King of the Rocket Men (1949)

Jeff King in his experimental rocket suit battles the evil Dr. Vulcan.

Director:

Fred C. Brannon

Writers:

Royal K. Cole, William Lively,

Stars:

Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, Don Haggerty

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tristram Coffin	...	Jeff King
Mae Clarke	...	Glenda Thomas
Don Haggerty	...	Tony Dirken
House Peters Jr.	...	Burt Winslow
James Craven	...	Prof. Millard [Chs. 1-7, 10]
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Prof. Bryant
Douglas Evans	...	Chairman [Ch. 12]
Ted Adams	...	Martin Conway [Chs. 1-4]
Stanley Price	...	Gunther Von Strum
Dale Van Sickel	...	Henchman Martin [Ch.1] / Prof. Drake [Ch. 1] / Henchman Gates [Chs. 6-7, 9-11]
Tom Steele	...	Henchman Knox [Chs. 1, 3-4, 7] / Taxi Driver [Chs. 10-11]
David Sharpe	...	Henchman Blears / Cliff / Stark
Eddie Parker	...	Rowan [Ch. 3]
Michael Ferro	...	Henchman Turk [Ch. 8]
Frank O'Connor	...	Warehouse Guard [Chs. 1, 10]

Storyline

Prof. Millard pretends to be dead and helps Jeff King ferret out Vulcan, the evil traitor at the science academy. Donning his Rocket Man costume King goes from one hair raising rescue to the next in order to keep the newly invented Decimator out of the clutches of Vulcan and his minions.

---

Plot Keywords:

secret | science | suspect | remote control | traitor | 

---

Taglines:

Watch "Rocket Man" sweep from the clouds to battle America's enemies! (original poster)

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 June 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der König der Raketenmänner

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$165,592 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min 167 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was another of Republic's titles to use a play-on-words for "King of..." "King" was actually the name of the main character.

---

Connections

Referenced in The Siskel & Ebert 500th Anniversary Special (1989)

User Reviews

One of the Greatest Serials

This was a fantastic serial with great special effects for it's time. Unfortunately, many who review such fare today do so from feature length versions. One must always remember that these serials were meant to be viewed, chapter by chapter, on a weekly basis. It was the draw that got you back to the theater and a five cent bag of fresh popcorn with real butter, not butter substitute. This cherished specialized cinema of the 1940's and early 50's, produced mainly for kids, was known widely as "Saturday Mornings At the Movies".

To understand and appreciate such cinema, one really needs to have the inventive mind of a child, growing up during such exciting times of pioneering new technology. There was no 24 hour television in color or black and white, VCR's, or anything to get in the way of a child's greatest attribute, their imagination. This was the generation that would grow up to make all of these modern day wonders come true.

It is also fair to mention that stars like Tristram Coffin, deserved to be remembered for the fine actors they were; despite the limited range of the roles they played. After all, it takes a fine actor to make even a child believe that a man can strap two powerful flaming rockets to his back, attached to a flimsy leather jacket with four simple control knobs in front, and fly convincingly - without being killed. How many of our high paid, so-called actors of today can effectively accomplish such a feat?