind.

90	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE  -  NIGHT

	As ALBERT enters, he looks questioningly O.S. left.

						ALBERT
					Ready?

						LUTHOR'S VOICE
					Lay it on  me.

						ALBERT
					I hope you like it.

						LUTHOR'S VOICE
					So far, Albert, it's nothing to write home 
					about, y'know? Y'know?

	(NOTE:  Luthor's constant "y'know" is a nervous twitch, though a verbal one. What drives 	him crazy is when people actually reply to it.)

	ON LUTHOR  -   Now we SEE him for the first time, seated behind his massive desk.

						ALBERT
					I know, but  --

						LUTHOR
					   (sharply)
					Stop saying you know when I say 'y'know.' 
					 I know you know.
					 (with barely a glance 
					   to OTIS hovering back)
					Yes, I know you're here, Otis. What do you 
					want, a brass band?

	ON OTIS  --  at a loss for words; as always awkward and unsure of himself in front of his 	boss.

						OTIS
					I...uh...

	NEW ANGLE

						LUTHOR
					No speeches, Otis. Just watch
					what Albert has prepared.
				  (to ALBERT)
					What are you waiting for?

	ALBERT whisks the cloth away to reveal an incredibly detailed table-top moquette 	representation of a section of the Southwestern United States, particularly the California 	desert area. I has desert, canyons, glass "rivers and lakes," mountain ranges and one very 	specific structure, a tatty little drive-in taco stand, just counter operation with one teeny 	table in front. On top of its roof, the letters proclaim PANCHO'S TACO PALACE.

	OTIS and EVE make proper sounds of appreciation as ALBERT looks proud. Then all look 
	expectantly to LUTHOR.

	ON LUTHOR

						LUTHOR
					We are pleased.

	He reaches forward, pulls a Kleenex from the desk dispenser and begins to chew it. He 	rises from his desk and walks over to the model. PAN with him, STAY WIDE. Now he 	inspects it more closely.

						LUTHOR
					(expansively)
					You'll be designing monuments
					soon, Albert! Hotels! Palaces!

						ALBERT
				 (carried away)
					Bunkers!

						LUTHOR
					   (sternly; on of his
					lightening-fast
					switches in tone)
					I take the man out of Argentina -
					and it was no picnic finding him
					y'know? And what does he think
					about? Bunkers. Still living in the
					past, when I am about to realize
					the greatest real estate scheme in
					the history of the world!	

						EVE
					(disparagingly)
					You and your real estate.

						LUTHOR
					Me and my real estate? How  many other 
					girls, Miss Teschmacher, are lucky enough
					 to have a Park Avenue address like this?

						EVE
					It isn't a Park Avenue address.
					really.

						LUTHOR
					So it's six hundred feet below
					Park Avenue, It's still a Park
					Avenue address.

	NEW ANGLE as EVE gets up. perches on the edge of his desk.

						EVE
					Why does it all mean so much to
					you? All the time, 'land, land,
					land.'

						LUTHOR
					My father always said to me, 'Son,
					don't invest your money in
					anything but land. Land! Stocks
					rise and fall, banks fall, people
					are no damn good, but they'll
					always need land and for that
					they'll pay through the nose.
					'Remember that ,' my father 
					said. 'Land."

						EVE
					Your father was a sick weirdo.

						LUTHOR
					I know that. Bu tin this case
					he was right. Arnold 'Buster'
					Luthor, the most inept check
					forger of his time --
					  (dramatically)
					A pity he didn't live to see his
					son strike out for the big city.
					A pity he didn't live to see how,
					from humble beginnings, I
					created an empire.

						EVE
					    (her bullshit
					 detector is 
					 always on)
					This??

						LUTHOR
					Compared to what came before? A
					year of living in the sewers?
					    (nostalgically)
					A part of that will always be
					with me.

						EVE
					So I've noticed.

						LUTHOR
					(to the heavens
				 	  above)
					Criers and complainers! That's
					what I get! Moaners and 
					groaners! Me, Lex Luthor, who
					figured out how to live in luxury
					without ever paying one cent in
					taxes. Lex Luthor, who built this
					fantastic kingdom under the sea,
					so to speak, hidden and undetected
					by the fools who eke out their
					miserable lives on the streets above.

						EVE
					 (longingly)
					Streets, Sunlight. When was the
					last time I saw sunlight.

						LUTHOR
					   (threateningly)
					You'll be seeing stars in a 
					minute, Miss Teschmacher. y'know?

						EVE
					Even that would be an improvement.			
		
	LUTHOR strides around his table-top map like Napoleon.

						LUTHOR
					An improvement! What will you
					say when  -  
					  (point to map)
					--  when you share in the glory
					of the greatest land grab since
					they bought Manhattan Island for
					24 bucks.
					 (to ALBERT)
					Do you know what my IQ tested at
					in the third grade?
					  ( to EVE)
					Tell him.

										 

						EVE
					190.

						ALBERT
					My!

						LUTHOR
					Yes. Makes you look like a  dummy,
					doesn't it?
					   (a quick George
					Scott grin)
					Life is never boring with me.
					Admit it.

	He turns a full radiant smile on them.

	TWO SHOT  --  EVE and ALBERT, poker-faced

						EVE
					Never, Lex.

	Satisfied, LUTHOR spins on his heal and begins to walk toward OTIS, who instinctively 	backs up. PAN AND 	MOVE IN.

						LUTHOR
					Now then, Otis. Did you get
					what I asked for?

						OTIS
					Yessir. Just what you wanted.

	FAVORING OTIS  -  who steps forward to the table-top display and mysteriously removes 	a small box from his jacket pocket. The others crowd around, waiting. Now OTIS opens 	the box and removes a toy pine tree from a model train set and proudly places it on the 	model terrain.

						OTIS
					There.

						LUTHOR
					(snatching it up)
					Not there!  A pine tree in Death
					Valley? Idiot! This is for the
					North Woods section!

						OTIS
					Did I do good, Mr. Luthor?

						LUTHOR
					   (big smile)
					Excellent, Otis.
					   (big scowl)
					But what took you so long?

	He stalks him, advancing till he has OTIS backed up against the edge of the desk. his eyes 	narrow.

						LUTHOR
					What's the matter, Otis?

	ON OTIS

						OTIS
					 (nervous, guilty)
					Matter? With me? Nothing's
					the matter.

	ON LUTHOR

						LUTHOR
					Otis, were you up to your old
					tricks?

	LUTHOR reaches forward on his desk, pulls a Kleenex out of the dispenser and begins to 	chew it.

						LUTHOR
					 (stricken)
					I broke the man out of prison --

						OTIS
					I'll always be grateful, Mr.
					Luthor.

						LUTHOR	
					I gave him steady employment --

						OTIS
					I'll never forget you for that,
					Mr. Luthor.

						LUTHOR
					I gave him this new face.
						
						OTIS
					  (who is pretty ugly)
					I...uh...check.

	LUTHOR gets up from his desk and sort of writhes over to the squirming OTIS.

						LUTHOR
					And now he lies to me. He has
					been stealing ladies' purses again.
					   (zeroing in ruthless)
					Haven't you? Haven't you, you
					miserable petty crook?

						OTIS
					  (mortified)
					I guess I...uh...regressed.

	MED. CLOSEUP  -  LUTHOR -  He gives OTIS a look that could freeze water. Then turns 	and walks back to his desk with elaborate weariness, gesturing like a man who has to bear 	a terrible burden in order to get his 	work done.

						LUTHOR
					    (glaring)
					Feed the pets, Otis.

	ON OTIS  -  cringing at the prospect. Gasps from EVE and ALBERT.

	WIDE SHOT  -  NEW ANGLE -- They start across the enormous room toward the 	curtained wall on the far side. OTIS can barely walk, so fearful is he. LUTHOR prods him 	ahead of him with a sharp jabs in the spine.

	DOLLY IN AND TRACK with them.

						EVE
					Speaking of feeding things,
					what about dinner?

						LUTHOR
					What about dinner? I have to 
					worry about the crime of the 
					century, that's all. Y'know?
					Am I supposed to worry about 
					what's in the refrigerator, too?
					   (to ALBERT)
					What's in it?

						ALBERT
					There's some slice American
					cheese...and...a half a bottle
					of club soda, I think.
			
						LUTHOR
					Wonderful. Otis will go above
					and steal some Big Macs.

						EVE
					Again???

						LUTHOR
					 (sternly)
					First the pets, Otis.

91	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S HALL  -  NIGHT

	As the approach the wall, we SEE that it is covered by a massive curtain. A complicated 	ladder arrangement stands adjacent to it.  An electronic opening system with a button is 	mounted on the wall above it. As they get 	near it:

						LUTHOR
					 (content)
					Ahhhh, my favorite part of the day. 
					Who else could have thought of
					this aquarium?

						ALBERT
					Nobody else.

						LUTHOR
					Shut up, apple-polisher.

	LUTHOR mounts a ladder arrangement that stands adjacent to the massive curtain. An 	electronic opening system with a button is mounted on the wall above it.

	ANGLE UP, VERY WIDE, FAVORING LEX, who is very full of himself:

						LUTHOR
					Y'see. it's just a matter of applying superior 
					intellect to known fact, Example. Fact: for 
					years, children have been flushing baby alligators 
					down the drain when their mothers got sick of 
					them. As well as pet turtles with patriotic and civic 
					mottoes painted on their backs. Supposition: these 
					creatures live and grow and thrive and prosper in 
					the sewers of the city. Application: build a conduit 
					channel them into a private underground tank. Result?

	He presses the button. The curtain rises, revealing an enormous glass-walled tank, open on 	the top, that is 	exactly what LEX LUTHOR described: filled with the most grotesque 	collection of monsters you have ever seen. Giant albino alligators, all of them horribly 	white from living in the dark sewers: enormous turtles with American flags and mottoes on 	their backs; giant swimming rats, snakes, eels and God-knows-what-else. They thrash 	around in the most revolting brackish, filthy water imaginable. LEX LUTHOR'S response 	to the sight of his "pets" is ecstatic. H begins to croon to them in a baby-talk falsetto voice 	the way certain, otherwise normal people do when speaking privately to their dogs of cats, 	As we WATCH this grotesque aquarium:

						LUTHOR
					There's my pwecious sweet wittle babies,
					 yes. The sweetie babies, yes. Who's my 
					 baby little sweet heart? Yes. Yes look at 
					 Simba.

	Favoring the most ugly albino alligator of all.

						LUTHOR
					Isn't he growing into a big fella, yes, yes,
					Daddy's big fella. My little Simba, yes.
					 (suddenly, harsher to OTIS)
					Feed them, Otis.

	ON OTIS - who turns pale at the thought.

						OTIS
					Please...

						LUTHOR
					   (warningly)
					Otis...    

	Looking like a man ascending the gallows, Otis ascends the ladder to the very top, where 		we SEE that a 	feeding platform extends over the top of the open tank. He crawls out on 	that, in total terror. The alligators and rats begin leaping from the water, snapping at him.  	A large box of God-knows -what with a shovel in it is there:  the food. 

	Otis pulls on rubber gloves and then begins shoveling the garbage into the tank. As the 	voracious beasts leap and snap at the food, we HEAR O.S.:

						LUTHOR
					    (crooning)
					Yes, my little babies are sooo hungry, aren't
					 they? Yes Daddy's going to make your 
					tummies feel sooo good, yes...

											CUT TO:

92	INT. CITY ROOM  -  DAILY PLANET  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  --  a lot of frenetic activity although the clock on the wall indicates that it is 	eight o'clock at night. The CAMERA DOLLIES through all the chaos toward the door to 	Perry White's office as it opens and PERRY WHITE comes out, a sheaf of galleys in his 	hand.

						PERRY
				   (calling out)
					Olsen, take this Loch Ness update
					down to composing and tell them to
					use it as fill unless something comes
					in on that jewel robbery.

	He crosses to one of the reporter's desks, picks up the phone. JIMMY OLSEN takes the 	galleys from him and disappears O.S.

						PERRY
					  (into phone)
					Harry? That's it. Put 'er to bed.

	He hangs up, turns to the room full of reporters.

						PERRY
					  (to all)
					Okay, people.

	All around him reporters jump to their feet and run for the door. The CAMERA TRACKS 	IN FRONT of 	PERRY as he crosses to LOIS' desk.

										  
 
						PERRY
					Lois, the kickback story...
	
						LOIS
					 (the smart alec)
					Nine to five it's a Pulitzer Prize,
					I know.

						PERRY
					I was going to say that there's only
					one 'p' in subpoena. What the hell
					did you major in at Radcliffe? Middle
					English?
					 (he turns to CLARK
					   who sits nearby)
					Nice job on the teamster's update,
					Kent.

	PERRY WHITE turns and walks away.

						CLARK
					Thanks. Chief.

	ON CLARK  -  as he looks around to make sure that no one is watching, then, using super-	breath. he clears off his desk.

	PAN IN MED. SHOT as he walks over to LOIS who is sitting back enjoying a cigarette, 	her feet up on her desk.

						LOIS
					What now, my love?

						CLARK
					Huh?

						LOIS
					Big night coming up?

						CLARK
					Oh, not really. I guess I'll just
					watch a little TV and --
					    (bravely)
					--  unless...would you be
					interested in dinner?

						LOIS
					Thanks, Clark, but I'm booked
					for the night.

						CLARK
					 (disappointed)
					Oh.

						LOIS
					It's not what you think. Darn it.
					I'm going out on a story. The 
					Secretary of Defense is landing
					at the airport tonight and this
					kid's going to be there to make
					sure he answers a few questions
					he'd rather duck.

						CLARK
					(half in admiration)
					Don't you ever give up?

	FAVORING LOIS  -  who sighs, ruminating a bit.

						LOIS
					For what? Oh, I've see the way
					the other half lives. My sister, for
					instance. it looks terrific, but is 
					that what I really want? Three kids,
					two cats, and fifteen needlepoint
					pillows? I'd go bananas after one 
					week. Hell, I need this crazy 
					existence of mine.
					    (she lights one cigarette
					 from the butt of the last)
					Like I need the plague, right?
					That's what your thinking.

						CLARK
					(seriously)
					No. I'm just thinking that you
					smoke too much, if you don't
					mind my saying so.

						LOIS
					 (dismissing the 
					   thought)
					There's no real proof that
					tobacco  --

						CLARK
					   (shakes his head)
					Lois, you should see what the 
					inside of your lungs look like.

	NEW ANGLE  -- She rises, grabs her reporter's notebook, start toward the elevators.

						LOIS
					I appreciate the advice, okay?
					But I've got a story to do.

	He catches up to her.

						CLARK
					Can I take you to the airport?

						LOIS
					Not unless you can fly.

						CLARK
					 (fast)
					Come again?

	They have reached the elevators.

	The elevators door opens. She enters.

						LOIS
					 (with a farewell
				  	   wave)
					Up, up and away.

	The elevator doors shut. HOLD ON CLARK. A moment later, the other elevator stops and 	opens its doors. A man is in it. As CLARK enters:

						CLARK
					Down?

	The doors shut.

										CUT TO:
					
93	EXT. ROOF OF THE DAILY PLANET  -  NIGHT

	A helicopter sits on a landing pad, its blades turning, its motor on. From the rooftop fire 	door exit, LOIS emerges, bends down and runs in that position under the blades and into 	the chopper. The pilot helps her in. As she straps her safety belt on, the pilot start the craft, 	which begins to rise.

	Suddenly a great gust of wind spins the helicopter around. It slams into the tower with one 	pontoon hanging over the edge of the building  -  this is the passenger (Lois) side.

	CLOSER  -  The jolt slams the pilot forward against the windshield, knocking him 	unconscious.

										CUT TO:

94	TRACKING WITH CLARK

	As he walks down the street, coming from the office. As he reaches the cross street  --  	WIDEN  --  he sees a small crowd across the street that has gathered on the corner, looking 	up and pointing, excited. he looks up to see what they're looking at.

95	ANGLE UP  -  POV

	The chopper in trouble on the roof.

										CUT TO:

96	EXT. ROOF OF THE DAILY PLANET BUILDING  -  NIGHT

	CLOSE on the chopper  --  The pilot is out cold, Lois frantic, sees her predicament and 	looks down at her side.

97	HER POV

	A sheer drop to the street.

98	ON THE CHOPPER

	As she unbuckles her safety belt and tries to crawl over the pilot to the door on his side that 	will lead her to the rooftop and safety. The helicopter rocks back and forth violently

	WIDE SHOT  --  The blade of the propeller jams against the exit door on the roof, blocking 	it.

										CUT TO:

99	EXT. STREET  -  NIGHT

	CLOSEUP  -  CLARK KENT  --  horrified at what he sees.

