nxyzptlk

Quatermass II is a British science fiction serial, originally broadcast by BBC Television in the autumn of 1955. It is the second in the Quatermass series by writer Nigel Kneale, and the oldest of those serials to survive in its entirety in the BBC archives. The serial sees Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group being asked to examine strange meteorite showers. His investigations lead to his uncovering a conspiracy involving alien infiltration at the highest levels of the British government. As even some of Quatermass's closest colleagues fall victim to the alien influence, he is forced to use his own unsafe rocket prototype, which recently caused a nuclear disaster at an Australian testing range, to prevent the aliens from taking over mankind. Although sometimes compared unfavourably to the first and third Quatermass serials, Quatermass II was praised for its allegorical concerns of the damaging effects of industrialisation and the corruption of governments by big business. It is described on the British Film Institute's Screenonline website as "compulsive viewing". CASTING AND CREW Reginald Tate, who had played the title role in The Quatermass Experiment, collapsed and died on 23 August 1955, aged 58. This was less than a month before the shooting of the location filming for Quatermass II began, and necessitated the casting of a replacement lead actor at short notice; John Robinson was chosen to fill the part. Robinson was an experienced actor from a range of different films and television programmes since the 1930s, but was uncomfortable about taking over from Tate, and had difficulty in learning some of the technical dialogue he was required to deliver. Robinson's delivery of his lines has been criticised by some later reviewers. Appearing as Quatermass's chief assistant Dr Leo Pugh was Welsh actor Hugh Griffith, who had been an actor on stage and screen since the 1930s, but gained his highest profile roles after Quatermass II; he went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Sheikh Ilderim in Ben-Hur (1959). He also appeared in Lucky Jim (1957) and Oliver! (1968). Monica Grey played Paula Quatermass; she was chosen by BBC management rather than the production team, as she was the wife of the BBC's head of radio drama, Val Gielgud. As Hugh Griffith also had problems with some of his technical dialogue, Grey learned his lines as well as her own, in case she needed to step in and assist him during the live performance. Dillon was played by John Stone; Stone too had a long career as a supporting actor in a range of British television series, and in 1956 had a small role in the film X the Unknown, which Hammer Film Productions had intended as a sequel to their version of The Quatermass Experiment, until Kneale denied them the rights to use the character. Four actors who each became well known for a particular role on British television had supporting parts in Quatermass II. Rupert Davies who played MP Vincent Broadhead would go on to find fame as Sûreté detective Commissaire Jules Maigret, the title character of 1960s TV series Maigret, based on Georges Simenon's novels. Roger Delgado, who found fame in the 1970s as the Master in Doctor Who (1971–73), played a journalist who helps Quatermass before falling victim to "the mark" in episode four. Wilfrid Brambell, later star of the sitcom Steptoe and Son (1962–74), appeared as a tramp. and Melvyn Hayes, who played the small role of Frankie, later worked in several films with Cliff Richard and starred in the BBC sitcom "It Ain't Half Hot, Mum!". Nigel Kneale not only wrote the serial but, previously an actor, had two speaking parts. He played the voice heard over the factory loudspeaker system in episode five, and narrated the recaps at the beginning of episodes two, three, four and six. Kneale went on to write feature film screenplays such as Look Back in Anger (1958) and First Men in the Moon (1964), as well as continuing to write for television, including two further Quatermass serials, until 1997. Kneale credited the director Rudolph Cartier with bringing to the screen in Quatermass II, with its ambitious location filming, an expansive style that had not been seen in British television drama beforehand. Cartier worked with Kneale again on the third Quatermass serial, Quatermass and the Pit, in 1958, and had subsequent successes with plays such as Anna Karenina (1961), Cross of Iron (1961) and Lee Oswald – Assassin (1966). He continued directing for television until the 1970s. EPISODES 1 "The Bolts"-- Meteorites are falling over Northern England, one of which is observed by an Army radar unit. After a farmer finds one of the objects in a field, the soldiers become directly involved, and Captain Johnny Dillon decides to unofficially ask the father of his fiancée, Paula, to investigate. Paula's father is Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Experimental Rocket Group – "the rocket man!", as one of Dillon's troops puts it. Quatermass and the Rocket Group, now including Paula and mathematical genius Dr. Leo Pugh, are recovering from the news that one of the two nuclear Quatermass II rockets has exploded during a ground test in Australia, killing hundreds of staff and ending their project to build permanent bases on the Moon. Quatermass agrees to accompany Dillon on an investigation and the pair visit the farmer, who refuses to talk and sends them away. At a pub, they find out that the nearby village of Winnerden Flats has been leveled to build an enormous industrial plant protected by armed guards, which is identical to Quatermass' moonbase design. Upon investigating a newly fallen meteorite, Dillon is sprayed with ammonia gas from it, and a distinctive mark appears on his face. 2 "The Mark"-- Similarly 'marked' armed guards arrive from the plant and take Dillon away. Whilst being taken Dillon threateningly tells Quatermass not to follow. After the guards' departure Quatermass speaks with a tramp, who explains that there used to be a small government research unit consisting of a few huts by Winnerden Flats, and that a year ago they expanded and bulldozed the village, and built the plant and a prefab town for the construction workers. At the prefab town, Quatermass sees that 'the mark' and strange behaviour are associated with those who find the fallen meteorites, but before he can find out more the community police order him away. Quatermass returns to the Rocket Group, where Leo has reconstructed the meteorite, which can carry ammonia and other gases and travel through the atmosphere to the ground in one piece. In London, the Metropolitan Police claim they have no jurisdiction over the matter, so he goes to his contact Fowler at the ministry, who reveals that the plant is a top secret project to make synthetic food, but Vincent Broadhead MP, who is conducting an inquiry into the project, reveals that there are identical plants in Brazil and Siberia. Upon gaining entry to the inquiry, Quatermass notices that one of the civil servants has 'the mark'. 3 "The Food"-- As he tries to investigate further, Quatermass finds that other figures in high levels of government have gained 'the mark' after coming across meteorites. Quatermass leaves the inquiry, then returns with Fowler to find that Broadhead has been 'marked' and now claims there is no problem with the project. Fowler takes Quatermass to meet with civil servant Rupert Ward, who has the authority to inspect the plant. Back at the Rocket Group, Leo and Paula deduce and discover with a radio telescope that an asteroid is orbiting the Earth invisibly and discharging the meteorites when it reaches the near point, 400 000 miles over Southern England every 14 hours. Ward helps Quatermass and Fowler gain entry to the plant and they find that Dillon has been discharged from the infirmary and has left. They then look around and discover that gases are pumped to the giant pressure domes from the pilot plant: ammonia, hydrogen, nitrogen and methane, as opposed to oxygen as in Quatermass' moonbase pressure dome idea. Meanwhile, the guards intimidate and then murder a family who were having a picnic nearby. Back at the plant, Ward slips away to look inside a dome, and Quatermass and Fowler find him stumbling out of it dying and covered in black slime, which before his death Ward reveals was inside the dome instead of food. Fowler and Quatermass escape back to the Rocket Group and analyse Ward's tie with Leo and Paula, finding that the slime is a corrosive, poisonous substance, fatal to all forms of life on Earth. Meanwhile, the asteroid is approaching its near point. 4 "The Coming" -- Quatermass deduces that an alien life-form which comes from one of the moons of Saturn, which lives on ammonia, hydrogen and methane, but to which oxygen is a deadly poison, travels to earth in the meteorites, and in the few seconds they spend out of their shells before dying they possess human minds, and transmit knowledge to each other in a collective consciousness. From this, they assume that it was the population of Winnderden Flats itself who demolished the village and built the plant. Quatermass decides that they can use the remaining Quatermass II rocket like a nuclear bomb and destroy the asteroid, much to Leo's protest at the rocket being unsafe to fly. Fowler tries to steal information about the other plants from the ministry, but is overcome and possessed by a makeshift meteorite hidden inside a filing cabinet. That night Quatermass travels with journalist Hugh Conrad to the prefab town where they meet with construction workers who say that work has been suspended for all except the 'zombies' ('marked' people). They claim that the meteorites are only over-shots from the plant after one of them lands in a pub. These recent meteorites are falling in hundreds and being collected by special guard teams then returned to the plant. Quatermass steals a guard's uniform from a lorry to gain entry to the plant. As he does this Conrad returns to the pub to telephone his newspaper and reveal everything about the secret alien invasion, but he becomes 'marked' before he can finish. The construction workers, however, hear what he says and decide to take action. Meanwhile, Quatermass is inside a pressure dome, where he sees guards putting meteorites into the tanks of poisonous slime that killed Ward, where together, in the recreated atmosphere of a distant world, they combine and grow into the first of the enormous ammonid alien creatures. 5 "The Frenzy"-- Quatermass is narrowly saved from discovery by the rioting construction workers, who storm the plant and along with him are besieged inside the gas distribution centre, where they pump oxygen into the completed pressure dome to poison the ammonids, however some of the workers succumb to propaganda from the plant controllers, who offer them the chance to see inside the dome. The guards kill them by blocking the pipe with their bodies. In anger, the remaining workers fire on the dome with a bazooka, igniting the hydrogen and subsequently destroying the entire plant, killing the ammonids and releasing ammonia gas into the surrounding area. Quatermass escapes the plant in a gas mask and meets up with Leo, whom he finds unconscious in his car nearby. With little time left to prevent more ammonids returning in meteorites, he and Leo are forced to use the Quatermass II to attempt to destroy the asteroid, despite the known flaws in the rocket's design and its liability to explode. They return to the Rocket Group, but British Paratroopers led by Johnny Dillon take control of the firing base. 6 "The Destroyers"-- The team invite Dillon up to the control room, where they see he has written orders from the very top, showing that the ammonids have long been in control of the government. They appeal to his human side to allow them to continue, which he does so after Leo tells him the rocket must launch. Despite both being old and unfit, Quatermass and Leo are the only two who have the scientific knowledge to make such a flight. They fly to the asteroid and land on it, but en route Quatermass finds out that the night the plant exploded Leo was possessed by the ammonids. Leo intends to kill Quatermass to prevent the destruction of the asteroid, and also to allow the ammonids to travel back to Earth en masse in the Quatermass II. He tries to kill Quatermass with a gun, but the recoil sends him floating helplessly off into space. Quatermass returns to the rocket and jettisons the nuclear motor, then flies the rocket back to Earth as the motor blows up the asteroid, killing the remaining ammonids and relinquishing control over Dillon and all the 'marked' humans, returning mankind to its former freedom.

