Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe

I'm a sucker for all of Republic's "Rocketman" adventures. There were three Rocketman serials before this: King of the Rocketmen (1949), Radar Men From the Moon (1952), and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). Next came these 12 episodes of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953) which are like chapters of a serial only without cliffhanger endings. It's an entertaining hybrid of a serial and a TV show. This series uses plenty of stock footage, but that doesn't bother me one bit. It adds to the fun! I wasn't alive back in the 50's, but Commando Cody never fails to provide me with enjoyable escapism in 2005. All of Republic's Rocketman adventures are a blast!

The Rocket Suit had been used in 3 serials. The Commando Cody Name was used in one of them. Add the Rocket Ship, a (Platonic) female aid, some quasi governmental type staff men, a neat looking headquarters building and a mask, just for good measure and you have this early 1950's Theatrical/Television Series.

To be sure, all possibilities were considered before "COMMANDO CODY" went into production. It was serial-like in its story line and characters, but did not use the standard Cliff Hanger Chapter endings. Instead, all episodes were related, but also complete (sort of) in themselves. Obviously REPUBLIC or its TV Subsidiary or both would screen it. It reportedly did not work out in trial screening in theaters, so Hollywood TELEVISION SERVICE (Republic TV) had it prepared for television syndication.It even did a turn of network showings. Conveniently, each episode was just the proper length for a half-hour of Saturday morning kids' programing! Imagine that!

The business of editing series television into theatrical releases was later successfully used by other companies. Walt Disney was very active in this endeavor with DAVEY CROCKETT KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER and THE SIGN OF ZORRO, both being made up of television episodes edited into features and released theatrically.

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.

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.

Being fully familiar with Republic's "Rocket Man" trilogy -- "King of the Rocket Men," "Radar Men from the Moon" and "Zombies of the Stratosphere," I ignored the Commando Cody TV series for years only because I mistakenly thought it was just a repackaging of what I already owned and enjoyed on VHS and DVD. Seeing a still from the show on Facebook, though, made me realize that it might be something different -- and it is! Not a cliffhanger, the series proceeds through 12 self-contained episodes and probably would fit best between the first two serials. There's plenty of plot, fewer fistfights than in the serials, and more imaginative use of Cody's rocket, which even travels against the star-studded blackness of space outside of Earth's atmosphere, unlike its lunar voyages in "Radar Men" or rocket dogfights in "Zombies." Yes, there may have been too much reliance on stock disaster footage, but there's also some decent model and miniature work in evidence. To really enjoy the Commando's adventures, just don't sit down expecting modern CGI-quality special effects or sparkling dialogue. Put yourself in a '50s frame of mind and go with it.