						CLARK
					Lois!

	Then, with a look of determination on his face, he turns and pushes his way through the 	mob of people.

	HIS POV  --  On a corner, by an alley, is a phone booth, of the type that is glassed from 	about the shoulders up and solid panels below. It seems to be unoccupied.

	ON CLARK  -  He races to it. In one motion he pulls open the door and pushes in. As he 	does so:

						FEMALE VOICE
					Hey!

	As he steps back, startled, PAN DOWN HIS POV  -  a very LITTLE OLD LADY. already 	on the phone. regarding him furiously.

						LITTLE OLD LADY
					Find your own phone booth, sonny!

	ON CLARK  -  muttering to himself, he runs toward the alley.

100	EXT. ROOF OF DAILY PLANET  -  NIGHT

	ON the chopper -- Lois starts to crawl over the pilot when, suddenly, the balance of the 	chopper shifts. It tilts the other way with a great lurch, throwing her door open and sending 	her flying out into space. As she goes, she screams and grabs the undone safety belt  -  the 	only line she has.

										CUT TO:

101	EXT. STREET  -  NIGHT

	CLARK races into an alley.

	PANNING WITH him at SUPER-SPEED:  Now, before our eyes, CLARK KENT 	metamorphoses into 	SUPERMAN. The CLARK KENT outfit and manner seem literally 	to vanish as the classic image of the heroic SUPERMAN in full costume materializes. As 	he races into an alley where this happens, a  Super-Fly style BLACK PIMP in incredibly wild and garish pimp clothes comes out of a doorway just in time to see SUPERMAN in full regalia.

						BLACK PIMP
					  (mightily impressed)
					Hey, Jim	! That outfit is bad-

						SUPERMAN
					    (no time for small talk)
					Excuse me.

	And with  burst of energy, he rises from the ground and flies up into the sky. CAMERA 	ZOOMS WITH him as he soars to the heights.

	ON THE PIMP  -  watching him fly off.

						BLACK PIMP
					  (calling to the departing
					    SUPERMAN)
					Where you get them cloths, baby?
					Who's your tailor?

										CUT TO:

102	EXT. STREET  -  NIGHT

	ON THE CROWD  --  watching Lois dangling from the helicopter when:

103	THEIR POV  -  SUPERMAN

	Appears flying toward the disabled helicopter.

						FIRST VOICE
					Look!

						SECOND VOICE
					It's a bird!

						THIRD VOICE (woman)
					No, it's some kind of plane!  

						FIRST VOICE
					Damned if I know, lady.

										CUT TO:

104	CLOSER ON THE HELICOPTER

	LOIS Dangling from the open cockpit hanging on by her safety belt. Slowly, carefully, she 	tries to pull herself into the cabin. Suddenly, she tries to pull herself into the cabin. 	Suddenly the helicopter slips 	and tilts even more precariously over the edge.

						LOIS
					(screaming)
					HELP!

						PILOT
					  (frantically)
					Don't move!

	LOIS freezes. Nevertheless the helicopter begins to slip forward, sliding closer and closer 	to the edge.

	TIGHT ON LOIS  -  a, from EDGE OF FRAME, we SEE SUPERMAN'S mighty arm 	reach out and 	grab her around the waist. She is positioned so that her back is partly to 	SUPERMAN.

						SUPERMAN
					Easy now, miss, I've got you???

						LOIS
					  (in a panic)
					You've got me? Who's got you???

						SUPERMAN
					   (firm)
					Do as I say. Let go!

						LOIS
					   (meaning it)
					Oh, God! I'm going to die!

						SUPERMAN
					 ( a warm chuckle)
					Not while I'm around you're not.
					C'mon...

	She lets go. He grabs her tight.

	WIDER ANGLE  --  Holding LOIS with one arm, SUPERMAN grabs the bottom of the 	helicopter with the other hand and lifts it clear of the building.

	O.S.  SOUND:  A GASP from the street below.

	PAN UPWARDS as SUPERMAN slowly lifts the helicopter and carries it to a flat, open 	area of the roof. Firs 	he sets LOIS down and then the helicopter on to the roof.

	ON LOIS  --  watching him, in a state of shock. 

						LOIS
					Who...who...

						SUPERMAN
					Let's just say I'm a friend.
   	   (motioning to the helicopter)
					And watch yourself from now on with
					those things, Okay?
						(grins)
					I mean if the good lord wanted people
					to fly he would have given them wings.

	Then, from behind the jammed exit door, a furious POUNDING.

						PERRY WHITE'S VOICE
				 (from inside)
					Open this damn thing!

	ON SUPERMAN - As he hears Perry, he takes his cue to split. He leaps from the edge of 	the building, does a loop in the air, and flies away.

105	EXT. SKY OVER DAILY PLANET BUILDING  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN starts to drift down from the roof to the alley, fully expecting to go back to 	being Clark Kent in a moment.

	ON HIM as he floats down, Suddenly he frowns and looks sharply across the street.

106	HIS POV

	ZOOM INTO an EXTREME TELEPHOTO SHOT a s BURGLAR emerges from a window 	in  a large apartment house and steps out on a ledge. He drops a fistful of glittering jewels 	into a bag tied at his waist, then positions suctions cups already attached to his hands and 	knees. He begins slowly, laboriously, to ascend the side of the building, breathing hard and 	looking up with concentration.

	CLOSEUP  -  BURGLAR  --  Suddenly astounded. his face registers shock.

	BURGLAR'S POV  -  SUPERMAN strolling down toward him. defying logic and gravity, 	coming from the top floor. He nods at the BURGLAR like one stroller acknowledging 	another pleasantly.

	SIDE VIEW  --  The BURGLAR, greatly unnerved, begins to crawl faster, frantically trying    	to get away. As a result, his suction cups don't stick firmly and he slips and falls from the 	building.

	WIDE SHOT  --  as SUPERMAN dives and catches him. In one orchestrated movement, he 	swoops down and deposits the BURGLAR before PATROLMAN MOONEY who has been 	quietly walking his beat.

						SUPERMAN
				   	  (thrusting the dazed
					    BURGLAR toward
					    the cop)
					I think you two might have
					something to talk about.

	TWO SHOT  --  The BURGLAR and PATROLMAN MOONEY look at each other in 	disbelief at what just happened.

										CUT TO:

107	EXT. SKY ABOVE METROPOLIS  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN in mid-air again. Suddenly, exhilarated, literally high, he executes a 	complicated loop, feeling a kind of release, a physical joy in flying. As he comes out of his 	loop:

	SOUND:  the CROWD below is CHEERING.

	SUPERMAN looks down, surprised in this private moment.

108	ON THE GROUND

	The CROWD that has formed is looking up at him, waving, pointing.

109	ON SUPERMAN

	Seeing them. smiling and thrilled for a moment. Then suddenly he turns shy (the Kent 	training) and flies off 	abruptly.

										CUT TO:

110	EXT. ALLEY  -  NIGHT

	He lands in an alley. DOLLY IN CLOSER.  He stands still a moment, leaning against the 	wall, his face 	reflecting all the emotions from exuberant joy to terrible embarrassment, is 	eyes closing for a moment as he tries to master the changes he is going through tonight, the 	trip he is so literally o. HOLD ON him like this, when:

	SOUND:  a CLUNKING, as something being set down on a steel floor.

	His eyes open. His head turns.

	HIS POV  -  On the street off the alley, a GANG OF THUGS has pulled a truck up to the 	loading platform of a warehouse. Its tailgate is down. They are carrying television sets and 	other purloined appliances, out of the place and into the back of their truck, all in silence.

										CUT TO:

111	EXT. WAREHOUSE LOADING PLATFORM  -- NIGHT

	As they load up the stuff, one of the CROOKS on the platform picks up a lightweight 	carton labeled "Hair 	Dryer" and tosses it to his accomplice inside the truck, but a hand 	catches it mid-way before it gets there. PULL BACK TO REVEAL SUPERMAN holding 	the box.
			
						SUPERMAN
					Doing a little spring cleaning, boys?

						FIRST CROOK
					Who the -- ?

	From behind him, another crook creeps up, a crowbar raised.

						FIRST CROOK
					What kinda outfit is that, ya fruit?

	The guy behind brings the crowbar crashing down on Superman's skull. An amazing result: 	as if he hit it against solid steel. It vibrates so terrifically in his hands that it nearly kills 	him. As he stands shaking from it:

						SUPERMAN
					Bad vibrations, man.		

	He turns, fists clenched, and starts toward the others, who cower against the wall.

											CUT TO:

112	EXT. ALLEY  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN reaches the end of an alley. As he saunters by, three kids, who do not even 	notice him behind them, are busily engaged in spray-painting graffiti on a blank wall.

	ON THE KIDS  --  As one of them raises his spray can with a great flourish and points it, 	we SEE suddenly on 	the wall (SPECIAL EFFECTS, BURNED IN  WITH HEAT 	VISION) glowing for a moment, this legend: DO NOT WRITE ON WALLS.

	The kids look at each other with terrified consternation even as the legend cools and 	abruptly fades, leaving a pristine wall. They drop their spray cans and run.

											CUT TO:

113	INT. POLICE STATION HOUSE  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  --  PATROLMAN MOONEY and the BURGLAR stand before the DESK 	SERGEANT. 	Another cynical OFFICER leans on the desk, amused.

						DESK SERGEANT
					Sure, Mooney. A big fella came
					flying down out of the sky.

						BURGLAR
					(still in shock)
					He saved my life.! He had a red cape.

						DESK SERGEANT
					(this gets better and
					  better)
					Red cape. Sure.

	The other cop dissolves in guffaws and starts to leave.

						DESK SERGEANT
					O'Malley, how can ya leave now?
					And miss all this?

						O'MALLEY
					Oh, I got to go home.
					  (a mocking nod to
					    them)
					Raquel Welch is waintin, y'know.

										 

						BURGLAR
					(consolingly, pats
					  Moony's shoulder)
					It's okay, pal. We know, don't we?

										CUT TO:										
114	EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF PLANET BUILDING  -  NIGHT

	The CROWD has grown. Their heads are craned up. looking right. n the edge of the 	CROWD. a TV mobile unit is filming the action also waiting.

						MAN IN CROWD
					There he is!

	FOLLOW his pointing finger up and right as Ooooohs and Ahhhhs rise from the CROWD.

115	ANGLE UP TO SEE SUPERMAN flying between buildings, soaring above their heads.

116	ON THE CAMERAMAN, filming frantically.

						CAMERAMAN
					(yelling)
					Hey! Down here!

117	HIS POV:  SUPERMAN suddenly swoops down, smiling, and gives a little salute to the 	TV camera, then flies up and away. There is a little bit of an ego trip going on here.

	Drifting down, he suddenly cocks his head. ZOOM ONTO his ear, to denote super-hearing.

	SOUND:  (what he hears)  A faint, far-off but frantic "MEOW!  MEOW!"

										CUT TO:

118	EXT. RESIDENTIAL STREET  -  NIGHT

	AERIAL VIEW:  LOOKING DOWN, we SEE a cat in the top branches of a tree. At the 	base. a LITTLE GIRL looks up, but not -- for once -- at SUPERMAN. She is looking at the 	cat.

	SOUND:  Another MEOW of distress.

						LITTLE GIRL
					(in despair)
					Frisky,! Oh, Frisky, please come down!

	Instantly, SUPERMAN soars INTO FRAME, into the tree. He scoops up Frisky, and gently 	holding him to his chest, glides down and lays him in the arms of the LITTLE GIRL.

						LITTLE GIRL
					  (hugging her cat)
					Oh, Frisky, you naughty thing --

	Then, almost as an afterthought:

						LITTLE GIRL
					Thanks, mister.

						SUPERMAN
					 (smiling)
					Anytime.

	She runs up the steps and inside 
	
	SUPERMAN shakes his head and then flies off.

										CUT TO:
					

119	EXT. METROPOLIS STREET  -  NIGHT

	In an affluent area (perhaps around the Plaza Fountain) another CROWD, looking mostly 	well-heeled,  many of them are people who have just left the theater or a restaurant, 	congregate, gazing at the sky 	as eagerly as the other crowds. A very coifed WOMAN in a 	mink wrap, holding a large handbag rather loosely, gives the signal.

						RICH LADY
					(pointing a be-ringed
					  hand)
					Look! Look there!

	Heads turn to look. But we HOLD TIGHT on her FROM BEHIND as a hand comes INTO 	FRAME and 	unclasps her bag, reaches in, pulls out a fat money purse, closes the bag 	again. PULL BACK TO SEE the pickpocket. It is OTIS, doing his thing. FOLLOW him as 	he moves happily through the CROWD, all of whom are looking up. Great pickings. he 	picks the pocket of a MAN, pulls out a wallet. He moves on to a nearby WEALTHY 	COUPLE when the WOMAN suddenly moves away.

						WOMAN
					(disappointed)
					Well, there he goes. Show's over.

	Her ESCORT lays a hand on her arm, stopping her.

						ESCORT
					Oh, he'll be back. Let's stick
					around.

	OTIS nods happily and moves on to his next victim.

										CUT TO:

120	EXT. SKY  -  NIGHT

	PICKING UP SUPERMAN as he flies on a bit further, doing one little loop over the empty 	street just for the hell of it. As he right himself, he is very near the East River, which can be 	SEEN.

121	HIS POV, LOOKING DOWN AND WIDE:  The East River looks like a postcard picture  -	-  still, dark, vast. lights glittering cross the water. Peaceful. Then, abruptly, a big 	customized Cadillac, with phone antennas and other distinguished marks, comes 	screeching at a great speed right out onto one of the piers. This is all at a great distance 	from SUPERMAN. The Caddy stops on a dime at the edge of the pier.
	
										CUT TO:

122	EXT. PIER  -  EAST RIVER  -  NIGHT

	ON the Cadillac  -  The front doors fly open and out pop two MAFIOSO types, big gorillas. 	They pull out a third hood. He is terrified, and he should be: his arms are tied and his feet 	are encased in a cement block. They 	drag him to the end of the pier.

						VICTIM
					(panic)
					No!  No!

						FIRST MAFIOSO
					 (disgusted)
					Listen to him. All he can do is squeal.

						SECOND MAFIOSO
					Tell it to the fish, squealer!

	They push him off the dock.

						FIRST MAFIOSO
					So long, Chicken of the Sea!

	ON THE VICTIM in the water, struggling desperately to cling to one post of the dock. He 	loses his grip on it, flails around.

						VICTIM
					Helllllllp!!!!!!

										CUT TO:
123	EXT. SKY ABOVE THE RIVER  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN hears the cry for help. Instantly he turns and flies toward it. FOLLOW him 	down.

										CUT TO:

124	EXT. PIER AREA  -  NIGHT

	As he arrives, the Cadillac is speeding away. He regards it with a suspicious look (and will 	remember it) but he has no time to stop now. he lands at the end of the dock and looks 	down.

	HIS POV:  Still water.

	CLOSEUP SUPERMAN (SPECIAL EFFECTS).  He activates the x-ray vision; eyes dilate.

125	POV:  An x-ray vision of the watery depths. Except that this is the East River so what we 	SEE is a lot of garbage and the victim sinking in it.

126	FULL SHOT  --  SUPERMAN dives into the river. HOLD a beat. Nothing. Then, in a 	mighty rush, up comes SUPERMAN, bearing the soggy HOOD, not to mention an old 	boot, a blown out inner tube and other charming items. PAN as he lands on the dock and 	sets the man down. The guy, with his cement base, bobbles 	back and forth like one of those 	children's toys that can be punched but never fall down. Anyway, he's alive, if in shock.

	SOUND:  A LOUD EXCHANGE of GUNFIRE, which, in the still night air, carries far 	down the river.

	SUPERMAN looks up sharply.

	HIS POV:  Down river, something is happening.

										CUT TO:

127	EXT. 79TH ST. BOAT BASIN  -  NIGHT

	A police chase is coming to an end on the wharf. TWO MEN, pursued by a handful of 	police, are running by a handful of police, are running down the wooden planks, FIRING as 	they go. They jump aboard a fueled and ready cabin cruiser. The police FIRE at the boat as 	it quickly pulls away from the dock and cuts out into the river.

128	EXT. PIER  -  NIGHT

	TWO SHOT:  SUPERMAN quickly abandons the saved squealer and soars up over the 	river in the direction of the GUNFIRE. HOLD on the victim. still bobbling back and forth.

										CUT TO:

129	EXT. CABIN CRUISER  -  NIGHT

	The cabin cruiser maintains a rapid speed as it heads downstream.

