Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe

The rockets landing in this, and similar Republic productions, must have had really scratched and dented bottoms. No wheels, and there's no visual evidence those "skids" on either side did anything except maybe prevent them from rolling over. They always landed out in the "desert" somewhere, never at an actual airport. Having said that, rhe Lydecker Brothers' special effects were the best. All their models were set up outdoors, using natural light. The SFX thus matched the natural lighting if other outdoor scenes. The flying suit footage, like that of Captain Marvel flying, put Columbia Pictures to shame. A freakin' animated cartoon for Superman's flight scene? Crimanetlies...that annoyed e very kid in the theatre with me. Many actually laughed when Supes took off.

I have seen Commando Cody panned as crude, stiff, simplistic, etc but in my youth this was pretty exciting. Republic had the best special effects thanks to the Lydecker brothers while actors in B-movies and low budget productions get the raspberry simply for appearing on screen while performers in big budget productions have their failings overlooked. The scenes where Cody and crew pull up to their space ship, get in, then you see the rocket start to move with no obvious cuts-back in 1955, you thought you were seeing the Real Thing. Likewisethe flying sequences (using the same model they originally used for Captain Marvel (1941) here clad in the Rocketman costume also a very well done, well edited, I think they hold up even today. I also recall a scene where Cody in his rocket is pursuing the Bad Guys rocket, the latter had a dorsal turret with ray guns, for those of us growing up in the Afterglow of WWII, that was something familiar and realistic. For the budgets they had, they did a good job, the actors deserve more credit than they have gotten.

In the near future, Earth has some interaction with alien worlds, and so the government has named brilliant scientist Commando Cody (Judd Holdren) as the Sky Marshal of the Universe. He is charged with dealing with interplanetary menaces, particularly the machinations of the Ruler of the Galaxy (Gregory Gaye), who uses powerful alien weaponry to try and conquer the Earth. Cody, along with his two sidekicks, uses a fantastic rocket suit and spaceship to battle the Ruler and his minions

This fourth rocket man serial was originally intended to be a TV series. The first three episodes were filmed (with William Schallert as one of Cody's sidekicks), but then production was put on hold, and Republic filmed the 1952 serial Zombies of the Stratosphere. After that was finished, production resumed on this, with Richard Crane replacing Schallert. After its completion, Republic decided to release it theatrically as a serial instead of a TV series, partially due to pressure from technicians' unions which stated that crews were paid more for theatrical productions. Still, Republic did eventually release this as a syndicated TV series in 1955.

This is both sillier and more creative than the previous rocket man serials. Cody wears a domino mask and a jaunty little cap whenever he's not in his bulky helmet, ostensibly due to security reasons. The villains wear a variety of silly hats, as well. There are rocket flights in space and to other worlds, and the Republic robot shows up yet again. There is still the traditional re-use of footage from previous serials and movies, even back to The Purple Monster Strikes from 1945. Each chapter runs a solid 30 minutes, meaning the entire thing took 6 hours to watch. Since this was intended to be a TV show, the chapters are more like episodes, with self-contained dilemmas that are resolved without any cliffhanger endings. This wasn't the last serial released, as that would be 1956's Blazing the Overland Trail.

This 12-Part Show had a Complicated Beginning.

First Filmed as a TV Show, but the Contracts Fine-Print Required a Theatrical Release Before it Could be Shown on Television.

So it was Released to Theatres to Lackluster BO and Fan Indifference.

That was 1953.

Then in 1955 it was Shown On TV to the Delight of Kids and Kid-Like-Adults.

The Character of "Commando Cody" was Used in Multiple Serials with Varying Names, etc.

Although the Flying Suit and Helmet were Identical and have Since Become Iconic.

This 12-Parter did Not Follow the "Cliffhanger" Format with Each Episode Ending with a Joke or Light-Hearted Good-Bye.

This Irritates "Sticklers" and Purists among the "Serial-Chapter Play-Cliffhanger" Cult and most Refuse to Include it in the Ography.

It is a Better than Average Entertainment of its Type. With Good SFX, Impressive Hardware, and Outlandish Costumes.

The Visuals are Striking at Times with a Low-Budget Charm and Imagination that Fits Right In this Sort of Thing.

The "Serial" Format Began in the Silent Era and was Popular for 4 Decades.

But in the 1950's there was a "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" in Pop-Culture, with Rumblings and Changes in Music, Movies, and TV.

In Movie Theatres the Weekly Chapter-Plays were Abandoned, because of the Free-Format and Widely Available Type on the Tube.

But this is a Fitting Finale to the Genre because it Includes Eye-Popping Absurdities and a Ton-of-Fun for Low-Budget Affectionados.

Note: The "Rocket Man" was reincarnated for the little seen, underrated, and under-appreciated Movie "The Rocketeer" (1991).

"Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe", was a half hour TV series that ran as a replacement series on NBC during the 1955 season. If the series looked familiar...it was! "Commando Cody..." shows its Republic Pictures/matinée serial origins as the title character appeared once under the Cody name and twice under different character names in three different Saturday matinée cliffhanger serials from the late '40's thru the early '50's. Although there were 12 TV episodes (as there were nearly always 12 chapters of a serial), none of them ended in the inevitable cliffhanger ending. All episodes were complete in themselves yet there was a definite continuing story arc week-to-week. The 12 episodes were first shown in theatres in 1953 but by this point in time movie serials were fast becoming extinct due to the growing popularity of network television. Republic Pictures, along with Columbia Pictures, were the last two studios to produce theatrical serials. The "Commando Cody..." series was, along with most of the last of Republic's serial output, very cheaply and quickly produced so as to include tons of stock footage at Republic's disposal from nearly 20 years of serial production. Judd Holdren, who had played the Cody character (under a different name) in the second of the "Rocketman/Commando Cody" theatrical serials, starred as Commando Cody. Aline Towne played his assistant Joan, William Shallert played his assistant Ted for the first half of the series and Richard Crane replaced Shallert as assistant Dick during the second half. The Cody group was battling Gregory Gay as the Ruler who was attempting to destroy the Earth from his base on the Moon. The Ruler was assisted on Earth by Baylor (portrayed by veteran actor Lyle Talbot) and assorted other Earth gangsters looking to "clean up" after Earth's overthrow.

Sci-Fi that seems "hokey" by today's standards but entertaining for its' time in the much simpler '50's.