''Crash of Moons'' is a 75-minute 1954 American science fiction film, consisting of three consecutive episodes of the television series ''

Rocky Jones, Space Ranger ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' is an American science fiction television serial originally broadcast in syndication from February to November 1954. The show lasted for only two seasons and, though syndicated sporadically, dropped into obscurity. ...

'', edited into a complete story.

Plot

Rocky Jones, a leading member of the Space Ranger force, attempts to save the inhabitants of Ophecius, a planet about to collide with a moon. However, Cleolanta - the empress of the planet - is suspicious. While Rocky and his crew succeed in evacuating the planet in time, Cleolanta's pride and vanity are a major hindrance. As the last of the planet's population leaves, Cleolanta arrogantly declares that she will stay behind. Her assistant refuses to allow this, and picks her up against her will and carries her on board Rocky's own ship, the Orbit Jet. She watches in despair as the moon crashes into her planet, the two bodies destroying one another instantly. As the ship heads for the new home that has been chosen for her people, Cleolanta realizes that she had been wrong, and that, as stated by one of her underlings, "it is the people that make a nation, not the land itself". She reconciles with Rocky and his crew, and sincerely thanks them for their efforts on her behalf and that of her people.

Cast

* Richard Crane as Rocky Jones *

Sally Mansfield Marie Mahder (December 3, 1923 – January 27, 2001), best known by her stage name Sally Mansfield, was an American television character actress; she also had a few small roles in feature films including one with Dean Martin and Jerry Lew ...

as Vena Ray *

Scotty Beckett Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the ''Our Gang'' shorts and later costarred on ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger''. Early life and career Born in Oakland, Califo ...

as Winky *

John Banner John Banner (born Johann Banner, January 28, 1910 – January 28, 1973) was an Austrian-born American actor, best known for his role as Sergeant Schultz in the situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes'' (1965–1971). Schultz, constantly encou ...

as Bavarro *

Nan Leslie Nanette June Leslie (June 4, 1926 – July 30, 2000) was an American actress. She was known for playing Martha McGivern in the American western television series '' The Californians''. Life and career Leslie was born in Los Angeles, Cali ...

as Trinka *

Patsy Parsons Patricia Parsons (June 9, 1931 – October 26, 2006) was an American character actress who appeared in about a dozen films beginning in 1937. She was sometimes credited as Patsy Lee Parsons. Biography Parsons's appearance in a benefit sho ...

as Queen Cleolanta *

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990) was an American character actor. Early years Lauter was born in White Plains, New York. He worked as a model for a professional photographer and was a rodeo rider before m ...

as Atlasan *

Robert Lyden Robert Marinus Lyden (May 28, 1942 – January 17, 1986) was a child actor in the 1950s. Robert Lyden made his film debut in 1949 with ''Holiday Affair'' and also played with Doris Day in the musical film '' I'll See You in My Dreams'' (1951 ...

as Bobby *

Maurice Cass Maurice Cass (October 12, 1884 – June 8, 1954) was a character actor on stage and in films and television shows. Born in Vilna, Russian Empire (modern day Vilnius, Lithuania) he moved to America at six years of age. When he was 17, he toure ...

as Prof. Newton * Charles Meredith as Secretary Drake *

Lane Bradford Lane Bradford (born John Myrtland Le Varre, Jr., August 29, 1922 – June 6, 1973) was an American actor, who appeared in more than 250 films and television series between 1940 and 1973, specializing in supporting "tough-guy" roles predomina ...

as Lasvon *

Rand Brooks Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor. Early life Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved ...

as Andrews

Reception

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, continu ...

found the movie to be unpretentious, with many scientific inaccuracies, and while not the best of the era, but found it to be better than expected.

Production

Unlike many of the series of the era, Rocky Jones was filmed rather than being shown live. This allowed the preservation of the series while many other series of the time have been lost. The syndicated series was usually structured in three 30 minute episode arcs. This was done to allow the episodes to be edited into movies for release on TV. The other movies in this series are Beyond the Moon, Duel in Space, Forbidden Moon, Gypsy Moon, The Magnetic Moon, Manhunt in Space, Menace from Outer Space, Renegade Satellite, and Robot of Regalio. During the series, Beckett's arrest for armed robbery, and Cass's death, led to their characters being replaced by Biffen Cardoza (Lydon) and Professory Mayberry (Sheffield). While Cleolanta had been a frequent villain in the series, this marks the end of the character in the Rocky Jones series. Succeeding episodes contain a new villain. It was released only on 16mm for

home movie A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

rental and television syndication. It was directed by

Hollingsworth Morse John Hollingsworth Morse (December 16, 1910 – January 23, 1988) was an American film and television director. He directed episodes of a wide variety of U.S. television series from the 1950s through the 1980s under the names Hollingsworth M ...

. This film is now in the

Public Domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

in the United States. The high cost of special effects doomed the series and further movies, although they are considered impressive for the time.

Home media

Being in the public domain, this film is available on DVD from various publishers and in multi-film packs, such as the 20 Movie Pack, "Alien Worlds" by Mill Creek publishers. The full episodes were also released as a DVD set. The film is featured in episode 417 of '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' and the episode is available as part of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVIII'' from Shout! Factory. As of June 2020, the episodes and movies are also presented on a dedicated

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...

channel.

References

External links

* * * {{Amg movie, 11394 1954 films 1950s science fiction films American independent films American black-and-white films American science fiction action films American space adventure films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Hollingsworth Morse 1950s American films