From Silver Age to Silver Screen:
The Legion Movie that Might Have Been!
by Jo
& Terri-Anne Sanning
(Thanks to filmmaker Richard Siegel for
giving us the idea for this casting feature! :)
In
1963, Jeff Baker of Fort Worth, Texas, gave readers his
casting choices for a possible Legion of Super-Heroes
movie in the Legion's letter column (Adventure
Comics No. 309):
"I
think the Legion of Super-Heroes should be in the
movies. If they do, here's who I think should
play some of the roles: Cosmic
Boy: Fabian; Saturn
Girl: Diane McBain; Sun
Boy: Tucker Smith; Bouncing
Boy: Tommy Kirk; Mon-El:
Rick Nelson; Supergirl: Tuesday
Weld; Pete Ross: Troy
Donahue."
A
pretty good line-up given that these actors and singers
were all popular stars - nay, glorified heartthrobs (and
throb-ettes) during the '50s and '60s. True, most of them
would have been in their mid-to-late twenties at the
height of the Silver Age, but even the older members of
this "cast" retained their youthful
appearances.
Little
did Jeff know then that over 40 years later, we're still
waiting for that Legion movie! But that doesn't mean that
we can't muse over what might have been. Let's take a
look at Jeff's casting list a bit more closely, providing
photos, photo-manips and our own suggestions along the
way. First up, Jeff's first suggestion...
| FABIAN
as COSMIC BOY Jeff
made a good choice for the Legion's charismatic
leader when he chose Fabian, whose last name,
coincidentally enough, is Forte! Artist John
Forte was the Legion of Super-Heroes first
regular artist and drew the team from Adventure
Comics No. 300 (Sep 1962) to 339 (Dec 1965).
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To us, Fabian might make a
better Matter-Eater Lad. For Cosmic Boy we think that a
better choice might have been...
 |
JAMES
DARREN as COSMIC BOY
James
Darren (seen here with Sandra Dee as Light Lass),
who portrayed Tony Newman on 'The Time Tunnel'
series & Moon-Doggie in the 'Gidget' movies,
looks more like Cosmic Boy, having a sharper,
more serious face and demeanor. He's also done
his fair share of time-traveling! ;)
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Jeff's next suggestion...
DIANE
McBAIN as SATURN GIRL
Diane
is another good choice, this time for the blonde
but smart Imra Ardeen! Diane continues to act in
television and films today.
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Jeff's suggestion: TUCKER SMITH as
SUN BOY
We
didn't know who he was but after some serious googling we
did manage to discover that he was in "West Side
Story (1961)", the popular musical take on Romeo
& Juliet. It is strange that Jeff Baker chose Tucker
for Sun Boy since, ironically, Smith played a
"Jets" gang member named "Ice"!
But our
choice would be...
TAB
HUNTER as SUN BOY
Often
called the "Golden Boy", who better
than Tab to play the shining Legionnaire? (Does
Camera Eye look like Frank Gorshin to you? ;)
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Jeff's suggestion:
 |
TOMMY
KIRK as BOUNCING BOY
With
a little make-up around the face, he's not a bad
choice. Tommy starred in numerous Disney pictures
- from the "Absent-minded Professor" to
"the Swiss Family Robinson" - usually
playing a smart and funny guy, much like Chuck
Taine!
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While Tommy had a lot of
practice bouncing around on flubber, we think there's
another part he could play...
TOMMY
KIRK as CHAMELEON BOY
He definitely had the right look
to play the Dynamic Durlan, plus he's had
experience as a shape-changer in "The Shaggy
Dog", so he gets our vote!
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Jeff's suggestion:
 |
RICK
NELSON as MON-EL Lar Gand
was a space-explorer and sometime traveling
salesman and Ricky Nelson, the teenage idol sang
about being "A Travelin' Man". But as
Ricky had a more boyish face, perhaps he might
have made a better Superboy.
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For Legionnaires who came after Jeff's
letter was written, we think...
RICK
NELSON as KARATE KID
The ressemblance is definitely
there and Ricky had a black belt in karate!
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For Mon-El, we'd suggest...
JODY McCREA as MON-EL
 |
 JODY
McCREA as BOB COBB
Though
he was the same age as most of these actors, Jody
had a maturity to him. Jody (son of Joel McCrea)
was also a bit of a body-builder and Mon-El *is*
the strongest Legionnaire, after all!
|
Jeff's suggestion:
TUESDAY
WELD as SUPERGIRL
Next
after MONday is Tuesday, who could play the cute,
girl-next-door one minute, and the sexy flirt the
next. Supergirl has both these qualities and so
Tuesday would have been a good choice for the
Maid of Might.
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Jeff's suggestion:
TROY
DONAHUE as PETE ROSS
Not
a bad choice to play the loyal friend of
Superboy. The strong, silent type, matured-minded
but always ready to back up his words with
action.
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But then again, we'd prefer...
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TROY
DONAHUE as LIGHTNING LAD
Troy
would have made a darn good Lightning Lad,
especially since he played the love interest of
Diane McBain (see Saturn Girl, above) so many
times.