										CUT TO:

130	INT. CABIN CRUISER  -  NIGHT

	The THREE GANGSTERS are shaking hands and laughing at their escape from the police. 	stare ahead, their jaws dropping.

	THEIR POV:  SUPERMAN stands, arms crossed, on the prow of the ship.

										CUT TO:

131	EXT. METROPOLIS STREET  -  PLAZA FOUNTAIN  -  NIGHT

	The well-heeled CROWD as before:  some familiar faces have left and many new ones 	have arrived. But the CROWD is, if anything, larger than before. And, though they murmur 	to each other, they are all keeping eyes up, waiting for Superman to appear. All except 	OTIS.	

	ON OTIS:  Sneakily emerging from the rear of the CROWD. His pockets are bulging with 	loot, his wrist 	incronguously sports a larger diamond bracelet, and his other hand is 	weighted with a Saks shopping bag. Whistling innocently, he skitters ferret-like, away from 	the CROWD. As he does, we HEAR the suddenly "Oooooh" in delight.	

132	ON SUPERMAN  --  flying over the crowd.

133	ON OTIS  --  sizing the moment of distraction, he darts swiftly away from the area and 	down the nearest side street. FOLLOW.

										CUT TO:

134	EXT. AN ALLEY  -  NIGHT

	OTIS ducks into an alley. Suddenly he stops, dropping the shopping bag.

	HIS POV:  the other end on the alley. SUPERMAN stands there, legs planted firmly on the 	ground, one finger pointing in the "Uncle Sam Wants You" pose, directly at OTIS.

						SUPERMAN
					And now...you.

	He begins to walk TOWARD CAMERA. (OTIS)

										CUT TO:

135	EXT. SLUM TENEMENT  -  NIGHT

	FULL SHOT  -  On the steps of a tenement stand about eight wary, very tough-looking 	HOODS. Four are white  --  bent nose "Godfather" types, with suspicious bulges in their 	pockets. Four are black, mean dudes 	with afros and combs stuck in their hair. They are 	regarding each other warily, but mainly keeping a lookout on the street, protecting what is 	going on inside the building.

	PAN UP the building TO the top (fourth) floor, and ZOOM INTO window, which is half-	open.

										CUT TO:

136	INT. TENEMENT ROOM  -  NIGHT

	FULL SHOT  -  This room has been converted into a narcotics "factory."  A large table in 	the center of the room is piled high with a great mountain of white powder. Heroin, and 	worth millions in street value. Scales and plastic baggies are on a nearby table, as FOUR 	CROOKS, two black and two white, get ready to start bagging the stuff.

	IN b.g. through the half-open window the night sky can be SEEN.

	One CROOK steps to the table, touches his finger to the heroin, then lick it  -  the classic 	bit.

						CROOK
					    (approvingly)
					Pure. A hundred percent pure.
					By the time we cut this stuff, it
					oughta be worth 20 million easy.

	Suddenly, like a pinpoint gale wind, a tremendous gust of wind blows through the window 	and hits the heroin. As the white powder flies all around the room, it begins to look like a 	blizzard, he four CROOKS are yelling and screaming hysterically.

										CUT TO:

137	EXT. SKY  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN has stopped in mid-air, eyes narrowed, and is blowing super-breath, hard, 	through that tenement window.

										CUT TO:

138	INT. TENEMENT ROOM  -  NIGHT

	The dope flying like a white tornado; the crooks yelling.

139	EXT. SLUM TENEMENT  -  NIGHT

	The BODYGUARDS race up the stairs, guns drawn, shoving to get past each other, pulling 	knives, chains, you name it.

										CUT TO:

140	INT. TENEMENT ROOM  -  NIGHT

	As the guards burst through the door, they are confronted with the sight of the four 	CROOKS covered with heroin, looking like they had been dipped in flour.

										CUT TO:

141	EXT. SKY OVER THE SKYSCRAPERS AD APARTMENT BUILDINGS  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN flies through the cement canyons of Metropolis and looks down.

142	POV:  The black customized Cadillac he last saw on the docks, instantly recognizable.

	It is heading up to a street corner, then makes a right turn.

143	WIDE SHOT  -  HE begins to fly after it, then stops and turns ninety degrees.

144	NEW ANGLE  -  The Caddy has made a left now and is coming down a parallel street.

	Rather than bothering to chase it all the way around this "U," he flies right between two 	closely set apartment buildings  -  zipping through the air shaft  -  so that he catches up with 	the car as it comes down.

										CUT TO:

145	EXT. STREET  -  NIGHT

	Dropping just behind the car, which is traveling at normal speed, he grabs the back bumper 	and lifts the back up about six inches off the ground. the rear tires spin; the front tires dig 	in; the Cadillac goes nowhere.

										CUT TO:

146	INT. CADILLAC  -  NIGHT

	The two MAFIOSOS who dumped the squealer off the docks are dumbfounded.

					FIRST MAFIOSO
				What is it? Whaddya doin'!

					SECOND MAFIOSO
				   (the driver)
				I don't know! IT ain't movin'! It
				ain't movin'!

					FIRST MAFIOSO
				Well step on  it! Give 'er the gas!

	INSERT:  The driver puts his foot full on the gas pedal. all the way down.

										CUT TO:

147	EXT. STREET  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN now drops the back end back on the street. The car, with full throttle down, 	instantly charges ahead at 100 mph, completely out of control, and smashes into a 	lamppost.

										CUT TO:

148	EXT. POLICE PRECINCT STATIONHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	The DESK SERGEANT we saw earlier comes out of the stationhouse with another cop; 	they are looking down, watching their steps as they walk down the street.

						POLICEMAN TWO
					    (shaking his head)
					What a night!

						DESK SERGEANT
					You can say that again. The nuts were
					coming out of the woodwork. If I get one 
more call about an Unidentified Flying 
					Object  -  with red boot  -  well, I'll be  -  

	Looking up now, he stops and stares at the street in amazement. So does POLICEMAN 	TWO.

						DESK SERGEANT
					    (awed)
					Well, I'll be  -  

	THEIR POV:  The cabin cruiser in he street, balanced on its keel, with the THREE GANGSTERS wrapped
	and tied with heavy anchor chains.
										CUT TO:

149	EXT. THE TOP OF THE CABIN CHRYSLER BUILDING  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN stands on the ledge, leaning against the spire, surveying the lights of the city 	below him. There is a smile of enormous satisfaction on his face. On the horizon, the sun 	begins to rise.

										FADE TO BLACK
FADE IN:

150	EXT. ARCTIC CIRCLE  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  --  of the Fortress of Solitude.

										CUT TO:

151	INT. FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE  -  DAY

	WIDE;  SUPERMAN and JOR-EL, who has materialized. JOR-EL looks concerned, 	listening to SUPERMAN, who looks conflicted.

						SUPERMAN
					I don't know what to say.
    		 (awkwardly)
					Look, I -- I just -

						JOR-EL
				    	    (quietly)
					Enjoyed it?

						SUPERMAN
				    	 (nods, ashamed,
			 not looking at him)
					I guess I got carried away

						JOR-EL
				(gravely)
					My son, I foresaw this. I knew -

						SUPERMAN
				 (impassioned) 
					No! You couldn't imagine -

						JOR-EL
					How good it felt!
				
						SUPERMAN
					How good it felt -

	He falls silent again, ashamed.

						JOR-EL
					....to feel yourself. Very well.
					You are revealed to the world.
					But still you must keep your	
					secret identity. First of all,
					you will need it as an escape
					valve. You cannot be special		
					twenty-eight hours a day -

						SUPERMAN	
					Twenty-four.	
	
						JOR-EL
					Or twenty-four as it is in
					Earth time. Furthermore, if you 	
					will reveal yourself, your enemies	
					will have a way of getting at you	
					where you are vulnerable: by 			
					hurting the people you care for.
				    (sadly)
					Ah, this Earth...this world you	
					live in, Kal-El...
				(suddenly impassioned)
					Resist its temptations, its
					rewards, especially its 	
					political system.	
			
						SUPERMAN
					There are none of them any
					good anyway.

						JOR-EL
					And it is forbidden for you to
					interfere with human history.
					All you can do, Kal-El, even
					now that you have...found
					yourself...is help them to evolve.
					Set an example. Show them they
					must strive towards the light. And...
					remember us...

										FADE TO BLACK.

	FADE IN:

152	INT. CLARK'S APARTMENT  -  METROPOLIS  -  NIGHT

	OPEN TIGHT on a TV screen (TV EFFECTS). As the NEWSCASTER on the Evening 	NEWS is talking.  Throughout the following, the TV screen ALTERNATES SHOTS of the 	Newscaster with SHOTS of SUPERMAN in action: footage taken by TV crews during 	Superman's recent day and night of crime-busting, beginning with the rescuing of Lois and 	so on.

						TV NEWSCASTER
					Good evening. What kind of day was it? A 
					day that saw what many believe to be the most 
					extraordinary phenomenon of our time. Our 
					news film confirms eye-witness reports of a caped 
					figure, resembling a man, who appeared flying in 
					the sky over Metropolis. Yes, I said flying. I addition,
					sources close to the Chief of Police report that this 
					creature, or man, or whatever it is, is able to leap tall 
					buildings in a single bound, to run faster than a speeding 
					bullet, is more powerful than a locomot...well, its just 
					incredible, that's all.

	At this point, BEGIN SLOW DOLLY BACK TO REVEAL that we are in CLARK 	KENT'S modest apartment living room. The decor is bland and unmemorable: a few clown 	prints or hunting scenes on the wall, functional furniture and so on. Seated in a lounge 	chair in front of the TV set, with his feet propped up on a vinyl hassock, is SUPERMAN. 	As we first SEE him, he is grinning at al the fuss  -  	rather pleased with his new celebrity 	status. The effects of the ego trip we saw earlier are still there. But as the news report 	continues, he becomes gradually more and more thoughtful and serious.

						TV NEWSCASTER
					White House comments are guarded at
					present. The President is said to be 
					studying the matter, while sources close
					to the Senate Majority Leader are said
					to be investigating possible CIA links. As
					further accounts of this incident have 
					poured in, speculation has arisen in some
					quarters that the whole thing may be some
					sort of fantastic hoax. Randolph Goss of the
					Richardson Foundation said, 'We ought to
					remember what Orson Welles did to the 
					country with his "Men Form Mars" the 
					thing before we go running around buying
					this one whole hog.'

	By now SUPERMAN looks really distressed. he gets up -- CAMERA FOLLOWING  -  and 	walks across the room to a mirror on the wall. He looks hard at himself, expressionless, as 	the TV continues O.S. MOVE IN TO A VERY TIGHT CLOSEUP of SUPERMAN in 	mirror.
	
						TV NEWSMAN
					The Mayor of Chicago commented that
					it all seemed t be a publicity stunt designed
					to draw attention to Metropolis  -  a city that 
					has been having its share of financial problems
					of late. Photo experts are presently examining 
					film you are now seeing. Their question is
					everybody's: true or false? Miracle or fraud?

	At which point, CUT FROM CLOSEUP of the brooding SUPERMAN.

										CUT TO:

153	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN HIDEOUT  -  OFFICE  -  NIGHT

	On the TV screen as we SEE the end of the same newscast.

						TV NEWSCASTER
					Man or myth? he answer is up to you.

	REVERSE  -  On a battered OTIS, who sits glumly watching, EVE is putting his arm in a 	sling

						OTIS
					Man.

	WIDEN THE SHOT TO REVEAL LEX LUTHOR seated at is desk, watching the TV with 	a dark, worried, preoccupied expression. He is chewing Kleenex with great intensity. 	ALBERT stands nearby.

						LUTHOR
					I needed this, Y'know? I
					really needed this. just when
					I'm nearing the fruition of my
					project, Big Bird flies into town.
				  	(histrionics)
					Go ahead! Kill me by inches! Put
					me on the agony rack!

						EVE
					You think he's for real?

						LUTHOR
			 		  (ominously)
					He's from another world.

	REACTIONS:  EVE and ALBERT, surprised.

						LUTHOR
					Is that real enough for you?

						OTIS
					 (miserably)
					It is for me.

						LUTHOR
					Y'know? I'm sure of it. Y'know?
					And there's a strong streak of goody-
					goody in him that is going to blow 
					this deal for me if I don't do something
					about it.
					  (working himself
					    into a snit)
					Something!

	CLOSEUP  -  LUTHOR

						LUTHOR
					    (furious, insulted)
					Why?? If you were the strongest,
					most fantastic creature in the world,
					who would you pit yourself against?
					Me! Y'know? for the challenge of it!

										CUT TO:
				
154	INT. LOIS LANE'S APARTMENT - DAY 

	CLOSEUP  -  CLARK KENT

						CLARK
					It's ridiculous!

	PULL BACK TO REVEAL:  A lovely apartment in a high-rise building with a balcony-	terrace off the living room. Lots of books, modern art posters on the walls, etc. A desk with 	a typewriter. CLARK is seated on the sofa, LOIS  next to him, about two feet of space 	between them. 

						LOIS 
					I'm telling you, I was there.

						CLARK
					You were probably so scared you
					didn't look to see what the trick
					was.

						LOIS
				  (outraged)
					It wasn't a trick! 

						CLARK
					Oh sure. A man flies in the sky like a pigeon 
					and it wasn't a trick. 

						LOIS
					Clark Kent, if you had only seen
					it the way I did, you -

						CLARK
					It was done with wires. They
					 must have rigged him like they
					do with Peter Pan. 

						LOIS
					There weren't any wires. I looked. 

						CLARK
					Mirrors, then. It's done with
					mirrors.

						LOIS
					He grabbed me! He held me! He
					set me down gently! How could 
					that be done with mirrors? 

						CLARK 
					Look, there was probably a
					trampoline on the roof somewhere
					and this joker just took a big bounce.

						LOIS
					Why would he do that? How 
					would he know I was going to 
					suddenly slip.

						CLARK
				   (fussily)
					I don't know, Lois, but I do know 
					a fraud when I hear one. This thing 
					goes against all natural laws. 

						LOIS 
				   (studies him)
					You're just jealous. 

						CLARK
					Jealous? Of what? 

						LOIS 
					Of this...Superman. 

	CLOSEUP CLARK  -- as he hears the name for the first time. 

						CLARK
					What'd you call him?

						LOIS (O.S.)
					Superman.
				 (pleased with it)
					Pretty good name for him, isn't it?

	BACK TO TWO SHOT
	
						CLARK
					Is that what they're calling him?

						LOIS
					They will once I hang it on him
					in tomorrow's edition.

						CLARK
					   (mulling it over)
					Super...man. Hmmm... 

						LOIS
					  (she gives him an
				  arch look)
					It isn't that I still don't like you, Clark. 
					It's just that...well, once you've had 
					something like that happen to you, it kind
					of changes a girl. 
					    (she rises)
					I'm going to make some coffee. 
					You want some? 

						CLARK 
					(disheartened)
					No thanks. 

	PAN with LOIS as she walks across to the door that opens to the kitchen.

						LOIS 
					I know, I know, I sound like a
					starstruck kid and I've only said
					three words to the man.

						
	She enters the kitchen; the door swings shut behind her.

	HOLD in living room, PANNING back to CLARK.

						LOIS (O.S.)
					'Help' and 'Thank you.' That's 
					not much of a basis for a meaningful 
					relationship, is it? Anyway,  for all 
					I know, he's got a wife and kids on 
					some other planet. The whole thing
					sounds unrealistic, I know that. 
					So I called this guy that's married to a
					girl I went to college with. He's a shrink. 		
					I mean, I'll try anything once. So I made 
					
	As she is talking, CLARK walks out to the terrace.

										CUT TO:

155	EXT. TERRACE  -  DAY

	Suddenly he cocks his head sharply: his super-hearing has picked up something. ZOOM to 	a rooftop across the street, which is covered with TV aerials. The super-hearing picks the 	announcement coming over the airwaves. As this broadcast continues to be HEARD ON 	SOUND TRACK, INTERCUT THE FOLLOWING SHOTS: 

156	1.  CLARK listening, disturbed. Looking down the block.

157	2.  ZOOM three blocks to window of an apartment building, a family group runs from all 	parts of the apartment to see this bulletin on their television set (Mom in her apron running 	from the kitchen, Son 	in undershirt with shaving cream on his face running in from the 	bathroom, etc., etc.)		   	

158	3.  Another ZOOM from Clark's POV:  The street below, where a bunch of cab drivers 	have abandoned their 	cabs and are clustered around one of their number who sits on his 	fender, holding a portable radio.