Radar Men from the Moon is a 1952 Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and 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. This serial recycles the flying sequences from Republic's earlier 1949 serial King of the Rocket Men. It was later released by Republic in 1966 as the 100-minute television film Retik the Moon Menace. The odd naming choice of the serial's main hero, "Commando Cody," was possibly an attempt by Republic to make young audiences think they were seeing another adventure of Commander Corry, the hero of the popular ABC TV and radio series Space Patrol (1950–1955). However, there is no surviving evidence that this was a consideration by anyone at Republic.[3] PLOT Commando Cody with lunar tank Commando Cody (George Wallace) is a civilian researcher and inventor with a number of employees. He uses a streamlined helmet and an atomic-powered rocket backpack attached to a leather flying jacket. Cody also uses a rocket ship capable of reaching the Moon. When the U.S. finds itself under attack from a mysterious force that can wipe out entire military bases and industrial complexes, Cody surmises (correctly) that the Earth is coming under attack from our own Moon. He then flies his rocket ship there and confronts the Moon's "ruler", Retik (Roy Barcroft), who boldly announces his plans to both conquer Earth and then move the Moon's entire population here using spaceships and atomic weapons. Their weapons use a power superior to uranium which they call lunarium.[4] During the next 11 serial chapters, Cody, now back on Earth, and his associates Joan (Aline Towne), Ted (William Bakewell) and Dick (Gayle Kellogg) battle an elusive lunar agent named Krog (Peter Brocco) and his gang of human henchmen led by Graber (Clayton Moore) and Daly (Bob Stevenson), who use lunarium-powered ray cannons to disrupt defense forces and weaken public morale. After a second trip to the Moon, in which he captures a sample ray cannon for duplication in his lab, Cody tracks Retik's minions to their hideout where Krog is killed by one of his own devices, and Graber and Daly subsequently die in an over-the-cliff car chase. Retik flies to Earth to take personal charge of his collapsing operations but is blasted out of the sky by one of his own ray weapons. CHAPTER TITLES "Moon Rocket" (20 min) "Molten Terror" (13min 20s) "Bridge of Death" (13min 20s) "Flight to Destruction" (13min 20s) "Murder Car" (13min 20s) "Hills of Death" (13min 20s) "Camouflaged Destruction" (13min 20s) "The Enemy Planet" (13min 20s) "Battle in the Stratosphere" (13min 20s) "Mass Execution" (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter "Planned Pursuit" (13min 20s) "Death of the Moon Man" (13min 20s) CAST Duration: 20 minutes and 3 seconds.20:03 Radar Men From the Moon - Chapter 1: Moon Rocket 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 Don Walters as Govt. Agent Henderson

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT is a British television science-fiction serial transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the chief character, Professor Bernard Quatermass, reappeared in a 1979 ITV production called Quatermass. Like its predecessors, Quatermass and the Pit was written by Nigel Kneale. The serial continues the loose chronology of the Quatermass adventures. Workmen excavating a site in Knightsbridge, London, discover a strange skull and what at first appears to be an unexploded bomb. Quatermass and his newly appointed military superior at the British Rocket Group, Colonel Breen, become involved in the investigation when it becomes apparent that the object is an alien spacecraft. The ship and its contents have a powerful and malignant influence over many of those who come in contact with it, including Quatermass. He concludes that millions of years in the past the aliens, probably from Mars, had abducted pre-humans and modified them to give them psychic abilities much like their own before returning them to Earth, leaving a genetic legacy which is responsible for much of the war and racial strife in the world. The serial has been cited as having influenced Stephen King[1] and the film director John Carpenter.[2] It featured in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute, which described it as "completely gripping".[3] is a British television science-fiction serial transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the chief character, Professor Bernard Quatermass, reappeared in a 1979 ITV production called Quatermass. Like its predecessors, Quatermass and the Pit was written by Nigel Kneale. The serial continues the loose chronology of the Quatermass adventures. Workmen excavating a site in Knightsbridge, London, discover a strange skull and what at first appears to be an unexploded bomb. Quatermass and his newly appointed military superior at the British Rocket Group, Colonel Breen, become involved in the investigation when it becomes apparent that the object is an alien spacecraft. The ship and its contents have a powerful and malignant influence over many of those who come in contact with it, including Quatermass. He concludes that millions of years in the past the aliens, probably from Mars, had abducted pre-humans and modified them to give them psychic abilities much like their own before returning them to Earth, leaving a genetic legacy which is responsible for much of the war and racial strife in the world. The serial has been cited as having influenced Stephen King[1] and the film director John Carpenter. It featured in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute, which described it as "completely gripping". BACKGROUND The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and Quatermass II (1955), both written by Nigel Kneale, had been critical and popular successes for the BBC, and in early 1957 the corporation decided to commission a third serial. Kneale had left the BBC shortly before, but was hired to write the new scripts on a freelance basis. The British Empire had been in transition since the 1920s, and the pace accelerated in the wake of the Second World War. More and more member states demanded independence, and a series of crises erupted during the 1950s, including the 1952 Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and the Suez Crisis of 1956. During the same period immigration into Britain from the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean was on the increase, causing some resentment among elements of the British. At the time Kneale was working on his scripts black communities in Nottingham and London came under attack from mobs of white Britons. Kneale disdained most science-fiction works of the 1950s as overly escapist, and preferred to base his plots on current events. Kneale became keen to develop the serial as an allegory for the emerging racial tensions which culminated in the Notting Hill race riots of August and September 1958. Kneale was also inspired by the rebuilding of London in the 1950s. Huge pits were dug in the process of erecting new structures, and the digs found unexploded ordnance from the Blitz and the occasional Romano-British ruin. Kneale thought: "What if they uncovered a spaceship?" PLOT Workmen discover a pre-human skull while building in the fictional Hobbs Lane (formerly Hob's Lane, Hob being an antiquated name for the Devil) in Knightsbridge, London. Dr Matthew Roney, a palaeontologist, examines the remains and reconstructs a dwarf-like humanoid with a large brain volume, which he believes to be a primitive man. As further excavation is undertaken, something that looks like a missile is unearthed; further work by Roney's group is halted because the military believe it to be an unexploded Second World War bomb. Roney calls in his friend Professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Rocket Group to prevent the military from disturbing what he believes to be an archaeological find. Quatermass and Colonel Breen become intrigued by the site. Breen has recently been appointed, despite Quatermass's objections, to be nominally his deputy but in reality to lead the Rocket Group. As more of the artefact is uncovered additional fossils are found, which Roney dates to five million years ago, suggesting that the object is at least that old. The interior is empty, and a symbol of six intersecting circles, which Roney identifies as a pentacle, is etched on a wall that appears to conceal an inner chamber. The inner chamber wall of the object is so hard that even a borazon boron nitride drill makes no impression, and when the attempt is made, vibrations cause severe distress to people around the object. Quatermass interviews local residents and discovers reports of ghosts and poltergeists have been common in the area for decades. An hysterical soldier is carried out of the object, claiming to have seen a dwarf-like apparition walk through the wall of the artifact, a description that matches a 1927 newspaper account of a ghost. Following the drilling attempt, a hole opens up in the object's interior wall. Inside, Quatermass and the others find the remains of insect-like aliens resembling giant three-legged locusts, with stubby antennae on their heads giving the impression of horns. As Quatermass and Roney examine the remains, they theorise the aliens may have come from a planet habitable five million years ago - Mars. While clearing his equipment from the craft, the drill operator triggers more poltergeist activity, and runs through the streets in a panic until he finds sanctuary in a church. Quatermass and Roney find him there, and he describes visions of the insect aliens killing each other. As Quatermass investigates the history of the area, he finds accounts dating back to mediaeval times about devils and ghosts, all centred on incidents where the ground was disturbed. He suspects a psychic projection of these beings has remained on the alien ship and is being seen by those who come into contact with it. Quatermass decides to use Roney's optic-encephalogram, a device that records impressions from the optical centres of the brain, and see the visions for himself. Roney's assistant, Barbara Judd, is the most sensitive; placing the device on her, they record a violent purge of the Martian hive to root out unwanted mutations. Quatermass concludes that in its most primitive phase mankind was visited by this race of Martians. Some apes and primitive pre-humans were taken away and genetically altered to give them abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis and other psychic powers. They were then returned to Earth, and the buried artifact is one of the ships that had crashed at the end of its journey. With their home world dying, the aliens had tried to change humanity's ancestors to have minds and abilities similar to their own, but with a bodily form adapted to life on Earth; however, the aliens had become extinct before completing their work. As the human race bred and evolved, a percentage retained their psychic abilities which surfaced only sporadically. For centuries the buried ship had occasionally triggered those dormant abilities, which explained the reports of poltergeists; people were unknowingly using their own telekinesis to move objects around, and the ghost sightings were traces of a racial memory. The authorities, and Breen in particular, find this explanation preposterous despite being shown the recording of Barbara's vision. They instead suggest that the craft is a buried remnant from the London Blitz: a Nazi propaganda weapon, with the alien bodies fakes designed to create a panic. They decide to hold a media event to stem the rumours that are already spreading. Quatermass warns that if implanted psychic powers survive in the human race, there could also still be an ingrained compulsion to enact the "Wild Hunt" of a race purge, but the media event goes ahead regardless. The power cables that string into the craft fully activate it for the first time, and glowing and humming like a living thing it starts to draw upon this energy source and awaken the ancient racial programming. Those Londoners in whom the alien admixture remains strong fall under the ship's influence; they merge into a group mind and begin a telekinetic mass murder of those without the alien genes, an ethnic cleansing of those the alien race mind considers to be impure and weak. Breen stands transfixed and is eventually consumed by the energies from the craft as it slowly melts away and an image of a Martian "devil" floats in the sky above London. Fires and riots erupt. Quatermass himself succumbs to Martian influence and attempts to kill Roney, who lacks the alien gene and is immune to alien influence. Roney manages to shake Quatermass out of his trance, and remembering the legends of demons and their aversion to iron and water, proposes that a sufficient mass of iron connected to wet earth may be sufficient to short-circuit the apparition. Quatermass acquires a length of iron chain and tries to reach the "devil" but succumbs to its psychic pressure. Roney manages to walk up to the apparition and hurls the chain at it, resulting in him and the spacecraft being reduced to ashes. At the conclusion of the final episode Quatermass gives a television broadcast, at the end of which he delivers a warning directly to camera: "Every war crisis, witch hunt, race riot, and purge... is a reminder and a warning. We are the Martians. If we cannot control the [Martian] inheritance within us, this will be their second dead planet". Cast For the third time in as many serials the title role was played by a different actor, this time by André Morell; the part had initially been offered to Alec Clunes, but he declined. Morell had a reputation for playing authority figures, such as Colonel Green in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and had previously worked with Kneale and Cartier when he appeared as O'Brien in their BBC television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954). He had been the first actor offered the part of Quatermass, for the original serial The Quatermass Experiment in 1953; he turned the part down. Morell's portrayal of Quatermass has been described as the definitive interpretation of the character. Colonel Breen was played by Anthony Bushell, who was known for various similar military roles – including another bomb disposal officer in The Small Back Room (1949) – and preferred to be addressed as "Major Bushell", the rank he held during the Second World War. Roney was played by Canadian actor Cec Linder, John Stratton played Captain Potter, and Christine Finn played the other main character, Barbara Judd. Finn went on to provide the voices for various characters in the popular 1960s children's television series Thunderbirds. For the first time, Kneale used a character from a previous serial other than Quatermass himself, the journalist James Fullalove from The Quatermass Experiment. The production team had hoped that Paul Whitsun-Jones would be able to reprise the part; he was unavailable and Brian Worth was cast instead. Michael Ripper appeared as an army sergeant; he had been in Hammer Film Productions' adaptation of the second Quatermass serial, Quatermass 2, the previous year CHAPTERS 1 "The Halfmen" 2 "The Ghosts" 3 "Imps and Demons" 4 "The Enchanted" 5 "The Wild Hunt" 6 "'Hob'"

