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Allen Harris with his homemade Space Cadet uniform.
Allen Harris with homemade spacesuit.
Chuck Lassen with his homemade space helmet,
circa 1952 (from a pattern in WOMAN'S DAY magazine!).
Frankie Thomas in SPACE CADET uniform
during a recreation of the SUPERMAN radio program-- Frank as
Superman, of course-- at the SPERDVAC convention in November,
1998. The man sitting nearest to Frank is legendary radio actor
Richard Beals. [Photo courtesy Greg Jackson, Jr.]
Another view of Frankie Thomas in
uniform, November 1998. He apologizes for the missing belt and
boots. Anyone know of a source? [Photo courtesy Greg Jackson,
Jr.]
1999 Cosmic Correspondence Archive
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 99 | July 99 | September 99 | November 99 |
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From
Neil Knox (1/11/99):
hey hey Loved your site. Just wanted to let you know, I'm a twenty-eight year old, raised on Serials by my father. I have original prints of 'Mystery Mountain' and 'Mystery Squadron' under my desk, and 'Rocket Men from the Moon' is in my VCR right now! Wanted you to know that some of us in 'Generation X' actually know who 'Secret Agent X' is! Neil KnoxReturn to Top
From
Robert Burnham (1/28/99):
Hello-- This is a fantastic site!! I vividly recall the Captain Video series although I was only 5 when I saw my 'final' episode. I owned one of the helmets you mention (a red one) and unfortunately 46 years ago my mother lost it when we moved (to an area where the show was not broadcast!) so, here are two questions: 1. Have you ever heard of one of these helmets being for sale? Any idea where one might look on the Internet or elsewhere? 2. Any idea if anybody might sell videos of Captain Video? I'm looking forward to showing the things on your web site to my 9 year old son--he'll love it. He criticizes "Star Wars" special effects for being "lame." By the way, I just saw this week in my mother-in-law's tabloid newspaper that one of the actors to portray Captain Video is alive and well at 84. [See below.] Your point about fans of 1950's space programs growing up to have technical careers--I obtained BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from U of Michigan, and I am VP of Technology for a major automotive supplier. I had a cool Rocky Jones record from that era, and still remember some of the songs and things from it although it too was long ago lost. Thanks for a great web resource! I just saw it today for the first time (the GLOBE tabloid article [see below] prompted me to put "Captain Video" into the search engine). I'm really looking forward to seeing the old show after 46 years!! >From the GLOBE tabloid, for February 2, 1999, p. 7, from which I quote: CAPTAIN VIDEO IS STILL SAVING THE WORLD AT 84 As the star of Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Richard Coogan was one of TV's first superheroes. Now he's retired his Atomic Rifle and is waging war against child abuse--- with a golf club! In the early 50s, Captain Video saved Earth from intergalactic enemies like Dr. Pauli and Mook the Moon Man. But for the past 30 years, Coogan has been a golf instructor who uses his skills to raise money for a California home for battered and neglected youngsters. "I love kids, and when I gave up acting, I decided I wanted to help children," says Coogan, 84, a widowed grandfather of two. He was featured on the cover of TV Guide's first issue. Hs career encompassed a long run on the soap Love of Life. [Article goes on about his dedication to charity work. Interesting!] Bob BurnhamReturn to Top
February 1999
From
Lou Rugani (2/4/99):
I also have the recorded theme (with dust jacket) for Rod Brown and the Rocket Rangers. Too bad we can't post these tunes on the Web. Did you know Ed Kemmer was the model for the Prince during the climactic battle with the dragon in Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" ('59)? I have a book with a picture of him working on that. I met Don Hastings in '77 during a concert he did in Joliet, IL with Katherine Hays, and we talked at length about the Dumont days and some of the CV actors I liked, including Captain Al Hodge, Ruth White, Jim Boles, Chester Stratton, and of course Georgann (correct spelling) Johnson, who's still acting, still doing sci-fi, and still beautiful. RUTH WHITE: played the wife of "Lisbon Charlie" aboard the Regulus in a really exciting race among several spaceships about 1952, another tribute to the great scriptwriters CV always enjoyed, since the sets were mostly static. "Charlie" was a Britisher, as was the Ruth White character. Excellent, witty performances! They