159	4.  Another ZOOM

						LUTHOR'S VOICE
				    (from radio)
					A challenge to this...
				(scornfully)
					...flying person. At Twelfth and Main there is a furniture 
					warehouse. Somewhere inside is a pellet filled with a
					 propane lithium compound. In exactly fifteen 
					minutes it will automatically drop into a beaker 
					of acid. Approximately twenty-two seconds 
					later a poison gas will annihilate everyone within a 
					forty block radius.  I would remind Mr. Do-Gooder
					 that within this area is one on the city's 
					largest hospitals...we have fifteen minutes to find
					 out if you are what you claim to be or if we have 
					been the victims of mass hysteria.

160	ON CLARK - a look of determination on his face,  he starts to metamorphose into 	SUPERMAN.

						LOIS (O.S.)
					 (still talking from 
   	   the kitchen)
					...and then he said, 'maybe the man's
					 a father figure.' So I said, 'look, my 
					Pop's a swell guy, but he doesn't go 
					flying around town in a red cape..." 

	Clark's blue serge suit, tie and shirt disappear, leaving him in his Superman costume. The 	Transformation is not quite complete however, because he still has on his glasses, when:

	ON THE DOOR TO THE KITCHEN  --  as it swings open and LOIS comes out. She spots 	SUPERMAN, 	freezes. There is a beat of silence.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  Nervous.  How to explain.

	CLOSE ON LOIS  

						LOIS
					Oh, Clark.
				 (she suppresses a
				   giggle)
					You dear, sweet man. That
					silly costume must have cost
					you a fortune.

	Suddenly we realize that Superman's disguise is, in fact, perfect:  that Lois cannot believe 	Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same.

						SUPERMAN
				   (speechless)
					I...I...

	WIDE SHOT  -- as LOIS crosses to him.

						LOIS
					I'm sorry for laughing, Clark.
					I'm very touched you went to all
					this trouble to impress me, but...
				 (she starts to
				    laugh again)
					I'm sorry. It's just that you look so...

	LOIS turns away because she can't control her laughter.	 
						LOIS
					I'm sorry, Clark. But I mean
					it's just not you. I'm very
					touched -

	She explodes with laughter and dashes into the kitchen in order to spare him.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  He glances in a mirror, shrugs.

						SUPERMAN
			   	   (wryly)
					Maybe it needs a tuck in the
					waist.

	He jumps on the balcony railing and flies off. HOLD for a beat, then LOIS, having regained 	her composure, comes back out of the kitchen.

	She looks around, but Clark is nowhere is sight.

						LOIS
				(calling out)
					Clark, I...Clark?
				 (to herself)
					Oh, now I've gone and hurt his
					feelings.

										CUT TO:

161	EXT., WAREHOUSE  - NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  -- The entire area has been cordoned off, dozens of fire trucks and police 	cars are drawn up. The warehouse itself is floodlit. The CAMERA DOLLIES IN to the 	main entrance where a number of MEN from the bomb squad stand, strapping on their 	protective gear, we HEAR:

	O.S. SOUND: a WHOOSHING NOISE.

	A moment later SUPERMAN lands directly in front of the warehouse and waves the police 	back. He turns to the door. looks at it a moment.

										CUT TO:

162	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD

	OTIS, ALBERT and EVE stand by a bank of TV monitors set up on a walkway in the 	bowels of the Metropolis sewers. Below them, the brackish canal. LUTHOR is coming 	down the walkway toward them, when OTIS sees SUPERMAN on one of the monitors, 	standing by the warehouse door.

						OTIS
					He's there.

	LUTHOR scurries over to look.

										CUT TO:															
163	EXT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN opens the door  --  a heavy metal one. Suddenly there is a TREMENDOUS 	EXPLOSION 	(a lot of flames and smoke) directly in front of SUPERMAN'S chest. HOLD 	for a beat as the SCREEN IS FILLED with  smoke.

	ON THE BOMB SQUAD  -  Behind SUPERMAN, the blast has knocked them on their ass. 	They run for cover behind police cars.	

	ON THE DOOR  -  As the smoke clears, we SEE that the explosion didn't even slow 	SUPERMAN down. He tears apart what's left of the massive door as though it were tinfoil 	and steps inside.

										CUT TO:

164	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

	LUTHOR is now seated at a console of buttons in front of the monitors, scowling. Two of 	the monitors show the exploded door simultaneously from both sides of the warehouse 	doorway.

						LUTHOR
					Nuts. He made it.

						EVE
				 	 (impressed)
					Tough guy, huh?

	As LUTHOR snarls, EVE checks one item off her clipboard.

										CUT TO:

165	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	ON SUPERMAN  --  as he flings the door aside, steps into the first chamber and looks 	around.

	HIS POV:  A room decorated to look exactly like a tacky living room:  a sofa with gold 	threads in the fabric, a free form coffee table, reproductions of woodland scenes on the 	wall.

										CUT TO:

166	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN MONITOR BOARD

	ON LUTHOR, EVE, and ALBERT watching the monitors intently.

					EVE
				Bet he makes it.

					LUTHOR
				You're on.

	And with that he presses a small red button on the control board.

167	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  --  as a door slams shut behind SUPERMAN, blocking off his exit.

	CLOSER IN  --  as a panel in the wall slides open and a machine gun barrel protrudes. The 	CAMERA WHIP PANS AROUND the room as a number of other panels slide open and 	the same thing happens.

	All of them begin FIRING at once  --  a DEAFENING BARRAGE of BULLETS.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  as the bullets strike him and bounce off. He strides through the HAIL 	of FLYING METAL to the door at the other end of the room.

										CUT TO:
	
168	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

					LUTHOR
				(very annoyed)
				Shut up.

					EVE
				I didn't say a word.

	LUTHOR presses another button.

										CUT TO:

169	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	SUPERMAN enters a second room, decorated in rattan lawn and patio furniture. Suddenly 	thousands of gas jets are turned on. Flames come shooting out of each of them. In an 	instant, the room becomes a furnace: the furniture ignites instantly and there are flames 	everywhere. SUPERMAN simply walks right through the 	wall of fire, unscathed, and 	starts toward the door of the third room.

170	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S TV MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

	LUTHOR sits with his head in his hands. The others watch the monitors, astonished.

					LUTHOR
				Damn!
				(raises eyes, puts a
				 finger on a button)
				This will get him.

					EVE
				Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.,

										CUT TO:
				

171	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  --  SUPERMAN enters the third room. After about three steps he disappears 	from view, in the middle of an incredible blizzard.

										CUT TO:

172	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

	ON LEX  --  watching the television monitor, which is nothing but snow.

					LUTHOR
			 	(to EVE)
				What's the temperature now?

					EVE
				(checking a gauge)
				Fifty degrees below and still
				falling.

					LUTHOR
				When it gets to seventy-five
				below, stabilize it.

173	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT  --  as the blizzard stops and the air slowly clears. Standing in the middle of 	the room is a large amorphous mound of ice and snow. The CAMERA DOLLIES IN TO A 	CLOSEUP and a thin 	crack appears running down the center of the shape. A moment later, 	it breaks open to reveal SUPERMAN, unharmed, as he steps out of the shell of ice.

										CUT TO:

174	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

	LUTHOR pops a KLEENEX in his mouth  --  maybe two  --  and chews in rage.

										CUT TO:

175	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	WIDE SHOT as SUPERMAN comes through the door into a fourth room.

	HIS POV:  across a large, open area is a metal vial, hanging over it, suspended by a thin 	cord is the capsule filled with the poison gas and, surrounding the whole affair is a wire 	mesh fence. A clock on the wall indicates that there are less then eight seconds left.

										CUT TO:

176	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S MONITOR BOARD  -  NIGHT

	ON LUTHOR  --  He leans forward, eagerly watching the monitor screen. His hand is on 	one of the dials. He twists it slowly toward the danger level.

										CUT TO:	

177	INT. WAREHOUSE  -  NIGHT

	ON SUPERMAN  --  He crosses to the fence, studies it for a moment.

	SOUND EFFECT:  A FAINT HUMMING.

	CLOSER ON SUPERMAN'S HANDS  --  as he reaches toward the wire fence, grips it. 	SPECIAL EFFECTS: sparks, bolts of lightening come shooting out of the fence which is 	charged with electricity. Nevertheless, he rips the fence apart.

	ON THE CORD HOLDING THE CAPSULE  --  Suddenly it gives way.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  with super-speed he reaches out, grabs the capsule just before it drops 	into the vial of acid. SUPERMAN pops it into his mouth and swallows it. He looks around, 	a worried expression on his face; then spots the vial of acid and drinks it down as a chaser. 	He looks around and burps discreetly.

										CUT TO:

178	INT. PERRY WHITE'S OFFICE  -  DAY

	FULL SHOT:  PERRY is at his desk, the front of LOIS' coverage of Superman's big poison 	gas warehouse adventure out in front of him.  Ranged around the other end of the desk are 	about nine REPORTERS, among them LOIS and CLARK.

						PERRY
					Now look. We're sitting on top
					of the story of the century. So
					we got lucky. But in the newspaper
					business. luck is a one-shot.  We're
					on top today, but we've got to work
					to stay there. I want the name
					Superman and the Daily Planet to
					go together like bacon and eggs.

						CLARK
					I don't think he'll lend himself
					to any cheap promotions.

						PERRY
					Who's talking about cheap? I'm
					talking about an exclusive
					interview.

	CLOSEUP LOIS  --  very interested. PAN to other REPORTERS, listening.
						PERRY
					If one of you can get that  -- I
					mean, I want the real Superman.
					Who is he? Where's he from?
					What's his favorite ball team?
					What's up?

						LOIS
					He is. Usually.

						PERRY
					(his parting shot)
					Whoever comes up with that will
					make Woodward and Bernstein look
					like Abbot and Costello.

	The REPORTERS file out, and we FOLLOW, STAYING TIGHT on CLARK and LOIS.

						LOIS
					(intensely)
					Oh, what a chance! If I could
					just  --  get to him.
				
						CLARK
					(a smile as he gestures 
					 to other REPORTERS)
					You're not the only one.

						LOIS
					(serious)
					Yes, but I'm the only one who
					knows him. I  --  I really like
					the guy. And he likes me.
					(a bit unsure)
					I think. I mean, I could talk to
					him, you know? And he could
					talk to me.
					(wistfully)
					Anytime...

	CLOSEUP CLARK KENT

179	EXT. METROPOLIS SKY  -  NIGHT

	We are ON the sky, a full bright moon, a few clouds drifting slowly towards it, but still 	some distance away. 	Suddenly, amazingly, the clouds speed up, zipping towards the 	moon.

	PULL BACK a bit to SEE SUPERMAN in the sky blowing the clouds. He stops (and he 	clouds stop) when they are covering the moon.

										CUT TO:

180	EXT. LOIS LANE'S TERRACE  -  NIGHT

	As LOIS steps from her living room onto the dark terrace, watering can in hand. WIDE 	SHOT of the terrace as she begins to water a flower box.

						LOIS
					    (to herself as she 
					 sprinkles the flowers)
					With my luck, now it'll rain.

						SUPERMAN (O.S.)
					Not a chance. It's too nice a night.

	Startled, she spins around. There, hidden in the shadows, his features almost obscured by 	the darkness, but his form illuminated enough to present itself, is SUPERMAN.

						LOIS
					 (incredulously)
					Superman???

						SUPERMAN
					Right on the first guess.

						LOIS
					Wha'...what are you doing here?

						SUPERMAN
					I came to talk to you.

						LOIS
					The answer is yes. Now what's the
					question?

						SUPERMAN
					There's been a lot of confusion
					in the media about who I am and
					what I'm up to and all that.
					I'd like to set the record straight.
					With your help.

						LOIS
					    (thrilled, but trying
					to be cool)
					This is incredible. I was just
					sitting here trying to figure out
					how to contact you. I mean, you
					don't have an answering service,
					right?

						SUPERMAN
					    (with a grin)
					Unlisted number, Shall we proceed?

										 

						LOIS
					I'll just need my notebook. And some
					light.

	TRACK with LOIS as she goes to a hanging terrace lamp with a dangling cord. She pulls 	the cord and the light begins to come on  --  a weak flicker  --  and instantly goes out.

	NEW ANGLE  -  FAVORING SUPERMAN who is doing what children should never do:  	his finger is in the outside electric socket, a few sparks flying out. LOIS, looking at the 	lamp in dismay, doesn't notice.

						LOIS
					Well...flashlight?

						SUPERMAN
					I think you'll be able to remember it.
					I doubt you'll misquote me.

						LOIS
					If I do, you can punish  me. Fly me
					to Bermuda and just lave me there for
					two weeks.
					  (she sits down 
					    on a lounger)
					This is fantastic! I wish Clark were
					here.

						SUPERMAN
					Who's Clark? One of your
					colleagues?

						LOIS
					  (off-handedly)
					Not exactly. He's kind of a 
					rewrite man. Actually, he's a 
					bit dull, if you know what I mean.
	
	CLOSEUP SUPERMAN  --  a bit offended.

						SUPERMAN
					I'm sure he's nice, though.

	ON LOIS  --  craning to see him. She takes a cigarette from her pocket.

						LOIS
					  (sly)
					Oh, I've got to get some matches.
					  (explaining)
					My cigarette.

						SUPERMAN
					I'd appreciate it if you didn't
					smoke.

						LOIS
					Oh.
					  (pause)
					Well, where do we start?

						SUPERMAN
					Ask, You're the girl reporter.

						LOIS
					 (a quick grin)
					Okay. Let's start with these
					strange powers of yours.

						SUPERMAN
					You think they're strange?

						LOIS
					I didn't mean that in any
					pejorative way.

						SUPERMAN
					    (granting the point)
					I guess they are a little odd.

						LOIS
					Well, I mean it's not everybody
					that can deliver an air mail letter
					without putting a stamp on it.

						SUPERMAN
					(straight)
					I wouldn't do that. It's against
					the law.

						LOIS
					Oh.

						SUPERMAN
					The reason I can fly is because
					my molecular structure is so
					constituted that I have a lighter
					density under Earth's gravitational
					force.

						LOIS
					It must feel great.

						SUPERMAN
					It's not bad.

						LOIS
					How old are you?
			
						SUPERMAN
					Thirty-five.

						LOIS
					How much do you weigh?

						SUPERMAN
					195 pounds.

						LOIS
					What about this X-Ray vision
					of yours?

						SUPERMAN
					What about it?

						LOIS
					Can you really see through
					anything?

						SUPERMAN
					Uh-huh.

						LOIS
					Is it true you're impervious
					to pain?

						SUPERMAN
					Yes. Although I can get a
					headache just like anyone.

						LOIS
					Do bullets really bounce off
					you?

						SUPERMAN
					Only when somebody shoots them 
					at me.

	With absolutely no change in tone, looking down and asking this as if it were just another 	one of the questions:

						LOIS
					What color underwear am I wearing?

						SUPERMAN
					Pink.

	If that flustered her, she doesn't let on except for perhaps a quick, wild fluttering of the 	eyes.

						LOIS
					Can you actually fly faster than
					the speed of sound?

						SUPERMAN
					Sure.

						LOIS
					Do you like pink?

						SUPERMAN
					Very much.

						LOIS
					   (deep breath; still
					doesn't look up)
					Where do you hail from?

						SUPERMAN
					Well, I was born on a planet your
					scientists don't know too much about.
					It's in the Xeno Galaxy. Or it was. It
					was called Krypton. That's K-R-Y-P...

										CUT TO:

				
181	INT.  LEX LUTHOR'S SUBTERRANEAN OFFICE  -  DAY

	OPEN ON INSERT of front page of the "Daily Planet" bannering: "THE REAL 	SUPERMAN:  AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LOIS LANE."

	PULL BACK to a wildly excited LEX LUTHOR, at his desk, reading the interview.

						LUTHOR
					Krypton!

						EVE
					Krypton? The place where Superman
					comes from?

	FAVORING LUTHOR:  He gets up from his desk and begins walking out of the room. His 	very manner, not to mention his beckoning gesture, causes his three cronies to follow him.

						LUTHOR
					    (quietly, in a 
					 patronizing tone)
					Some people can read 'War and Peace'
					and come away thinking it was a simple
					adventure story. Other people can read
					the ingredients on a chewing gum
					wrapper and come away with the 
					secret of the universe.
					    (pops a Kleenex in
					his mouth; chewing)
					Y'know.

						EVE
					    (insulted)
					I read the article.

						LUTHOR
					(smarmy)
					Exactly, Miss Teschmacher.
					
	By now they are out of the room and onto:
					
182	EXT.  LUTHOR'S LIBRARY

	WIDE SHOT:  A massive set of iron staircase and platforms leading into further depths. 	All around, crammed into every nook and cranny, are books and publications, many dusty 	with age, all categorized by subject matter, alphabetical order and Dewey Decimal System, 	many of them purloined from the Metropolis Public Library.

