''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' is a 1952

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

Republic Studios Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

serial directed by

Fred C. Brannon Fred C. Brannon (April 26, 1901 – April 6, 1953) was an American film director of the 1940s and 1950s. He directed over 40 films between 1945 and his death. His first film ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' in 1945 was co-directed with Spencer G ...

, with a screenplay by

Ronald Davidson Ronald Anstuther Davidson (July 13, 1899 – July 28, 1965) was an American screenwriter. He was born in Arizona, raised in Los Angeles, and died in San Diego, California. He was the son of Dr. Ansthuther and Alice Davidson. He graduated from t ...

, and special effects by Republic's

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 s ...

. It was intended to be Republic's second serial featuring "new hero"

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). ''Zom ...

and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying jacket and helmet introduced in ''

King of the Rocket Men ''King of the Rocket Men'' is a 1949 12-chapter black-and-white movie serial from Republic Pictures, produced by Franklin Adreon, directed Fred C. Brannon, that stars Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, Don Haggerty, House Peters, Jr., James Craven, ...

'' (1949). Instead, for reasons unknown, the hero was renamed "Larry Martin", who must prevent

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pred ...

invaders from using a

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

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 ''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 ...

'' (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 A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

. The serial is notable as one of the first screen appearances of a young

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...

, who plays Narab, one of the three Martian invaders. In 1958, a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

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

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.

Chapter titles

# "The Zombie Vanguard" (20min) # "Battle of the Rockets" (13min 20s) # "Undersea Agents" (13min 20s) # "Contraband Cargo" (13min 20s) # "The Iron Executioner" (13min 20s) # "Murder Mine" (13min 20s) # "Death on the Waterfront" (13min 20s) # "Hostage for Murder" (13min 20s) # "The Human Torpedo" (13min 20s) # "Flying Gas Chamber" (13min 20s) – a re-cap chapter # "Man vs. Monster" (13min 20s) # "Tomb of the Traitors" (13min 20s) _Source:Mathis 1995, pp. 3, 10, 130–131.

Cast

Judd Holdren Judd Clifton Holdren (October 16, 1915 – March 11, 1974) was an American film actor best known for his starring roles in the serials '' Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere'' (1951), ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' (1952), ''The Lost Plan ...

as Larry Martin *

Aline Towne Fern Aline Waller (née Eggen, 7 November 1919 – 2 February 1996), known as Aline Towne, was an American film and television actress, best remembered for her lead roles in 1950s Republic serials, such as ''Radar Men from the Moon''. Bio ...

as Sue Davis * Wilson Wood as Bob Wilson *

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 predomin ...

as Marex * Stanley Waxman as Dr Harding * John Crawford as Roth *

Ray Boyle Raymond Cornelius Boyle (June 28, 1923 – January 6, 2022), also known as Ray Boyle and Dirk London, was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing Morgan Earp in the American western television series ''The Li ...

as Shane * Craig Kelly as Mr Steele *

as Narab *

Robert Garabedian The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

as Elah

Production

''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' was scripted as a sequel to the successful ''

'' serial (1952), which introduced an original flying superhero, Commando Cody, played by

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

. Republic interrupted production on a planned TV series, also built around that character, titled '' Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe'', with

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 Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

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 raygun favored by Cody in earlier and later serials. ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' was budgeted at $172,838, 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 h ...

was $176,357 (a $3,519, or 2%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1952 and was filmed between April 14, and May 1, 1952. At seventeen days, this is tied with ''

King of the Carnival ''King of the Carnival'' (1955) is a Republic movie serial that contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial ''Daredevils of the Red Circle''. It is the 66th and final serial produced by Republic and is ofte ...

'' (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 ''Mysterious Doctor Satan'' (also known as ''Doctor Satan's Robot'') is a 1940 American film serial directed by William Witney and John English. Produced by Republic Pictures, the serial stars Edward Ciannelli, Robert Wilcox, William Newell, C ...

'') and black-and-white footage from a Republic full color

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

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 ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' is a 1945 Republic Movie serial. 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 ...

'' (1945) serial.Harmon and Glut 1973, pp. 289–290. The robot was first seen in Republic's ''

Undersea Kingdom ''Undersea Kingdom'' (1936) is a Republic Pictures 12 chapter film serial released in response to Universal's '' Flash Gordon''. It was the second of the sixty-six serials made by Republic. In 1966, the serial was edited into a 100-minute telev ...

'' (1936) and prominently featured in their ''

'' (1940) serials.

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. Van ...

as Larry Martin (doubling Judd Holdren) * Tom Steele

Special effects

All the special effects in ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' were produced by the

, 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 ''Darkest Africa'' (1936) is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called '' The Lost Jungle'', also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies ...

'' (1936) and with even greater impact in ''

Adventures of Captain Marvel ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' is a 1941 American 12-chapter black-and-white serial film, movie serial from Republic Pictures, produced by Hiram S. Brown, Jr., directed by John English (director), John English and William Witney, that stars T ...

'' (1941).

Release

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 ''

'', which had been filmed around the time as ''Zombies'', but as a twelve-episode TV miniseries. (Because of Republic's theatrical contract requirements, ''

'' 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 The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with ''

Missile Monsters ''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 Crave ...

''.

Television

''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' was one of two Republic serials later

colorized Film colorization (American English; or colourisation [British English], or colourization [Canadian English and Oxford English]) is any process that adds color to black-and-white, sepia tone, sepia, or other monochrome moving-pi ...

for 1990s television broadcast.

Home video releases

During 1991, the serial was released in its original full-length running time, in black-and-white, on two

videodisc Videodisc (or video disc) is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form. Typically, it is a reference to any such media that predates the mainstrea ...

s from The Roan Group. In 1995, it was released in the U.S. on VHS by Republic Pictures Home Video, and it was also edited down to just 93 minutes and was colorized for VHS release. The serial was re-released in 2009 as a 2-

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

set from Cheezy Flicks Entertainment in its original full-length and original black-and-white."Zombies of the Stratosphere."
''Amazon''. Retrieved: May 15, 2013. ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' has since been released on Blu-Ray by Grapevine Video.

Reception

Critics and viewers found the serial to be relatively dull and unimaginative, not as interesting as ''

''. The use of

from earlier serials is not quite as overwhelming as seen in the earlier or later Cody outings, as greater emphasis is placed on fistfights rather than scenes using the rocket back-pack. Holdren's performance is often stiff and amateurish, especially when compared to the professionalism of the old

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

pros who surround him on screen. Cline describes this serial as just a "quickie".Cline 1984, p. 91.

References

Notes

Bibliography

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

External links

* * *
Cast and credits for the "Rocketman" films

Zombies of the Stratosphere
a
Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zombies Of The Stratosphere 1952 films 1950s science fiction films American science fiction films 1950s English-language films Films about extraterrestrial life American black-and-white films Republic Pictures film serials Mars in film Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1950s American films