Eleventh Hour (1942 animated film)

Eleventh Hour is the twelfth of seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by Famous Studios, the cartoon was originally released to theaters by Paramount Pictures on November 20, 1942.^[1]

While Clark Kent and Lois Lane are kept under house arrest as prisoners of war in the Japanese city of Yokohama, Superman becomes a saboteur. Every night, when the Eleventh Hour strikes, Superman destroys a ship or bridge and returns to his quarters through a window, putting the barred grille back in place.

Superman is careful to avoid being spotted and identified during these expeditions. However, one night Lois sees him leaping between buildings. She says to Clark (not knowing he is not in his room) that the saboteur is Superman. Her guards overhear this and realize they can use Lois as a hostage. Notices are put up saying 'Warning! Superman: One more act of sabotage and the American girl reporter will be executed at once!'.

Defying the threat, Superman sends another ship into the sea, but is buried under steel girders. Lois is taken out for execution. As Superman digs himself out he is fired on, but leaps away. He shields Lois from the bullets, defeats the executioners, and flies away with her. On a ship landing in America, Lois is interviewed. She tells the reporters Clark is still a prisoner, but Superman promised to look after him. The sabotage in Japan continues.

• Bud Collyer as Clark Kent/Superman (uncredited)
• Joan Alexander as Lois Lane (uncredited)
• Jack Mercer as Japanese Guard, Japanese Official, Reporter (uncredited)
• Jackson Beck as Narrator (uncredited)

• Eleventh Hour in fully restored HD at Laugh Bureau Vintage
• Eleventh Hour at the Internet Archive
• Eleventh Hour at IMDb