	LEX starts down the clanging iron stairs, talking as he goes.

	The others straggle behind on varying levels, less anxious to follow him down because 	sooner or later they will then have to make the long climb back up.

						EVE
					He left Krypton when he was a
					baby just before the planet
					exploded.

	She smiles triumphantly as if to say "so there!"

						EVE
					See?

						LUTHOR
					See? I see. It's you who don't
					see. Doesn't see. I cannot
					believe it! How you people
					fail to grasp the long-range
					significance of this! Y'know?

						EVE
					(miffed)
					I'm going to bed.

						LUTHOR
					    (screams)
					Stay and listen!
				    	    (calmer)
					Besides, it's twelve in the
					afternoon. This is no time
					to go to bed.

									 
	CLOSEUP  -  EVE

						EVE
					(muttering)
					Mr. Romance...

						LUTHOR
					    (very "up" about
					 something)
					Deductive reasoning, my friends!
					That's the name of the game.
					What does it say here?

	He brandishes the newspaper interview.

						LUTHOR
					That the planet blew up on
					May 23, 1937. That the 
					rocket ship with the revolting
					little freak in it took three
					years to reach Earth. Ergo?

						ALBERT
					He's thirty-five years old.

						LUTHOR
					You're a great architect, Albert.

						ALBERT
					Thank you.

						LUTHOR
					Otherwise, you're a Mongoloid
					idiot.
					  (to all)
					It's reasonable to assume that
					fragments of the planet were
					shot out into space by the
					force of the explosion, and  --

	He pulls a slide-rule from his pocket and does some quick calculation.

						LUTHOR
					--  Given the location of the
					galaxy he mentions, and  --
					  (more slide-rule
					    business)
					--  the proximity to our solar
					system  --
				  	  (more slide-rule)
					--  some of that debris must have
					landed on Earth.

 	By now LUTHOR has reached one of the bottom levels; the others catching up somewhat.

	TRACK as he heads for the book shelves labeled "PERIODICALS A-N."
	
						EVE
					Meteorites!

						LUTHOR
					Bingo!

	He walks to a particularly dusty shelf stacked high with old copies on "National 	Geographic Magazine," darts his hand out suddenly and yanks one particular copy out, 	quickly flips it open to a certain page. A wide grin on his face.

						LUTHOR
					Et voila!

	He flips it around to show them.

	TIGHT INSERT ON THE PAGE:  It shows an Ethiopian farmer holding a wedge-shaped 	green rock, about a foot long and five inches high. The farmer grins at the camera. The 	caption beneath reads:  "Meteorite Which Landed Near Addis Ababa since 1940."

	REVERSE on the group as LUTHOR puts the magazine back on the shelf and strokes the 	spines of magazines nostalgically.

						LUTHOR
					Ahh. 'National Geographic." In
					my day, this made 'Playboy" look
					like Mother Goose.

						EVE
					I don't mean to denigrate your
					misspent youth, Lex, but what
					does that rock have to do with --

						LUTHOR
					Tune me in , lady. An explosion
					such as the one Superman
					describes would have altered
					the molecular structure of the
					Krypton rock.

						EVE
					I know I'm going to get rapped
					in the mouth for saying this, but
					so what?

						LUTHOR
					No, you're going to get kissed,

	He gives her a quick peck on the cheek.

						LUTHOR
					To us it's just a meteorite.

	He begins the long trek up the staircase.

	The others follow at intervals and with considerably less energy, so that the following is 	played with LUTHOR talking back over his shoulder or calling down to them as he climbs:

						LUTHOR
					(going on)
					But, to someone from the planet
					Krypton, this substance would 
					be lethal because of its high
					level of radioactivity. 
					Kryptonite! Ah, Kryptonite!
					That's the stuff!

						OTIS
					 (below there
					   somewhere)
					You mean bullets and fire and
					all that can't hurt him, but this
					kind of rock --

						LUTHOR
					 (gleeful)
					Will kill him! And I'm going
					to have a piece of the rock!
					Miss Teschmacher, pack your --

						EVE
					 (resigned)
					Yes, I know/
					 (to herself; a
					   woman's dilemma)
					I wonder what they're wearing
					in Addis Ababa.

										CUT TO:

183	EXT. STREET IN ADDIS ABABA  -  MORNING

	WIDE SHOT  --  a dusty, nearly deserted street in a small town in East Africa. THREE 	GARDENER-	SERVANTS are slowly sweeping around the front of a miserable-looking 	one-story building. A sign over the entrance reads "ADDIS ABABA MUSEUM OF 	SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY." Riding INTO FRAME on a bicycle is a MAN in a cheaply-	cut conservative western-style suit  -  the perfect petty  bureaucrat. A ratty looking 	briefcase and a transistor RADIO PLAYING weird AFRICAN MUSIC are in the basket of 	his bike; all this with great ceremony, as if the king had just come back from the hunt. The 	MAN 	extracts a big ring of keys from his pocket and unlocks the Museum door, steps 	inside.

184	INT. BUILDING  -  DAY

	ON THE ATTENDANT  --  as he kicks a rock against the door to hold it open. That done, 	the CAMERA 	PANS with him as he crosses the Museum;  which consists of one room 	with four or five glass cases filled with rocks, a stuffed alligator and a few swords and 	spears mounted on the wall. He sits down at a desk, props his feet on the top and promptly 	falls sound asleep. HOLD for a beat as we HEAR:

	O.S. SOUND:  a CAR APPROACHING.

	The CAMERA PANS across to a window  --  and we SEE a Land Rover pull to a stop in 	front of the Museum. The door opens and LEX LUTHOR, followed by EVE, ALBERT, 	and OTIS, gets out. LUTHOR wears a pith helmet.

										CUT TO:

185	EXT. STREET  -  DAY

	ON LUTHOR  --  looking around, filled with enthusiasm.

						LUTHOR
					Ah! The wonders of travel! The
					glories of past civilizations!

	ON EVE  --  not thrilled to be here at all.

						EVE
					There speaks a man who lives in a
					sewer.

	CROSS-CUTTING between them.

						LUTHOR
					Breathe that air, Miss Teschmacher.

						EVE
					  (with a look)
					I will as soon as I get the sand out
					of my nose.

	TRACK with them as they start toward the Museum. 

						LUTHOR
					Well, gents? What did I tell you?
					It's a piece of cake.

						OTIS
					It's a Twinkie, boss.

										CUT TO:

186	INT. MUSEUM  -  DAY

	ON THE DOOR  --  as they enter, look around. LEX LUTHOR spots the glass cases and 	crosses to them quickly, quietly.

	HIS POV:  TRACKING down the row of cases filled with various rocks and minerals from 	the area. Suddenly the CAMERA COMES TO AN ABRUPT HALT on one of the cases. 	One of the rocks inside is missing. ZOOM IN TO A CLOSEUP on the space where the 	missing rock had been. We can READ the small card below the empty space:  "Meteorite 	That Landed in Addis Ababa in June 1940."

	CLOSE ON LUTHOR  --  glowering.

						LUTHOR
					They're killing me by inches!
					  (to the sky)
					Go ahead! Make me suffer! Milk
					me dry.

						OTIS
					 (trying to be helpful)
					Maybe it's being polished or
					something. Maybe they're
  					cleaning it.

						LUTHOR
					   (in disbelief)
					Cleaning a rock, Otis?
					(to EVE)
					Jot it down. As soon as we're
					back, he feeds the pets.

						OTIS
					(aghast)
					Oh, Mr. Luthor...

	ON LUTHOR  --  He nods toward the sleeping attendant.

						LUTHOR
					All right, we'll ask him.

	PAN with him as he approaches the guard, taps him on the shoulder.

						LUTHOR
					Uh...excuse me...

	The MAN continues snoring.

						LUTHOR
					    (to the others)
					Obviously a drunk. Why am I
					surrounded by the dregs of human  -- 

	Suddenly he catches sight of something O.S. and his attitude changes abruptly. The 	CAMERA TRACKS with them as he crosses back toward the entrance to the Museum.

						LUTHOR
					    (singing softly to himself)
					It's a most unusual day! I can throw 
					all my troubles away! La de da da...

	CONTINUE TRACKING with him as the rest of the group catch up. It is clear from their 	attitude that they find LUTHOR'S euphoria even more unsettling than his anger.

						EVE
					You're happy, aren't you?

						LUTHOR
					 (he ignores her, continues singing)
					La de da da...

						EVE
					You're not going to tell us why
					you're happy, are you?

	By now LUTHOR has reached the entrance. he bends down, picks up the rock that the 	guard has used to hold the door open. Now that we SEE it more closely, we NOTE that it 	has the same odd wedge shape and green color as the rock in the photograph in National 	Geographic.

	CLOSER ON LUTHOR  --  as he holds the rock out for all of them to see.

						LUTHOR
					The door jam, Miss Teschmacher. This 
					Ethiopian shmendrick here, in his simple, 
					unconscious way, needed something to wedge 
					the door open, the better to inhale the flies 
					that form such an  important part of his diet. 
					So he grabs something from the table...

						EVE (O.S.)
					We just take it?

						LUTHOR
					   (archly)
					What do you suggest, my dear?

	ON EVE.

						EVE
					 (reasonable)
					The least we can do is leave him another 
					door jam.

	ON LUTHOR  --  giving her a filthy look.

						LUTHOR
					How about your nose, Miss Teschmacher?

	And he turns and stalks out the door.

										CUT TO:
187	EXT.  VESUVIUS  -  NIGHT

	LONG SHOT  --  A volcano in the first stages of eruption, and very spectacular it is. 		Flames shoot up against the night sky, illuminating the landscape. Sparks rise like 	fireworks, and in the flickering light, we SEE SHEPHERDS and PEASANTS still fleeing 	down the adjoining hills. A RUMBLING SOUND emanates from the volcano and suddenly 	what appears to be black, bubbling lava starts to flow down the south side of the volcano.

188	SUPERMAN flies INTO FRAME, soaring down from the sky, circling the mighty volcano, 	looking for anyone who needs rescuing. His circles bring him closer and closer to the rim. 	As he approaches, there is a sudden burst of incredible EFFECTS: higher flames, rocks 	shooting out, billowing smoke, a mighty ROAR from the depths, as if the volcano were 	giving its all.

	CLOSE IN as SUPERMAN zooms straight down and lands on the rim of the crater. Poised 	on the precipice, he draws a deep breath and leans forward and down as if to blow out the 	volcano like a birthday candle. ZOOM IN TO CLOSEUP of SUPERMAN:  suddenly he 	stops , staring down, transfixed by what he sees:  

189	HIS POV:  Way down in the bottom of the crater FOUR HUMAN FIGURES can be SEEN 	scurrying around a bunch of machines; the volcano is not in eruption at all.

190	ON SUPERMAN  -  He takes off in a beautiful dive and zooms down into the crater.

										CUT TO:

191	INT. VOLCANO  - NIGHT

	FULL SHOT  -- In the base of the crater a number of strange activities are being 	orchestrated from a control panel. EVE, OTIS, and ALBERT are doing the work; 	LUTHOR is conducting, dressed in riding pants and beret, like an old-style Hollywood 	director.

	A steel scaffolding supports smoke pots, fire machines, fireworks, and launches. Pumps 	drive simulated lava up hosepipes. Catapults hurl rocks and debris in the conflagration 	above. Oscillators and LOUDSPEAKERS put the finishing touches to the effect that 	Vesuvius is actually erupting.

						LUTHOR
					Ah! The guest of honor at last!
					And about time, too!

						ALBERT
					 (turning, explaining)
					We're running out of smoke.

						SUPERMAN
					 (Outraged as he looks
					   around)
					What is this??!

						LUTHOR
					 (proudly)
					Makes Cecil B. DeMille look like
					the Senior Class play, right?

	ALTERNATE MED. CLOSEUPS

						SUPERMAN
					But...why?

	Note; 2 pages are missing from this script - skip to later in scene after Luthor delivers the 	Kryptonite.

191	CONTINUED:	 

						LUTHOR  
					I can't hear myself think!
					    (to SUPERMAN)
					Superman, what can I tell ya?
					You met your match your match, y'know
					It's only fitting that when the time came
					to cash in your chips, Lex Luthor was
					the banker.
					 (coughs from the still
					   rising smoke, to 
					    himself, amazed)
					Tears! There are tears in my eyes!
					(to ALBERT)
					Cut that smoke or there'll be
					tears in yours!

	ON ALBERT  --  very troubled.

						ALBERT
					But Mr. Luthor, sir, I already  --

	ON LUTHOR

						LUTHOR
					And stop interrupting. his is the
					big scene.
					  (to SUPERMAN)
					Your finest hour! You rose to
					the challenge, baby! And you
					lost. That's the best part!

	Suddenly, a violent TREMBLING in the volcano. Rocks starting to bounce around.

						LUTHOR
					Hey! I said enough with the
					sound effects, Otis!

	ON OTIS:  confused. He isn't doing anything.

	ON LUTHOR

						LUTHOR
				 	(confidentially, to
				 SUPERMAN)
					He's new to the technical
					department. All this, y'know,
					is just a preview of coming
					attractions. In a way it's a
					pity you won't be around to see
					my next production  --
					(his hand traces it 
					  like a giant movie
					  title)
					--  'The Crime of the Century!' Well,
					it'd be above your head anyway. So 
					y'see, Superman, there's nothing shameful 
					about losing to me. It was a battle of titans.
					The best against me  --

	A fit of coughing seizes as a cloud of smoke drifts across his face  --  through it, in a rage:

						LUTHOR
					Smoke?? Again with the  --
			
	As a cloud passes, a strange, suspicious look comes into his eyes.

						LUTHOR
					--  Smoke...rumbling...

	EFFECTS:  The RUMBLING is indeed INCREASING, and now lava slowly begins to 	bubble up in the pit. LUTHOR looks at it and nods, his suspicions confirmed.

						LUTHOR
					...Lava...GOOD-BYE!!

	And LEX LUTHOR turns and runs like a comet (PAN OVER) out of the crater to a tunnel 	entrance in the side of the volcano (the way he got in). The tunnel is cut through the rock 	and leads to the outside.

	As fast as he split, so do ALBERT and OTIS, both gibbering in panic, both right behind 	their boss.

	WIDE SHOT  --  SUPERMAN lies there, barely moving. EVE, grabbing her purse, leaps 	up from the console as she sees the rats desert the sinking ship. The lava bubbles higher; 	the flames rise up. But running over rocks in high heels is not easy. EVE trips and goes 	sprawling.

	ON EVE  --  SCRAMBLING to her feet, rubbing a bruised knee under a torn stocking.

						EVE
					Hey, wait for me!
	
	Suddenly  --

	SOUND:  an incredible ROAR from the bowels of the volcano. Rocks  -- big shoulders  --  	begin tumbling everywhere and a great cloud of dust rises out of the tunnel she is heading 	for. She stops.

	NEW ANGLE  -- the dust settles. The tunnel has been totally blocked by a landslide.

	ON EVE  --  She stands immobilized, staring at her no-exit in despair. it is the last straw, 	the end of a lifetime of disasters.

						EVE
					(staring down tunnel)
					Okay. I'm going to die.
					(a long, sad sigh)
					This is the way Eve Teschmacher
					ends. With a bang. okay. As
					long as my life doesn't pass
					before my eyes. I don't think I
					could take that.

	TRACK with her as, totally bleak, resigned. she turns and comes back into the crater, plops 	down moodily on a rock. before her is the bubbling pit, which she contemplated dully, and 	just beyond that, the recumbent form of SUPERMAN, the Kryptonite still on his chest.

	ON HER  --  She stares at him.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  Prone.

	ON HER, TIGHTER  --  Looking at him.

	ON SUPERMAN  --  Near death.

	CLOSEUP EVE  -- Suddenly her eyes open wide and she leaps to her feet.

						EVE
					(wild)
					What am I crazy??? I don't
					wanna die!!!

	WIDEN SHOT as she makes her way around the rim of the bubbling pit and stands over 	SUPERMAN. Now 	she is teeth-chatteringly scared, desperate to make contact with him.

	ON THEM

						EVE
					I don't want to die. I know, he left you here. He
					left me here too. But he doesn't need you. He got
					along without you very well. Me he needs. He
					doesn't know it, but he wouldn't last a day without 
					me. Look -- nod two if no, one if yes. Let's make a deal.
					I'll get you out of here if you get me out of here. What
					do you say?

	She leans down, her hand on the Kryptonite. 

						Eve
			    (whispering)
					Our secret?

