King of the Rocket Men is a 1949 12-chapter black-and-white Republic series, produced by Franklin Adreon, directed by Fred C. Brannon, starring Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, Don Haggerty, House Peters, Jr., James Craven, and I. Stanford Jolley.
The series is famous for featuring the only character that is actually called "Rocket Man", an irony that is applied by fans to other rocket-backed heroes following the next series in the Republic: Radar Men from the Moon > 1952), Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), and Commando Cody: The Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953).
Video King of the Rocket Men
Plot
An evil genius with an unknown identity, calling himself "Dr. Vulcan" (only heard as a voice and seen as a shadow on a bright wall), conspires to conquer the world, but first needs to be eliminated, one by one, members of the Science Associates, the largest American scientist organization. After almost escaping her life efforts by Vulcan, one of the members of Science Associates, Dr. Millard (James Craven) goes into hiding and then provides another member of the clothing, Jeff King (Tristram Coffin) with rocket and sophisticated sonic-powered rocket jackets. , aerodynamic helmets in the form of bullets, and raygun they have worked on together.
Using flying jackets and helmets as well as other discoveries provided by Dr. Millard and assisted by magazine reporter and photographer Glenda Thomas (Mae Clarke), Jeff King, as Rocket Man, fought Dr. Vulcan and his accomplices through a dozen chapters full of action.. Finally, Vulcan steals Millard's most dangerous inventions, Sonic Decimator, and uses them for floods, then destroys New York City and all of Manhattan Island before it's finally unmasked and brought to court by Jeff King in his Rocket Man persona.
Maps King of the Rocket Men
Chapter title
Cast
Production
Kirk Alyn is considered to lead as Jeff King/Rocket Man, but the final part goes to Coffin.
King of the Rocket Men is budgeted at $ 164,984, although the final negative cost is $ 165,592 ($ 608, or 0.4%, overspend); it was the most expensive Republican series of 1949. The series, Republican production number 1704, was filmed between April 6 and April 27, 1949.
Republicans like to name their hero "King" to use the title "King..." Studio has found success with this naming scheme after the adaptation of Zane Gray
Two softly-shaped bullet hats are used with a rocket-powered sonic backpack powered by a leather flying jacket. The first is made of lighter material and is only worn during various action scenes; during filming, a single visor protector on both helmets is often curved and will remain open or closed.
King of the Rocket Men is made cheaper than previous Republic series and has no costumed costumed criminals along the previous series of Adventures of Captain Marvel and The Crimson Ghost . The last round of recordings of floods and damage previously been used by the studio as the center for 1941 Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. .
Stunts
- David Sharpe as Jeff King/Tony Dirken/Prof Bryant (doubling Tristram Coffin with a rocket suit, Don Haggerty & I. Stanford Jolley)
- Tom Steele as Jeff King/Burt Winslow (doubling Tristram Coffin and House Peters, Jr.)
- Dale Van Sickel as Jeff King/Tony Dirken (doubling Tristram Coffin in a helmet/rocket backpack and Don Haggerty)
- Carey Loftin as Burt Winslow (duplicate Peters Jr.)
- Eddie Parker
- Bud Wolfe
Man Rocket in action is played by three different Republic figures. Dave Sharpe made the necessary air jumps and acrobatics to simulate the flight. Tom Steele is the second stuntman in rocket and helmet packets, and Dale Van Sickel takes on the role when Steele and Sharpe are not available or used in the same action. The first appearance of Rocket Man (Dave Sharpe) made it fly directly to the back of a fast-moving, tarpaulped truck, propelled by Tom Steele's stuntman, then fought with Vulcan's henchmen; in the same battle sequence Tom Steele is also a stuntman in the Rocket Man costume.
Special effects
Several shots in the Rocket Man character feature series that fly across the vast landscape of landscape landscape, an effect achieved by Howard and Theodore Lydecker running a full-sized doll on internal pulleys along a very long, taut wire that tilts at an angle down to horizontally. The same strategy has resulted in an extraordinary flying sequence in the previous Republican series Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941). Dave Sharpe's pickup was done with a hidden spring, and his landing just by jumping down from some position raised into the film frame.
The King shots when the Rocket Man takes off, flies, and lands are reused in the next three Republican productions featuring flying heroes: Male Radar from the Moon (1952), Zombies from Stratosphere i > (1952), and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953). Raygun Rocket Man "seems to be a German Luger (acceptable in this postwar series) with a silver cone propped against the barrel".
The tidal wave in the final chapter of the series is actually a stock recording taken from a previously thought-out RKO science fiction movie, Deluge (1933). Stock footage is used for most of the end of the cliffhanger chapter, showing "the downward trend of the Republic's 1940s series".
Release
Theater
The official release date of King of the Rocket Men "was June 8, 1949, although this was actually the date the sixth chapter was made available for movie exchange.
The movie version features 65 minutes, created by editing serial snippets together, released on July 25, 1951; it is one of 14 widescreen films made from their series. The title is changed to Lost Planet Airmen after using the titles that work The Lost Planet and Lost Planetmen . The final section was changed for the movie version. Instead of New York City reduced to ruins by a massive flood, as in the series, those events are considered only as "crazy dreams" and not really happening. (Similar changes were made in the Drum Fu Manchu feature version. .)
King of the Rocket Men was re-released on July 16, 1956 between the re-releases of Adventures of Frank and Jesse James and the same Federal Operator I . The release of the last original series was King of the Carnival in 1955.
Critical reception
Klein described the series as "one of the last of the Republic's cliff hangs with any originality to him." She singles out Clarke's performance, noting she is "a refreshing note in continuing the routine".
See also
- Commander Cody and Airman Planet Missing Him
- List of serial movies by year
- List of serial movies by studio
- Rocketeer
References
Note
Bibliography
External links
- King of the Rocket Men on IMDb
- King of the Rocket Men at AllMovie
- The Full Review Male Rocket King
- Discussions about the Rocket Man character in the context of the movie series drop
- Award page for all Rocket Man series
- "Rocketman" Video (02:00) on YouTube
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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