Mercy General Hospital In “Adventures of Superman”

Mercy General Hospital In “Adventures of Superman”

By Armand Vaquer

Location shoots in the “Adventures of Superman” were rare occurrences due to the limited budgets, especially during the color years (1954-1957).

Fans have been able to find some of the locations used for the show. The downtown Los Angeles area around Seventh Street and San Pedro Street was used in “The Machine That Could Plot Crimes” and the Wilbur Avenue and Linnett Street area was used in “The Man Who Could Read Minds.” Both of these were from the second season in 1953. The 1953 season was filmed in black & white.

Also in 1953, some episodes would show a hospital building and then transition to a sign that read “Mercy General Hospital.” This was the case in the episode “The Face and The Voice” in which an injured Boulder (with Superman’s face via plastic surgery and played by George Reeves) lamented, “It takes more than a face and a voice. There’s only one Superman.”

Seeing the hospital building shot in this and other episodes in 1953, I often thought it looked familiar. It should look familiar; it is actually the Hospital of the Good Samaritan (or Good Samaritan Hospital) in Los Angeles on Wilshire Blvd. near downtown.

Good Samaritan Hospital gained notoriety fifteen years later in June 1968 when Sirhan Sirhan shot Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel after Kennedy won the California Primary for the Democratic presidential nomination. Kennedy was first rushed to Central Receiving Hospital (which no longer exists today), but they did not have the facilities necessary to treat Kennedy’s head wound. He was then transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet and fragments from his brain. He did not recover and died the next night. His body was taken to the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles for an autopsy. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s facilities were located in the basement of the Hall of Justice. George Reeves was also autopsied at this facility in 1959.

Good Samaritan Hospital looked pretty much the same in 1968 as it did in 1953. Today, while the original building still stands, it is partially hidden behind new hospital buildings.

The view at top is of the old building looking north. The view of the hospital used in the Superman episodes was looking west. Most likely, it was stock footage that the show's producers obtained.

Can you name the other "Adventures of Superman" episodes that showed Good Samaritan Hospital as "Mercy General Hospital"?