Flying Disc Man from Mars
| Flying Disc Man from Mars | |
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| Directed by | Fred C. Brannon |
| Produced by | Franklin Adreon |
| Written by | Ronald Davidson |
| Starring |
Walter Reed Lois Collier Gregory Gaye James Craven Harry Lauter Richard Irving |
| Music by | Stanley Wilson |
| Cinematography | Walter Strenge |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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12 chapters / 167 minutes (serial) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $152,640 (negative cost: $157,439) |
Flying Disc Man from Mars is a 12-episode 1950 Republic film serial. This is considered a weak example of the serial medium, even compared to other post-World War II serials.
Martian invader, Mota (Gregory Gaye), attempts to conquer the Earth as Mars is worried about its use of new atomic technology. They 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 scientist, and former Nazi, Dr. Bryant (James Craven) into assisting him and hires some criminals to be his henchmen.
Kent Fowler (Walter Reed), 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.
Source:
Walter Reed survives the serial by bailing out of whatever vehicle he was in.
Flying Disc Man from Mars was budgeted at $152,640 although the final negative cost was $157,439 (a $4,799, or 3.1%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1950.
It was filmed between August 21 and September 12, 1950 under several working titles: 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 a sequel to earlier serial The Purple Monster Strikes. The villain Mota reuses the Purple Monster costume from that serial.
The Flying Disc from King of the Mounties is reused for this serial. The Japanese logo is still visible on its side. In some shots the flying wing is footage from the Republic serial Spy Smasher (used in chapter three of Flying Disc Man), where the tail fin is missing (The wing was built for Spy Smasher, and the tail-fin with rising sun was added for the King of the Mounties serial).
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