") Luthor and his henchmen harshly beat up Superman with repeated punches and kicks, and held his head underwater, although the superhero protested: "I""m still Superman!" - they left him lying in muddy water.[Note: Although the typical gangster role in the 30s had been romanticized, by the late 1940s, the gangster protagonist was more often portrayed as a bullying psychopath, as in this film.One plaque displayed the letters "ECXXI"" that seemed o be Roman numerals, although the letter "E" was never used as a number during Roman times." Before the visit, she described how Sebastian had read out-loud Herman Melville""s account of his trip to the South American islands, prompting the two to venture there one summer.