The Three Fantastic Supermen (1967)

So, as I mentioned a while ago, I've been reading this book about Italian science fiction films that I was given as a Christmas present.  I've just passed the half way point, but it has already given me food for thought, (not to mention encouraging me to watch The Humanoid and Starcrash back-to-back). I've also found that a number of the films the book discusses are available on various of the free Roku channels I've signed up to and quite a few more are on various web streaming services.  So, if I ever get time to watch any of them, they could well provide material for future posts here.  In the meantime, I thought that we'd have a brief taster in the form of a 'Random Movie Trailer' for 1967's The Three Fantastic Supermen.  This was the film that sparked a whole series of such movies, some official sequels, others unofficial cash ins.  I say 'sequels', but even the official entries in the series aren't true sequels: they feature a rotating cast portraying the leads. While all feature the titular 'Three Supermen', their actual characters vary from film to film and  each film starts afresh, with no continuity with its predecessors.

This first film, however, sets the basic template, which generally sees a pair of masked and costumed 'supermen' initially working as jewel thieves, carrying out daring heists, before being Shanghaied by a law enforcement agent (from the FBI, Secret Service or police) into working for the authorities.  The agent becomes the third 'superman', donning a mask and costume, before they go up against some diabolical super villain.  Most of their 'powers' seem to mainly based around simply being very athletic, rather than being able to fly, or possessing laser vision, like true superheroes.  The films proved hugely popular and were still produced up until the late 1970s.  Quite what prompted their genisis is unclear - they weren't directly parodying or cashing in on the US Superman movies, which they predated by more than a decade. In many ways they are cousins to the 'Eurospy' movies turned out by the dozen in Italy, but which were running out of steam by the late sixties.  These 'supermen' effectively replaced the 'super spies' who had previously been popular.  They are also close cousins to the 'Fumetti' inspired Italian movies featuring masked characters like Diabolik, Kriminal and Superargo, who were also involved in baroque espionage/criminal plots.

Whatever their origin, the films were incredibly popular.  Various sequels saw them involved in jungle adventures, (Supermen), Kung Fu antics (Three Supermen Against the Orient) and even went back in time to the old West (Three Supermen of the West), to name but a few of their adventures.  As the films progressed, they became ever more comedic, with more emphasis on the slapstick than the action and thrills.  Which shouldn't surprising, bearing in mind the increasing popularity in Italy of broad comedies featuring the likes of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer - it was only natural that producers would follow popular tastes.  The films also had an appeal beyond Italy, as seen by this US trailer for the English language version of The Three Fantastic Supermen.  But, like much pop culture which, by its very nature, is entirely ephemeral, the films are now largely forgotten.  Except when briefly resurrected by sites like this.