The Quatermass Xperiment (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown in the United States) is a 1955 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. The film was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy as the titular Professor Bernard Quatermass and Richard Wordsworth as the tormented Carroon. Jack Warner, David King-Wood, and Margia Dean appear in co-starring roles. The film concerns three astronauts who have been launched into space aboard a single-stage-to-orbit rocket designed by Professor Quatermass. It crashlands with only one of its original crew, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), still aboard. He begins mutating into an alien organism, which, if it spawns, will engulf the Earth and destroy humanity. After Carroon escapes from custody Quatermass and Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner) of Scotland Yard have just hours to track him/it down and prevent a catastrophe. Like its source TV serial, the film was a major success in the UK. It also brought public attention to Hammer Film Productions around the world. The film was released in the United States in a double feature with The Black Sleep. PLOT The rocket lands The British-American Rocket Group, headed by Professor Bernard Quatermass, launches its first manned rocket into outer space. Shortly thereafter, all contact is lost with the rocket and its three-man crew: Carroon, Reichenheim and Green. The large rocket later returns to Earth, crashing into an English country field. Quatermass and his assistant Marsh arrive at the scene. With them are the local emergency services, Carroon's wife Judith, Rocket Group physician Dr. Briscoe and Blake, a Ministry official who chides Quatermass repeatedly for launching the rocket without official permission. The rocket's hatch is finally opened, and the space-suited Carroon stumbles out. There is no sign of the other two crew. Carroon is in shock, only able to say the words, "Help me". Inside the rocket, Quatermass and Marsh find only the fastened but completely empty spacesuits of the two missing men. Carroon is taken to Briscoe's laboratory facility on the grounds that conventional hospitals and doctors would have no idea how to evaluate or treat the world's first returned astronaut, now suffering from some sort of adverse outer space event. Even under Briscoe's attentive care, Carroon remains mute, generally immobile, but alert with eyes that now have a feral and cunning quality. Briscoe discovers an oddly disfigured area on his shoulder and notices changes in his face, suggesting some sort of mutation of the underlying bone structure. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard Inspector Lomax has undertaken investigation of the other two men's disappearance and, having surreptitiously fingerprinted Carroon as a suspect, alerts Quatermass that the prints are like nothing human. At Judith's insistence that Briscoe is not helping her husband, Quatermass agrees to have Carroon transferred to a regular hospital, under guard. Marsh, meanwhile, has developed the film from the rocket's interior view camera, and Quatermass, Lomax and Briscoe watch it. The crew are seen for a time at their duties, then suddenly, something seems to buffet the ship heavily. After that, there is a nightmarish wavering distortion of the cabin's atmosphere, and the men react as if something frightening, yet not visible, is there with them. One by one they collapse, Carroon being the last. Quatermass and Briscoe determine from the evidence that something living in outer space has entered the spaceship, dissolved Reichenheim and Green in their sealed spacesuits, and evidently entered Carroon, who is now in the process of being transformed by this unknown entity. Not knowing any of this, Carroon's wife, Judith, hires a private investigator, Christie, to break her husband out of the secured hospital. The escape is successful, but not before Carroon smashes a potted cactus in his hospital room, which fuses to his flesh. In the lift he kills Christie and absorbs the life force in his body, leaving a shrivelled husk. Judith quickly discovers what is happening to her husband. Carroon disappears into the London night, leaving her unharmed, but completely traumatized. Inspector Lomax initiates a manhunt for Carroon, who goes to a nearby chemist's shop and kills the chemist, using his swollen, crusty, cactus-thorn-riddled hand and arm as a cudgel and leaving a twisted, empty man-husk to be found by the police. Quatermass theorizes that Carroon has taken select chemicals to "speed up a change going on inside of him". After hiding on a river barge, Carroon encounters a little girl, leaving her unharmed through sheer force of will. That night he is in the zoo, barely visible amongst some shadowed bushes, now with far less of his human form remaining. In the morning, scattered animal carcasses are found, their life forces having been absorbed, with a slime trail leading away from the zoo. Among the bushes, Quatermass and Briscoe also find a small but living remnant of Carroon, and take it back to their laboratory. Following an examination, Quatermass concludes that some kind of predatory alien life has completely taken over and will eventually release reproduction spores, endangering the entire planet. Carroon's final form in Westminster Abbey The remnant, having now grown much larger, breaks out of its glass cage, but dies of starvation on the floor. On a police tip from a vagrant, Lomax and his men track the Carroon mutation to Westminster Abbey, where it has crawled high up on a metalwork scaffolding. It is now a gigantic shapeless mass of combined animal and plant tissue with eyes, distended nodules, and tentacle-like fronds filled with spores. Quatermass arrives and orders London's electrical power centres be combined and the generated power quickly diverted to the Abbey. Heavy duty electrical cable is run and attached to the bottom of the metal scaffolding. The alien creature is incinerated in the electrocution before it can release its spores. The threat eliminated, Quatermass quickly walks out of the Abbey, preoccupied by his thoughts. He ignores all who ask questions. Marsh, his assistant, approaches and asks "What are you going to do?" Never breaking stride, Quatermass offhandedly replies, "I'm going to start again". He leaves Marsh behind, walking off into the dark, and sometime later a second manned rocketship roars into outer space. Cast Brian Donlevy as Prof. Bernard Quatermass Richard Wordsworth as Victor Carroon Jack Warner as Inspector Lomax David King-Wood as Dr. Gordon Briscoe Margia Dean as Mrs. Judith Carroon Maurice Kaufmann as Marsh Harold Lang as Christie Lionel Jeffries as Mr. Blake

King of the Rocket Men is a 1949 12-chapter movie serial from Republic Pictures,[2] produced by Franklin Adreon, directed Fred C. Brannon, that stars Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, Don Haggerty, House Peters, Jr., James Craven, and I. Stanford Jolley. This movie serial is notable for featuring the only character actually called "Rocket Man", a misnomer applied by fans to the other Republic rocket-powered heroes that followed in their later serials: Radar Men from the Moon (1952), Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953). Plot An evil genius of unknown identity, calling himself "Dr. Vulcan" (heard only as a voice and seen as a mysterious shadow on a brightly lit wall), plots to conquer the world. He needs to first eliminate, one by one, the members of the Science Associates, an organization of America's greatest scientists.[3] After narrowly escaping an attempt on his life by Vulcan, one member of Science Associates, Dr. Millard (James Craven) goes into hiding. He soon outfits another member, Jeff King (Tristram Coffin) with an advanced, atomic-powered rocket backpack, attached to a leather jacket with a bullet-shaped, aerodynamic flight helmet, and a raygun that they had been developing together. Using the flying jacket and helmet and other inventions provided by Dr. Millard, and aided by magazine reporter and photographer Glenda Thomas (Mae Clarke), Jeff King, as Rocket Man, battles Vulcan and his henchmen through a dozen action-packed Republic serial chapters. Eventually, Vulcan steals Millard's most dangerous invention, a Sonic Decimator, and uses it to flood, then destroy New York City. The mysterious Dr. Vulcan is eventually unmasked and brought to justice by Jeff King while in his Rocket Man persona. Chapter titles "Dr. Vulcan – Traitor" (20min) "Plunging Death" (13min 20s) "Dangerous Evidence" (13min 20s) "High Peril" (13min 20s) "Fatal Dive" (13min 20s) "Mystery of the Rocket Man" (13min 20s) "Molten Menace" (13min 20s) "Suicide Flight" (13min 20s) "Ten Seconds to Live" (13min 20s) "The Deadly Fog" (13min 20s), a re-cap chapter "Secret of Dr. Vulcan" (13min 20s) "Wave of Disaster" (13min 20s) Source:[1][4] Cast Tristram Coffin as Jeff King aka Rocket Man Mae Clarke as Glenda Thomas Don Haggerty as Tony Dirken House Peters, Jr. as Burt Winslow James Craven as Dr. Millard I. Stanford Jolley as Professor Bryant/Dr. Vulcan Stanley Price as Gunther Von Strum Ted Adams as Martin Conway Marshall Bradford as Dr. Graffner