stole every scene! "Charlie's" real name has been lost to me, but someone must remember. Ruth died of cancer about 1970. She was Jon Voight's mother in "Midnight Cowboy", and in many live 1950s TV plays, including Playhouse 90. CHESTER STRATTON: Handsome actor of the Zachary Scott type, pencil mustache and all. Played "Jet Johnson" on CV, and did other CV episodes later in other role(s). JJ was a slickster, an opportunist, though not a cardboard villain; you wanted to like the guy.... another example of quality character development on the CV series, which meant you had to FOLLOW the series, not just sort of watch it as in so many others. Stratton (also billed as Chet Stratton) also did other live TV and was quite a dancer. He was in the cast of "Oklahoma" (1942) and his singing voice is in the 78rpm cast album (the first-ever cast album). Chet died rather young. JIM BOLES: was a gaunt, intense actor with a commanding stage presence, who played several authority figures. He would have been ideal as the lead in Macbeth. I rarely saw him outside CV. For such a fine actor, I'm surprised that he isn't better remembered. When I met Don Hastings in 1977, he told me Jim had recently died. In fact, Georgann and Ruth were both in "Midnight Cowboy", but in separate scenes. Ruth died shortly afterward. One of the great tragedies of broadcasting was the Dumont practise of salvaging silver from the kinescopes of their programs, thus destroying that heritage. No one today can ever catch the magic that was Captain Video, despite the cheesy sets, which the great scripts and seasoned performers always transcended. I just bought a 1990 FilmFax with the Rocky Jones story (I'm a Space Ranger, too, and there always will be some, because the films survive, thankfully). The theremin was used liberally, including within Alexander Laszlo's theme music and cues. Sally Mansfield, of course, is a treat. (The Captain Video writers waited too long before finally adding Georgann Johnson.) Also: where is that great heroic Captain Video pose on the Web, with Al Hodge outside the Galaxy looking toward the viewer? Thanks... Regards.... [SpacEditor's note: Lou has the most detailed memories of Captain Video of anyone who has been in touch with us so far, and we hope to "pick his brain" extensively on this influential and important but almost entirely lost Golden Age TV program! Lou should check out the Tom Powers web site to see many rare photos of Al Hodge, mainly provided by the hoary archives of Roaring Rockets; see the links page.]Return to Top
From Donald A. Petkus (3/11/99):
I remember a SP episode involving violent earthquakes and world wide calamities. I think the special effects involved shaking the camera and dropping stuff in front of the lens to simulate collapsing roof. While our heroes were staring intently at a video monitor for reports of the worldwide diaster, I remember seeing the reflection of an older gentleman with wire rimmed glasses and short sleeves pushing a broom to clean up the mess the special effects left behind. Apparently, even SP's civilian janitors carry on in the face of adversity. Really enjoy your site and the whole retro-future. Don PetkusReturn to Top
From Jeff Berkwits (3/22/99):
Just wanted to let folks know that the new issue of Cinescape Insider, which should go on sale April 6 at most newsstands, will include a short sidebar on page 29 featuring quotes and photos from Frankie Thomas, Jan Merlin and Ed Kemmer. Titled 'Retro Rockets,' the piece asks each of these pioneering spacemen what they thought of Star Wars when it first came out in 1977 vis-à-vis their own outer space TV adventures. Hope you folks enjoy it --- there'll be more to come in other publications soon! [SpacEditor's note: Thanks, Jeff, it was fascinating to read what Frank, Jan and Ed thought about STAR WARS. I just wish we knew what Buster Crabbe thought too!]Return to Top
From the SpacEditor:
Lou Rugani has kindly supplied me with a tape of his 1953 recording of the [Rod Brown] Rocket Ranger March. Here are the deathless lyrics, as far as I can glean them from a careful earfull.Return to TopZooming fast, into the black we race,The mysterious line here, to match the "interplanet peace" line in the Space Cadet March, is "beside we stand." Apparently, again, the meter did not permit "side-by-side we stand." One wonders if the anonymous author here was also the anonymous author of the Space Cadet March lyrics?
Rocket Rangers all! Roaring past, blazing a trail in space,
Beside we stand, never to fall! Thundering on, ready to fight for right,
Let the rockets roar! From the Sands of Mars, out to the distant stars,
We're the Rocket Ranger Corps.
