13 QUICK THOUGHTS: She was the Platonic ideal…
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UPDATED 10/17/23: The late Margot Kidder was born 75 years ago! This piece first ran when she died in May 2018, but the sentiments endure. — Dan
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Certain actors so embody a role that their performance becomes a touchstone, an exemplar.
When it comes to superheroes and the like, there have even been a handful of cases where that real-life performance surpasses what’s on the page — or at least sets a new template. I’m thinking Burt Ward as Robin, Julie Newmar as Catwoman and, of course, Christopher Reeve as Superman as three prime examples.
You can add Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane to the list.
Kidder has died at the age of 69 (click here). But her run as The Daily Planet’s most fearless reporter is indelibly etched in the public imagination.
Here are 13 QUICK THOUGHTS: Why MARGOT KIDDER Was the Best LOIS LANE Ever:
1. She redefined Lois Lane for all media. DC had begun to modernize her in the ’70s but it’s Kidder’s portrayal — as conceived by director Richard Donner, script doctor Tom Mankiewicz and co. — that took hold in the decades that followed, whether on screen or on the page. Lois’ raison d’etre was no longer to marry Superman: She was a completely modern, thoroughly committed career woman who just happened to be interested in the Man of Steel. That’s a big distinction.
2. And she wasn’t just good at her job — as she was in the comics or Mary Richards was on TV — she was big and brassy about it. In 1978, that was still a big deal.
3. Kidder’s Lois had such sizzle that’s it’s obvious why Superman would want to be with her. For years, whether in comics or on screen, Superman treated Lois like an amusing annoyance or something of a mascot, akin to a female Jimmy Olsen. Kidder, on the other hand, gave us someone whom the most powerful and desirable man on the planet would want to be with.
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4. She was no damsel. Sure, Superman had to rescue her from the helicopter crash and the earthquake. But he would have had to rescue anybody in those circumstances. The one chance she has to meet an adversary on equal footing — the mugger in the alleyway — she takes matters into her own hands. (Of course, Superman had to rescue her again — but she didn’t know that.) And at no point do you doubt Kidder’s approach — or her reaction — to what’s going on around her.
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5. Now, if you think that this is all in the writing or the direction, go check out the Lois Lane screen tests on the Superman video extras. Not a single actress whose footage is out there comes close to what Kidder conveyed right out of the gate. Kidder sold it — giving us a Lois who was at once bold, vulnerable and winningly appealing.
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6. Kidder had great comic timing. Her best line in the movie is probably when she blurts out the sexually loaded, “How big are you?” — then quickly catches herself. I recently saw Superman on the big screen and the crowd ate it up.
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7. She and Christopher Reeve shared wonderful chemistry. Beyond “You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly,” you believed that the two of them would fall in love.
8. Teri Hatcher, Erica Durance and Dana Delaney owe her a debt.
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9. One way Superman III would have been a whole lot better? More Lois Lane.
10. Superman and Lois’ romantic flight is a wonderful sequence — I didn’t see it that way until I was an adult. (I just wish she never had to recite the corny “Can You Read My Mind?” lyrics. It’s one of the movie’s few wrong notes.)
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11. It’s funny. It wasn’t until I listened to Rob Kelly and Chris Franklin’s Superman Movie Minute podcast (click here) that I realized that Superman and Lois only had three scenes together (while he’s in costume) in the original movie. Yet his grief and rage over her apparent demise is completely believable. That’s not just because of how Reeve plays it. It’s because we thoroughly understand why he’d fall for her so completely.
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12. I remember being so excited for Superman II — and it wasn’t just the idea that the three Kryptonian criminals would be center stage. It was the idea that Superman and Lois would finally be together. I guess I was a romantic kid.
13. I’ve been seeing a lot of comments online along the lines of “Margot Kidder was the Lois Lane of our childhoods” or “Margot Kidder was the Lois Lane for a generation of fans.” They’re all wrong: Margot Kidder was the Lois Lane for all generations.
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MORE
— 13 QUICK THOUGHTS: Why CHRISTOPHER REEVE Was the Greatest SUPERMAN Ever. Click here.
— 1981’s SUPERMAN II: A Euphoric, Enduring Classic. Click here.
May 15, 2018
I took my now 42 year old son to see Superman the first weekend it was out. He cried when Kal-el was set adrift. I cried over the Lois Lane character. The struggle was on to ratify the ERA. The requisite number of states needed to ratify before 1979. Ms Kidder charcter embodied the hope for equal rights under the law. There was great possibilities.
October 18, 2023
I guess I’m in the minority, but she’s my least favorite Lois. I couldn’t stand the sound of her voice, and I felt she and Reeves had no chemistry. The writing was good, yes, but I thought her approach to the role was all wrong. I could never understand why he found this whiney, annoying, self-centered, not very attractive woman so desirable. She was grating. Also, a lot of the reasons listed above have nothing to do with Kidder, but rather with the writing, so this list is not very balanced. To me, Kidder was not a good actor. Everyone who came after her was far better, and if her Lois laid any groundwork for the others, then it was due to to how the part was written. It was DESPITE her acting, not BECAUSE of it.
October 18, 2023
OK.
October 18, 2023
I’m somewhere between Dan and Dondre. I found her a little annoying, too (I mean, what was she going to do about that mugger? If not for Clark, she’d be dead.). But I do think her portrayal as an independent working woman led to the stronger versions we got later (though I think Phyllis Coates often is underrated when you consider the time in which The Adventures of Superman aired).
October 19, 2023
As a tween seeing Margo Kidder’s Lois Lane and comparing her to comics Lois Lane I thought she did the character justice and more. You’re right about Kidder’s timing, good writing helps but with out delivery it get trashed. She was funny and not joke funny but reality funny a Pulitzer prize winner that can’t spell very well.
“Clark, How Many ‘P’s in rapist?” Her smokey voice is the kind of Murphy Brown or any reporter might develop in a newsroom back then. Her starting and stopping cigarettes is both comical and believable. And while she’s not as fast talking as Ros Russel in His Girl Friday her dedication to a story surpassed Hilde’s hiding a man on death row by strapping (accidently) her self to a bomb in Superman II. She Superman equal and Clark’s superior. (even if he hid his light a little, “Fastest typist I’ve Ever seen.” Perry White.
I want to saw a few words about someone I’d never heard of before, Miss Tessmacher. Valerie Perine created her from whole cloth. In the comics, Lex had a the proverbial weak sister, Lena and the wannabee nasty niece, “Nasty.” That’s her name, a variant of Anastacia. But lex wasn’t much of a Ladies man unless it was just to covet any girl with the initials LL. And this was long before the selfless Mercy, the mercenary.
The tenacious Miss Tessmacher. Not only did she keep up with genius Lex Luthor, she anticipated and redirected his schemes. Secured the Kryptonite from Addis Ababa. She saved Superman, who in turn saved her mother. Avoided jail time leaving her free to break LL out of prison. I think some Props are in order for Valerie and her creation of a character that questioned Lex Luthor. “Won’t he see you coming (w/ Kryptonite) with his Super -peepers?” also an actress who’s not intimidated by the scenery chewing antics of fresh from the Oscars Gene Hackman. Thanks Ms. P for Miss T.