An Evening with Margot Kidder

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Fri 17 Oct 2014

I was at the iconic Astor theatre on Friday the 17th of October 2014 for the screening of the very first Superman with Christopher Reeve , Margot Kidder , Marlon Brando , Gene Hackman et al. Ms Kidder was there for Q&A and signing of autographs. The tickets for this special event set you back between $20 and $30, then if you wanted, you had to buy a ticket in the form of a photograph with 6 or 7 to choose from for another $30 for an autograph. A bit of an expensive night when you add the choc tops (how does one go through a movie without a choc top, though I have to say that the chocolate on these choc tops was the worst I've tasted) and the drinks, but how could I not go as a Superman fan. Margot Kidder does not come with the package every day, and she was lovely. It was all the more special to watch the movie after she had shared some insider details on stage. With the Astor under threat of shutting down next year, now is the time to visit this grand old lady (or gentleman?) to either say goodbye or perhaps petition for it not to be shut down!


The following is part of the conversation Margot Kidder was having with the audience. As it happens, it was her 65th birthday, so we all sang Happy Birthday to her as she put the palm of her hand on her heart to show her heartfelt appreciation. Raised in Canada in a mining town there was not much access to television or any form of pop culture. Her mother was an English teacher (her words, as I'd read somewhere else she was a history teacher) and would only tolerate good books not comic books being read around the house. However, movie magazines was what Margot loved. She had vaguely heard of Superman but didn't get what the fuss was about. When she read the script, it was the witty romantic exchanges that captured her attention and she said that the director was ferocious (again her words) about having no one making fun about his subject matter - Superheroes. They were thrown out of many studios as they just could not pay and at the time Richard Donner was an unknown as was Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve had never made a movie. They finally filmed the movie in England.


Margot admires Dick Donner who is a friend, and catches up with his wife on a regular basis. She also still remains friends with Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure). She said Donner was instrumental in sorting out all sorts of complications during the filming of Superman. He was also insistant that she sing the song 'Can you read my mind' so that she could earn royalty. She had never sung before. She was marched off to the home of John Williams in Beverley Hills, and standing there among his 9 million Oscars as she put it, she was very nervous. As she began, she noticed John Williams was wincing in the corner. He figured that even Beethoven could not work out what note she was singing. She practiced and sang twice more. When there was no comment coming forth, she figured she must have done alright. That thought was shattered when she was asked to just talk the song through. Superman starting shooting in March 1977 and it took 19 months to complete, a year over schedule. Margot said that she and Chris didn't mind as they were being paid weekly and it meant more money for them.


There was a ton of pressure on Donner. It was the first movie using blue backing for the flying scenes and they were done over and over again so it would be seamless with no outlines over the bodies. Being a perfectionist of a director, it took 4 months to shoot the flying scenes. "I had one sore crotch after 14 hours a day of 4 months of flying" Margot quips to everyones delight. Body moulds stuck out from the wall and it was all very uncomfortable. The only time she enjoyed it was when she just stood on a platform leaning forward and had to flap her arms about. There was a bit of comedy when the Brits brought them a Taiwanese Eagle as they were clueless about the American Bald Eagle. In the end they used a falconer with a hawk, but the hawk would not fly. With big fans blowing she motioned how the falconer would grab the hawk by the legs and fling it towards the fan so it could be filmed flying. Finally with a 55 million dollar budget which was a lot back in the day, the movie finished filming in October 1978. Film was actually still being shot 8 weeks before its release date. Margot jokes 'she was on fire! (hot property)' filming The Amityville Horror and such like, and then she was not!'


Saying she was not a religious person, Margot went on to make reference to a book she could not remember the name of, talking about the Christ analogy of Superman which is about a boy sent from a star. Coming from a Quaker background, around her house you better believe you would die on the spot if you strayed far from religion. She however loved the absolute metaphor of Superman from where boys would get morality lessons and it was a great way to teach little kids about right and wrong. When asked about Superman II , she said there was no Superman II at the time and that I & II was filmed all at once. She mentions that Richard Lester was the wrong choice to bring on board for Superman and that 'Truth, Justice and the American Way' was quoted by crooks. It was then time for a bit of Q&A. Actually it was quite annoying that the presenter sitting next to her on stage hogged all the time showing off how much research he had done on Superman, giving less time for Q&A. In all, there was only about 8 of us that got to spit out a question or two each while he had warbled on far more than even Ms Kidder. Margo says she is first and foremost a political activist, a dog lover and a fanatical grandma of two. The love for her dogs and her grandchildren are a tie she says for which she gets admonished by the family (she laughs).


My question to her was to ask if she stayed in touch with Christopher Reeve and if she saw him before he passed. She mentions that she did see him about three times before he passed and that he was a far better and stronger human being than ever before. When asked how she felt about the scene where she is dangling from the helicopter, she said she liked dangling as she was into hand gliding and all sorts of extreme sports at the time. When asked how she felt about kissing Superman, she mentions she was like a big sister to him, she was Lucy to his Charlie Brown and romantically was not the way she saw Christopher Reeve. She made us laugh when she told us that she pretended he was Harrison Ford when she had to kiss him. When asked what he was like, she mentioned that Chris had never done a movie before and masked his nervousness with arrogance. That he was a perfectionist and stayed in character the whole time. She said she soon got him out of it, and that she beat him in chess once and he got mad. When Chris finally relaxed, he was fun. She mentions that as relative unknowns, they would be star struck in the lunch room as they passed tables where Roger Moore and Sean Connery were sitting. She believes Superman has stood the test of time because it's red, white, blue and yellow and not maroon or dark. It's a cartoon with a moral story. She thinks the producers were crooks and 'shafted' (word used by audience member asking the question) everyone and that by the time Superman III came along all she had was 12 lines in the film and one was 'Oh Clark'.


In closing she talked about the clever way the shot was designed for the balcony scene when Superman lands and in the same frame Clark Kent enters. Finishing the film in October 1978 the film was in cinemas 8 weeks later. It has the most expensive credit sequence which was shot just days before the film opened and it's still the 2nd best open credits ever. It also holds the title for being the longest (7.5 minutes) closing credit at that time. Ms Kidder is of course also here for the Armageddon Expo happening this weekend at the Melbourne Showgrounds (Sat 18th and Sun 19th Oct 2014 from 9am to 6pm). It's for those lovers of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, anime, manga, cartoons etc. with TV and movie stars signing autographs and so forth and Margo will be there signing autographs around 2-2.30pm on both days. As you can see, we spent a lot of time with Margo Kidder aka Lois Lane and love her for it. Coupled with watching Superman again, it certainly made my night and I dare say, I still think Christopher Reeve with his killer smile and looks is still by far the best Superman in my eyes. He was not complicated, clean cut and just gorgeous.



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!date 17/10/2014 -- 17/10/2014
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