King of the Rocket Men (1949)

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

This serial is notable for introducing the character Rocket Man, who would later appear with different character identities in Republic's rocket-powered hero serials that followed: Radar Men from the Moon (1952), Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953), the latter syndicated to television in 1955 under the same title but as a dozen 25-minute episodes, each containing new space footage and title music.

Synopsis

An evil genius of unknown identity, calling himself "Dr. Vulcan" (heard only as a voice and seen as a shadow on a brightly lit wall), plots to conquer the world, but first needs to eliminate, one by one, the members of the Science Associates, an organization of America's greatest scientists. After narrowly escaping an attempt on his life by Vulcan, one member of Science Associates, Dr. Millard (James Craven) goes into hiding and then outfits another member, Jeff King (Tristram Coffin) with an advanced, sonic-powered rocket backpack and jacket, a bullet-shaped, aerodynamic helmet, and raygun they had been working on together.

Acteurs