From Michael Robert Mahoney (4/9/99):
Just came across the various Tom Corbett-50's space opera websites. I read your very interesting take on TCSC and the G&D books. I understand your criticisms: their fidelity to the original series is very low, and their scientific accuracy is very poor compared to other TCSC materials, let alone Heinlein's SPACE CADET. Having said that, however, I do think these are excellent books, certainly much more sophisticated than the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew books. I still enjoy reading them regularly from time to time, although I already know each of them virtually by heart. As to your speculations about authorship, I think you'll have to do better than talk about them having tea. They do at several points have tea (typically with sandwiches), but that doesn't necessarily make it English-style tea time. There are two episodes that I find quite interesting. First, in Danger in Deep Space, Astro's discussion of hyperdrive is taken almost word for word from Arthur C. Clarke's speculations on the subject from his 1951 book THE EXPLORATION OF SPACE. Second, Connell's interactions with E. Philips James in Revolt on Venus is clearly cannibalized from the meeting with the Ambassador/Senator in Isaac Asimov's FOUNDATION. Finally, any word on the G&D artist, Louis Glanzman? I remember once, about ten years ago, I came across a coffee-table type book about some world history topic and discovered that the illustrations were by LG. I should try to see if I could scrounge up a more precise citation there. Anyway, I thought LG's art was excellent. All in all, I have to strongly disagree with your dismissal of the G&D books as components of the TCSC universe. Keep me up to date with the search for Carey Rockwell, and I'll e-mail Cadet Ed regarding some of the inaccuracies on his website regarding the books. Shouldn't be too ungrateful, though: you and he have done the rest of us space cadets an enormous service. Thanks! MM [SpacEditor's note: This may be the place to include results of current research on the authorship of the G&D series. When characters were owned by a syndicate, juvenile series books had TWO editors. One was employed by the syndicate (in this case Rockhill Productions) and the other by the publisher. The syndicate editor's job was to outline the novel's plot and assemble materials (such as radio and TV scripts) that could be cannibalized for the novel, chose a writer, and send him the materials. The publisher's editor then received the completed manuscript, and accepted it, rejected it, or accepted it with specified changes. Almost certainly, the syndicate editor for the Tom Corbett series was Albert Aley, who already served as script editor and chief script writer, and had a complete file of scripts. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the identity of the Grosset and Dunlap editor for the series. It was not Joseph Greene, as some sources state, since according to his son Paul he did not take an editorial job there until the 1960s. It is virtually certain that Aley did not write any of the novels, excepting possibly the final one, since until the TV series ended in 1955, he was fully occupied writing and editing the TV scripts. There are traces of the Dell comics and syndicated newspaper strip adventures scripted by Paul S. Newman and others, as well as TV and radio scripted adventures by various authors, throughout the later G&D TC novels. (Joseph Greene's important but somewhat indirect contributions to the birth of TCSC are only gradually becoming clear. Greene, of course, wrote some Dig Allen Space Explorer juvenile series novels in the early 1660s, set in a "universe" very similar to that created for TCSC.) Jan Merlin, in a letter written in 1990, says that he believes the series books were written by some of the TV script writers, among whom were Richard Jessup, the team of Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, Gilbert Brann, Stu Brynes, Don Hughes, and possibly others. Until G&D files become available, this is probably the best one can do in identifying authorship for now. The big mystery of the SPACE CADET book series is the first volume, which is totally inconsistent with the TV series continuity at almost all points. It's worth mentioning that this also happened with another G&D publication, the LONE RANGER series. The first book in the series (1937) is by juvenile series hack Gaylord DuBois and there is almost no point of similarity between the Lone Ranger as visualized by DuBois and the famous radio adventure hero. All the later books in the 18 volume series were written by the chief radio scripter and script editor, Fran Striker. (And by the way, later editions of the first volume omit DuBois as author, crediting the book to Striker, although the text remains uncorrected.) I am willing to bet that the first volume of the TC series was written by a hack under contract to G&D, who had never seen the TV series, and had no connection with it. Illustrator Louis Glanzman and his brother(?) Sam are still active as far as I know. Louis is mainly remembered today as a painter, and back when TIME magazine used painted covers, Louis chalked up more than 50 to his credit. Sam has usually worked in the comics, specializing in Western and War themes. As regards the overall quality of the TC juvenile novels, I find them to be pretty good, and they were clearly best-sellers in their day. One reason is that the TC series was about the ONLY science-fictional juvenile series available in the period 1951 - 1956, one of the greatest peaks in the public popularity of science fiction. In fact the only other contemporary, comparable series was the LUCKY STARR series by "Paul French" (Isaac Asimov!), 1952-58.]Return to Top
