About that 007 Stage incident

007 Stage after the June 4 incident.

An explosion (or explosions) on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios occurred on June 4. There have been wildly different reaction.

Tabloids such as The Sun and the Daily Mail have used the incident to proclaim that Bond 25 is cursed.

In reality, most “curses” are unrelated events except for a broad subject matter. There’s the “Superman Curse,” for example.

Except, Bud Collyer didn’t die at age 61 because he played Superman on the radio. George Reeves’ death was ruled a suicide, which is often the result of complicated events, but his death is blamed on him playing Superman on TV in the 1950s. Christopher Reeve didn’t break his neck because he played Superman in the movies. Kirk Allyn didn’t die in his late 80s because he played Superman in 1940s movie serials.

Put another way, calling something a curse papers over actual tragic events. Still, referring using the curse label makes a nice tale.

So it is with Bond 25, which has included a director who departed and a star (Daniel Craig) who injured himself.

At the same time, there’s a temptation to dismiss the Bond 25 explosion, and injury of a crew member as “stuff happens.” That’s bad in its own right.

Some crew members do have hazardous jobs — stunt performers especially.

Aerial cameraman John Jordan lost a foot as the result of an injury during filming of You Only Live Twice. Jordan lost his life during filming of 1970’s Catch 22.

More recently, a stunt performer was killed during production of For Your Eyes Only. Stunt man Martin Grace suffered a serious injury during filming of Octopussy.

With this week’s Bond 25 incident, we just know, via an Eon Productions tweet, that a crew member suffered a minor injury. No details on how minor or what the crew member’s job was.

Regardless, the incident was serious. You don’t poke holes in the side of a massive studio stage unless things got serious. There are various questions that may or may not get answered.

Will all this mean Bond 25 might get delayed? Honestly, I don’t care. I’m more concerned how glib some people are depicting all this.

Curse? No way. But “stuff happens”? Again, no way. This week was a serious incident and it should be viewed way.

Noel Neill, first ‘live-action’ Lois Lane, dies at 95

Noel Neill and Kirk Allyn from a 1940s Superman serial.

Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane in two Superman serials as well as most of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman, has died at 95.

Her death was first posted by a friend on Facebook by a friend, Larry Ward. The news was put out on Twitter by Warner Archive, part of Warner Bros.

Superman was first adapted on radio (with Joan Alexander in the role) and in theatrical cartoons released by Paramount. Neill became the first live-action Lois in two serials, Superman (1948) and Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950), with Kirk Allyn as the Man of Steel.

In the 1950s, Neill got the call to replace Phyllis Coates as Lois in The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves in the title role for the show’s second season.

For Baby Boomers, the television version resonated, thanks in part to syndicated reruns in the 1960s shown on local television stations in the United States. The Neill version of Lois had a bit less of an edge compared with the Coates version.

Neill’s association with Superman extended to 1978’s Superman The Movie, starring Christopher Reeve, where she and Allyn had a cameo as the parents of Lois Lane. It was a “blink or you’ll miss it moment.” ABC showed an expanded version in the early 1980s that included the full scene.

In her later years, Neill appeared in numerous fan conventions and collectible shows. Those who saw her at such events came away charmed and impressed. She and Jack Larson, who played Jimmy Olsen in the 1950s series, both had cameos in 2006’s Superman Returns.

UPDATE (6:45 p.m. ET): The Hollywood Reporter has now published A MORE DETAILED OBITUARY.