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
Directed byFred C. Brannon
Produced byFranklin Adreon
Written byRoyal K. Cole
William Lively
StarringTristram Coffin
Mae Clarke
Music byStanley Wilson
CinematographyEllis W. Carter
Edited byCliff Bell Sr.
Sam Starr
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 on a secret research project. Reporter and photographer Glenda Thomas (Mae Clarke) is curious about the secret project. When she tours the facility, she meets Burt Winslow (House Peters, Jr.), the project's publicity director and Jeff King (Tristram Coffin), a young project member.

The mysterious "Dr. Vulcan" is intent on stealing the atomic-powered weapons being developed by the scientists at 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 but Jeff dons a newly developed atomic-powered rocket backpack, mounted on a leather jacket. He wears a streamlined flying helmet, and with Dr. Millard, foils the attacks from the gang.

Dr. Vulcan plans on destroying New York City with a sonic ray device, which causes massive earthquakes. Only the "Rocket Man" ultimately stands in his way.

Cast

[N 1]

Production

Lost Planet Airmen used scenes from the King of the Rocket Men but was more cheaply made than previous Republic serials. Creating a compilation film allowed for Republic to have an opportunity to exploit the serial format. The studio's prospects of continuing the serials in a waning market, was not lost on management. Republic and Columbia Pictures were the last to offer serials in the mid-1950s. Columbia, alone, had two 15-episode serials in 1956, that ended the cycle. [3]

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[4]

Receptions

Jim Craddock, in VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 2001 included a slight mention of the "feature-length condensation of the 12-part sci-fi serial King of the Rocket Man. He further noted that, "Rocket Man is pitted against the sinister Dr. Vulcan in this intergalactic battle of good and evil."[5]

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. "Cast: 'Lost Planet Airmen' (1951)." IMDb, 2019. Retrieved: June 26, 2019.
  5. 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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