Buck Rogers (serial)

Infobox Film
name = Buck Rogers


image_size =
caption =
director = Ford Beebe
Saul A. Goodkind
writer = Norman S. Hall
Ray Trampe
Dick Calkins
Philip Francis Nowlan "(based on the comics strip by)"
starring = Buster Crabbe
Constance Moore
Jackie Moran
Anthony Warde
C. Montague Shaw
Jack Mulhall
cinematography = Jerome Ash
distributor = Universal Pictures
released = February 2, 1939
runtime = 12 chapters (237 min)
country = USA
language = English
amg_id = 1:122228
imdb_id = 0032290

"Buck Rogers" (1939) is a Universal serial film based on the Buck Rogers comic strip. It starred Buster Crabbe (who had previously starred in two Flash Gordon serials) as the heroic Buck Rogers, Constance Moore as relatively seldom-seen romantic interest Wilma Deering, Jackie Moran as sidekick George "Buddy" Wade, and Anthony Warde as "super-racketeer" "Killer" Kane.

Plot summary

The story begins with Buck Rogers and Buddy Wade in the midst of a dirigible flight over the North Pole. They are caught in a savage storm and crash - but not before they release an experimental substance called Nirvano Gas that they hope will preserve them until rescue can arrive. The Nirvano Gas works, but the dirigible is buried in an avalanche and is not found until 500 years have passed. When Buck and Buddy are found, they awaken to a world ruled by the ruthless dictator "Killer" Kane and his army of "super-racketeers." Only those who live in the aptly-named Hidden City, run by the benevolent scientist Dr. Huer and his military counterpart, Air Marshal Kragg, resist the criminal rulers of Earth. Buck and Buddy join the resistance, and they set out for Saturn, where they hope that they can find help in their fight against Kane.

Arriving on Saturn, our heroes find that the planet is run by Aldar and the not-so-aptly-named Council of the Wise. The planet seems to operate as a constitutional monarchy, with the Council at times deferring to a vaguely defined noble class, represented by Prince Tallen. To the dismay of Buck and Buddy, they also discover that Kane has dispatched ambassadors of his own, headed by his loyal henchman, Captain Laska. The serial then becomes a back-and-forth struggle between Buck and Kane to secure the military support of Saturn for the struggles on Earth.

Production Notes

A 12-part Buck Rogers movie serial was launched in 1939. In this version, Buck Rogers and his young friend Buddy Wade are involved in a dirigible accident in a remote place. Immediately afterwards, they somehow get into suspended animation waiting for rescue. When they are finally discovered and revived, they learn that 500 years have passed. A tyrannical dictator named “Killer Kane” and his henchmen now run the world. Buck and Buddy must now save the world, and they do so with the help of Lieutenant Wilma Deering and Prince Tallen of Saturn.

The serial starred Buster Crabbe, who had previously played the role of Flash Gordon, a role he was later to reprise as "Brigadier Gordon" in the Buck Rogers television series — the only crossover between the two characters. Constance Moore played Lieutenant Wilma Deering, the only woman in the film, and Jackie Moran was Buddy Wade, a character who did not appear in other versions of the Buck Rogers franchise, but who was clearly modeled on the Sunday strip character Buddy Deering. Anthony Warde played "Killer Kane", Buck Rogers's enemy; this was the only time that Warde, who usually portrayed evil underlings in serials, played a lead villain .

Korean-American actor Philson Ahn, younger brother of noted actor Philip Ahn, played Prince Tallen, a Saturnian native who befriends Buck Rogers. As was typical for the times however, all other Saturnians were played by Caucasian actors. There are some racist undertones in the film. For example, workers on the planet Saturn, who are called Zugs, are portrayed as ugly, dark, hulking brutes (played by Caucasians in makeup) who are unable to think for themselves and who worship and attend to a catatonic brainwashed human.

The noted actor and "crown prince of stuntmen" David Sharpe, who appeared in over 4,500 films over the course of a seven-decade career, also appeared in the Buck Rogers serial in several roles: as a Kane pilot, a Hidden City sentry, and a Saturnian lieutenant.

The serial had a small budget and saved money on special effects by re-using material from other stories: background shots from the futuristic musical "Just Imagine" (1930), as the city of the future, the garishly stenciled walls from the Azura palace set in "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars", as Kane's penthouse suite, and the "Strato-Sleds" of "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars", as mock-ups of the flying machines.

In 1953, the 1939 movie serial was edited into a feature film entitled "Planet Outlaws". Then it was edited again to feature length and titled "Destination Saturn" for syndication to television, in 1965. Finally, the serial was edited once again to feature form in the late 1970s, this version simply entitled "Buck Rogers" with the theatrical poster advertising, "Star Wars owes it all to Buck Rogers," and later was sold on videotape in the early 1990s by VCI Entertainment under the catalogue title of "Planet Outlaws" (which title, to make it appear legitimate, was also superimposed onto the first shot of film following the main titles).

Cast

* Buster Crabbe as Buck Rogers
* Constance Moore as Wilma Deering. This was the only serial appearance for Moore, a singer on radio and the New York stage.cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 92
chapter = 5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines) ]
* Jackie Moran as George "Buddy" Wade
* Anthony Warde as "Killer" Kane
* C. Montague Shaw as Doctor Huer
* Jack Mulhall as Captain Rankin
* Guy Usher as Aldar
* William Gould as Air Marshal Kragg
* Philson Ahn as Prince Tallen
* Henry Brandon as Captain Laska

Critical reception

Cline writes that Moore makes a vivid impression with a performance that projects "passive importunity... [which] could only exude from a demeanour of wholesome honesty."

Chapter titles

# Tomorrow's World
# Tragedy on Saturn
# The Enemy's Stronghold
# The Sky Patrol
# The Phantom Plane
# The Unknown Command
# Primitive Urge
# Revolt of the Zuggs
# Bodies Without Minds
# Broken Barriers
# A Prince in Bondage
# War of the Planets_Source: [cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 223-224
chapter = Filmography ]

ee also

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

References

External links

* [http://www.buckrogersdilletrust.com "Buck Rogers" OFFICIAL WEBSITE(c) The Dille Family Trust]
*imdb title|id=0032290|title=Buck Rogers
*amg title|id=1:122228|title=Buck Rogers
* [http://www.buck-rogers.com/film_serial/ Buck Rogers.com]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Universal Serial
before=Scouts to the Rescue (1939)
years=Buck Rogers (1939)
after=The Oregon Trail (1939)