Wild West Days (1937) is a Universal film serial based on a Western novel by W. R. Burnett. Directed by Ford Beebe and Clifford Smith and starring Johnny Mack Brown, George Shelley, Lynn Gilbert, Frank Yaconelli, Bob Kortman, Russell Simpson, and Walter Miller, it was the 103rd of the studio's 137 serials (and the 35th with sound), and was the first of three serials Brown made for the studio before being promoted to his own B-western series in 1939. Premise Larry and Lucy Munro own a ranch with a rich platinum deposit. Newspaper editor Matt Keeler as the head of a gang called "Secret Seven" wants the ranch for himself and has Larry framed for murder to get it. Frontiersman Kentucky Wade - with his pals Dude Hanford, Mike Morales and Trigger Benton - come to the Munros' aid. Cast Johnny Mack Brown as Kentucky Wade (as John Mack Brown) George Shelley as Dude Hanford Lynn Gilbert as Lucy Munro Frank Yaconelli as Mike Morales Bob Kortman as Trigger Benton (as Robert Kortman) Russell Simpson as Matt Keeler Walter Miller as Doc Hardy Charles Stevens as Buckskin Frank Frank McGlynn Jr. as Larry Munro (as Frank McGlynn) Francis McDonald as Assayer Purvis Al Bridge as Steve Claggett Chief Thunderbird as Chief Red Hatchet Robert McClung as Mouth Organ Kid [Chs. 8-11] Edward LeSaint as Sheriff (as Ed LeSaint) Joseph W. Girard as Judge Lawrence Jack Rube Clifford as Corey (as Jack Clifford) William Royle as Braden Bruce Mitchell as Rancher Tobe Driscoll Miki Morita as Chan, 2nd Cook [Chs. 7, 9, 11-12]

ighting with Kit Carson is a 1933 American pre-Code Mascot Pictures film serial. It was edited into a feature film by Al Dezel Productions in 1946 and released to theaters as a movie. Johnny Mack Brown starred as Kit Carson, and Betsy King Ross played his love interest, Joan Fargo. The film also starred Tully Marshall and both Noah Beery Sr. and Noah Beery Jr. PLOT: A wagon train led by Kit Carson is attacked by Kraft and his Mystery Riders. They are after a government shipment of gold carried by the wagons. Matt Fargo manages to hide the gold, but Carson must confront the Mystery Riders time after time to prevent them from finding and carrying away the treasure1. The film is filled with action, suspense, and daring escapades as Kit Carson fights to protect the gold and outwit the ruthless band of outlaws. Cast Johnny Mack Brown as Kit Carson Betsy King Ross as Joan Fargo, aka Johnny Fargo Noah Beery, Sr. as Cyrus Kraft Noah Beery, Jr. as Nakomas, son of Dark Eagle Tully Marshall as Jim Bridge Edmund Breese as Matt Fargo Al Bridge as Reynolds, a henchman Edward Hearn as Morgan, a henchman Lafe McKee as Luke Foster Jack Mower as Carter, a henchman posing as Johnny's benefactor Maston Williams as Chuck, knife-throwing henchman Lane Chandler as Army Sergeant Chapter titles The Mystery Riders The White Chief Hidden Gold The Silent Doom Murder Will Out The Secret of Iron Mountain The Law of the Lawless Red Phantoms The Invisible Enemy Midnight Magic Unmasked The Trail to Glory

Flaming Frontiers (1938) is a Universal movie serial starring Johnny Mack Brown. It was a remake of Heroes of the West (1932). It was re-edited into a TV series in 1966. Much of the material was reused in Lon Chaney Jr.'s 1942 serial Overland Mail. Synopsis Prospector Tom Grant discovers a rich gold vein up South. His findings however, soon attract landowner Bart Eaton. Tom's sister Mary heads for the gold fields with Eaton and his men following. Eaton teams up with Ace Daggett who plans to doublecross him and get the gold for himself. They then frame Tom for murder and then try to get him to sign over his claim. The scout Tex Houston is on hand, escaping the attempts on his life, saving Mary from various perils, and trying to bring in the real killer and clear Tom… Cast Johnny Mack Brown as Tex Houston Eleanor Hansen as Mary Grant James Blaine as Bart Eaton Charles Stevens as Henchman Breed William Royle as Henchman Crosby Edward Cassidy as Henchman Joe Jack Rutherford as Buffalo Bill Cody / Daggett Henchman Rand Charles Middleton as Ace Daggett Ralph Bowman as Tom Grant Chief Thundercloud as Thundercloud Horace Murphy as The Sheriff Karl Hackett as Daggett Henchman Jake Charles King as Daggett Henchman Blackie Jack Roper as Wolf Moran Bill Hazlett as Chief Spotted Elk James Farley as Wagonmaster Hawkins Eddy Waller as Andy Grant Production Along with Heroes of the West (1932) this serial was based on "The Tie That Binds" by Peter B. Kyne.[1] Chapter titles The River Runs Red Death Rides the Wind Treachery at Eagle Pass A Night of Terror Blood and Gold Trapped by Fire The Human Target The Savage Horde Toll of the Torrent In the Claws of the Cougar The Half Breed's Revenge The Indians Are Coming The Fatal Plunge Dynamite A Duel to the Death

Rustlers of Red Dog is a 1935 American Western film serial from Universal Pictures based on the book The Great West That Was by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. It was a remake of the earlier, 1930 serial The Indians are Coming. Plot Jack Wood and his pals make a journey across the West and come up against rustlers, Indian attacks and outlaw gangs. They make a journey across the West and come up against rustlers, Indian attacks and outlaw gangs. Cast Johnny Mack Brown as Jack Wood Joyce Compton as Mary Lee Raymond Hatton as Laramie Walter Miller as "Deacon" Harry Woods as "Rocky" Fred MacKaye as Snakey William Desmond as Ira Dale, the Wagonmaster Charles K. French as Tom Lee J.P. McGowan as Capt. Trent Lafe McKee as Bob Lee Edmund Cobb as Henchman Buck Chief Thundercloud as Chief Grey Wolf Chief Many Treaties as Indian Jim Thorpe as Chief Scarface Production Stunts Cliff Lyons George Magrill Frank McCarroll Wally West Chapter titles Hostile Redskins Flaming Arrows Thundering Hoofs [sic] Attack at Dawn Buried Alive Flames of Vengeance Into the Depths Paths of Peril The Snake Strikes Riding Wild The Rustlers Clash Law and Order

Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere is an American adventure horror science fiction film 15-chapter serial released by Columbia Pictures in 1951. It was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace A. Grissel with a screenplay by Royal G. Cole, Sherman I. Lowe and Joseph F. Poland, based on a treatment by George H. Plympton. The serial is unique for several reasons--- in particular, it is the only film serial ever based on a television program, Captain Video and His Video Rangers. In this film, an extraterrestrial dictator plans to conquer the planet Earth by orchestrating climate change on a planetary scale. Plot Judd Holdren, in what was only his second starring screen role, plays Captain Video, the leader of a group of crime-fighters known as the Video Rangers. He faces an interplanetary menace, as the evil dictator of the planet Atoma, Vultura (Gene Roth) and his lackey, the traitorous earth scientist Dr. Tobor (George Eldredge) are planning to conquer the planet Earth, by controlling the weather. Climate change is the aliens' weapon. Cast Judd Holdren as Captain Video Larry Stewart as Ranger George Eldredge as Dr. Tobor Gene Roth as Vultura Don C. Harvey as Gallagher (as Don Harvey) William Fawcett as Alpha [Chs. 1–3,7,15] Jack Ingram as Henchman Aker [Chs. 1,7,10–14] I. Stanford Jolley as Zorol [Chs. 8–9] Skelton Knaggs as Retner Jimmy Stark as Ranger Rogers Rusty Wescoatt as Henchman Beal [Chs. 1,7,11] Zon Murray as Henchman Elko [Chs. 1,7,10–14] Production Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere was the only serial adapted from television. It was one of Katzman's first forays into science fiction and was soon followed by The Lost Planet. As produced by Sam Katzman, the serial had a production budget much larger than the famously small budget of the DuMont Television Network's live daily television series. Captain Video and his teenaged sidekick, the otherwise nameless "Video Ranger" (Larry Stewart), must make frequent visits both to Atoma and to another distant planet, Theros. Both Atoma and Theros are filmed at Bronson Canyon, and Vasquez Rocks, so to distinguish the two, the Atoma footage is tinted pink and the Theros footage is tinted green in the original release prints. These colored scenes were processed by Cinecolor. This was the second of only three science fiction serials released by Columbia. The third, The Lost Planet (1953), is a virtual sequel although with different character names. Release Theatrical Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere was very successful when first released to theaters, and kept playing long after other serials had been retired to the vaults. It is one of only two serials that Columbia reissued three times (in 1958, 1960, and 1963). Chapter titles Journey into Space Menace of Atoma Captain Video's Peril Entombed in Ice Flames of Atoma Astray in the Stratosphere Blasted by the Atomic Eye Invisible Menace Video Springs a Trap Menace of the Mystery Metal Weapon of Destruction Robot Rocket Mystery of Station X Vengeance of Vultura Video vs. Vultura

