Dangerous climate changes are ravaging Earth and the U.S. government requests an investigation by masked super-scientist Commando Cody. He discovers that the disasters are being caused by sp... Read allDangerous climate changes are ravaging Earth and the U.S. government requests an investigation by masked super-scientist Commando Cody. He discovers that the disasters are being caused by space-alien forces from unknown planetary origins.Dangerous climate changes are ravaging Earth and the U.S. government requests an investigation by masked super-scientist Commando Cody. He discovers that the disasters are being caused by space-alien forces from unknown planetary origins.
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- TriviaThis was originally filmed as a TV series, but contractual obligations forced Republic Pictures to give a theatrical release before allowing it to be broadcast on TV. Because episodes don't end in "cliffhangers", some serial "purists" refuse to accept it into the serial canon. Unlike short subject series, the episodes follow a definite story arc, which becomes incomprehensible to the viewer if shown out of order. Post-1948 films were shown on early-to-mid 1950s TV, often while still being available for theatrical showings as well. The mass syndication of postwar product by Republic Pictures resulted in many theaters boycotting the distributor. The records of the New York State Censorship Board at the New York State Archives clearly show that all twelve episodes of this serial were submitted for approval and licensing for theatrical exhibition in that state in 1953.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Superman 50th Anniversary (1988)
Featured review
Watchable nonsense buttressed by entertaining, albeit recycled, special effects
The unlikely named 'Commando Cody' (Judd Holdren) and his trusty rocket-suit face off against verbose despot 'The Ruler' (Gregory Gaye), who wants to add Earth to his corral of enslaved planets. While Commando seems capable of quickly solving any problem on his own, he is assisted by pretty Joan (Aline Towne) who is a reliable sidekick and competent rocket pilot, steady Ted (William Schallert, episodes 1-3), or excitable Dick (4-12), the latter usually providing some strained episode-closing comic relief. Oddly, Cody, who is now a government agent, wears a mask (supposedly to protect his identity but possibly to facilitate a cast change in case the show's star got restive). As this iteration of Cody's adventures was originally intended for television, the stories are not set up as 'cliff-hangers', otherwise it's a typical low-budget Republic series, with lots of fist fights and last minute escapes (just not at the beginning of each episode as per 'cliff-hanger' format). The 12-part tele-play is generally ridiculous but entertaining in a ludicrously imaginative way. The Ruler's plots get increasingly preposterous as the series progresses and include crashing the moon into Earth, using weather control to flood the planet, cooking us by duplicating the sun, freezing or cooking us by altering the axial tilt of the planet, or paralysing us with a mysterious bio-weapon. Needless to say, each threat is promptly divined and averted by Cody (sometimes with help from Joan, Tim or Dick). Negligible effort was made to maintain scientific plausibility: at one point Commando refers to an alien solar-system as being "west" of our solar-system, the Ruler and his minions can be found on Mercury, Venus and Saturn, all of which have hospitable environments, and, although Dick will put on a helmet to exit the spaceship, he doesn't stop to pull on gloves. Most of the special effects shots were harvested from Republic's earlier 'rocket-man' series (starting with 'King of the Rocket Men' (1949)) or from 'The Purple Monster Strikes' (1945) and the impressive scenes of New York City being inundated by tidal waves are from the proto-disaster film 'Deluge' (1933). If you had not seen the earlier serials/films, you'd likely be impressed with the imagination and production quality, otherwise, CCSMotU is a derivative but silly/fun rocket-powered pastiche. Even in 1953, this show must have had a 'throwback' feel, considering the release of 'realistic' sci-fi films like 'Destination Moon' (1951) and TV space-operas like 'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet' (1952).
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- jamesrupert2014
- Feb 3, 2022
Details
- Runtime30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953) officially released in Canada in English?
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