New Podcast Reveals Truth About Cuba Porn Legend 'Superman'

CYBERSPACE—A new podcast that hit the internet February 1 tells a story that combines of investigative journalism, the colorful history of pre-Castro Cuba, TV travel and culture icon Anthony Bourdain, the classic Godfather film series—and porn.  That’s quite a combination, but journalist Mitch Moxley brings all of those diverse elements together in the latest edition of the podcast The Trip, produced by the site Roads and Kingdoms, in which Moxley recounts his search for the legendary sex show performer known only as “Superman,” a gentlemen who, according to his legend, entertained crowds of tourists nightly performing sexual acts with female performers in Havana nightclubs—performances made extraordinary by the asset that gave him the nickname “Superman.” His penis which was said to extend to a staggering 18 inches when fully erect. Other versions of the Superman legend put the length of his engorged equipment at a still-impressive 15, or even 14 inches. And actually, Bourdain isn’t part of the Superman story, but as the chief investor in Roads and Kingdoms, he paid for it. Bourdain also introduces the podcast. Film buffs will recall a pivotal scene in the Godfather trilogy’s second film, in which the ill-fated Fredo Corleone brings a group of American dignitaries to see Superman perform live. But Godfather fans probably didn’t realize that there really was a “Superman.” View that famous scene from Godfather II by visiting this link.  But according to Moxley, who previously published a lengthy article on his search for the fabled porn performer in 2015, the real Superman was never called by that nickname in Cuba. Instead, Cubans in the freewheeling Havana before Fidel Castro’s communist takeover in 1959 referred to the storied porn star—whose given name may have been Enrique—as “Enrique La Reina,” which translates as “Enrique The Queen.”  In fact, Moxley found, “Superman” was gay.  “The performer’s sexual orientation suggests an undercurrent of sadness to his story,” Moxley wrote. “There could have been no pleasure derived from the performance. It was all an act, all for the entertainment of the audience.” According to one longstanding Havana rumor, Superman was once bedded by another legend—American movie star Marlon Brando, who ditched his female companions on a holiday trip to Havana after witnessing “La Reina” in action at Havana’s Shanghai Club. Because Superman restricted his performances to live sex shows, forbidding any filming or photography of his act, or of his unique asset, no known images of the mysterious mid-20th-century sexual superstar are known to exist.  Except one. During a visit to Havana with the Miami Mafia boss Santos Trafficante, according to Moxley’s reporting, the mob lawyer Frank Ragano brought a home movie camera. As a favor to Trafficante, whose Mafia fiefdom extended to his control of crime in Havana, Superman agreed to perform his show privately for the pair, and allow Ragano to film it. Decades later, Moxley says in the podcast, he tracked down Ragano’s son and found that the film still exists—and he arranged a viewing. "The video is black and white, grainy. Fast-paced, grandiose music plays—like the score of an epic from the 1970s, maybe Lawrence of Arabia. A blond woman stands before the camera. She’s white, naked with dark pubic hair. She wears a shy smile on her face,” Moxley recounted. “Superman appears to the left of the frame. He’s black, his hair grown out somewhat. There’s barely a glimpse of his face. He’s thin, sinewy, naked except for black socks. His penis is flaccid; he pulls at it, trying to get it to perform,” he wrote. Eventually, “La Reina” does manage an erection—though Moxley estimates the organ’s length at “a good 12” inches rather than the fabled 18.  To give away anything else about the fate of Superman, which while still shrouded in mystery appears to have been uncovered by Moxley, would be a major spoiler. To find out, download the February 1 edition of The Trip, free from iTunes or any major podcast source. Or read Moxley’s article on Bourdain’s Roads and Kingdoms site, at this link. Above, a screen capture of the "Superman" scene from the movie Godfather II.