Planet Outlaws (1953)

A 20th Century pilot named Buck Rogers and his young friend Buddy Wade awake from 500 years in suspended animation to find that the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane.

Directors:

Ford Beebe (uncredited), Saul A. Goodkind (uncredited)

Writers:

Norman S. Hall, Helen Leighton (narrative)

Stars:

Buster Crabbe, Constance Moore, Jackie Moran

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Buster Crabbe	...	Buck Rogers (archive footage) (as Larry 'Buster' Crabbe)
Constance Moore	...	Wilma Deering (archive footage)
Jackie Moran	...	'Buddy' Wade (archive footage)
Jack Mulhall	...	Capt. Rankin (archive footage)
Anthony Warde	...	Killer Kane (archive footage)
Philson Ahn	...	Prince Tallen (archive footage)
C. Montague Shaw	...	Dr. Huer (archive footage) (as Montague Shaw)
Guy Usher	...	Aldar (archive footage)
William Gould	...	Air Marshal Kragg (archive footage)
Henry Brandon	...	Capt. Lasca (archive footage)
Kenne Duncan	...	Lt. Lacy (archive footage)
Reed Howes	...	Capt. Roberts (archive footage)
Wheeler Oakman	...	Lieutenant Patten (archive footage)
Carleton Young	...	Scott (archive footage)

Storyline

Buck Rogers (1939) re-edited from serial to feature format and re-released for theatrical distribution in 1953; an American soldier suspended in time wakes up to find himself in the futuristic world of the year 2500. Once settled he realizes that an evil villain, along with his gang of outlaws, has been trying his best to gain total control the the universe and everything in it. Buck Rogers has other plans for these thoughtless henchmen and will do anything he in his power to stop them in their tracks.

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Plot Keywords:

suspended animation | 25th century | spacecraft | space travel | good versus evil | 

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Taglines:

Astounding Battles with Amazing Creatures on Strange Planets!

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Genres:

Action | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

71 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is an edited version of the 1939 serial Buck Rogers (1939).

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Quotes

George 'Buddy' Wade: I wouldn't call Dr. Huer exactly handsome, but I sure would give a lot to see his face right now.
Col. Buck Rogers: [laughs] I bet you would Buddy.

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Crazy Credits

Revised version based on cartoon strip "Buck Rogers" by HARRY JAQUES REVIER

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Connections

Edited from Buck Rogers (1939)

User Reviews

Clunky Buck Rogers action flick

Planet Outlaws was a science fiction movie that was cobbled together from material taken from a 1930's Buck Rogers serial. This was no doubt done because in the post-Atomic bomb Cold War years of the 50's science fiction was really popular. In fact, the film-makers have presented the story as an allegory against the evils of communism, with a dictator whose minions are turned into unthinking servile robots! But whatever the underlying message, this is an old-style action movie where the good guys are really good and the bad guys are complete rotters. There is no ambiguity at play here that's for sure.

The film begins with a brief sequence to set the scene - a hot air balloon piloted by Buck Rogers and his buddy crashes and is buried in snow in the North Pole; they go into suspended animation and are awoke 500 years in the future where they immediately align themselves in a conflict between decent folks and a criminal overlord called Killer Kane.

This would very possibly have seemed like quite an old fashioned film even in the early 50's. It was after all culled from material from a 30's serial. But they have tried to make it as relevant to the times as they could, however, editing a serial down to a 70 minute movie does present some problems. The result is a somewhat frantic movie with lots of big events dealt with very briefly; we have, for example, three trips to and from Saturn as opposed to one proper one. Buster Crabbe stars in the lead role and I suppose he has an uncomplicated clunky charm, if a little dull; his nemesis Killer Kane is not a very interesting villain either. It's unquestionably a very silly film indeed with some amusingly daft spaceships and costumes but it does have some decent sets and some quite impressive model work for the cityscapes. The incessant soundtrack in the background does become a little wearing though, as does the film overall to be honest. As all of these types of movies are, this one does have a time capsule appeal but it's excessive clunkiness makes it a little too tedious, despite the constant action.