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We'll, we've gone through all of
Jeff's letter, and we're still a few heroes short of a
Legion. So what other actors and actresses of the sixties
could have filled the roles of the remaining
Legionnaires? How about:
 |
YVONNE
CRAIG as SHADOW LASS
Yvonne
is best known for her portrayal as Batgirl on the
Batman TV series, so she's used to playing a
super-heroine. She's also used to wearing blue
make-up, as evidenced by her role as Marta, the
Orion girl, on Star Trek. Yvonne is good at
playing characters who are sweet and shy one
moment and tough and seductive the next, just
like Shady.
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What about:
JOHN
ASHLEY as COLOSSAL BOY
John's
face and hair are remarkably like Gim Allon's as
drawn by Curt Swan and inked by Jack Abel (in Adventure
Comics No. 371/372's "Colossal
Failure" story).
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Here are some casting
suggestions from some of our visitors...
Linda Danvers (the *real* one)
writes:
I
was just wiping the drool off my mouth from thinking
about the LSH movie. You cast great, and the photo
manips, Jo, are *VERY* good for your first tries! My
suggestion for 50's/60's actors playing Legion members is
Marilyn Monroe as either Supergirl or Dream
Girl...actually both. (and I know she is older than the
ages of the Legionnaires. But...) Joe and I are HUGE
Marilyn fans. HUGE, I tell you. Cuz of this, I sometimes
picture her as SG, cuz in some photos she looks *just*
like her...if you remove the mole. Due to the mole, and
everything Marilyn, I can also see her as Dream Girl
sometimes. Just reverse Marilyn's image, so the mole is
on Nura's side, enhance it to be more star-like, whiten
her hair, and there you go. In the end, though, I think
Marilyn captures Kara maybe better, not just because of
her looks, but because there was so much of Marilyn that
still shone as innocence, or rather naiveté that so
often is projected by Supergirl past and present.
No sooner said than done,
Linda!
| MARILYN MONROE as
SUPERGIRL 
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MARILYN
MONROE as DREAM GIRL 
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Adam Benson writes:
I
just read your editorial on the hypothetical Legion film
and your choices for the players. I think largely you
made better choices than the long-ago letter writer to
the Legion Outpost; however, I have a hard time playing
the game in this particular instance. I just can't see
even the youthful-looking twenty-somethings you chose as
being young enough to portray the Legionnaires. Nor can I
think of any actors young enough to suitably play
Legionnaires (except I think Noreen Corcoran would have
been perfect as Triplicate Girl/Duo Damsel). I couldn't
name for you any contemporary actors, so I'm completely
shut out of that part of the game. (Fabian wouldn't have
made a bad Lightning Lad or Sun Boy, though; and perhaps,
Tim Considine [who played the oldest son, Mike, on My
Three Sons] would have made a decent Cosmic Boy or
Invisible Kid. And Skip Ward [Rick Nelson's plump, jovial
buddy "Wally" from The Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet] would have made a perfect Bouncing Boy.)
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NOREEN
CORCORAN as DUO DAMSEL
Let's see, Adam...
Noreen Corcoran (from 'Bachelor Father') would
have been about 20 in 1963, when Jeff Baker's
letter was written, and she definitely looks the
part of Ms. Durgo -- even has the same hairstyle!
Here's a pic of what she might have looked like
in the "Legion Movie the Never Was!"
(Betcha didn't think
DD wore tweed, huh? ;)
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How about...
GRACE
KELLY as PRINCESS PROJECTRA
Jackie Griffin
tells us that she's always thought Princess
Projectra was like actress Grace Kelly, who
sometimes sported a similar hairstyle, and we
agree. Grace definitely lived up to her name and
was the epitome of beauty and elegance. She often
wore long white evening gloves in her movies and
at formal gatherings; plus there's the fact that
she later became royalty herself - the Princess
of Monaco.
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Jackie also wrote:
I saw a programme on the tv today
about Veronica Lake, she would have made a good Dream
Girl too! But then Dream Girl is very much that Hollywood
Starlet archetype (in looks at least) so that is not
surprising.
VERONICA
LAKE as DREAM GIRL
We gave Veronica the
'Legion Screen Test' treatment to see how see
looked. She is pictured in a scene from Adventure
No. 356's "Five Legion Orphans", in
which she has just climbed out of the Legion
Cruiser and is ready to take a dive into a pond
on Zinth to retrieve a power crystal...
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Not bad, Jackie, not
bad. But as Ms. Lake has a more lean and mature look to
her we think she might make a better Emerald Empress.
Let's see... MAKE-UP!!!
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VERONICA
LAKE as EMERALD EMPRESS
Ooh, scary! Let's call
this publicity shot, "the Empress and
Eye", shall we? :)
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Matt Kennedy
wrote in to suggest...
NATALIE
WOOD as DUO DAMSEL
We figured that since
we were giving her the makeover, three for the
price of two was a good deal, so we did her as
Triplicate Girl.
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While searching the
web for starlets we came across this buxom beauty in a
pose that we just couldn't resist...
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BETTY
BROSMER as the WHITE WITCH
Adam Benson wrote in
and identified Betty as the wife of bodybuilding
mogul, Joe Weider, and wanted to tell us that she
looks as good today as she did then!
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Let us know how you
like this feature and give us your suggestions of actors
and actresses from the 1960s who could have been in a
Silver-Age Legion of Super-Heroes movie!
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