FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS (1950 serial)

Dr. Bryant is working on a radar gun that can shoot an atomic ray to destroy aircraft from the ground. Bryant goes to Kent Fowler, who runs an airplane-based security service, to get protection from possible spies, in particular a mysterious UFO that occasionally appears over Bryant's lab. One night, Fowler manages to shoot it down but before Fowler can get to the wreckage, the UFO's occupant. Mota, a man from Mars, has escaped. Mota finds Bryant, a Nazi sympathizer, and tells him that Hitler failed in his quest for world domination only because he lacked the right weaponry. Mota can help Bryant perfect his ray, and Bryant can then help the Martians to rule the Earth. Bryant agrees, and plays both sides by continuing to ask for Fowler's protection even as he hires a couple of henchmen to help him steal enough uranium to power the new and improved weapons. Mora sets up a headquarters in an active volcano (foreshadowing, anyone?) using equipment that was left there by a previous Martian mission, and builds a new "flying disc" ship like the one that brought him to Earth. Over 12 chapters, Fowler, with his associate Steve and secretary Helen, try to keep the bad guys away from the uranium and to stop the blackmailing of major corporations as Mora and Bryant threaten destruction unless they get cooperation. 

The 1950's serials were made on lower budgets than the ones from the genre’s heyday in the 40s (which were themselves usually low-budget affairs), and this one, made in about three weeks, is no exception. It's filled with recycled footage from earlier serials and repeated shots, mostly of the disc plane taking off and landing. The villain, Mora (Russian actor Gregory Gaye), spends most of his time making proclamations, sometimes wearing a business suit and sometimes in a sparkly spacesuit, as pictured at left. The two henchmen (Harry Lauter and Richard Irving) have more personality than Mora. The hero, Walter Reed as Fowler, is passable but not especially charismatic. Helen (Lois Collier) is, as is typical for the female serial lead, left with not much to do aside from passing along messages and getting caught once or twice in a cliffhanger, but she does at least get to shoot someone dead. Sandy Sanders, as Steve, is bland, which leaves Harry Lauter (as Drake, one of the henchmen) by default as the only standout because he manages to work up some enthusiasm for his nefarious, if constantly foiled, deeds. Among the better cliffhangers: Fowler is tossed from a plane and manages to make a soft landing in a haystack; Fowler lies unconscious beneath a heavy metal door sliding down toward him; Fowler appears to suicidally fly his plane into a missile to stop it from destroying a bridge. Most of the fisticuffs scenes are quite effective, with some wild swings and tosses. Not one of the better serials but the fact that I stuck with it says something in its favor. [Blu-ray]