"Everybody sing! There was a young man from Nantucket..."

[dr_hermes]

No, George, no! Sing a different song. You appeared at the VFW post yesterday.

Comments

[baronlaw]

That would be the drawback to appearing as the Man of Steel in public. Always be someone to take a poke at you!

[dr_hermes]

I've read in different sources that this was a real danger, but they thought frisking children would look bad. One article (can't remember, brain going bad as years tick by) claimed that Reeves once faced a youngster who showed up with a real pistol and calmly talking the kid into handing it over. I bet the actor had some shakes thinking it over later.

[baronlaw]

Definitely scary.

[full_metal_ox]

And this must have been all the more startling in an era when toy companies manufactured and sold realistic-looking firearms with perfect impunity--on the assumption that a machine gun in the hands of a child could be relied upon to be a toy.

[dferguson]

That was a scene in the movie HOLLYWOODLAND. George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck) made a personal appearance dressed as Superman and a kid brought a real gun with real bullets because he wanted to see for himself if bullets would bounce off his chest. Affleck/Reeves talked the kid out of it by telling him that when the bullet bounced off his chest, it would hit an innocent bystander and the kid didn't want that, did he? The kid handed over the gun.

I have no idea if that was based on a true incident or not but like you, I have heard this story many times over the years, even before I saw the movie.

[dr_hermes]

You never know with show business stories, the legends swamp the facts every time. But I can definitely see it happening.

[full_metal_ox]

That save, whether or not it actually happened, is a thing of beauty.

(Alert CHRISTMAS STORY viewers will recall that it was a ricochet off the metal fence that nearly put Ralphie's eye out.)

[dferguson]

Oh, I agree. Whether it really happened or not, it's a terrific story and one of the best parts of the movie. And come to think of it, HOLLYWOODLAND is a pretty damn good movie, period. It's the movie (along with DOGMA) I recommend to those who claim Ben Affleck can't act.