Lost Planet Airmen

Lost Planet Airmen is a 1951 black-and-white American science fiction film produced and distributed by Republic Pictures, which is actually the feature film condensation of their 1949 12-chapter serial, King of the Rocket Men.[1] Lost Planet Airmen was directed by Fred C. Brannon and written by Royal K. Cole and William Lively. The lead actors in Lost Planet Airmen were Tristram Coffin and Mae Clark.[2]

This article is about the film. For the country rock band, see Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

Lost Planet Airmen
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFred C. Brannon
Written byRoyal K. Cole
William Lively
Produced byFranklin Adreon
StarringTristram Coffin
Mae Clarke
CinematographyEllis W. Carter
Edited byCliff Bell Sr.
Sam Starr
Music byStanley Wilson
Production
company
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release date
  • July 25, 1951 (1951-07-25)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Professor Millard (James Craven), a scientist who is a member of the group Science Associates, works in a secluded desert location in a cave laboratory on a secret research project. Reporter and photographer Glenda Thomas (Mae Clarke) is curious about that secret project. When she tours the Science Associates building, she meets Burt Winslow (House Peters, Jr.), the project's publicity director, and Jeff King (Tristram Coffin), a research project member.

The mysterious "Dr. Vulcan" is intent on stealing the various weapons being developed by the scientists of the Science Associates group. Vulcan hopes to make a fortune by selling these valuable devices to foreign powers. Dr. Vulcan's gang kills one of the scientists. To stop Vulcan and his operatives, Jeff dons a newly developed, atomic-powered rocket backpack, mounted on a leather jacket, which has a streamlined flying helmet attached that hides his identity. With the assistance of Dr. Millard, he continually foils the attacks by Vulcan's henchmen.

Vulcan plots to destroy New York City using a sonic ray device, which will cause massive earthquakes and flooding. Only "the rocket man" ultimately stands in his way and unmasks Vulcan, exposing his real identity, while thwarting his diabolical plan of destruction.

Cast

[N 1]

Production

Lost Planet Airmen used scenes from King of the Rocket Men, which had been more cheaply made than previous Republic serials. Creating a compilation feature film allowed Republic to have another opportunity to exploit the serial for further profit; the studio's prospects of continuing multi-chapter serials in a waning market was not lost on management. Republic and Columbia Pictures were the last two film studios to offer serials in the mid-1950s. In 1956 Columbia offered only two 15-episode serials; that was the end the cycle.[3]

This was one of 14 feature films Republic made from their serials. The title was changed to Lost Planet Airmen after using the working titles The Lost Planet and Lost Planetmen.[4] The ending was changed for this feature version. Instead of New York City being reduced to rubble by a deluge, as in the serial, those events are dismissed as just the "dream of a mad man" and did not really happen. (A similar change was made in the feature version of Drums of Fu Manchu.)[5]

Stunts
  • David Sharpe as Jeff King/Tony Dirken/Prof Bryant (doubling Tristram Coffin in rocket suit, Don Haggerty & I. Stanford Jolley)
  • Tom Steele as Jeff King/Burt Winslow (doubling Tristram Coffin and House Peters, Jr.)
  • Dale Van Sickel as Jeff King/Tony Dirken (doubling Tristram Coffin in the helmet/rocket backpack and Don Haggerty)
  • Carey Loftin as Burt Winslow (doubling House Peters Jr)
  • Eddie Parker
  • Bud Wolfe[6]

Receptions

Jim Craddock, in VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 2001 included a slight mention of the "feature-length condensation of Republic's 12-part science fiction serial, King of the Rocket Man. He further noted (incorrectly) that, "Rocket man is pitted against the sinister Dr. Vulcan in this intergalactic (sic) battle of good and evil".[7]

References

Notes
  1. The shadowy Dr. Vulcan is never revealed, but is heard only as a voice.[1]

Citations
  1. Weiss and Goodgold 1973, pp. 291–292.
  2. "Title: 'Lost Planet Airmen' (1951)." IMDb, 2019. Retrieved: June 26, 2019.
  3. Weiss and Goodgold 1973, p. ii.
  4. Mathis 1995, pp. 3, 10, 112–113.
  5. Harmon and Glut 1973, p. 180.
  6. "Cast: 'Lost Planet Airmen' (1951)." IMDb, 2019. Retrieved: June 26, 2019.
  7. Craddock 2001, p. 583.

Bibliography
  • Craddock, Jim, ed. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 2001. Detroit: Gale/Cengage Learning, 2001. ISBN 978-1-578-59120-6.
  • Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. ISBN 0-517-166259.
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