''The Purple Monster Strikes'' is a 1945 Republic

Movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

. It was also released as a Century 66 television film under the title ''D-Day on Mars'' (1966). The original production title for the serial was ''The Purple Shadow Strikes''. The sequel to this serial was the 1950 ''

Flying Disc Man from Mars ''Flying Disc Man from Mars'' is a 1950 Republic Pictures 12-chapter black-and-white science fiction adventure film serial, produced by Franklin Adreon, directed by Fred C. Brannon, that stars Walter Reed, Lois Collier, Gregory Gaye, James Crav ...

'', which used much of the footage from the original.

Plot

Astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

Cyrus Layton is working late one night on his new airplane design in his observatory. He witnesses what he believes is a meteorite landing in the far distance. He contacts his niece Sheila and asks her to bring Craig Foster to the observatory to help analyze his discovery; he then sets out to search for the meteorite crater. Layton instead discovers a crashed spaceship; the ship's pilot emerges and explains that he is from the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. Mistakenly thinking the alien is friendly, Layton takes him back to the observatory. Once there the Martian, calling himself "The Purple Monster," wishes to see Layton's designs for the new airplane/spaceship. He proudly shows the alien his designs until the alien explains that he is now stealing them, to build a spaceship for himself to fly back to Mars, where a fleet of the ships will then be used invade the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. When Dr. Layton objects, the Martian murders him with a weapon that emits a "carbo-oxide" gas, which kills instantly. The alien then transforms into a ghost and takes over Dr Layton's body. Doing so fools the astronomer's niece Sheila and

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

Craig Foster, both of whom work with Dr. Layton's foundation, which is responsible for commissioning the spaceship project. Inhabiting Dr. Layton allows the Martian to witness the unrelated theft of the plans by a gangster named Garrett. The Martian convinces Garrett and his gang to aid in the invasion plot. With the criminals' help the alien begins building the spaceship. Eventually, however, the Martian's efforts at pretending to be Dr Layton fall apart, and Foster and Sheila realize what is happening. A series of action scenes show the pair trying to figure out and stop whatever the alien is doing on Earth. Craig and Sheila constantly battle the Purple Monster's henchmen, who use mind-control poisons, carjackings, and even a booby-trapped vacant lot to dispose of Craig and Sheila. The closest the criminals come to succeeding is in Chapter 7 ("The Evil Eye"), when Sheila is lured into a trap at the gang's hideout. Foster gets the information out of a captured gang member and speeds to the house to save Sheila, who has been tied up and gagged inside a room filled with explosives set to detonate after an electric eye is tripped. At the end of Chapter 7, Foster steps into the electric eye, triggering the explosives and detonating the building. However, at the beginning of Chapter 8, Shelia manages to remove her gag and alert Foster about the eye, allowing him to jump over it. Once safely out of the building, Foster shoots a henchman, causing him to fall into the electric eye, triggering the bomb. In the last chapter Craig and Sheila realize that the Purple Monster is using Professor Layton's body; they devise a plan to uncover the truth. While Sheila gets the supposed Doctor Layton to come downtown to sign some papers needed for funding, Craig slips into Layton's office and secretly installs a movie camera which will be remotely activated when the telephone is used. Foster then escapes and calls the office to advise him that he will be bringing reinforcements to search the observatory, which he has discovered is the Purple Monster's hideout. Craig and Sheila arrive to find the observatory deserted. Sheila goes to the basement where she stumbles upon Purple Monster's subterranean lair and is kidnapped. Foster goes to check on Sheila and finds the basement empty. He then discovers the secret lair where Sheila has been bound and gagged. The Purple Monster orders his henchmen to dispose of her and destroy the observatory once he escapes. The story ends with Craig Foster using a part of the spaceship, a sonic pulse cannon used to shatter meteors. He destroys the alien spaceship with the Purple Monster inside as he attempts to fly back to Mars to lead an invasion fleet against Earth.

