King of the Rocket Men

Dr. Vulcan, a mysterious criminal, has been sabotaging the experiments of a group of scientists at Science Associates (SA), as well as murdering the ones who come close to discovering his identity. He murders Prof. Millard, a rocket expert, who has been suspecting the nature of Vulcan's attacks. Millard is saved from his death by his colleague, Jeff King, a sonic propulsion expert. In order to save the works and surviving members of SA (where Vulcan in his true identity, serves as a member of the board of directors), King assumes the identity of Rocket Man, using a jet rocket pack designed by Millard. For 12 chapters, King/Rocket Man battles the forces of Vulcan and tries to prevents Millard's latest invention, the Sonic Desemator, from falling into the hands of Vulcan. For 1948, KOTR comes off as a good serial, but really you think it could have a been a wee bit better coming out of Republic. Coffin turns in a decent performance as King, after playing mainly villains all his career. Haggerty is great though as Vulcan's henchman Dirken, and makes you wish Republic used him more as a villain in more serials and Bs. Brannon is no Witney, English, or Bennett when it comes to serial directing, but this is one of his better serials. Many errors of logic in the serial, but does it matter in a serial about a scientist fighting crime in a rocket suit? Rating, based on serials, 6.

King of the Rocket Men is one of the most original movie serials ever produced post-WWII. This is the stuff that dreams are still made of. What kid wouldn't give anything to be able to fly in a sonically propelled rocket pack and kick some bad guys butt? More than 50 years after it was made, this serial still has the pulse-quickening action adventure and really great acting that made it the classic that it is. The acting was serious, which made you believe this could actually happen. These actors were highly under-appreciated, yet were better than many of the celebrity "actors" that demand to be the center of attention today. The Rocketeer was based on this serial, and even though it had great production, it just barely induced the kind of excitement Jeff King gave us for 12 exciting episodes. It's a shame the sequels to this were silly and unbelievable. Allen Duffis hit the nail on the head. This is the standard that ALL of the Saturday morning and prime time adventure shows that came after wished they could be. The only thing that was as good was the first Indiana Jones movie, and that got it's inspiration from show's like this. I still marvel at the flying scenes through the canyons and across the Culver City skyline, which still look so real it's breath-taking. The Liedecker Brothers were geniuses. I wish they could make new serials just as good as this one today. I wish a really good sharp copy of these serials could be professionally put on DVD to preserve these serials forever. This one deserves to be protected for the future.

This was a fantastic serial with great special effects for it's time. Unfortunately, many who review such fare today do so from feature length versions. One must always remember that these serials were meant to be viewed, chapter by chapter, on a weekly basis. It was the draw that got you back to the theater and a five cent bag of fresh popcorn with real butter, not butter substitute. This cherished specialized cinema of the 1940's and early 50's, produced mainly for kids, was known widely as "Saturday Mornings At the Movies".

To understand and appreciate such cinema, one really needs to have the inventive mind of a child, growing up during such exciting times of pioneering new technology. There was no 24 hour television in color or black and white, VCR's, or anything to get in the way of a child's greatest attribute, their imagination. This was the generation that would grow up to make all of these modern day wonders come true.

It is also fair to mention that stars like Tristram Coffin, deserved to be remembered for the fine actors they were; despite the limited range of the roles they played. After all, it takes a fine actor to make even a child believe that a man can strap two powerful flaming rockets to his back, attached to a flimsy leather jacket with four simple control knobs in front, and fly convincingly - without being killed. How many of our high paid, so-called actors of today can effectively accomplish such a feat?

This has some of the most convincing flying sequences for its time. The later Superman serial had him "fly" as a cartoon: here, King appears really to fly. I have read that the flying sequences used a lightweight dummy on wires. It looks pretty convincing.

Minor spoiler: There was only one "rocket man": the serial title suggests more. (The hero's name is Jeff King) For that matter, the flight controller is marked, "Slow," "Fast," "Up," and "Down." Not bad, but rough if one had to change direction in flight.

Naturally, the serial uses the standard formula of a colorful villain who's out to steal a secret, whom the hero has to contend with.

Worth viewing, but light entertainment.

This movie serial has been on my mind for years. I finally found it via the internet. What a wonderful find! Not the greatest of acting, just a nice memory from days gone by, from when I was a kid and paying 3d (pennies) old stuff!!, in 1956-7 to go to Saturday morning movies with my brothers and be so excited at having to wait until the following week to see if Jeff King would escape! He always did, but it was never as was portrayed the previous week.... the mind forgets the small details when a week has gone by. Tristram Coffin made hundreds of film and television appearances, none of which were Oscar winners, but he was always presenting himself with a hero presence. As I say, not the greatest acting, but a brilliant step back in time to when all life was really rather innocent. Great stuff!!