Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Judd Holdren | ... | Larry Martin | |
Aline Towne | ... | Sue Davis | |
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Wilson Wood | ... | Bob Wilson |
Lane Bradford | ... | Marex | |
Stanley Waxman | ... | Dr. Harding | |
John Crawford | ... | Roth | |
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Craig Kelly | ... | Mr. Steele |
Ray Boyle | ... | Shane | |
Leonard Nimoy | ... | Narab | |
Tom Steele | ... | Walker [Ch. 3] / Truck Driver [Ch. 8] | |
Dale Van Sickel | ... | Telegrapher [Chs. 1, 10] | |
Roy Engel | ... | Lawson - Boat Charter Operator [Ch. 3] | |
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Jack Harden | ... | Kerr |
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Paul Stader | ... | Fisherman [Ch. 7] |
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Gayle Kellogg | ... | Dick - Rocketship Pilot |
Security agent Larry Martin, who can fly with an experimental rocket suit, investigates clandestine visits to earth by a Martian spaceship. Meanwhile, villainous Martians conspire with a traitorous atomic scientist to blast earth out of its orbit and replace it with Mars! Can Larry and his cohort Bob Wilson stop the Martians before they complete their dastardly project? Not a zombie in sight. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
This particular serial came out just about the time the H-bomb was in the theoretical stage. A year later it would and could not have been made. That's because the USA and the USSR made them and while they were titanic in their explosive power they did not do the damage they were said to in this Republic serial.
First of all there ain't no zombies in Zombies Of The Stratosphere. There are Martians however who with collaboration of a defector earth scientist are building one super duper hydrogen bomb that is intended to blow up the earth out of its orbit. Then one of these big guys is going to be exploded on Mars sending that planet into earth's orbit.
I'll leave it to the physics majors to explain all that's wrong with this plan. Three intrepid agents Judd Holdren, Aline Towne, and Wilson Wood are sent to stop this dastardly plot though they're never until the very knowing what exactly they are fighting. Veteran western heavy Lane Bradford is the mission leader of the Martians on earth and Leonard Nimoy is a henchmartian.
Holdren has a power pack like Commando Cody whom he played in a previous serial which enables him to fly and chase Martian rocketships. He's not as fast as Superman, but he gets the job done.
Fortunately our tastes have matured since these serials used to come out. One can only speculate on how ridiculous this whole business is.