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Zombies of the Stratosphere

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Zombies of the Stratosphere
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFred C. Brannon
Written byRonald Davidson
Produced byFranklin Adreon
Starring
CinematographyJohn MacBurnie
Music byStanley Wilson
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
  • July 16, 1952 (1952-07-16)[1]
Running time
12 chapters (167 minutes (serial)[1]
70 minutes (feature)[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$176,357

Zombies of the Stratosphere is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Studios serial that was intended to be their second featuring "new hero" Commando Cody and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying jacket and helmet introduced in King of the Rocket Men (1949). Instead, for reasons unknown, the hero was renamed "Larry Martin," who must prevent Martian invaders from using a hydrogen bomb to blow Earth out of its orbit, away from the Sun, so that Mars can take its position. As in Radar Men from the Moon (also released in 1952), most of the screen time for each of the dozen chapters is spent on fistfights and car chases between the heroes and a gang of crooks hired by Narab and his extraterrestrial colleague Marex to steal and stockpile the Atomic supplies needed for construction of the H-bomb.

The serial was directed by Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and the special effects by Republic's Lydecker brothers. The serial is best remembered today as one of the first screen appearances of a young Leonard Nimoy, who plays one of the three Martian invaders, Narab. In 1958, a feature film version of this serial, retitled Satan's Satellites, was made by editing down the serial's footage to feature film length.

Plot

Larry Martin (Judd Holdren), a leader in the Inter-Planetary Patrol, detects a rocket coming to Earth. He takes to the air in his rocket suit and helmet to investigate and discovers two Martian invaders, Marex (Lane Bradford) and Narab (Leonard Nimoy). Since Mars is now orbiting too far from the Sun and its ecology has been dying, the Martian invaders want to swap Earth's and Mars' orbits, so Mars will then be closer to the Sun. They plan on achieving this by using hydrogen bomb plans stolen from Earth scientists to cause the two planets' orbits to swap, using specifically placed atomic explosions on both worlds.

Finding they have an Earth accomplice in the form of the traitorous Dr Harding (Stanley Waxman), the Martians set up a base in an underground cave that can only be reached from underwater. Over the course of 12 action-packed chapters, Larry, as Rocket Man, uncovers their daring plan and then their secret location and sets about defeating them. In the end the Martian plot fails thanks to the Rocket Man efforts, aided by his associates Sue Davis (Aline Towne) and Bob Wilson (Wilson Wood).

Chapter titles

  1. "The Zombie Vanguard" (20min)
  2. "Battle of the Rockets" (13min 20s)
  3. "Undersea Agents" (13min 20s)
  4. "Contraband Cargo" (13min 20s)
  5. "The Iron Executioner" (13min 20s)
  6. "Murder Mine" (13min 20s)
  7. "Death on the Waterfront" (13min 20s)
  8. "Hostage for Murder" (13min 20s)
  9. "The Human Torpedo" (13min 20s)
  10. "Flying Gas Chamber" (13min 20s) – a re-cap chapter
  11. "Man vs. Monster" (13min 20s)
  12. "Tomb of the Traitors" (13min 20s)

Source:[1][2]

Cast

Production

Just as filming began on this serial, the name of the hero was changed from Commando Cody to Larry Martin, as played by Judd Holdren, who had previously played TV hero Captain Video in a 1951 Columbia Pictures chapterplay; he retains all the same sidekicks, high-tech props and laboratory facilities that Commando Cody had in the previous serial, Radar Men from the Moon.

An addition to the Rocket Man back-pack and helmet, used for the first time in this serial, is a two-way radio about the size of a lunchbox; Larry Martin wears it hanging heavily from his belt when dressed for flying. This radio is also seen in some stills of Cody in Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe. As most flying sequences are reused stock footage from earlier Rocket Man serials, the radio usually disappears when Commando Cody is in flight. Martin also uses an ordinary police revolver instead of the ray gun favored by Cody in earlier and later serials.

Zombies of the Stratosphere was budgeted at $172,838, although the final negative cost was $176,357 (a $3,519, or 2%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1952[1] and was filmed between April 14, and May 1, 1952. At seventeen days, this is tied with King of the Carnival for the shortest filming period of all Republic serials.[1] The serial's production number was 1933.[1]

Zombies of the Stratosphere reuses the "Republic Robot" (somewhat resembling a walking silvery hot-water heater with two ribbed arms that terminate in pincers), along with stock footage of it in action (such as the Bank Robbery by Robot scene from Mysterious Doctor Satan) and black-and-white footage from a Republic full color Roy Rogers film. The serial is also heavily padded with footage from their King of the Rocket Men (1949), to which this is a pseudo-sequel. Although the Zombies serial has Martians as the villains, they are not the same Martians as shown in the earlier Republic serial The Purple Monster Strikes.[3][4] The Robot was first seen in Undersea Kingdom (1936) and prominently featured in Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940).

Stunts

Special effects

All the special effects in Zombies of the Stratosphere were produced by the Lydecker brothers, Republic's in-house physical and model effects team. Their flying effects, using a dummy running along a wire, were first used in Republic's Darkest Africa (1936) and with greater impact in their Adventures of Captain Marvel serial (1941).

Release

Theatrical

Zombies of the Stratosphere's official release date is July 16, 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 Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc., re-titled as Dick Tracy vs. Phantom Empire, instead of a new serial. The next new serial, Jungle Drums of Africa, followed in 1953.[1]

A 70-minute feature film version, created by heavily editing down the serial footage, was released on March 28, 1958, under the new title Satan's Satellites. It was one of 14 feature films Republic later converted from their large catalog of serials.[1]

Television

Zombies of the Stratosphere was one of two Republic serials later colorized for 1990s television broadcast.[1]

Home video releases

During 1991, the serial was released in original full length and black-and-white on two videodiscs from The Roan Group; in 1995 by Republic Pictures Home Video in the U.S. on VHS edited to 93 minutes and colorized;[5] as a 2-DVD set from Cheezy Flicks Entertainment in 2009 at full length and original black-and-white.[6]

Reception

Critics and viewers found the serial to be relatively dull and unimaginative, not as interesting as Radar Men from the Moon. The use of stock footage from earlier serials is not quite as overwhelming as seen in the earlier or later Cody outings, as greater emphasis is placed on fistfights rather than scenes using the rocket back-pack. Holdren's performance is often stiff and amateurish, especially when compared to the professionalism of the old Republic pros who surround him on screen. Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie."[7]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mathis 1995, pp. 3, 10, 130–131.
  2. ^ Cline 1984, p. 253.
  3. ^ Harmon and Glut 1973, pp. 289–290.
  4. ^ Stedman 1971, p. 141.
  5. ^ "Zombies of the Stratosphere [VHS."] Amazon. Retrieved: May 15, 2013.
  6. ^ "Zombies of the Stratosphere." Amazon. Retrieved: May 15, 2013.
  7. ^ Cline 1984, p. 91.

Bibliography

  • Cline, William C. "5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines)". In the Nick of Time. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
  • Cline, William C. "Filmography", In the Nick of Time. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
  • Harmon, Jim and Donald F. Glut. "11. New Masks for New Heroes "Get That Masked Trouble Maker". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. London: Routledge Publishing, 1973. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
  • Kinnard, Roy. Science Fiction Serials. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998. ISBN 0-7864-0545-7.
  • Mathis, Jack. Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. South Barrington, Illinois: Jack Mathis Advertising, 1995. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
  • Stedman, Raymond William. "5. Shazam and Good-by". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
  • Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. ISBN 0-517-166259.
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