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T WAS SOMEWHAT OF A LETDOWN when 1952 finished and no sci-fi films of any real significance were released. There were a few genre pictures, but no films that could be considered good science fiction. Radar Men From The Moon was a minor effort very similar in tone to the serials of the forties. Other than the terrific name, Zombies Of The Stratosphere has nothing to recommend it other than one of the earliest appearances of Leonard Nimoy. The only other film of note was Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla and is only worth mentioning because of the presence of Lugosi. It wouldn't be until 1953 that things heated up at the movie houses again.
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An extremely strange movie which teams up Lugosi (already on a downward spiral career-wise) and a pair of nightclub entertainers, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo (whose act consisted mainly of impersonating Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis), this comedy(?) finds the duo meeting Lugosi, as the mad doctor, on an island where he has made a serum that turns people into gorillas. My Personal Views - "If this film sounds unfamiliar, it's probably with good reason. Lugosi would continue to make bad career choices and this was no exception. I don't even know if it's available for rent but I would see it just from a curiosity standpoint. But...Martin and Lewis imitators? Isn't that illegal?" |
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Radar Men From The Moon was a cheap serial using not only stock footage but props from older Republic serials like King Of The Rocketmen (1949). Scientifically unsound, the hero is able to survive quite well on the surface of the Moon with no spacesuit. It's only redeeming quality is it's nostalgia value, and as one of the possible inspirations for Dave Stevens' Rocketeer comic series from the 1980s. My Personal Views - "I am a big fan of The Rocketeer so I am very curious to see this even though from what I've gathered, there are more holes in the plot than in the green cheese the moon was probably made out of." |
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Zombies Of The Stratospherewas another 12 chapter serial using the same flying suit and helmet from King Of The Rocketmen and Radar Men From The Moon. The plot deals with a Martian plot to blow up the Earth and shift Mars into Earth's orbit in order to take advantage of our climate(!). The chapters were edited down and re-released as a feature film in 1958 called Satan's Satellites. My Personal Views - "While I do enjoy a lot of these films for their nostalgic feel, I have never developed a taste for the serials. Long on talk, short on action, I have seen 2 of these episodes in a film class. I just had to see Leonard Nimoy in this. No doubt, he's scouring the country buying up every negative of this one for a big, old bonfire." |
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