"Gone With The Wind" and the "Adventures of Superman"

Above, George Reeves as Clark Kent changing into Superman with Tara (below left) in the background in 1951.

In 1951, the first season of the Adventures of Superman was in production in and around the studio called "40 Acres" in Culver City, California.

One of the season's episodes was "The Mind Machine," which involves a machine that was developed to aid in the treatment of people with mental illnesses. The machine was stolen, and its inventor kidnapped, by crime boss Lou Cranek, played by Dan Seymour.

In one sequence in the episode, the former bookkeeper of Cranek was to testify before an investigating committee. During the man's testimony, his mind was "invaded" by the machine, which causes him to flip out (and eventually die).

During the chase of the machine's victim, Clark Kent (George Reeves) had to change into Superman as the man hijacked a school bus with several children inside. Just before Kent ducked out of sight to change, a shot of the former plantation, Tara, from Gone With The Wind could be seen in the background. The sequence was shot atop of the Baldwin Hills, which is above Culver City. (The location where Kent began changing into Superman was not too far from the site of the Baldwin Hills reservoir that burst in December 1963.)

Above, Vivien Leigh with Tara in the background in 1939.

George Reeves's first movie role just happened to be in Gone With The Wind in 1939. It is as if his past caught up with him 12 years later.