	ON SUPERMAN'S FACE: A hesitation, his eyes closed. We think,  maybe  he is dead. 	Then, feebly, he nods...once.

	TWO SHOT - EVE lifts up the Kryptonite and tosses it into the pit of lava.

	INSERT:  The rock sinks into the depths of the bubbling, gurgling pit of lava.

	ON THEM  --  SUPERMAN moans. He stirs, more strongly than before. He's still in fairly 	lousy shape. He tries to rise. EVE gently pushed him down again.

						EVE
					Hold it. Trust me. I mean do
					you have a choice?

	She begins to massage his shoulders strongly - a skill she has obviously learned for Lex (or 	in a massage parlor). SUPERMAN reacts accordingly, flexing his muscles, making 	tentative fists, etc. This is not a "thing" between them at all - none of those overtones - but  	something they each are doing, parallel, for their own purposes.

	Rocks begin to spit out of the pit; not the Kryptonite, though.

						EVE
					Okay, now?

	He nods again, once, and then...SUPERMAN sits, then springs to his feet in a sudden burst 	of energy, leaving her still kneeling.

	ON HIM - FULL SHOT:  SUPERMAN is himself again.

	ON EVE - Kneeling beside him. Watching.

	TRACK with him to the blocked tunnel, as EVE follows.

	EFFECTS - To EVE'S surprise, SUPERMAN springs into a leaping dive, headfirst into the 	rubble. For a moment, she thinks he, too, abandoned her.

					EVE
				Hey -

192	FOLLOW SUPERMAN as he corkscrews a passage through like a rot-rooter, all this in a 	matter of seconds.

193	CUT TO HIM emerging back inside the volcano again; behind him we now SEE light at 	the end of the tunnel. He pushes a few more rocks aside from the opening. Then, having 	gallantly "opened the door" for EVE, he waits for her to pass through it.

	ON THE PASSAGE  --  As he rushes by him, says:
				
					SUPERMAN
				  (meaning it)
				Listen...thank you.

					EVE
				(turning back a moment
				 in her headlong flight)
				You too.
				( trying to explain quickly)
				I just...I can't get it on for good
				guys. Y'know?   

	Smiling, radiant, thinking of Lex Luthor.

	HOLD ON SUPERMAN  --  He lets out a "phew." It's been a hard day. Pan as he strides 	toward the crater again, about to begin work of "putting out" the volcano.

										CUT TO:

194	EXT.   DAILY PLANET CITY ROOM  -  DAY

	WIDE:  Lunch hour and things are slow in the city room...Some activity, but many empty 	desks, including those of CLARK and LOIS in f.g. PAN RIGHT to JIMMY, who puts down 	his sandwich, walks over to the dart board, and lazily but accurately aims a couple of darts 	at the target. As he does so, CLARK enters in f.g. PAN LEFT with him as, preoccupied, he 	strides straight to his desk, picks up the thick Metropolis telephone book that always sits in 	his top drawer, and rifles through it quickly. DOLLY IN TO MEDIUM CLOSEUP.

					CLARK
				    (absorbed, muttering)
				Luthor...Luthor...
				    (Fingering the column)
				G. Luthor...J. Luthor...
				(he's got it)
				...L. Luthor!
				(deflating)
				...Lingerie.
				(slams the book shut)
				Nuts!

	Frustrated, he unconsciously begins to tear the book n half.
	
					JIMMY (O.S.)
				Hey, Clark!

	WIDEN as a startled CLARK sees JIMMY coming over; quickly and almost guiltily he 	puts down the phone book. To avoid JIMMY seeing it, CLARK goes to meet him. They 	stand by the dart board, chatting.

					JIMMY
				You'd better get a new alarm
				clock. The chief has been 
				hollering for you.

					CLARK
				(a bit testy; still
				 frustrated)
				I've been on the job.

					JIMMY
				 (trying to be in the
				  know)
				A hot story, huh?

					CLARK
				It was hot, yes.

					JIMMY
				(wistfully)
				You and Lois, you get all the 
				action.
			   (he tosses a near
				 bullseye)
				There she is, out in the wild
				West and everything.

					CLARK
				 (paying attention now)
				Lois isn't here?

					JIMMY
				She's in California. That's
				wild enough, I guess.

					CLARK
				What's she doing in California?

					JIMMY
				It's for that piece she's doing on
				women and competition. She's off
				to the Women's Western Golf Classic.

	He passes CLARK the dart.

	NEW ANGLE  --  CLARK takes careful aim, sighting, and completely misses the board. 	STAY with him as he 	strolls away, his mind again on the Luthor problem, preoccupied, 	worried, and then, having gotten about ten feet, he suddenly remembers the quarter for the 	darts kitty. Almost without thinking, he pulls the coin from his pocket, flips it into the pot. 	Ten feet and a perfect shot, even as he strolls on.

	ON JIMMY  --  staring at the pot, at the board, then back at the pot. he shakes his head; he 	can't figure it out at all.

										CUT TO:

195	EXT. SKY OVER METROPOLIS  -  DAY

	ON SUPERMAN  -- on a reconnaissance flight over Metropolis. But what is he looking 	for, studying the anonymous pedestrians of the city down there. Suddenly his attention is 	arrested' his eyes narrow.

196	HIS POV DOWN:  Down there, from the back, a shining bald head, a dark suit, a bit of 	swagger. Can it be?

197	MOVING SHOT, WIDE:  SUPERMAN swoops down on his prey, seizes his shoulder.

					SUPERMAN
				  (gotcha)
				Hey!

198	The man whirls around and it is...TELLY SAVALAS.  With lollipop and big grin:

					TELLY
				Hey! Superman! Who loves ya, baby?

	SUPERMAN smiles, trying to pretend he dropped down to say hi, and then flies up. As he 	ANGLES TOWARD CAMERA we SEE the disappointed expression on his face.

										CUT TO:

199	EXT. SMALL TOWN BACK ROAD  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  -- A peaceful dusty road, a few farms and houses dotting the landscape. The 	corn is as high as an elephant's eye and the only SOUND is the CHIRP of CRICKETS. 	This bucolic setting, complete with a farm couple leaning on a fence, is marred only by the 	presence of FOUR MILITARY POLICEMEN, fully armed and standing at attention on the 	sides of the road. Suddenly, from over the horizon like the motorcycle gang in "The Wild 	Ones." comes a military convoy bearing the XK101 rocket. A bulldozer-truck is 	at the 	head, the tarpaulin-covered rocket on the huge flatbead truck is behind, and two other 	trucks behind 	that. A jeep with a GENERAL rides just behind the bulldozer. As the 	convoy rolls on  --

										CUT TO:

200	EXT. FREEWAY  -  DAY

	A big car is driving fast. It is Luthor's.

										CUT TO:

201	INT. LUTHOR'S CAR  -  DAY

	OTIS is driving. ALBERT beside him. LUTHOR and EVE are in the back seat, she oddly 	dressed: in black pullover and black pants, she looks rather like a cat burglar.

					OTIS
				 (puzzled)
				I still don't get it.

					LUTHOR
				 (expansively and a 
				  bit patronizingly)
				Ah, dear simple Otis. Albert
				explain it to him.

					ALBERT
				 (welcoming this rare
				  opportunity to hold
				  forth)
				It's very simple, Otis.
				 (disparagingly)
				Very simple, the XK101 rocket. It's
				nothing, forty years ago we in the 
				Fatherland were working on this.
				Five more years, we would've had
				it. But then  --
				 (a sigh of regret)
				--  that silly war...Why, my cousin
				Werner had already  --

					LUTHOR
				 (dangerously impatient)
				Albert!

					ALBERT
				  (segueing smoothly)
				--  thought about a rocket that
				carries a nuclear warhead in its
				nosecone and can strike with an
				impact of  --

					OTIS
				Three hydrogen bombs, that's what
				I've heard.



					ALBERT
				Yes, so, well, Werner would've
				gotten to that too but  --
				  (as LEX leans forward
				    and gives him a paralyzing
				poke)
				--  but the XK101 flies only eight
				feet above the ground...well below
				the radar limit!  So what? We could
				have done that soon. We had ways to 
				make people ta-- ways to avoid the
				radar. And this XK101  -- they 
				think it's so smart that they keep it
				in 'missile silos' underground. Hah!
				    (darkly)
				We kept many things underground.

					LUTHOR
				   (just as darkly)
				One of them should've been you.

					ALBERT
				   (hurriedly, as if reciting)
				Yes, Mr. Luthor. The XK101 can
				travel anywhere in the world undetected.
				It also has a sensory device built into it
				so that it can detect any obstacle in its
				path and avoid it. It just goes around it
				or over it.
				   (the big finish)
				The XK101 never quits! It will not 
				stop until it reaches its pre-targeted
				target!

					LUTHOR
				Got it? Otis?

					OTIS
				   (unsure)
				Sort of.

	CLOSEUP LUTHOR

					LUTHOR
				Good enough for you. Now then --
				  (he smiles expansively)
				--  tell me something I like to hear.
				As many times as I hear it...

					ALBERT
				Me?

					LUTHOR
				Not you.
				    (to EVE)
				You.
			   (pause)
				Tell me again.

	PAN LEFT TO CLOSEUP of EVE looking very nervous and edgy.

					EVE
				...Again?...

	WIDEN:  TWO SHOT  -- LUTHOR and EVE seated in the back seat of the moving car. A 	country road.

					LUTHOR
				 (a big smile)
				About Vesuvius. About Superman
				writhing in the bowels of the volcano.
				(loving the memory)
				Ahh, the look on his face when he saw
				that Kryptonite. When will I see another,
				y'know? Y'know?
 
					EVE
				 (awkwardly)
				I don't like to talk about it, Lex.

					LUTHOR
				Weak sister.
				  (musing)
				I still can't figure out why it took
				so long for you to catch up with us
				after we all ran out. Y'know?

					EVE
				You ever try to run in high heels?
				  (she looks at him)
				You probably did.

					LUTHOR
				Is that an innuendo, Miss Teschmacher?
				Because if it is, you are about to experience
				the heady thrill of being hurled from a 
				moving vehicle.

	FULLER SHOT:  which REVEALS that LUTHOR and EVE have been in the back seat, 	and OTIS (driving) and ALBERT are in the front,

										CUT TO:

202	EXT. COUNTRY ROAD  -  DAY

	The car drives on.

										CUT TO:

203	EXT. ANOTHER COUNTRY ROAD  -  DAY

	LONG SHOT:  The full military convoy bearing the XK101 rolls inexorably down the road.

										CUT TO:

204	EXT. TOP LEVEL, CLOVERLEAF HIGHWAY  -  DAY

	SHOT does not reveal location at first. Only that we are somewhere in the great outdoors. 	TIGHT on LUTHOR and EVE, ALBERT behind them. MEDIUM ANGLE with a lot of 	open sky above them. ALBERT  is raised, ready to come down and give the signal. EVE is 	in a state of gibbering terror.

					LUTHOR
				    (to EVE, sternly)
				Ready?

					EVE
				(gulp)
				Ready.

										CUT TO:

205	EXT. A ONE-LANE COUNTRY ROAD  -  DAY

	FULL SHOT:  Blocking the road is an old pickup truck full of chickens in crates. The cab 	of the truck, however, is suspiciously unoccupied. PAN to some bushes at roadside. 	Suddenly the bushes rustle  --  also suspiciously.

206	NEW ANGLE  --  WIDE.  All is silence. Suddenly, from over the hill comes the military 	convoy bearing the XK 101. As the convoy approaches the chicken pickup truck, it 	HONKS its HORN insistently but never stops rolling. It rams right into the pickup truck, 	crunching it, shoving it off the road and into a ditch. The obstacle cleared, the convoy just 	keeps rolling along. As this happens, a FARMER runs out of the bushes, hurriedly zipping 	up his jeans. He takes one outraged look at his truck, half in a ditch, and his chickens,
	squawking all over the road.

					FARMER
				(shaking his fist at
				  vanishing convoy)
				Hey!  Hey!
				  (furious)
				Last time I vote Republican!

										CUT TO:

207	EXT. TOP LEVEL CLOVERLEAF HIGHWAY  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  -  Now we SEE that LEX, EVE, and ALBERT are on the top level of a big 	cloverleaf highway. LUTHOR is obviously --  and inflexibly  --  answering something EVE 	has just asked.

					LUTHOR
				They stop for nothing.

					EVE
				  (desperately)
				But if I put my leg out like
				Claudette Clobert in  --

					LUTHOR
				(adamantly)
				Nothing.

	SOUND:  in distance, we HEAR the CONVOY APPROACHING

					LUTHOR
				Here they come
				(checks his watch)
				Right on time.

	MOVE IN TIGHTER  --  Automatically EVE checks her watch, holding up her wrist. We 	SEE that is an 	elaborate luminous watch.

					LUTHOR
				Voila!

208	NEW ANGLE  --  To our surprise, instead of the convoy coming down the highway where 	LUTHOR and 	EVE await, we SWOOP PAN DOWN.

	As LUTHOR swings around, GO to the next lower level of the cloverleaf highway. Here 	comes the convoy.

	ANGLE UP to LUTHOR, EVE, and ALBERT.

					LUTHOR
				    (to EVE threateningly)
				Don't let me down.

					EVE
				(looks down. poised 
				 to jump, terrified)
				You?! How about me?

					LUTHOR
				You have two minutes and thirty-
				two seconds.

	WIDE SHOT  --  the convoy begins to pass under now. EVE wavers on the edge. 	ALBERT'S arm comes down, giving the signal. LUTHOR gives EVE a shove.

	ON EVE  -  falling.

					LUTHOR (O.S.)
				Bon voyage!

	She lands on top of the tarpaulin-covered missile, perfectly positioned and lying low. 	CLOSER:  She wiggles over to a narrow slit in the middle of the tarpaulin and slips inside.

										CUT TO:

209	INT. TARPAULIN COVERED MISSILE

	Darkness, All we SEE is her luminous watch glowing, second hand moving. Then a pocket 	flashlight is switched on. MOVE with EVE who holds the light as she wiggles up towards 	the nose of the rocket. She collapses there for a moment, breathing hard, catching her 	breath, arm cut holding the flashlight.

	INSERT:  The second hand moves on her watch.

	PAN DOWN to flashlight, now shining on the compass-like dial on the nose of the rocket, 	surrounded by screws.

	EVE removes a pocket wrench from her back pocket, loosens the screws, then turns the 	main screw , which moves the needle of the compass dial from one set position to another.

	INSERT:  As the needle moves to its new position. Then stops.

	ON EVE'S WATCH:  The time ticks away.

 	PULL BACK:  She tightens the screws quickly, once dropping the screwdriver and having 	to find it fast as the TICKING of time seems to grow more and more insistent. At last she is 	finished. She looks at the watch.

	ON IT:  Exactly two minutes ant thirty-two seconds have passed.

	ON EVE:  --  she wriggles frantically over to where she got in, pulls up the bottom edge of 	the tarpaulin. We SEE nothing but clear space and blue sky. She is hanging out in space, so 	to speak. She moans with fear.
		
										CUT TO:

210	EXT. BRIDGE  -  CONVOY  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  --  The flatbead truck with the missile is on high bridge over a river. The 	other vehicles in the convoy behind it are about to make a turn to follow, so that their point 	of view of the missile is momentarily blocked off by the turn. EVE is hanging out of the 	tarpaulin, over the side. Down below, on the river, 	LUTHOR and ALBERT, in a rowboat, 	row slowly to just near the bridge. LUTHOR wears a fisherman's hat. with "flies" stuck in 	the brim.

211	ON EVE  --  She closes her eyes, flings herself forward in space, and jumps.

	ON THE WATER  -- ANGLE UP  -- EVE hurtling down. She lands with a terrific splash, 	just behind the rowboat. Gasping, spluttering, she surfaces. Before she can say anything:

						LUTHOR
					    (curtly)
					Your watch is slow.

										CUT TO:

212	EXT. SKY OVER METROPOLIS  -  NIGHT

	ON SUPERMAN  --  flying again, but slower and looking more discouraged than usual, 	cruising low.  He looks down.

213	POV:  The tops of  various heads. A few with thinning hair perhaps, but nothing that looks 	like Luthor's dome.

214	ON SUPERMAN  --  flying on, looking down always, like a man obsessed.

215	EXT. WAREHOUSE DISTRICT, DOWNTOWN  -- NIGHT

	FULL SHOT  --  That same gang of thieves we saw much earlier, with their same m.o. 	going:  a truck backed	up to the loading platform of a darkened warehouse, its tailgate 	down, as the crooks carry the stolen 	appliances out of the warehouse and load them in the 	truck.

