black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

Franklin Adreon Franklin "Pete" Adreon (November 18, 1902 – September 10, 1979) was an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Early life and career Born in Gambrills, Maryland, Adreon was a Marine Reservist during the 30 ...

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 23, 1902) was a United States Army, U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito ...

Lois Collier Lois Collier (born Madelyn Earle Jones; March 21, 1917"Salley"
''

,

Gregory Gaye Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cad ...

, James Craven,

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990)

, and Richard Irving. ''Disc Man'' is considered a weak example of the serial medium, even compared to other post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

serials. In 1958 Republic edited the serial's 167 minutes of footage into a 75-minute

feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...

, released under the new title ''Missile Monsters''.

Plot

Martian invader, Mota (

Gregory Gaye Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cad ...

), attempts to conquer the Earth as Mars is worried about its use of new atomic technology. The Martians consider that it would be much safer, and beneficial for both Earth and Mars, if the Martians were in charge. Mota, having been shot down by an experimental ray gun, blackmails

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

, and former

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, Dr. Bryant ( James Craven) into assisting him and hires some criminals to be his

henchmen A henchman is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organisation: minions whose value lies primarily in their unquestioning ...

. Kent Fowler (

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 23, 1902) was a United States Army, U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito ...

), the private pilot who shot down Mota with Dr. Bryant's ray gun, gets caught up in these events while working security for atomic industrial sites.

Chapter titles

# "Menace from Mars" # "The Volcano's Secret" # "Death Rides the Stratosphere" # "Execution by Fire" # "The Living Projectile" # "Perilous Mission" # "Descending Doom" # "Suicidal Sacrifice" # "The Funeral Pyre" # "Weapons of Hate" - re-cap chapter # "Disaster on the Highway" # "Volcanic Vengeance" _Source:Mathis 1995, pp. 3, 10, 122–123.Cline 1984, p. 251.

Cast

*

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 23, 1902) was a United States Army, U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito ...

as Kent Fowler, pilot *

Lois Collier Lois Collier (born Madelyn Earle Jones; March 21, 1917"Salley"
''

as Helen Hall *

Gregory Gaye Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cad ...

as Mota, martian invader * James Craven as Dr Bryant,

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

and secretly a former

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

supporter *

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990)

as Drake, one of Mota's

henchmen A henchman is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organisation: minions whose value lies primarily in their unquestioning ...

* Richard Irving as Ryan, one of Mota's

henchmen A henchman is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organisation: minions whose value lies primarily in their unquestioning ...

* Sandy Sanders as Steve, Kent's

sidekick A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

* Michael Carr as Trent, disc-ship pilot-henchman

Production

''Flying Disc Man from Mars'' was budgeted at $152,640, although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example '' The Blair Witch Project'', can have promotional expenses that are much larger than the ne ...

was $157,439 (a $4,799, or 3.1%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial made in 1950. ''Disc Man'' was filmed between August 21 and September 12, 1950 under several

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

s: ''Atom Man from Mars'', ''Disc Man from Mars'', ''Disc Men of the Skies'', ''Flying Planet Men'', and ''Jet Man from Mars''. The serial's production number was 1709. This is not a sequel to Republic's earlier serial ''

The Purple Monster Strikes ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' is a 1945 Republic Movie serial. It was also released as a Century 66 television film under the title ''D-Day on Mars'' (1966). The original production title for the serial was ''The Purple Shadow Strikes''. The ...

'', although the villain Mota wears the Purple Monster costume from that serial.Harmon and Glut 1973, pp. 55–56.

Special effects

The flying disc aircraft from Republic's ''

King of the Mounties ''King of the Mounties'' is a 1942 Republic 12-chapter film serial, directed by William Witney. Allan Lane played Sgt. Dave King of the Mounties, with Peggy Drake as heroine Carol Brent, and Abner Biberman played the villainous Japanese admiral ...

'' is reused for this serial (note that the Japanese rising sun logo is still visible), and most of the shots of it in flight are taken from that serial. In some shots this

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

footage is from Republic's ''

Spy Smasher Spy Smasher is the name of two fictional characters appearing in comics published by Fawcett and DC Comics. The first is a superhero that was formerly owned and published by Fawcett Comics. The second is a female anti-terrorism government agent a ...

'' serial (used in chapter three of ''Disc Man''), where the tail fin is missing (the flying wing was built for ''Spy Smasher'', and the tail-fin with rising sun insignia was added for Republic's ''King of the Mounties'' serial). Other stock footage from several earlier Republic serials was reused to pad out ''Disc Man'' in order to lower its production costs. This includes the rocket crash from ''

The Purple Monster Strikes ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' is a 1945 Republic Movie serial. It was also released as a Century 66 television film under the title ''D-Day on Mars'' (1966). The original production title for the serial was ''The Purple Shadow Strikes''. The ...

'', a car chase from ''

Secret Service in Darkest Africa ''Secret Service in Darkest Africa'' is a 1943 Republic serial. It was Republic's 30th serial, of the 66 produced by the studio. It was a sequel to '' G-Men vs. the Black Dragon'' released earlier in 1943, again starring Rod Cameron as Americ ...

'', and various scenes from '' G-Men vs. the Black Dragon''. All special effects in this serial were produced by the

Lydecker brothers Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), billed together as Howard and Theodore Lydecker, were a special effects team primarily working as contract staff members of Re ...

, the in-house duo who designed most of Republic's special effects.

Stunts

*

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. Van ...

Kent Fowler/Watchman (doubling Walter Reed) * David Sharpe Henchman Ryan/Technician (doubling Richard Irving) * Tom Steele as Henchman Drake/Trent/Taylor (doubling Harry Lauter and Michael Carr) * Carey Loftin as Truck Loader Thug

Release

Theatrical

''Flying Disc Man from Marss official release date is 25 October 1950, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. This was followed by a re-release of '' The Tiger Woman'', re-titled as ''Perils of the Darkest Jungle'', instead of a new serial. The next new serial, ''

Don Daredevil Rides Again ''Don Daredevil Rides Again'' (1951) is a Republic Movie serial. It makes heavy use of stock footage from Republic's previous Zorro serials. The character of ''Don Daredevil'' (Ken Curtis) was created for this serial as the rights to Zorro b ...

'', followed in spring of 1951. A 75-minute feature film version was created by editing the serial's footage, and was released on March 28, 1958 under the new title ''Missile Monsters'' as a

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

with '' Satan's Satellites''. It was one of 14 feature films Republic made from their serials.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Cline, William C. ""Filmography". ''In the Nick of Time''. New York: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1984. . * Harmon, Jim and Donald F. Glut. "2. "We Come from 'Earth', Don't You Understand?". ''The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury''. New York: Routledge Publishing, 1973. . * Mathis, Jack. ''Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement''. South Barrington, Illinois: Jack Mathis Advertising, 1995. . * Stedman, Raymond William. "5. Shazam and Good-by". ''Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment''. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. . * Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. ''To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials''. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. .

External links

*
Flying Disc Man from Mars at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{Republic serials 1950 films 1950s science fiction films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Films about extraterrestrial life Films directed by Fred C. Brannon Mars in film Republic Pictures film serials American science fiction adventure films 1950s American films Films scored by Stanley Wilson (composer) English-language science fiction films

Plot

Chapter titles

Cast

Production

Special effects

Stunts

Release

Theatrical

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links