Starring Judd Holdren, Aline Towne, Gregory Gaye, Richard Crane, Craig Kelly
Directed by Harry Keller, Franklin Adreon, & Fred C. Brannon
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
The Earth enlists the masked Commando Cody in defending the Earth against attacks from The Ruler, an alien despot eager to conquer the world.
The last of the "Rocket Man" serials from Republic Pictures, and a bit of a novelty in that there are no cliffhanger chapter endings, it came in the era when Republic was repurposing footage from their past serials for new entries, and it may well have used the most. Expect to see Republic serial staples like the lumbering robot, the melting mountain, and plenty of previously used explosion and disaster footage, including the tidal wave threatening New York from 1933's Deluge. Holdren, playing a different character from the Rocket Man he portrayed in Zombies Of The Stratosphere, fares I think much better here than in that serial, seeming to have an improved screen presence, and maybe the mask helps a bit. Unlike other serials, this one also shuffles its cast fairly early on, with Cody's chief assistant played by William Schallert replaced by Richard Crane after just a few episodes. Schallert is great, but I love Crane though so no ill feelings about that switch. How does the serial itself measure up? I think it's a lot of fun, and benefits from the more universal setting, allowing Cody and his team to rocket off to a variety of planets (even though they all look the same), with technologies both interesting and a little far-fetched at their disposal. Although most of their effects work is likely taken from past films, the Lydecker Brothers' work still manages to impress, even if we can see the wires on Blu-Ray.
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