216	NEW ANGLE  --  way up there in the sky, SUPERMAN is flying their way. Without a 	word of discussion, the crooks shrug and immediately begin putting all the loot back where 	it came from.

217	EXT. SKY ABOVE METROPOLIS  -  NIGHT

	ON SUPERMAN:  Who never even noticed them, because his attention is fixed  --  with 	concern  -  on 	another destination.

218	WIDE SHOT:  He heads fast for the billowing smoke and rising flames in the distance:  a 	building is burning.

										CUT TO:

219	INT. PRESS ROOM OF THE DAILY PLANET  -  NIGHT

	That standard SHOT from every old movie:  the presses run as the late edition comes off. 	DOLLY IN to 	headline as a PRESSMAN lifts off a batch of newspapers:  In banner type  --  	SUPERMAN SAVES 300 IN SCHOOL FIRE.

										CUT TO:

220	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE  - DAY

	ON LUTHOR, in dressing gown and ascot, seating himself at one end of the breakfast 	table. He is en plein 	form, all is going well and he is humming "Oh What a Beautiful 	Morning." Casually he picks up the newspaper folded at his place.

	REVERSE  --  At the other end of the table, her half-grapefruit untouched, sits EVE. She 	regards LUTHOR as the mongoose regards the cobra  -  with doomed intensity.

	ON LUTHOR  --  He picks up his paper and opens the first page of the Daily Planet full 	out, only to find  himself staring at EVE through a large square that has been cut out of the 	front page. What is left of the page, 	including the logo, frames his face, and his 	expression is nothing you would want to see across the breakfast table.

					LUTHOR
				  (icy quiet)
				Miss Teschmacher.

	QUICK REACTION EVE:  She looks up, looks down at her food.

	TWO SHOT, ANGLED:

					LUTHOR
				No news is not good news. Y'know

					EVE
				(weakly improvising)
				There was a recipe on the back  --

					LUTHOR
				 (menacingly)
				Something you can feed the pets, 
				perhaps?
				  (flatly)
				Let's have it.

	FAVORING EVE  --  Slowly, reluctantly, she brings up a large clipping from her lap and 	slides it across the table.

	NEW ANGLE  -- CAMERA behind LEX in OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT FACING 	EVE as he holds up the clipping. We SEE the headline as he  raises it, covering OUR 	VIEW of her face. The clipping is slowly lowered, REVEALING EVE, more unhappy then 	ever, 

	TWO SHOT  --  Still in silence, LUTHOR leans across the table, picks up her half-a-	grapefruit and looks at her face; memories of James Cagney in "Public Enemy" arise.

	But suddenly, a funny look crosses his face: a little smile. An Idea has come to him. Even 	as EVE cringes, waiting for the inevitable, LEX just transfers the grapefruit to his plate and 	busily digs in his spoon.

					EVE
				(now  very anxious)
				You're not going to hit me?

					LUTHOR
				 (a very slow smile)
				Hit you? A clever girl like you?
				 (as if savoring it)
				'He turned slowly, slowly in the lava...'
				was how you described it. Now that's
				clever.
				  (leans to her)
				I have to hand it to you.

					EVE
				(cringing, eyes closed,
				  waiting for it)
				I knew you'd hit me.

	He just takes her hand, tenderly.

					LUTHOR
				My poor girl!
				 (pitying, to the world.
				  a la Barrymore)
				Poor, frightened girl! Ah, just
				look at her.

	EVE'S eyes fly open, look into his with fading disbelief and the pitiful beginning of wild 	hope.

					LUTHOR
				You've been under such a strain. And I've
				...I've --
				  (almost chokes on it)
				-- neglected you. Mea culpa! Y'know.
				
					EVE
				  (hesitantly)
				I know...

										 

					LUTHOR
				(to no one in particular)
				She knows. Clever, very clever. 
				    (quickly)	
				And unappreciated. But I'm going to take 
				you away from all this. 

					EVE
	 			  (she can hardly
				    believe her ears)
				A night on the town instead of under it?

					LUTHOR
				 (a big mysterious smile)
				Baby -- I'm going to take you higher.

										CUT TO:

221	EXT.  PIPER CUB -  SKIES ABOVE METROPOLIS  -  DAY

	A fragile little one-engine plane flies over the city.

										CUT TO:

222	INT. PIPER CUB  -  DAY

	In the cockpit, LUTHOR at the control, EVE next to him. SHE looks disenchanted, he 	looks absolutely jolly. He wears a leather aviator's helmet with goggles, a la Charles 	Lindbergh.

					EVE
				I don't understand.

					LUTHOR
				Yours not to reason why, Miss
				Teschmacher. Relax! Enjoy it!
				 (with genuine delight)
				Just look at that smog!

					EVE
				This all has something to do with
				Superman, doesn't it?

					LUTHOR
				 (clenched teeth)
				Your volcano chum? Your junior
				life-saving buddy?
				 (sudden, awful smile)
				Let's get high.

					EVE
				    (misunderstanding)
				I didn't bring any  --

	But LEX was talking about altitude; as he pushes forward on the stick and the nose of the 	plane goes upwards, EVE catches on.

					EVE
				Oh. Why? does he live up here?

					LUTHOR
				Not exactly. But it's his kind of
				neighborhood.

					EVE
				What are you going to do to him?

	She asked nervously.

					LUTHOR
				    (all innocence)
				Nothing, nothing. I just want to invite
				him to tea.

					EVE
				Tea?

					LUTHOR
				You got wax in your ears?

					EVE
				What if he doesn't show up? What
				if he's taking a nap?

					LUTHOR
				He always shows up when somebody's 
				in danger.

	He unsnaps his safety belt and rises from his seat, walks to the rear of the plane, where the 	hatch is.

					EVE
				    (turning green)
				Danger??
				    (turning white)
				Somebody??? Lex  -- where are
				you going?

					LUTHOR
				Lex is going bye-bye.
	
	He starts to strap on his parachute.

					EVE
				Where's mine?! Where's my
				parachute?

					LUTHOR
				Miss Teschmacher, Superman is a
				fairly bright individual. My 
				understanding of the way he works
				is that he won't be fooled by a
				simple trick.

					EVE
				Good. Fine. Now where's my
				parachute?

	ON LUTHOR

					LUTHOR
				    (innocently)
				I'm wearing it.

					EVE
				I mean the other one!

					LUTHOR
				What other one?

					EVE
				    (hysterical)
				You can't do this to me!

					LUTHOR
				Of course I can. I love you.

	And with a cheery wave, LEX LUTHOR jumps from the plane, hand on his parachute 	ripcord.

										CUT TO:
				

223	EXT. GRASSY FIELD, OUTSKIRTS OF METROPOLIS  - DAY

	LEX LUTHOR landing gently.

										CUT TO:

224	INT. PIPER CUB COCKPIT  -  DAY

	EVE screaming her lungs out into the radio.

										CUT TO:

225	INT. CONTROL TOWER, METROPOLIS AIRPORT

	TWO AIRPORT CONTROLLERS at their respective mikes, both just this side of 	hysterical. DIALOGUE OVERLAPS:

	1ST CONTROLLER		2ND CONTROLLER	 EVE (V.O.)
	   Attention all    Piper Cub 143-Y    (on mike)
	   aircraft. Stay   do you hear me?  Hellllp!  Help!
	   clear of Runways What is your   Somebody help!
	   one, three, seven, problem?  What 
	   twelve, fifteen is your landing
	   sixteen andpattern? Just
 	   eighteen until    		   what in hell do
 clearance is 		   you think you're
 given.  Please		   doing up there?!
	  copy!  Avoid
	  all landings
	  until further...

										CUT TO:

226	EXT. SKY OVER METROPOLIS  -  DAY

	The Piper Cub is circling around in erratic loops, obviously out of control.

227	SUDDENLY, from out of a large white cloud, comes a streak of blue. It's SUPERMAN.

	SOUND:  EVE up there in the plane, SCREAMING.

										CUT TO:

228	INT. COCKPIT  -  DAY

	EVE in terror, yelling into the mike.

					EVE
				Help!  Hellllp!  Hell  --

229	The figure of SUPERMAN streaks past the cockpit window, comes to an abrupt stop and 	looks. Instant recognition on both sides. EVE'S last incomplete cry becomes another word:

					EVE
				(Hel) lo, Superman! You made it!

	SUPERMAN grabs the prop, stops it, and sends it spinning in the opposite direction, 	steadying the plane. A moment later, he whizzes OUT OF SIGHT, coming around the side.

230	ON THE HATCH  --  SUPERMAN enters the plane.

					SUPERMAN
				You! The girl from the volcano!
				  (looks around, scared)
				Kryptonite...

					EVE
				Help! I mean  --  I can't stop
				saying it. Silly, isn't it  -  There's 
				nothing to worry about. Help!
				See.

					SUPERMAN
				What are you doing here?

					EVE
				Screaming

					SUPERMAN
				Besides that.

					EVE
				He wants to see you. Lex Luthor.

					SUPERMAN
				The bald man! The one who tried
				to kill me?

					EVE
				The way you describe him doesn't
				really do him justice.

					SUPERMAN
				I'd better get you down.

	He sits at the controls, starts to pilot the plane.

					EVE
				(disappointed)
				Couldn't we forget the plane?
				You could lift me in your big
				strong arms?

					SUPERMAN
				Sure, and let the plane crash in
				the middle of the city.

					EVE
				Oh.

					SUPERMAN
				Look, lady, you saved my life once.
				I owe you a favor. But I can't 
				understand why you follow a man
				like that.

					EVE
				    (shrugs)
				What can I tell you? He's my leader.
	 
					SUPERMAN
				Okay.
				  (grimly)
				Take me to your leader.

	As the plane goes into descent:

										CUT TO:

231	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE

	TIGHT TWO SHOT:  SUPERMAN has LEX by the collar, pulling him nose to nose. 	SUPERMAN looks fierce and LUTHOR looks terrified.

					SUPERMAN
				Start talking!

	As LUTHOR makes extravagant choking noises, PULL BACK TO SEE we are in the main 	chamber. From the doorway, EVE watches this confrontation dubiously.

					EVE
				(shaking her head)
				I knew you two would never hit
				it off.

	And she exits just as SUPERMAN releases his grip on LUTHOR'S throat.

					SUPERMAN
				 (impatiently)
				Well??

	LUTHOR backs off, then sighs, throwing up his hands in defeat.

					LUTHOR
				Well  --  you've got me! What 
				can I say?

					SUPERMAN
				(tough)
				Plenty! About 'The Crime of
				the Century,' Remember?

					LUTHOR
				Oh, that. Listen  --  you're
				busy  --  and it's a long story --

	NEW ANGLE as SUPERMAN advances on him, LUTHOR cowers cravenly.

					LUTHOR
				    (practically screaming)
				I'll tell! I'll tell! I'll tell all!
				(as SUPERMAN stops)
				Just  -- 
				(draws himself up;
				  soulfully)
				Just leave me my dignity. We
				are gentlemen. Superman. Let
				me...be gracious in defeat.
				(practically Ronald
				 Coleman)
				I'll just...
				(as he strolls to
				  his desk)
				...Ring for tea.

	And so saying, he presses a button on the desk.

	INSERT:  As his finger presses the button.

										CUT TO:

232	INT. BASE OF UNDERGROUND LAUNCHING PAD

	The launching rockets activate and rev up  --  great balls of fire and exhaust fumes.

										CUT TO:

233	INT. UNDERGROUND MISSILE SILO

	The great steel and concrete gates over the launching pad begin to open.

										CUT TO:

234	INT. MISSILE CONTROL CENTER  -  UNDERGROUND SILO

	WIDE SHOT  -  Seated before their massive control console board, each fronted by a key-	turning device framed in red, sit two MAJORS. They each wear a massive key around their 	necks on a chain, used to activate the detonator. They look bored and half-awake, heir 	features illuminated by the glowing green dials of the control panels. Suddenly:

	INSERT:  The red light above the control board begins to flash.

					FIRST MAJOR
				    (opening his eyes)
				What...? Hey...Arnold?

					SECOND MAJOR
				(bug-eyed)
				Neil? Did you turn that on?

					FIRST MAJOR
				No. How could...why would I want to...
				 (the urgency in his voice)
				Jesus Christ!  It's taking off!

	INSERT:  On the panel, a red sign light up: "SECOND STAGE, LAUNCHING."	

	ON the FIRST MAJOR who grabs the red telephone, picks it up.

					FIRST MAJOR
				Major Haley here. Get me Loomis at
				the pentagon! Fast! Emergency!
				Code Seven:  Hurry up, godda --

										CUT TO:

235	INT. PENTAGON OFFICE  -  DAY

	A GENERAL on the phone, astonished, wild

					GENERAL
				What! No, I didn't! But -- that's
				impossible! Nobody can push
				that button without my
				 (horror)
				...unless...Hang on!

	He grabs his red phone, picks it up.

					GENERAL
				White House, pronto.

										CUT TO:

236	INT. ROCKET SILO

	With a rush of flames and a great ROAR, the rocket rises from the launching pad and blasts 	off

										CUT TO:

237	EXT. ROCKET SILO  -  A FILED  -  DAY

	The XK101 shoots out of the underground silo, then suddenly stops when it clears eight 	feet above the 	ground, turns sideways and shoots off across the landscape.

										CUT TO:

238	THE SUPER SPEED TRIP ACROSS AMERICA (PART ONE)

	Employing the device wherein you CUT TOGETHER ON FRAME PER SECOND, we 	present a lightening-fast trip across America from the POINT OF VIEW OF THE 	SPEEDING ROCKET, eight feet above the ground. The IMAGES WHIZ BY like a magic 	in this first leg of the trip:  the skyscrapers of New York, the oil tanks of New Jersey, the 	rolling hills and highways of Pennsylvania and so on, PAST Washington, DC.  As the 	classic postcard IMAGES PASS at incredible speed before our eyes. At this point in the 	trip west...

										CUT TO:

239	INT. LUTHOR'S OFFICE

	The two men  where we left them.

					LUTHOR
				 (declaiming passionately)
				I had a dream!

	As SUPERMAN makes an impatient gesture  --

					LUTHOR
				Okay, okay, okay. Look  --  I am, as
				they say very heavy into real estate.
				And to make money in that game you 
				have to buy for a little and sell for a
				lot. Right? Right. So. problem: how
				to make the property more valuable 
				between the time you buy it and the 
				time you sell it. Now  --

	DOLLY WITH LUTHOR as. picking up a professor's pointer on the way, he crosses to a 	wall where he pulls down a roll-up map of the United States, like a teacher in a classroom. 	Using the pointer, he points to the West Coast.

					LUTHOR
				This is California. The richest,
				most populous state in America. 
				And growing like a sonofagun.

	ON SUPERMAN

					SUPERMAN
				I don't need a geography lesson,
				Luthor.

					LUTHOR
				No, Superman, of course not. You
				do get around, don't you.

	A little ingratiating chuckle turns abruptly to black despair as he indicates his pointer and 	his map:

					LUTHOR
				It's just that  --  I spent a fortune
				on these things!
				  (anguished)
				And all for naught! What a waste  --

					SUPERMAN
				  (pointedly)
				Of time, Luthor.

					LUTHOR
				  (quickly)
				Right, right. Where was I? Ah, yes --

	PAN UP with the pointer as LUTHOR begins tracking the exact line of the San Andreas 	Fault from the top to the bottom of the map.

					LUTHOR
				At the San Andreas Fault. Maybe
				you've heard of it.

					SUPERMAN
				Sure. It's the joining together of two
				land masses pushed together eight
				million years ago. The fault line
				itself is unstable and always shifting,
				which is the reason you get earthquakes
				in the California area from time to time.

					LUTHOR
				Couldn't have said it better myself.
				    (back to the map)
				Now all this  --
				   (indicates west of the
				San Andreas Fault)
				--  west of the Fault is the most
				expensive real estate in the world.
				Los Angeles. San Diego. San
				Francisco. And here  --
			   	(indicates the line 
				 of the Fault)
				--  is just hundreds and hundreds
				of miles of cheap desert land.
				Land that happens to be owned by
				Lex Luthor Enterprises. Well...
				(small wistful smile)
				...call me a fool, but ...it did occur
				to me that if a conventional five
				hundred megaton bomb were to
				explode at exactly the proper stress
				point --
				  (points to that point
				   on the Fault line)
				--  that would trigger the upheaval
				that would cause the San Andreas Fault
				to 'do its thing.'				   
				  (a sigh of regret)
				Ah, it would've been so nice, y'know...

	ON SUPERMAN  --  a look of horror.

