King of the Rocket Men
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| King of the Rocket Men | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Fred C. Brannon |
| Produced by | Franklin Adreon |
| Written by | Royal Cole William Lively Sol Shor |
| Starring | Tristram Coffin Mae Clarke Don Haggerty House Peters Jr James Craven I. Stanford Jolley |
| Cinematography | Ellis W. Carter |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1949 |
| Running time | 12 chapters (167 min) |
| IMDb profile | |
King of the Rocket Men is a 1949 Republic Movie serial, in 12 chapters, important for introducing the "Rocketman Character" who reappeared under a variety of names in later serials Radar Men from the Moon, Zombies of the Stratosphere and the semi-serial Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
An evil genius of unknown identity, calling himself "Dr Vulcan," plots to conquer the world, but first needs to eliminate one by one the members of the Science Associates, an organization of the earth's greatest scientists. After narrowly escaping an attempt on his life by Vulcan, one member of Science Associates, Dr. Millard (James Craven), outfits another member, Jeff King (Tristram Coffin) with an "atomic powered rocket flying suit."
With the help of the suit, a magazine photographer named Glenda Thomas (Mae Clarke), and other inventions of Dr. Millard, King battles the minions of Dr. Vulcan for 12 suspenseful episodes. Eventually Vulcan steals one of Millard's more dangerous inventions, the Decimator, and uses it to flood and destroy Manhattan Island (courtesy of stock footage from the once-thought-lost film, Deluge (1933)), before being brought to justice by Jeff King in his flying suit.
[edit] Production
King of the Rocket Men is a bit more cheaply-made than the previous Republic serials, and the casting is also lacking. Tristram Coffin was a typical "dress heavy" of the period, complete with pencil-thin mustache, and it was a real stretch even for serial audiences of the day to accept him as the hero. Even stranger was the casting of nearly forty year old Mae Clarke as the damsel in distress. The serial also lacks a colorful villain along the lines of The Crimson Ghost. The Deluge footage, though spectacular, had previously been used by the studio in Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc (1941).
The most interesting (and novel) shots in the serial feature the Rocketman character flying across broad vistas of barren landscape, an effect achieved by Howard and Theodore Lydecker by running a full-size dummy on internal pulleys along a very long, taut wire tilted at an angle to the horizontal. The same strategy had produced remarkable flying sequences in the earlier Republic serial, Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941). The effects were much less ambitious here than in the earlier serial, with the hero rarely using his flight ability for anything but transportation. Dave Sharpe's take-offs were accomplished with concealed springboards, and his landings by simply jumping down from some raised position into the frame. Doubling Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel, Sharpe often seemed to gracefully lift out of and descend into scenes, but not here. The shots of King in his flying suit taking off, flying, and landing were reused over and over in three subsequent Republic productions featuring flying heroes: Radar Men from the Moon, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe and Zombies of the Stratosphere.
[edit] Cast
Tristram Coffin as Jeff King
Mae Clarke as Glenda Thomas
Don Haggerty as Tony Dirken
House Peters Jr as Burt Winslow
James Craven as Prof Millard
I. Stanford Jolley as Prof Bryant
[edit] Chapter titles
- Dr. Vulcan, Traitor!
- Plunging Death
- Dangerous Evidence
- High Peril
- Fatal Dive
- Mystery of the Rocket Man
- Molten Menace
- Suicide Flight
- Ten Seconds to Live
- The Deadly Fog
- Secret of Dr. Vulcan!
- Wave of Disaster!
[edit] Stunts & Effects
David Sharpe as Jeff King/Tony Dirken/Prof Bryant (doubling Tristram Coffin in rocket suit, Don Haggerty & I. Stanford Jolley)
Tom Steele as Jeff King/Burt Winslow (doubling Tristram Coffin & House Peters Jr)
Dale Van Sickel as Tony Dirken (doubling Don Haggerty)
Carey Loftin as Burt Winslow (doubling House Peters Jr)
Eddie Parker
Bud Wolfe
Special Effects by the Lydecker brothers
[edit] References
- Kinnard, Roy, Science Fiction Serials, (McFarland, NC, 1998). ISBN 0-7864-0545-7.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- King of the Rocket Men at the Internet Movie Database
- Detailed Review of King of the Rocket Men
- A discussion of the Rocket Man character in the context of the decline of the movie serial
- A tribute page for all the Rocket Man serials
| Preceded by Ghost of Zorro (1949) |
Republic Serial King of the Rocket Men (1949) |
Succeeded by The James Brothers of Missouri (1949) |
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