Zombies of the Stratosphere is a 1952 colorless Republic Studios serial directed by Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and special effects by Republic's Lydecker brothers. It was intended to be Republic's second serial 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, so that the Martians can move a dying Mars into a much closer orbital position to the Sun. As in Radar Men from the Moon (also released in 1952), much of the screen time for each of the dozen chapters is spent on fistfights and car chases between the heroes and a gang of earthly crooks hired by renegade scientist Dr. Harding and his extraterrestrial colleague Marex to steal and stockpile the Atomic supplies needed for construction of the H-bomb. The serial is notable as one of the first screen appearances of a young Leonard Nimoy, who plays Narab, one of the three Martian invaders. In 1958, a feature film titled Satan's Satellites, was made by editing down the serial's footage from 167 minutes to a 70 minute runtime. Plot Larry Martin, a leader in the Inter-Planetary Patrol, detects a rocketship coming to Earth. He takes to the air in his jet-powered flying suit and helmet to investigate and discovers Martian invaders, led by Marex. With Mars now orbiting too far away from the Sun, its ecology has been dying. The Martian invaders want to swap the orbital positions of Earth and Mars so that Mars will 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 positions. They will do so using specifically placed atomic explosions on both worlds. Martin also learns the Martians have Earth accomplices, the traitorous Dr. Harding and two gangsters, Roth and Shane, who bedevil him and his associates, Sue Davis and Bob Wilson. The Martians set up a base in a cave that can only be reached from underwater, where they begin constructing their H bomb. They make a remotely-controlled robot to supplement their human operatives in acquiring the necessary supplies and funds to complete the project. Eventually, Larry and his comrades gain the upper hand: Marex kills Harding when he attempts to surrender. Roth and Shane are killed when Larry turns the robot against them, while the Martians are brought down in flames in their rocketship after a furious stratosphere raygun battle with Larry in his spaceship. Marex's Martian aide, Narab, survives the crash and tells Larry where to find the underwater cave with the activated H-bomb. Larry arrives just in time to defuse the bomb, seconds before it would have exploded. Cast Judd Holdren as Larry Martin Aline Towne as Sue Davis Wilson Wood as Bob Wilson Lane Bradford as Marex Stanley Waxman as Dr Harding John Crawford as Roth Ray Boyle as Shane Craig Kelly as Mr Steele Leonard Nimoy as Narab Robert Garabedian as Elah Production Zombies of the Stratosphere was scripted as a sequel to the successful Radar Men from the Moon serial (1952), which introduced an original flying superhero, Commando Cody, played by George Wallace. Republic interrupted production on a planned TV series, also built around that character, titled Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, with Judd Holdren now starring as Cody. Just as filming began on the Zombies serial, the name of the hero was changed from "Commando Cody" to "Larry Martin", but he retains the same sidekicks (also renamed), high-tech props, and laboratory facilities that Cody had in the previous Radar Men from the Moon serial. An addition to the "rocket man" back-pack and helmet, and 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 bulky 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 (1955) for the shortest filming period of all Republic serials. The serial's production number was 1933. 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) serial, 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 Republic's earlier, The Purple Monster Strikes (1945) serial. The robot was first seen in Republic's Undersea Kingdom (1936) and prominently featured in their Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) serials. Stunts Dale Van Sickel as Larry Martin (doubling Judd Holdren) Tom Steele 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 slightly oversized dummy running along an angled wire, were first used in Republic's serials: Darkest Africa (1936) and with even greater impact in Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941). Releases Zombies of the Stratosphere's official release date was July 16, 1952, although this was actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to theatrical film exchanges. This was followed by the theatrical release of Commando Cody, which had been filmed around the time as Zombies, but as a twelve-episode TV miniseries. (Because of Republic's theatrical contract requirements, Commando Cody was released as twelve weekly movie serial chapters. Judd Holdren played the now masked Cody and Aline Towne appeared again as Joan Gilbert.) A 70-minute feature film version of Zombies, created by heavily editing down the serial footage, was released on March 28, 1958 under the title Satan's Satellites as a double feature with Missile Monsters. Television Zombies of the Stratosphere was one of two Republic serials later colorized for 1990s television broadcast.[1] The original will be colorized in the future.

Dusty Bates is a 1947 British, Technicolor, children's serial, directed by Darrell Catling and starring Ronald Shiner as 'Squeaky' Watts and Anthony Newley in the title role. It was produced by Gaumont-British Instructional and Children's Entertainment Films. The film was also presented by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. The story was filmed in five untitled parts. The film score was created by Jack Beaver. This extremely rare, well-produced, 1947 cliffhanger for "children of all ages" features the film debut of future superstar Anthony Newley. The following year he would gain fame for his role as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's classic Oliver Twist. As an adult, he achieved success as a composer, winning the 1963 Grammy for "What Kind of Fool Am I," and composing hit songs including "Goldfinger" and "Candyman." The Adventures Of Dusty Bates also features Bernard Lee, best remembered as "M" in numerous James Bond features. Runaway orphan "Dusty Bates" is taken in by Captain Ford and his wife. He joins the Ford children, Gill and David, in forming a secret society, "the Silent Three," dedicated to solving mysteries and fighting crime. The kids find themselves deep in intrigue when Dusty observes jewel smugglers aboard Captain Fords' ship blackmailing his own uncle Hank into helping them. The children must find a way to help Dusty's uncle, without getting themselves killed by the desperate outlaw gang. CAST: Billie Brooks Gill Ford Anthony Newley Dusty Bates (as Tony Newley) Michael McKeag David Ford Grace Arnold Mrs. Ford Bernard Lee Captain Ford Dennis Harkin Stark Ralph Truman Merryvale John Longden Tod Jenkins Tony Arpino Walrus Ronald Shiner 'Squeaky' Watts Wally Patch Uncle Hank Miller Frank Atkinson Worker at Gas Works (uncredited) Andreas Malandrinos Captain (uncredited) John Newland Insp. White (uncredited) Desmond Roberts Ginger Green (uncredited)

Superman is a 1948 15-part Columbia Pictures film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn (billed on-screen only by his character's name, Superman; but credited as Kirk Alyn on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. Like Batman (1943), it is notable as the first live-action appearance of Superman on film, and for the longevity of its distribution. The serial was directed by Thomas Carr, who later directed many early episodes of the Adventures of Superman television series, and Spencer Gordon Bennet, produced by Sam Katzman, and shot in and around Los Angeles, California. It was originally screened at movie matinées, and after the first three scene-setting chapters, every episode ends in a cliffhanger. The Superman-in-flight scenes are animations, in part due to the small production budget. A "tremendous" financial success,[1] the serial was a popular success that made Kirk Alyn famous and launched Noel Neill's career. A sequel serial, Atom Man vs. Superman, also directed by Bennet, was released in 1950. Plot Superman is sent to Earth by his parents just as the planet Krypton blows up and is later raised as Clark Kent by a farm couple. They discover that he has great powers so they send him off to use his powers to help those in need. After his foster parents die, the Man of Steel heads to Metropolis under the bespectacled guise of Kent and joins the staff of the Daily Planet in order to be close to the news. Soon after he is sent out to get the scoop on a new rock that a man has found that he calls Kryptonite, and Clark passes out; then and there Superman discovers that his weakness is Kryptonite. Whenever emergencies happen, he responds in his true identity as Superman. This first serial revolves around the nefarious plot of a villain who calls herself the Spider Lady.[2] Cast Cinema advertising the Superman movie (The Hague, 1950). Kirk Alyn as Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman Mason Alan Dinehart as young Clark Kent Noel Neill as Lois Lane Pierre Watkin as Perry White Tommy Bond as Jimmy Olsen Carol Forman as Spider Lady Herbert Rawlinson as Dr. Graham Forrest Taylor as Professor Arnold Leeds Nelson Leigh as Jor-El Luana Walters as Lara Edward Cassidy as Eben Kent Virginia Carroll as Martha Kent Alyn, Neill, Watkin, and Bond reprised their roles in the 1950 sequel, Atom Man vs. Superman. Production Kirk Alyn as Superman Republic Pictures tried twice to produce a Superman serial. The first attempt was replaced by Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940), when licensing negotiations with Superman publisher National Comics (later called DC Comics) failed. A second attempt was advertised for a 1941 release, but this time, two obstacles doomed production. National Comics insisted on absolute control of the script and production, and the rights to Superman were already committed to the Paramount cartoon series.[1] Sam Katzman acquired the live-action rights in 1947. He tried to sell them to Universal, but they no longer made serials by then. He also tried to sell to Republic, but they claimed that "a superpowerful flying hero would be impossible to adapt"—despite having already successfully done just that with Adventures of Captain Marvel in 1941. Also, Republic was no longer buying properties for adaptation by 1947. Columbia accepted the offer.[1] Sam Katzman found Kirk Alyn after looking through photographs, but had a hard time selling the idea of casting Alyn to Whitney Ellsworth, National Comics' representative on the project. This was made even worse when Alyn came in for a screen test, sporting a goatee and moustache (as he was also shooting another project, a historical film). These initial reservations were eventually overcome, and Alyn got the part. Columbia's advertising claimed that it could not get an actor to fill the role, so it had "hired Superman himself", and Kirk Alyn was merely playing Clark Kent. George Plympton added a joke to script, substituting the Lone Ranger's "Hi-Yo Silver!" for the traditional "Up, up, and away". This did not survive in the script long enough to actually be filmed.[1] The Superman costume was grey and brown, instead of blue and red, because those colors photographed better on black and white film. It was never explained why his costume is shown as red and green on the one-sheet posters' Episode 1, "Superman Comes to Earth", features a line delivered by Edward Cassidy (as Eben Kent) to Kirk Alyn (as foster son Clark Kent): "Because of these great powers - your speed and strength, your x-ray vision and super-sensitive hearing - you have a great responsibility". Fourteen years later, Stan Lee's Amazing Fantasy #15 introduced Spider-Man and popularized the motto, "With great power comes great responsibility". Special effects Superman's flight sequences were animated instead of live-action or model work. Harmon and Glut consider this to be the weakest point of the serial, explaining that the effects created by Republic for Adventures of Captain Marvel were more convincing or more routine ones for the Superman TV series.[1] While there were other effective special effects, in their opinion, they were undermined by the poorness of the flying sequences. The film crew did test an alternative method of filming the flying sequences: Kirk Alyn spent an entire day painfully suspended by visible wires in front of a rear projection of moving clouds. Displeased with the results, Katzman fired the entire flight sequence production staff, and used the animated method instead. A peculiar characteristic of the mix of animated and live-action footage is that Superman's take-offs are almost always visible in the foreground, while his landings almost always occur behind objects, such as parked cars, rocks, and buildings. It was easier to shift from live footage of Kirk Alyn starting to take off, to animated footage, than it was to shift from an animated landing to live footage of the actor. As a consequence of the need to hide Superman's landings, Superman frequently lands at some distance from where he wants to be, and must run to arrive on-scene. Budget limitations also dictated the frequent re-use of film footage, especially scenes of Superman flying. For example, one sequence showing Superman flying over a rocky hill (a shot of Stoney Point in Southern California's San Fernando Valley) was used at least once in almost every episode of the first serial. Stunts Alyn's stunt double was Paul Stader. He had to perform only one stunt in the entire serial, leaping from the back of a truck. He almost broke his leg during this stunt, and had to leave the production. Home media The Superman serial was first made available for purchase on VHS videotape in 1987 as a double tape box set. The serial was also offered available in two separate VHS tapes as "Volume 1" (Chapters 1 to 7) and "Volume 2" (Chapters 8 to 15). It was officially released on DVD by Warner Home Video, along with its sequel Atom Man vs. Superman, on November 28, 2006 as Superman: The Theatrical Serials Collection. Warner released the serials rather than Columbia, as Warner's subsidiary DC Comics acquired the rights to the serials several years beforehand. With the previous 2006 DVD release out of print for a few years, the serials were re-released as manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD from Warner Archive Collection on October 9, 2018. Chapter titles Superman Comes To Earth Depths Of The Earth The Reducer Ray Man Of Steel A Job For Superman Superman In Danger Into The Electric Furnace Superman To The Rescue Irresistible Force Between Two Fires Superman's Dilemma Blast In The Depths Hurled To Destruction Superman At Bay The Payoff

