Commando Cody

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This article is about the 1950s science fiction film serial character. For the American rock musician, see Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. For other uses, see Commander Cody (disambiguation).
Commando Cody
200px
Commando Cody in Radar Men from the Moon
Created by Republic Pictures
Portrayed by
Information
Gender Male
Occupation Commander
Nationality American

Commando Cody is the hero in two 12-episode science fiction serials made by Republic Pictures, played by George Wallace in 1952's Radar Men from the Moon [1] [2][3][4][5] and Judd Holdren in 1953's Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe.[6]

Zombies of the Stratosphere

Another 12-chapter Rocket Man movie serial, Zombies of the Stratosphere, was written as the direct sequel to Radar Men from the Moon. [7] But the name of the serial's main character was changed from Commando Cody to the more prosaic "Larry Martin" at the start of shooting. This lead character renaming happened after footage shot for Republic's new science fiction syndicated television series, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, was suddenly re-edited (for union contractual reasons), into another 12-chapter theatrical serial using the television series' title; Republic then released both Rocket Man serials during 1953. [4][8][4]

Sky Marshall was finally syndicated to NBC television in 1955 as a dozen 24+ minute episodes (before commercials). These had new, additional special effects footage added, new incidental scene music, and new title cards at the beginning of each episode.

Because of its original television production origins, the longer length of the weekly serial chapters, and their lack of traditional cliffhanger endings, many entrenched serial fans refuse to acknowledge the theatrical release of Sky Marshall as a true movie serial—this despite its having been released to theaters weekly and having a detailed plot that progresses through a dozen clearly numbered and titled chapters until the villain is finally defeated in the last chapter.[6]

Confusion with other serials

Commando Cody serials are sometimes confused with King of the Rocket Men (1949), because the rocket-powered flying suit and helmet worn by the title character also became the wardrobe worn by Cody. To add to the confusion, serial hero "Larry Martin" wore the same wardrobe again in Zombies of the Stratosphere.

Referring to these different Republic characters wearing the same wardrobe collectively as "The Rocket Man" was a concept formalized years later on film by Walt Disney Productions in their 1991 feature film, The Rocketeer, based on a comic book series by Dave Stevens, which was in turn a nod to the various Republic "Rocket Man" serial characters. Some have noted, however, that the original Cody wardrobe design appears to have been "lifted" by Republic from a preliminary flying suit design for the 1940s Fawcett Publications' comic book character Bulletman, whose adventures the studio had once considered adapting as a serial.

The odd choice of character name "Commando Cody" was possibly an attempt to make children think they were going to see the adventures of Commander Corry, the hero of the ABC TV and radio series Space Patrol (1950–1955). The equally odd Cody title Sky Marshal of the Universe for the character's final incarnation seems likely to be the studio's imitation of Corry's title, "Commander-in-Chief of the Space Patrol", proclaimed at the beginning of every Space Patrol radio and television broadcast. There is, however, no surviving evidence today of either being the case.

References in other media

  • The Star Trek: Voyager holodeck story The Adventures of Captain Proton features numerous references to Commando Cody and other Republic serials, including the costume worn by the Captain, which was created from replica components of Cody's costume such as his jacket, rocket pack and chest control panel, and a killer robot that was an almost perfect replica of one used in the original Commando Cody serial.
  • Radar Men from the Moon was lampooned in the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. The first eight episodes were featured as shorts in several episodes of the first season (only half of the ninth installment was shown, with the in-show excuse being "the film broke").
  • As a teen, before beginning his professional film career, Bob Gale created a series of parody films of Commando Cody, featuring a character named "Commando Cus".
  • Digital/ambient music artists Carbon Based Lifeforms sampled from the first Commando Cody episode in their track "Proton/Electron", using Henderson's lines "It's the same guess that we've made, because it's the only possible answer" and "atomic activity on the moon, atomic blast on the earth."

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "GMS" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "GMS" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Star Wars: Clone Wars volume II DVD commentary

External links

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