Radar Men from the Moon

Infobox Film
name = Radar Men from the Moon


image_size =
caption =
director = Fred C. Brannon
producer =
writer = Ronald Davidson
narrator =
starring = George Wallace
Aline Towne
Roy Barcroft
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Republic Pictures
released = 1952
runtime = 12 episodes (167 min)
country = USA
language = English
budget = $172,840 (negative cost: $185,702)"Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement"; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8]
preceded_by =
followed_by = "" (1953)
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0045064

"Radar Men from the Moon" (Republic Pictures, 1952) was 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.

Story and production

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 as a mysterious something 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.

Throughout the serial Cody spends most of his time on Earth battling an elusive lunar native, Krog, and the gang of crooks he has hired to steal and stockpile supplies for the invasion. Clayton Moore plays Krog's chief earthling assistant.

The serial reuses extensive footage from King of the Rocketmen as well as The Purple Monster Strikes. Republic reused the rocket-powered flying suit in "Zombies of the Stratosphere" (also from 1952), in which the hero was called Larry Martin, and played by the serial Captain Video, Judd Holdren, but who had available Aline Towne and all the other equipment and facilities previously used by Cody. Holdren went on to star as Cody in "" (1953).

Filming on "Radar Men from the Moon" took place between 17 October and 6 November 1951. This serial was budgeted at $172,840 but finished production with a cost of $185,702 (making it $12,862, or 7.4%, overbudget).

This was the most expensive serial Republic produced in 1951, although "Zombies of the Stratosphere" was the only other produced that year. In terms of cost per chapter, this is the second most expensive of Republic's sixty-six serials (seventh most expensive in terms of overall cost).

MST3K

In 1989, the serial regained notoriety as the first shorts used by the cult classic "Mystery Science Theater 3000". The first nine chapters of the serial were lampooned before the main feature of the week.

Cast list

* George Wallace as Commando Cody
* Aline Towne as Joan Gilbert
* Roy Barcroft as Retik, Ruler of the Moon
* William Bakewell as Ted Richards
* Clayton Moore as Graber
* Peter Brocco as Krog
* Bob Stevenson as Daly

Chapter titles

# "Moon Rocket"
# "Molten Terror"
# "Bridge of Death"
# "Flight of Destruction"
# "Murder Car"
# "Hills of Death"
# "Camouflaged Destruction"
# "The Enemy Planet"
# "Battle in the Stratosphere"
# "Mass Execution"
# "Planned Pursuit"
# "Death of the Moon Man"

See also

* List of film serials by year
* List of film serials by studio

References

* "Science Fiction Serials" by Roy Kinnard (McFarland, NC, 1998). ISBN 0-7864-0545-7.

External links

*
* [http://slick-net.com/space/serial/index.phtml Roaring Rockets Serial Pages]
* [http://slick-net.com/space/text/index.phtml#cody "Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe" TV series]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/3622/cast.htm Summary of Casts and Credits for the Republic "Rocketman" Films]
* [http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/SciFi/RepublicSciFiSerials.htm Another very complete list of casts and credits for the "Rocketman" films]
* [http://www.filmfax.com/archives/commando_cody/george_wallace.html Interview with George Wallace]
* [http://thenostalgialeague.com/fsfh/sciencefiction-ghrocket.html Nostalgia League article on the "Rocketman" serials]
* [http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue04/infocus/introduction4.htm Gary Johnson, "The Serials"]

Download or view online

* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Radar%20Men%20from%20the%20Moon Moving Image Archive: "Radar Men from the Moon" episodes] (Creative Commons licensed)
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen1 Chapter 1 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen2 Chapter 2 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen3 Chapter 3 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen4 Chapter 4 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen5 Chapter 5 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen6 Chapter 6 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen7 Chapter 7 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen8 Chapter 8 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen9 Chapter 9 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen10 Chapter 10 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen11 Chapter 11 at The Internet Archive]
* [http://www.archive.org/details/radarmen12 Chapter 12 at The Internet Archive]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Republic Serial
before=Government Agents vs Phantom Legion (1951)
years=Radar Men from the Moon (1952)
after=Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952)