The Green Hornet Strikes Again! is a 1941 Universal black-and-white 15 chapter movie serial based on The Green Hornet radio series by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. It is a superhero-themed story about the eponymous superhero, the Green Hornet. It is a sequel to Universal's earlier serial The Green Hornet (1940). This was the 117th serial (the 49th with sound) of the 137 that Universal produced. The plot involves racketeering and is unusual for a movie serial by having mostly stand-alone chapters instead of each running into the next; this was also the case for Universal's first Green Hornet serial Plot Wealthy publisher Britt Reid and his trusted Korean valet and sidekick disguise themselves as the crime fighting vigilantes, The Green Hornet and Kato. Over the course of 15 chapters, they battle the growing power of ruthless crime lord "Boss" Crogan and his varied rackets and henchmen across the city. Unknown to them, Crogan also has strong ties to foreign powers unfriendly to the United States. Cast Warren Hull as Britt Reid and his alter ego The Green Hornet. Hull replaced Gordon Jones in this role and also provided the voice of the Hornet (instead of radio voice Al Hodge in the original serial).[3] Wade Boteler as Michael Axford, Britt Reid's bodyguard Anne Nagel as Lenore "Casey" Case, Britt Reid's secretary Keye Luke as Kato, the Green Hornet's sidekick Eddie Acuff as Ed Lowery, a reporter Pierre Watkin (listed in the credits as "Pierre Watkins") as Boss Crogan, racketeer James Seay as Bordine, one of Boss Crogan's henchmen Arthur Loft as Tauer, Boss Crogan's chief henchman Joe Devlin as Dolan, one of Boss Crogan's henchmen William Hall as DeLuca, one of Boss Crogan's henchmen Dorothy Lovett as Frances Grayson, an aluminum heiress, and Stella Meris, an actress hired to replace her Chapter titles Flaming Havoc The Plunge of Peril The Avenging Heavens A Night of Terror Shattering Doom The Fatal Flash Death in the Clouds Human Targets The Tragic Crash Blazing Fury Thieves of the Night Crashing Barriers The Flaming Inferno Racketeering Vultures Smashing the Crime Ring

Captain Midnight is a 1942 American serial film. It was Columbia Pictures 17th released serial and was based upon the radio adventure serial of the same name, broadcast from 1938 to 1949. Captain Midnight was only one of the many aviation serials released during World War II, whose leading characters were derived from early pulp magazines and radio show favorites. Plot Captain Albright is an extremely skilled aviator, better known by his alter ego as Captain Midnight. He is assigned to neutralize the sinister Ivan Shark, an evil enemy scientist who is aerial bombing major American cities with his unmarked aircraft. Captain Midnight leads the Secret Squadron, whose staff includes Chuck Ramsay, Midnight's ward, and Ichabod 'Icky' Mudd, the Squadron's chief mechanic. Shark has developed a highly efficient mercenary organization. He is aided by his daughter, Fury, his highly intelligent second in command, and Gardo the henchman, and Fang, an Asian ally. Shark is after a new aviation range finder invented by the altruistic scientist, John Edwards, whose beautiful daughter, Joyce, they attempt to capture in order to blackmail the patriotic inventor. Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron continually battle the henchmen, thwarting Shark's evil plans, while avoiding destruction at every turn by making daring escapes during the serial's 15 weekly chapters. Cast Dave O'Brien as Captain Albright / Captain Midnight Dorothy Short as Joyce Edwards James Craven as Ivan Shark Sam Edwards as Chuck Ramsey Guy Wilkerson as Ichabod 'Icky' Mudd Bryant Washburn as John Edwards Luana Walters as Fury Shark Joe Girard as Major Steel (as Joe Girard) Ray Teal as Borgman - Henchman #8 George Pembroke as Dr. James Jordan Chuck Hamilton as Martel, Henchman #7 (as Charles Hamilton) Al Ferguson as Gardo- Henchman #5 Chapter titles Mysterious Pilot The Stolen Range Finder The Captured Plane Mistaken Identity Ambushed Ambulance Weird Waters Menacing Fates Shells of Evil The Drop to Doom The Hidden Bomb Sky Terror Burning Bomber Death in the Cockpit Scourge of Revenge The Fatal Hour

Burn 'Em Up Barnes is a 1934 American Pre-Code movie serial produced and distributed by Mascot Pictures, along with a feature version of the serial bearing the same title. It was a loose remake of the 1921 silent film of the same name. Plot Marjorie Temple, owner of a school bus line and an apparently worthless plot of land, is set upon by rich oil speculators who know her land actually is worth millions. When they try to put her out of business for good, race driver Burn 'em Up Barnes and his young friend come to her rescue. Cast Jack Mulhall as Burn-'em-Up Barnes, racing driver nicknamed the "King of the Dirt Track" and shortly the co-owner of the Temple Barnes Transportation school bus company Frankie Darro as Bobbie Riley, Barnes' kid sidekick and ward following his brother's accidental death Lola Lane as Marjorie Temple, owner of the Temple (later Temple Barnes) Transportation school bus company and land with a hidden wealth of oil Julian Rivero as Tony, Marjorie's bumbling Italian-accented mechanic Edwin Maxwell as Lyman Warren Jason Robards as John Drummond, crooked race promoter who knows that Marjorie's land is really worth millions and will stop at nothing to get it Francis McDonald as Ray Ridpath, villainous driver working for Drummond Chapter titles King of the Dirt Tracks The Newsreel Murder The Phantom Witness The Celluloid Clue The Decoy Driver The Crimson Alibi Roaring Rails The Death Crash The Man Higher Up The Missing Link Surrounded The Fatal Whisper DVD release Burn 'Em Up Barnes was released on Region 0 DVD by Alpha Video on November 27, 2007.[ A feature-length version of the serial was released on Region 0 DVD-R by Alpha Video on October 30, 2012, but this is not the same as the feature version originally prepared by Mascot Pictures; its origins are unknown. The 1921 silent version of the serial was released on Region 0 DVD-R by Alpha Video on July 7, 2015.

The Green Hornet is a 1940 black-and-white 13-chapter movie serial from Universal Pictures, produced by Henry MacRae, directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor, starring Gordon Jones, Wade Boteler, Keye Luke, and Anne Nagel. The serial is based on The Green Hornet radio series by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Plot Britt Reid, the new publisher of The Sentinel newspaper, secretly becomes the vigilante crime fighter The Green Hornet. Backing him up is his Korean valet and inventor Kato. Together, they investigate and expose several separate underworld rackets. During the course of 13 serial chapters, these high-profile events lead the Hornet and Kato into continued conflict with the henchmen of "The Chief", the hidden mastermind behind a 12-person criminal syndicate controlling those rackets. Cast Gordon Jones as Britt Reid and The Green Hornet Al Hodge as the (uncredited) voice of the Green Hornet Wade Boteler as Michael Axford Keye Luke as Kato. Kato is Korean in the serial rather than being the original Japanese character of the radio series, due to rising anti-Japanese sentiment around the world. This was two years prior to Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II. The radio show dropped Kato's nationality from the introductory sequence, included passing references in dialogue to his character being Filipino, and years later, after the war, returned to the standard show introduction. Anne Nagel as Leonore Case Phillip Trent as Jasper Jenks Cy Kendall as Curtis Monroe aka 'The Chief' Stanley Andrews as Police Commissioner [Chs.1,5,8,9,13] Selmer Jackson as District Attorney [Chs.4,10] Joseph Crehan as Judge Stanton [Chs.1,9,10,13] Walter McGrail as Dean Gene Rizzi as Corey John Kelly as Pete Hawks Eddie Dunn as D.H. Sligby [Ch.7] Edward Earle as Felix Grant [Ch.1] Ben Taggart as Phil Bartlett [Chs.3-4] Clyde Dilson as Meadows [Ch.5] Jerry Marlowe as Bob Stafford [Chs.7,11] Frederick Vogeding as Max Gregory [Ch.11] (as Fredrik Vogeding) Raymond Bailey as Mr. West Chapter titles The Tunnel of Terror The Thundering Terror Flying Coffins Pillar of Flame The Time Bomb Highways of Peril Bridge of Disaster Dead or alive The Hornet Trapped Bullets and Ballots Disaster Rides the Rails Panic in the Zoo Doom of the Underworld Alternative versions In 1990, under the same title, GoodTimes Home Video released a feature-length version of the serial on VHS tape, re-edited from the footage in the last six chapters. Under the title The Green Hornet: Movie Edition, VCI Entertainment released its version of the serial on DVD, January 11, 2011, which includes the first and last chapter and selected other chapters. Influence The 1960s Batman television series was created because of the popularity of a re-release of Columbia's Batman serial. The success of both led to the production of a Green Hornet TV series, which was played as a straight action crime series, "in the tradition of its former presentations", rather than the campy Batman series. It was cancelled after only one season.

