| Radar Men from the Moon | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Fred C. Brannon |
| Written by | Ronald Davidson |
| Starring | George Wallace Aline Towne Roy Barcroft |
| Music by | Stanley Wilson |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures Troma Entertainment (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | January 9, 1952[1] September 30, 1957 (re-release)[1] 1966 (TV)[1] |
| Running time | 12 chapters (167 minutes) (serial)[1] 100 minutes (TV)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $172,840 (negative cost: $185,702)[1] |
Radar Men from the Moon (Republic Pictures, 1952) is the first Commando Cody serial, in 12 chapters, starring newcomer George Wallace (1917–2005) as Cody and Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, with serial veteran Roy Barcroft as the evil Retik, the Ruler of the Moon. The director was Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson and special effects by the Lydecker brothers. It was also released as a television film under the new title Retik the Moon Menace (1966).
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This famous serial recycles the rocket-powered flying suit from King of the Rocket Men (1949). The main character, Commando Cody, is a civilian researcher with a sizable staff of employees and a large laboratory building. (The building is actually the front office of Republic Pictures with a "Cody Laboratories" sign attached next to the door.)
Commando Cody has available for his use the rocket-powered flying suit and a rocket ship capable of reaching the moon. When the U.S. finds itself under attack from a mysterious something that wipes out military bases and industrial complexes, Cody deduces that the Earth faces a menace from our own moon, and rockets there to discover and confront the moon's dictator Retik, who boldly announces plans to conquer our planet and move his subjects there.
Cody spends most of the serial's running time on Earth battling an elusive lunar native called Krog and the gang of human crooks he has hired to steal and stockpile supplies for the invasion. Clayton Moore plays Krog's chief Earthling assistant.
Radar Men from the Moon's first chapter spawned the somewhat famous expression "Atomic activity on the Moon. Atomic blast on the Earth" (uttered by Henderson when divulging to the scientists the government's research conclusions).
Radar Men from the Moon was budgeted at $172,840 although the final negative cost was $185,702 (a $12,862, or 7.4%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1952.[1] It was filmed between 17 October and 6 November 1951 under the working title Planet Men from Mars.[1] The serial's production number was 1932.[1]
However the numbers may look, in practice the budget was so tight that there was no stunt double for lead actor George Wallace. His nose was broken while filming a fight with Clayton Moore. The actor was also suspended (by lying on a board with the rocket suit's jacket closed around it) in front of a rear projection screen for some flying shots. Wallace performed his own take-offs by jumping onto a springboard that would send him over the camera.[3]
The serial is heavily padded with footage from King of the Rocket Men, to which this was a pseudo-sequel. A repainted Juggernaut from Undersea Kingdom is also used.[2] Radar Men from the Moon shows space to be brightly lit and the characters walking on the moon in normal gravity without a suit.[2] The exterior of Commando Cody's office is really the Republic Pictures office.[2]
Two helmets were used for the Commando Cody costume, with a lighter version for use in the stunt scenes. The visors of the helmets would always get stuck.[2]
Radar Men from the Moon's official release date is 9 January 1952, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]
This was followed by a re-release of Perils of Nyoka, re-titled as Nyoka and the Tigermen, instead of a new serial. The next new serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere, which also used the flying suit and related stock effects footage seen here, followed in the summer.[1]
The serial was re-released on 30 September 1957 between the similar re-releases of Zorro's Black Whip and Son of Zorro. The last original Republic serial release was King of the Carnival in 1955.[1]
Radar Men from the Moon was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Retik the Moon Menace. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.[1]
In 1989, the serial regained notoriety as the first shorts used by the cult classic Mystery Science Theater 3000. The first eight-and-a-half chapters of the serial were lampooned before the main feature of the week. (Only half of the ninth installment was shown, with the in-show excuse being that "the film broke".)
Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie."[4]
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