Adventures of Superman/Mystery of the Broken Statues

Mystery of the Broken Statues
Season 1, Episode 4
Airdate	October 10, 1952
Screenplay by	William C. Joyce
Directed by	Tommy Carr
Produced by	Robert J. Maxwell and Bernard Luber
Stream
← 1x03 The Case of the Talkative Dummy	1x05 → The Monkey Mystery
Adventures of Superman — Season One

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Mystery of the Broken Statues is the fourth episode of the first season of Adventures of Superman.

A group of men are going around to antique stores smashing statues and then paying for them. Lois Lane suspects that they are up to something, but gets into trouble with the dangerous men when she becomes too curious.

Starring: George Reeves (Clark Kent / Superman)

and Phyllis Coates (Lois Lane)

Featuring: Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen) (credit only), John Hamilton (Perry White) (credit only), Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson)

and Trist Coffin (Paul Martin) Michael Vallon (Mr. Bonelli), Maurice Cass (Shop Owner), Phillip Pine (Dorn)

Plot Overview

Two men, one with a cane, come into an antiques shop and start breaking statues. They pay for them and then leave. Lois shows up at the shop and picks up a package. She goes to another to get items not available at the first shop and learns that this has been happening at shops throughout the city. She sits with Clark and discusses what is going on. Since the men are paying for the statues, they aren't committing a crime. Lois decides that she will check half of the remaining shops and Clark the other half.

Clark doesn't find anything, but Lois does. She finds a shop that has not been visited yet and buys all of the statues. Back at her apartment she smashes them and finds a key. Two of the men, including Paul Martin, are listening outside as she phones Clark about what she has discovered. The men come in and kidnap Lois, trying to get her to give her the key which she has hidden.

In the meanwhile Clark catches two other men at a shop and has them arrested. Inspector Henderson says that they cannot hold the men who haven't committed a crime. Eventually they are able to get information from one of them about a meeting at an airport. Clark goes there, as Superman, and stops a plane from taking off. Lois, freed, rejoins Inspector Henderson and Clark who look at the evidence of what has been found in the statues. They figure out that the objects in the statues is a code leading to P.O. Box 97 in the main branch post office. They go there and find Paul Martin opening the box. He's arrested and they take the box which contains a piggy bank. However, inside is the largest ruby on the planet, which had recently been stolen.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Clark and Superman: After Clark delivers the line "two heads are better than one", Lois and Henderson give each other a look as though they are suspicious of the relationship between Clark and Superman. This is the first time that any character suspects anything about Clark and Superman.

Characters

• Bill Henderson: Inspector Henderson appears in this episode as someone who is close to Lois and Clark. He talks openly with Clark about police matters and even gives Clark a hard time for being a reporter who likes to take things into his own hands. Henderson has a prior relationship with Lois and Clark as shown in 1x03 - The Case of the Talkative Dummy.

Trivia

Memorable Moments

• Clark, after having phoned the shop where two of the men are currently smashing statues, goes to the shop and gets into a fight with the two men. Even as Clark Kent the two men are no match for Clark, who simply evades their punches and grabs them.

Quotes

• Lois Lane: What a story!

Inspector Henderson: Thanks to Kent here.

Lois Lane: And to Superman.

Clark Kent: Well like I always say, two heads are better than one.