The Galloping Ghost is a 1931 American pre-Code Mascot serial film co-directed by B. Reeves Eason and Benjamin H. Kline. The title is the nickname of the star, real life American football player Red Grange. Serial historian Raymond William Stedman lists Lon Chaney Jr. as appearing in Ghost in a small uncredited part as a henchman, but this has never been verified. Plot Red Grange is thrown off the Clay College football team in disgrace when his friend, Buddy Courtland, takes a bribe to throw the big game and Red attacks him in anger. Red then proceeds to investigate and hunt down the head of the gambling ring responsible, a criminal enterprise operated out of the Mogul Taxi company offices. Red eventually clears his name, and both he and Buddy are reinstated on the team. Cast Harold 'Red' Grange as Red Grange, Clay College football star Ralph Bushman as Buddy Courtland Dorothy Gulliver as Barbara Courtland (Red's girlfriend) Tom Dugan as Jerry, Red's sidekick Gwen Lee as Irene Courtland, Buddy's wife Theodore Lorch as Dr. Julian Blake, brain surgeon Walter Miller as George Elton Edward Hearn as Coach Harlow Edward Peil, Sr. as Coach of Baxter Team Stepin Fetchit as Snowball Wilfred Lucas as a Sportscaster Frank Brownlee as Tom, garage manager Ernie Adams as Brady, henchman Dick Dickinson as Mogul Taxi Clerk, henchman Tom London as Mullins, henchman Yakima Canutt as a henchman (uncredited) Lon Chaney Jr. as a henchman (uncredited) - unverified Fred Toones as a Football Fan (uncredited) Production Grange received this starring role thanks to his business manager, and theater owner, Frank Zambrino. The serial took three weeks to film and Grange earned $4,500 overall. Director B. Reeves Eason was reportedly fired during filming and replaced by the uncredited Benjamin H. Kline.[citation needed] Stunts This serial was filmed at a time before "stuntmen did mostly everything" which meant that Grange had to do a lot of his own stunts.[3] Chapter titles The Idol of Clay Port of Peril The Master Mind The House of Secrets The Man Without a Face The Torn $500 Bill When the Lights Went Out The Third Degree Sign in the Sky The Vulture's Lair The Radio Patrol The Ghost comes Back

The Invisible Monster is a 1950 Republic film serial, starring Richard Webb and Aline Towne. Plot A would-be dictator and scientist, known only as The Phantom Ruler, has developed a formula which, when sprayed on some solid object, renders that object and everything it contains invisible when exposed to rays emitted by a special lamp, also his own invention.[2] Covered from head to toe in formula-treated cloth, he thus moves about unseen, presently with the objective of stealing enough money and formula components to render an entire army of willing followers invisible. Two henchmen assist him, along with several illegal aliens smuggled into the US by him and used to infiltrate, as employees, possible sites for him to later rob while invisible. When he successfully robs a bank vault, an investigator from the bank's insurer teams up with a woman police detective to solve the mystery of the money which to all outside appearances has just vanished. Tracking clues and interrupting other attempts by the Phantom Ruler to commit crimes, the protagonists round up enough evidence that they are not merely dealing with an ordinary crime ring. Eventually they discover the invisibility fluid and lamp, and the Phantom Ruler is killed when he trips over an open high-power electric cable he had laid on the floor of his den to do in the forces of law and order closing in upon him. Cast Richard Webb as Lane Carson Aline Towne as Carol Richards Lane Bradford as Burton Stanley Price as The Phantom Ruler. The villain of the serial uses the trappings of the Mystery Villain but his identity is revealed to the audience in the first chapter.[3] John Crawford as Harrison George Meeker as Harry Long Production The Invisible Monster was budgeted at $153,070 although the final negative cost was $152,115 (a $955, or 0.6%, under spend).[1] It was filmed between March 7 and 30, 1950 under the working title The Phantom Ruler.[1] The serial's production number was 1707.[1] Stunts Tom Steele as Lane Carson (doubling Richard Webb) Dale Van Sickel as Harry Long (doubling George Meeker) Special effects Special effects created by the Lydecker brothers. Release Theatrical The Invisible Monster's official release date is May 10, 1950, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1] Television The Invisible Monster was one of twenty-six Republic serials edited to a uniform runtime of 100 minutes and syndicated directly to television as a package of TV Movies in 1966. The title of this new version was Slaves of the Invisible Monster.[1] Critical reception Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie."[4] In Creature Feature, this movie serial was given three out of five stars, stating that the movie villain is incredibly inept and rarely uses his creation intelligently, and that the entire series is naive, but that there was an underlying sense of non-stop fun.[5] Chapters The Invisible Monster has 12 chapters. The first chapter is 20 minutes long, and each one thereafter is 13 minutes, 20 seconds.[1][6] Chapter 10, "High Voltage Danger", is a recap of all previous episodes. Slaves of the Phantom The Acid Clue The Death Car Highway Holocaust Bridge to Eternity Ordeal by Fire Murder Train Window of Peril Trail to Destruction High Voltage Danger (clip show) Death's Highway The Phantom Meets Justice

The Last of the Mohicans is a 1932 American pre-Code Mascot movie serial based on the 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper. Cast Harry Carey as Natty Bumppo/Hawkeye Hobart Bosworth as Chingachgook, 'the Sagamore' Junior Coghlan as Uncas Edwina Booth as Cora Munro Lucile Browne as Alice Munro Walter Miller as Major Duncan Heyward Bob Kortman as Magua Walter McGrail as Dulac, the French spy Nelson McDowell as David Gamut; McDowell also played the part of David Gamut in the 1920 silent film of the same name Edward Hearn as Colonel Munro Mischa Auer as General Montcalm Yakima Canutt as Black Fox (and other supporting roles) Production The Last of the Mohicans was adapted from the novel by James Fenimore Cooper.[1] Chapter titles Wild Waters Flaming Arrows Rifle or Tomahawk Riding with Death Red Shadows Lure of Gold Crimson Trail Tide of Battle Redskins' Honor The Enemy's Stronghold Paleface Magic End of the Trail

Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphereis an Americanadventurehorrorscience fiction film15-chapterserialreleased byColumbia Picturesin 1951. It was directed bySpencer Gordon Bennetand Wallace A. Grissel with a screenplay by Royal G. Cole, Sherman I. Lowe and Joseph F. Poland, based on a treatment byGeorge H. Plympton. The serial is unique for several reasons--- in particular, it is the only film serial ever based on a television program,Captain Video and His Video Rangers. In this film, an extraterrestrial dictator plans to conquer the planetEarthby orchestratingclimate changeon a planetary scale. Plot[edit] Judd Holdren, in what was only his second starring screen role, plays Captain Video, the leader of a group of crime-fighters known as the Video Rangers. He faces an interplanetary menace, as the evil dictator of the planet Atoma, Vultura (Gene Roth) and his lackey, the traitorous earth scientist Dr. Tobor (George Eldredge) are planning to conquer the planetEarth, by controlling the weather.Climate changeis the aliens' weapon. Cast[edit] Judd Holdrenas Captain Video Larry Stewart as Ranger George Eldredgeas Dr. Tobor Gene Rothas Vultura Don C. Harveyas Gallagher (as Don Harvey) William Fawcettas Alpha [Chs. 1–3,7,15] Jack Ingramas Henchman Aker [Chs. 1,7,10–14] I. Stanford Jolleyas Zorol [Chs. 8–9] Skelton Knaggsas Retner Jimmy Stark as Ranger Rogers Rusty Wescoattas Henchman Beal [Chs. 1,7,11] Zon Murrayas Henchman Elko [Chs. 1,7,10–14] Production[edit] Captain Video: Master of the Stratospherewas the only serial adapted from television. It was one of Katzman's first forays into science fiction and was soon followed byThe Lost Planet. As produced by Sam Katzman, the serial had a production budget much larger than the famously small budget of theDuMont Television Network's live daily television series. Captain Video and his teenaged sidekick, the otherwise nameless "Video Ranger" (Larry Stewart), must make frequent visits both to Atoma and to another distant planet, Theros. Both Atoma and Theros are filmed atBronson Canyon, andVasquez Rocks, so to distinguish the two, the Atoma footage istintedpink and the Theros footage is tinted green in the original release prints.These colored scenes were processed byCinecolor. This was the second of only three science fiction serials released by Columbia. The third,The Lost Planet(1953), is a virtual sequel although with different character names. Release[edit] Theatrical[edit] Captain Video: Master of the Stratospherewas very successful when first released to theaters, and kept playing long after other serials had been retired to the vaults. It is one of only two serials that Columbia reissued three times (in 1958, 1960, and 1963). Critical reception[edit] Harmon and Glut describe this serial as a "rather shoddy, low budget space cliffhanger."[dubious–discuss] Gadgets[edit] The serial includes several science fiction gadgets of the era. The Opticon Scillometer was used for looking through walls. Objects were made to disappear with the Isotropic Radiation Curtain. The Mu-ray Camera could photograph lingering images after the event. Temporary madness could be caused with the Psychosomatic Weapon. A variation on Radar was entitled the Radionic Directional Beam and the Radionic Guide and a Vibrator gun that worked like a Tazer. Chapter titles[edit] 1.Journey into Space 2.Menace of Atoma 3.Captain Video's Peril 4.Entombed in Ice 5.Flames of Atoma 6.Astray in the Stratosphere 7.Blasted by the Atomic Eye 8.Invisible Menace 9.Video Springs a Trap 10.Menace of the Mystery Metal 11.Weapon of Destruction 12.Robot Rocket 13.Mystery of Station X 14.Vengeance of Vultura 15.Video vs. Vultura