Cast

* Dennis Moore as Craig Foster. The hero was known as Carry Foster even as far into production as the final shooting script. The name was pencilled out for filming. *

Linda Stirling Linda Stirling (born Louise Schultz; October 11, 1921 – July 20, 1997) was an American showgirl, model, and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades. She is most famous ...

as Sheila Layton *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for Re ...

as The Purple Monster. The villain was originally called "The Purple Shadow", which was also changed for filming. * James Craven as Dr Cyrus Layton *

Bud Geary Bud Geary (February 15, 1898 – February 22, 1946), was an American film actor. He appeared in 258 films between years 1920 and 1946. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Hollywood, California, aged 48. Partial filmography *' ...

as Hodge Garrett, Henchman * Mary Moore as Marcia * John Davidson as Emperor of Mars * Joe Whitehead as Carl Stewart *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year' ...

as Tony, the Organ Grinder

Production

''The Purple Monster Strikes'' was budgeted at $160,057 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural ho ...

was $183,803 (a $23,746, or 14.8%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1945. It was filmed between 17 April and 19 May 1945 under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''The Purple Shadow Strikes''. The serial's production number was 416. This was the first post-war science fiction serial. Roy Barcroft lived close (about a mile) to Republic Studios and jogged to work to keep fit for this job. When told that the costume included tights he decided to lose weight and lost about 30 lb in 30 days. He called the serial "The Jerk in Tights from Boyle Heights". The Purple Monster costume was re-used in ''

'' (for Mota), ''

Radar Men from the Moon ''Radar Men from the Moon'' is a 1952 black-and-white 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 ...

'' (for Retik) and ''

Commando Cody Commando Cody is the hero in two 12-chapter science fiction serials made by Republic Pictures, played by George Wallace in ''Radar Men from the Moon'' (1952) and Judd Holdren in '' Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe'' (1953). ''Zombi ...

'' (the agent played by Stanley Waxman). Stock footage from ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' was also re-used in these serials. The rocket crash footage was re-used for ''

''. The costume for Marcia, the Purple Monster's Martian henchwoman, was reused as Lara's outfit in the "Superman On Earth" episode of the '' Adventures of Superman'' television show. This was the last Republic serial with 15-chapters. The remaining serials were either 12- or 13-chapters in length.

Special effects

The special effects were created by the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract ...

. A problem occurred with the effects sequence of the rocketship crash in the first chapter. In the first attempt, the rocket struck an underground water pipe causing a geyser and forcing a retake. The name of the aircraft that is intended to travel to Mars is always called the "jet plane". Jets were new at the time the series was made and

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

' serial Flash Gordon had the copyright on the word "rocketship" for use in serials and their featurizations.

Stunts

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

as Craig Foster (doubling Dennis Moore) * Babe DeFreest as Sheila Layton (doubling Linda Stirling) * Fred Graham as The Purple Monster (doubling Roy Barcroft) * Tom Steele as Hodge Garrett (doubling Bud Geary) * Polly Burson as Marcia (doubling Mary Moore) *

John Daheim John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Carey Loftin William Carey Loftin (January 31, 1914 – March 4, 1997, a.k.a. Cary Loftin, Carry Loftin, Carey Lofton, Gary Loftin, William Carey Loftin) was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is ...

Cliff Lyons Cliff Lyons (born 19 October 1961) is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances wit ...

* Henry Wills

Release

Theatrical

''The Purple Monster Strikes official release date is 6 October 1945, although this is actually the date Chapter 7 was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on 25 March 1957 between the similar re-releases of '' Dangers of the Canadian Mounted'' and ''

Zorro's Black Whip ''Zorro's Black Whip'' is a 1944 12-chapter film serial by Republic Pictures starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of '' The Mark of Zorro'' in order to capitalize on it. Republic was not able to u ...

''. The last original Republic serial release was '' King of the Carnival'' in 1955.

Television

''The Purple Monster Strikes'' was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to ''D-Day on Mars''. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.

Chapter titles

# The Man in the Meteor (22min 20s) # The Time Trap (13min 20s) # Flaming Avalanche (13min 20s) # The Lethal Pit (13min 20s) # Death on the Beam (13min 20s) # The Demon Killer (13min 20s) # The Evil Eye (13min 20s) # Descending Doom (13min 20s) # The Living Dead (13min 20s) # House of Horror (13min 20s) - a recap chapter # Menace from Mars (13min 20s) # Perilous Plunge (13min 20s) # Fiery Shroud (13min 20s) # The Fatal Trial (13min 20s) # Take-off to Destruction (13min 20s) _Source:

References

Bibliography

The Encyclopedia of Super Villains ''The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains'' is a 1987 reference book written by Jeff Rovin and published by Facts on File that gives biographical details about comic book villains. Reception In the April 1988 edition of ''Dragon (magazine), Dragon'' (Is ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purple Monster Strikes, The 1945 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films about extraterrestrial life Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1940s science fiction films Republic Pictures film serials American science fiction films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films