					SUPERMAN
				Nice! Most of California would have
				been destroyed. Millions of people
				would've been killed! The West Coast
				as we know it would have  --

					LUTHOR
				 (trying to hide the 
				  thrill he's getting)
				--  Dropped into the sea!
				(snaps his fingers)
				Bye-bye California! Hello, new
				West Coast! Gold Coast! My Coast.
				   (deflating)
				And now...well...
				    (bitterly)
				I left my heart in San Francisco...

										CUT TO: 

240	THE SUPER SPEED TRIP ACROSS AMERICA (PART ONE)

	By now the rocket has reached the Midwest and IMAGES WHIZ BY at mind-boggling 	speed: the wheat fields of Kansas, the stockyards of Chicago.

										CUT TO:

241	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE

	ON SUPERMAN

					SUPERMAN
				It would never have worked, Luthor.
				You are a dreamer  --  a sick, twisted
				dreamer.

	ON LUTHOR

					LUTHOR
				 (seeming to consider
				   it, anxiously)
				Maybe I should get help.

					SUPERMAN
				It wouldn't hurt. You can't go on 
				living in fantasies. Did you really
				think you could get hold of a nuclear
				bomb? And drop it?
				   (shakes his head in 
				disbelief)
				Why, our Strategic Defense boys
				would have  --

					LUTHOR
				 (quickly agreeing)
				You're right, you're right, Superman.
				There were wrinkles to iron out. But,
				well...
				 (tentatively)
				...there is this new rocket, the XK 101.

					SUPERMAN
				(cutting him off, incredulous)
				The XK 101. Luthor, that operates
				on radio waves. And with our fail-safe
				system, only the President himself can
				push that button.

					LUTHOR
				I know. I know.
				   (he sighs)
				I never promised myself a rose garden.

										CUT TO:

242	EXT. GOLF COURSE  -  DAY

	MEDIUM LONG SHOT --  A golf course. A bunch of suit-clad, sweating Secret Service 	men stand around a bunker trap.

	CLOSER IN  --  In the midst of the group is a MAN holding a black box on his lap, seated 	in the golf cart. He wears a similar key around his neck. He stares uncomprehendingly at 	the black box, as a Secret Service man,  worried, holds a walkie-talkie next to his ear.

					BOX MAN
				What???!!!  No, I didn't push the 
				button! And stop using that phrase
				It's not a button, it's a...What?? It 
				is??? Ohmygod!
				  (he leaps up)
				Mr. President! Mr. President!

	A chunk of turf goes flying up in b.g.

					PRESIDENT (O.S.)
				Goddammit! What now?

	As the man runs to tell him...

										CUT TO:
243	THE SUPER SPEED TRIP ACROSS AMERICA (PART THREE)

	The rocket zips on:  the green fields of Ohio, the cattle ranches of Texas...

										CUT TO:

244	INT. LEX LUTHOR'S OFFICE

					LUTHOR
				 (abject)
				Still, foolishly, perhaps, I had a
				theory that eliminates the Presidential
				push-button.
				(slowly)
				I was doing my homework...

					SUPERMAN
				On radio waves?

					LUTHOR
				 (a slow nod)
				And garbage doors.

	As SUPERMAN looks at him as if he were insane...

					LUTHOR
				 (by way of explanation)
				Kansas garage doors. Remote control,
				y'know. Every bozo in Kansas City has
				a clicker to open his remote control
				garage door. Well, one day these bozos
				are watching the grass grow and they see -
				  (dramatic pause)
				-  the garage doors are open. All the
				garage doors are open. And nobody had 
				clicked his clicker. Okay, it's a puzzlement.
				Okay, these doors operate on radio wave.
				And okay, you push the button, and it's
				tuned to the proper frequency and up
				goes the door. And okay, all these jerks
				are ready to write to "Believe It or Not' 
				because they didn't press the button, so
				what is this 'Open Sesame'?
	 

					SUPERMAN
				 (impatiently)
				Luthor  --

					LUTHOR
				You guessed it!
				   (admiringly)
				You're always one step ahead of me.
				 (enjoying the irony)
				Aren't you Superman?
				 (hurries on)
				Yes, right. There was a police
				helicopter buzzing the area and
				transmitting on the same frequency
				as the garage doors. The minute the
				signal went out --
				    (he gestures the 
				doors flying up)
				Zip!  Zip!  Zip!
	
	As SUPERMAN is about to cut in  --

					LUTHOR
				  (quickly)
				Well, that's their problem, T.S.
				But  --  but the XK 101 also works
				on a radio wave control system. 
				The problem was to find out the
				frequency. Problems, problems, I've
				had so many...

					SUPERMAN
				 (tersely)
				They'll soon be over.

					LUTHOR
				 (the martyr)
				In a way  -- oh, it'll be a relief.
				I'm a wreck. No rest for the 
				wicked, y'know. It wasn't enough,
				the radio frequencies, then I had to
				worry about getting to the missile
				and adjusting the aiming. So that if
				I could have activated the launch  --
				well, Lex Luthor would've hit the spot.
				   (with great fondness)
				There's a little place on Route 190.
				Dead on the practice optimum stress
				point of the San Andreas Fault. It
				wouldn't mean much to you, Superman,
				but I call it...target zero.
				   (a sigh of longing)
				Pancho's Taco Palace...

										CUT TO:

245	EXT. PANCHO'S TACO PALACE  -  DAY

	LONG SHOT - At the bottom of a hill in the middle of the bare, arid, scrubby California 	desert is a taco stand 	that looks exactly like the miniature one  seen earlier on Albert's 	model.  A modest eyesore with a drive-up 	window, one table that sits under full sun on 	broiling asphalt, and a sign on the roof reading  "PANCHO'S TACO PALACE. " Some 	palace. Just behind it , sticking up in the middle of the desert, is a large, garish billboard 	that reads:

COMING SOON!
CHOICE BEACH FRONT PROPERTY
IDEAL HOME SITES
PERFECT FOR INDUSTRY
L. LUTHOR REALTY CO.

	As SHOT BEGINS, the owner, PANCHO, dozes behind the counter, attracting flies, when 	suddenly a car drives down the road and comes to a stop. The door opens and a weary 	young woman gets out. ZOOM IN ON HER: It is Lois Lane.

										CUT TO:

246	THE SUPER SPEED ROCKET TRIP ACROSS THE UNITED STATES (PART THREE).

247	THE ROCKET IS NOW APPROACHING THE GRAND CANYON

										CUT TO:

248	EXT.  PANCHO"S TACO PALACE  -  day

	There is a pay telephone booth beside the counter, and LOIS enters it, puts in her dime, 	starts to dial.

						PANCHO
				  (regarding her hopefully)
					But you not hungry?

						LOIS
			   		    (a glance at the counter)
					Not that hungry.
				(apologetically)
					I have to make a plane.
				  (into phone)
					Hello, Denver Airport? Give me
					Western Airlines, please.
				(a sigh)
					All right, I'll wait.

	As she taps her finger impatiently...

										CUT TO:

249	A SERIES OF AERIAL VIEWS that look to be of Southern California.

	(NOTE:  The following MONTAGE SEQUENCE must look absolutely convincing until its 	payoff. The audience must believe that it is truly witnessing the devastation of Southern 	California. Thus we SEE:)

	A.	The XK 101 hits square on Pancho's Taco Palace, exploding it to smithereens.

	B.	The San Andreas Fault line in the desert begins to crack open, then gapes wider and 		wider. Great upheavals.

	C.	San Francisco:  "The Golden Gate Bridge" begins to shimmy and sway alarmingly. 		Its roadway buckles, its struts bend.

	D.	Los Angeles:  The Hollywood hills are rent asunder; the famed "HOLLYWOOD" 			sign cracks in two as the mountains part.	

	E.	Highways buckling, collapsing.

	F.	Vast chunks of coastline dropping off into the onrushing sea.

	G.	The Golden Gate Bridge collapses.

	H.	Desert land flooded by the ocean as tidal waves sweep inland.

250	As this SEQUENCE BUILDS in momentum and horror so that the audience is absolutely 	convinced it is watching the terrible results of the splitting of the San Andreas fault, 	suddenly as we WATCH what looks like an enormous Los Angeles skyscraper tumble into 	the sea, FOLLOW it as it falls left and we suddenly SEE the face of Lex Luthor FULL 	SIZE, behind it as if he were an enormous giant, a Gulliver. As the "building" hits 	the water, it sends up a splash, some of which gets Lex in the eye. Laughing, he wipes it 	off: and we PULL BACK TO REVEAL for the first time that we have not been watching 	the real destruction of the West Coast but we are in fact -

251	INT. LEX LUTHER'S MODEL ROOM  -  DAY

	--  where all of this has taken place on Albert's detailed table-top tank display model of the 	West Coast, where Luthor programmed all this in miniature, including water, representing 	the Pacific ocean, which gushes in from the sides of the tank, filling up the area to the 	"new coastline." Luthor stands beside the model, beaming with 	pride.

						SUPERMAN
			 (flatly)
					Well, it's very impressive but
					you built this junk for nothing.

						LUTHOR
			   	(enjoying this great
			 	moment to the hilt)
					For the first time today, Superman
					I must tell you that you're wrong.
		  (affably)
					But how could you know that - 
		  			 (checks his watch)
					Oh, well. I guess I could tell you now.
					Y'see, actually...but this conversation
					is becoming rather dry, isn't it.

QUICK CLOSEUP OF SUPERMAN with a "what the hell is this guy talking about" expression.

						LUTHOR
			  ("a realization")
					We never got our tea!
		  ("a thought")
					Could I...could I have pressed the
					wrong button?
			(snaps his fingers)
					Of course! Silly old me. I pressed the
					button that launched the XK 101!

	QUICK CLOSEUP  -  SUPERMAN:  Startled.

						LUTHOR
			 	    (building to manic glee)
					Which is now somewhere near the 
					Grand Canyon and going strong!
					And I can't tell you how much I've
					enjoyed whiling away the minutes -- !!

	SUPERMAN leaps at him and has him by the throat again.

	TIGHT SHOT  -- Face to face, but this time LUTHOR is sneering.

						LUTHOR
					Now who's the dreamer, Superman? Even
					you can't fly that fast!

						SUPERMAN
					We'll see how fast I can fly.

252	PULL BACK WIDE

						SUPERMAN
					And we'll see how fast you can 
					swim.

	And with that, he pitches Luthor right into the alligator tank at the far end of the room. A 	long pass.

						LUTHOR
				  	 (screaming as
					    he falls in)	 
					No! No! No!

	QUICK SHOT-- Luthor swimming for his life, pursued by giant albino alligators, rats, 	snapping turtles, and the like.

253	ON SUPERMAN -- Flying up and out, knocking a hole in the ceiling.

										CUT TO:

254	EXT. METROPOLIS STREET  -  DAY

	On a busy street in midtown, even normally blasé Metropolitans are startled to see 	Superman suddenly come bursting out of the pavement, heading straight up at top 	speed.

										CUT TO:

255	EXT. SKY  -  DAY

	Superman flying high in the sky, looking as if he's straining for speed.

	CLOSE IN on him  --  as he looks O.S. and down.

256	HIS POV:  Far below, flying just over the ground, is the missile, In the distance we can 	SEE the Grand Canyon.

257	ON SUPERMAN  --  He dives for it.

										CUT TO:

258	EXT. RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON  -  DAY

	WIDE SHOT  --  as Superman plants himself firmly in the path of the missile and braces 	himself to grab it.

259	HIS POV:  ON THE ROCKET  --  speeding towards him. Suddenly it changes course and 	rushes past him.

260	ON SUPERMAN  --  He lunges for it, but the missile veers out of reach, and whizzes away 	in the distance.

	CLOSEUP  -  SUPERMAN  --  a look of grim determination on his face. He flies off after 	the rocket.

261	EXT. BASE OF THE ROCKIES  -  DAY

	ON the missile  --  zooming along, eight feet off the ground.

262	WIDE SHOT  --  Superman has flown ahead and comes at the speeding missile, this time 	from the side. But again, as soon as he gets within range, the rocket's sensory device goes 	into action and dodges out of range, 	leaving him far behind.

										CUT TO:

263	EXT. PANCHO'S TACO PALACE  -  DAY

	As before. But Pancho is now wiping the counter with a filthy rag as LOIS, very irritated, 	says into the phone:

					LOIS
				Another dime? Operator, I just
				put in a dime..
				    (testy)
				Listen, lady  --  

										CUT TO:

264	EXT. DESERT  -  DAY

	ON the missile  --  speeding along, just above the desert. The CAMERA TRACKS 	ALONGSIDE it for several moments, then the rocket outdistances the CAMERA, which 	CONTINUES TRACKING FORWARD. A moment later, Superman comes INTO 	FRAME, still chasing the rocket. Now he catches up to it.

265	CLOSER IN:  Superman grabs the missile from behind , gripping it.

266	HIS POV LOOKING PAST the nose of the rocket:  Pancho's Taco Palace, not far away 	and getting closer every second.

	(NOTE:  The distance is close enough for Pancho to see what is happening, but Lois, 	whose back is turned in the phone booth, has her back to the action and sees nothing.)

267	ON SUPERMAN  -- With a mighty effort, he wrenches the missile off its course.

268	WIDE SHOT  --  He has stopped the rocket only a couple of hundred yards from the taco 	stand. Quickly he angles it up and zooms into the clouds with it.

										CUT TO:

269	EXT.  SKY  -  DAY

	Superman rips off the nose cone, as the rocket housing falls to the desert below. Just about 	to discard the rest when:

	SOUND:  BEEP  BEEP  BEEP  coming from the warhead.

	Startled, he looks at what he is holding.

270	EFFECTS (X-RAY VISION)  --  A counter has started its nuclear countdown inside the 	warhead. 19, 18, 17...

271	ON SUPERMAN  --  Instantly he accelerates, holding the warhead, flying straight up.

										CUT TO:

272	EXT.  SKY/SPACE

	ON SUPERMAN  -- He climbs higher over the United States, gaining speed as the 	atmosphere begins to blur into the dark mysterious blue of space.

273	EXT.  SPACE

	WIDE SHOT  --  Superman with the speed of light zooms through the universe, past the 	moon with the Earth growing smaller in the distance. Faster and faster he goes until he 	bursts through into another galaxy.

274	CLOSER ON SUPERMAN  -- as he hurls the rocket into the void of outer space.

										CUT TO:

275	EXT.  SPACE

	WIDE SHOT  --  as the rocket, speeding through the galaxy, EXPLODES. The closest star 	breaks into shooting fiery fragments.		

										CUT TO:
276	EXT. SPACE

	ON SUPERMAN  --  as he is sent reeling through the limitless void, falling away, stunned 	by the explosion.

										CUT TO:

277	EXT.  SPACE

	SPECIAL EFFECTS:  Shock waves shake the stability of the furthest galaxies.

278	EXT. SPACE

	ON SUPERMAN  --  in uncontrolled flight, projected millions of miles, as he regains 	consciousness and steadies  his trajectory. He soars through the galaxies, bursting through 	into our solar system. He wings closer and closer to Earth, growing smaller and smaller as 	he approaches the United States, until he appears as a tiny 	blue dot far away in a 	sparkling, star-filled universe.

										CUT TO:

279	EXT. PANCHO'S TACO PALACE  -  DAY

	PANCHO is standing in front of his stand, staring with a stunned expression at the sky, like 	a man who has seen a miracle. In b.g. LOIS hangs up the phone with a furious slam.

						LOIS
					Rats!

	She steps out and sees PANCHO, who turns to her, gesticulating, inarticulate.

						PANCHO
					Eencredible! Santa Caramba, Senorita,
					eet ees...eencredible!

						LOIS
			   (the cynic)
					Nah, you never get your dime back.

	And off she marches to her car, having missed it all.

										CUT TO:	 

280	EXT. SPACE

	Heading up and out, the shock waves are stronger now, rippling through the vast starry 	reaches.

281	The shock waves crack, crumble and disintegrate before OUR EYES.  PANNING INTO 	space as the shock waves move until they meet resistance of a great crystalline cloud - The 	Phantom Zone.

	EFFECTS:  The crystalline walls shatter.

										CUT TO:

282	THE FOUR GREAT VILLAINS:  JAK-EL, URSA, GENERAL ZOD and NON  --  as they 	rush to the opened wall and suck in the air of unexpected freedom.

						JAK-EL
					Free!

						URSA
					Free!

						GENERAL ZOD
					Free!

	NON lets out a terrifying howl, like an animal who has burst its bonds.

	Their horrifying faces FILL THE SCREEN with yowls of glee as they drift off into space. 	HOLD as they move further and further away, moving towards Earth, until they are tiny 	dots lost in the stars.

	SUPERIMPOSE: 	THE END OF PART I