The Vanishing Shadow is a 1934 Universal science fiction film serial directed by Lew Landers. It features what is believed to be the first appearance of a hand-held ray gun in film. (apart from The Death Ray). Many science fiction gadgets, including a robot and The Destroying Ray, are also featured in the serial. Plot Stanley Stanfield is the inventor of the Vanishing Ray, a wearable device which, when active, leaves only the user's shadow still visible. After meeting with fellow scientist, Carl Van Dorn, a prototype Ray is built. Stanley intends to sell bonds to finance his invention. He inherited them from his late father, the publisher and editor of the local Tribune newspaper, but the stockbroker he meets is corruptly involved with Wade Barnett, the businessman who hounded Stanley's father to his death. Barnett wants the bonds and will go to any length to acquire them. A conflict ensues between Stanley and Barnett during the 12 chapter serial. However, Stanley's new girlfriend, Gloria Grant, is really Gloria Barnett, his enemy's estranged daughter. Neither hero nor villain wants to see Gloria hurt and must work around this motive in their on-going struggle. Dorgan, Barnett's "spear-point heavy", is unhappy with having to hold back to protect Gloria. Eventually, he captures both Stanley and Gloria, but blackmails his boss to ensure her safety. Barnett turns up with both the ransom money and the police, but he is shot in the ensuing fight. Before dying, he makes his peace with his daughter. Gloria and Stanley finally marry and take over operation of the Tribune. Cast Onslow Stevens as Stanley Stanfield, inventor of the Vanishing Ray and son of the late editor of the Tribune newspaper. Ada Ince as Gloria Grant, Stanfield's girlfriend, who is also the estranged daughter of Wade Barnett, having changed her name from the original Gloria Barnett. James Durkin as Carl Van Dorn, mad scientist ally of Stanfield Walter Miller as Wade Barnett, villainous businessman Richard Cramer as Dorgan, Barnett's spear-point heavy Edmund Cobb as Kent, one of Barnett's henchman Monte Montague as Badger, one of Barnett's henchman Al Ferguson as Stroud, one of Barnett's henchman Sidney Bracey as Denny, Barnett's office clerk J. Frank Glendon as John Cadwell, stockbroker William Desmond as Editor MacDonald Beulah Hutton as Sal, a gun moll Lee J. Cobb as Roadwork Foreman in chapters 3 and 4. This was Cobb's first appearance in films Chapter titles 1.Accused of Murder 2.The Destroying Ray 3.The Avalanche 4.Trapped 5.Hurled from the Sky 6.Chain Lightning 7.The Tragic Crash 8.The Shadow of Death 9.Blazing Bulkheads 10.The Iron Death 11.The Juggernaut 12.Retribution Availability In his 1998 book on science fiction film serials, Roy Kinnard noted that the serial was difficult to assess as no print of it appeared to have survived. A 35mm nitrate preview trailer containing three minutes of the serial was held by the George Eastman House archive in Rochester, New York. It was unavailable in 1998 for screening, due to it never having been transferred to safety film stock. In 2010 all 12 Chapters of the serial were made available for viewing on YouTube. In August 2019, it was released on DVD by VCI 2019.

The Lost Planetis a 1953 Americanscience fictionserial film15-chapter serial which has the distinction of being the last interplanetary-themed sound serial ever made. It was directed bySpencer Gordon Bennetwith a screenplay byGeorge H. PlymptonandArthur Hoerl(who also wrote forRocky Jones, Space Ranger). It appears to have been planned as a sequel to the earlier chapterplayCaptain Video: Master of the Stratosphereand shares many plot-points, props and sets, as well as some of the same cast. However, the Video Rangers do not appear, and their uniforms are instead worn by "slaves" created electronically by Reckov, the dictator of the Lost Planet (Gene Roth) with the help of mad scientist Dr. Grood (Michael Fox) and enslaved "good" scientist Professor Dorn (Forrest Taylor). Plot[edit] Dr. Ernst Grood has succeeded in winning control over the planet Ergro as the first step in his desired conquest of the Universe.Reporter Rex Barrow, his photographer Tim Johnson, Professor Edmund Dorn and his daughter Ella are all captured by Grood, who plans to make use of the professor's knowledge. With the help of the professor's inventions, Rex is able to free Ergro of Grood's domination, while Grood is sent on an endless voyage into space. Cast[edit] Judd Holdrenas Rex Barrow Vivian Masonas Ella Dorn Ted Thorpe as Tim Johnson Forrest Tayloras Prof. Edmund Dorn Michael Foxas Dr. Ernst Grood Gene Rothas Reckov Karl Davisas Karlo – aka Robot R-4 Leonard Pennas Ken Wopler John Casonas Hopper Nick Stuartas Darl Joseph Mellas Lah Jack Georgeas Jarva Frederic Berest as Alden I. Stanford Jolleyas Robot No. 9 Pierre Watkinas Ned Hilton Unlike theCaptain Videoserial,The Lost Planethas a female character, Professor Dorn's daughter Ella (Vivian Mason) who strides about the Lost Planet (Bronson Canyon) in a fetching female version of the Video Ranger uniform. The hero is not Captain Video, but a newspaper reporter, Rex Barrow, played byJudd Holdren(who had previously playedCaptain VideoandCommando Cody). Production[edit] The Lost Planetwas the last of only three science fiction serials released by Columbia. This serial was, despite the characters' names, essentially a sequel toCaptain Video, from whichstock footagewas taken for this serial. It was originally known asThe Planet Men. Chapter titles[edit] 1.Mystery of the Guided Missile 2.Trapped by the Axial Propeller 3.Blasted by the Thermic Disintegrator 4.The Mind Control Machine 5.The Atomic Plane 6.Disaster in the Stratosphere 7.Snared by the Prysmic Catapult 8.Astray in Space 9.The Hypnotic Ray Machine 10.To Free the Planet People 11.Dr. Grood Defies Gravity 12.Trapped in a Cosmo Jet 13.The Invisible Enemy 14.In the Grip of the De-Thermo Ray 15.Sentenced to Space

Dick Tracy Returns (1938) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was the eleventh of the sixty-six serials Republic produced and a sequel to the 1937 serial Dick Tracy, with Ralph Byrd reprising his role as the title character. It was successful enough that two further sequels were released in 1939 and 1941, and Byrd become so connected with the character he went on to play him in a subsequent television series. This serial charts Tracy's efforts to capture the gang of Pa Stark (Charles Middleton) and his five criminal sons....Champ, Trigger, Dude, The Kid and Slasher. Plot Tracy and his group must battle saboteurs and spies in his effort to bring down the Stark gang, a major crime family syndicate led by the vicious and brutal Pa Stark. A young promising G-Man named Ron Merton (David Sharpe) is murdered by the Starks while trying to help Tracy bring the gang to justice. With the help of his friends Gwen, Junior and Mike McGurk, Tracy battles the vile criminal gang, and kills off Stark's sons one by one, until the only ones left are Pa Stark and his son Champ. Tracy faces off against Stark in a final battle aboard an out-of-control airplane three miles up in the sky in the final episode. Cast Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Lynne Roberts as Gwen Andrews Charles Middleton as Pa Stark. Pa Stark was based on the real criminal Ma Barker.[2] Jerry Tucker as Junior David Sharpe as Agent Ron Merton, a newly trained agent. Lee Ford as Mike McGurk Michael Kent as Agent Steve Lockwood John Merton as Champ Stark Raphael Bennett as Trigger Stark Jack Roberts as Dude Stark Ned Glass as Kid Stark Jack Ingram as Slasher Stark Larry Steers as Duke (uncredited) Harry Tenbrook as Thug (uncredited) Production Dick Tracy Returns was budgeted at $156,991 although the final negative cost was $170,940 (a $13,949, or 8.9%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1938 and the most expensive Republic serial until The Lone Ranger Rides Again in 1939. It was the second most expensive of the four Dick Tracy serials (the most expensive was the last, Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. at $175,919. It was filmed between 10 June and 18 July 1938 under the working title Return of Dick Tracy. The serial's production number was 791. Like in the other three serials of the Republic series, Tracy is depicted as a West Coast FBI agent instead of being, as he is in the original comic strip, a local police detective for a large Midwestern city. This serial and all the sequels of the original 1937 Dick Tracy serial were permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". Therefore, Chester Gould was not paid again for the right to produce this serial.[3] Special effects The special effects were created by Republic's in-house team, the Lydecker brothers Stunts Earle D. Bunn Yakima Canutt George DeNormand as Dick Tracy (doubling Ralph Byrd) Duke Green George Magrill Eddie Parker Allen Pomeroy Loren Riebe Ted Wells Bud Wolfe Release Dick Tracy Returns' official release date is 20 August 1938, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1] The serial was re-released on 17 July 1948 between the first runs of Dangers of the Canadian Mounted and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James.[1] VCI released the serial on 2 dvd discs in 2008. It was later released together with the other three Dick Tracy serials in a boxed dvd set by VCI in 2013. Critical reception Cline states that the Dick Tracy serials were "unexcelled in the action field," adding that "in any listing of serials released after 1930, the four Dick Tracy adventures from Republic must stand out as classics of the suspense detective thrillers, and the models for many others to follow."[2] Chapter titles The Sky Wreckers (29min 51s) The Runway of Death (16min 34s) Handcuffed to Doom (16min 20s) Four Seconds to Live (15min 39s) Death in the Air (16min 35s) Stolen Secrets (15min 23s) Tower of Death (14min 34s) Cargo of Destruction (16min 12s) The Clock of Doom (16min 4s) - a re-cap chapter High Voltage (16min 15s) The Kidnapped Witness/The Missing Witness (15min 45s)[4] The Runaway Torpedo (15min 33s) Passengers to Doom (16min 19s) - a re-cap chapter In the Hands of the Enemy (16min 30s) G-Men's Drag-Net (16min 24s)