From the SpacEditor:
Roaring Rockets as a Match Maker?!? It can and did happen, according to Greg Jackson, Jr. Greg turned to the Internet in a quest for nice ladies suitable for marriage, but had no photo of himself to post. The two photos in SPACE ALBUM showing him with Dick Tufeld and Frank Thomas were thus vital to his efforts. He says, "I think I sent about 30 ladies to ROARING ROCKETS to see how I looked." It worked. He proposed to, and was accepted by, future wife Kim at Disneyland on April 24, 1999. What other Space-hero-related website can make such a claim? Best wishes to Greg and Kim for a long and happy marriage, from the grizzled, vacuum-scarred, hard-bitten old space veterans here at Roaring Rockets.Return to Top
From Jim Weaver (5/25/99):
Hi! You have done a wonderful job! Keep it up. I do have several memories of Capt. Video I'd like to share. Does anyone else recall these? 1. although the show was live, there were at least 2 filmed scenes of I TOBOR flying through space. They were shown regularly. I'm sure a miniature TOBOR was used here; as a kid, I noticed that it looked different than the "live" TOBOR. ***Besides LIFE Magazine... does anyone know where I can find a photo of I TOBOR? 2. Short recollections:Return to TopI recall Tucker (the Galaxy mechanic... correct?) climbing up the side of the Galaxy for several episodes. I recall the Video Ranger being crushed between moving walls, to be saved at the last minute... probably by the Captain. I recall an outdoor scene (trees, etc.) falling over during a fight.3. Questions & Comments:Is Dave Ballard (I TOBOR) still alive? I wonder if any of the TOBOR suits are in a collection or two today. Have ANY Capt. Video props surfaced besides a few uniforms? Besides the 4 Capt. Video shows that are easily purchased, does anyone know if any of the other 30 are available for sale anywhere? Although some references state that Tony Randall appeared on Capt. Video, he wrote to me once and said that although he knew Al Hodge, he never appeared on the show.Thanks! Jim Weaver
June 1999
From
Conrad Youngren (6/16/99):
Dear Space Editor, Having stumbled upon the "slick-net" site -- and after many minutes perusing the "Cosmic Correspondence" -- I found myself in a stream of conscious reverie which I will try to document (in the unlikely event that there are some factoids orbiting my deep memory that you haven't already recalled or researched). The music: I once owned copies of both the Tom Corbett and the Rocket Ranger theme song records. They were yellow plastic (maybe RR was red, come to think of it) and had the choral version on one side and an instrumental version on the other. The melodies are still very vivid: The Rocket Ranger Song was to the tune "Semper Paratis" (the US Coast Guard Hymn). Was the Space Cadet March an original tune? The uniforms: I had a pair of TCSC pajamas! They were light blue with a dark blue neck and cuff area containing yellow spots. I have no idea if these were the studio colors. Do I remember correctly that on less hostile, but still not breathable atmospheres, the Space Cadets wore snorkel masks, not the bulbous helmet? An episode of CV ended with a figure in a black cape held up over his face announcing to Video Ranger and Rogers, the Radio Operator (Uncle Fred Scott, of course) that he was the source of all evil that befell the Video Rangers. He revealed himself as a hoax, actually Captain Video himself, resplendent in the NEW uniform -- the one with the lightning bolt, I think. Didn't they wear plain Eisenhower Jackets prior to that? Plotlines: Captain Video visited a planet being devoured by rabbits. CV in a series of contests with, perhaps, Dr. Pauli. One was "The Battle of Equations" where the contestants were stationed at adjacent consoles, frantically pushing buttons. The Captain managed to prevail, though suffering a splitting headache for the effort! Another was "The Battle of Fire" from bunkers on opposing mountaintops. The models were lumps of clay with lighter fluid being squirted back and forth. The Captain's bunker went up in flames, but CV miraculously escaped (we found out in the next episode). Try as I might, I don't remember the third "Battle" at all. CV & VR on a planet where it rained all the time. They wore shower caps over their uniform hats. I connect this (via the shower caps) with an episode where they were in a tunnel headed for Marine City when the villain had the tunnel flooded. As the villain, in his throne room, announced, "Now no one can get to Marine City!" CV & VR walked in -- soaking wet. Paralysis seemed to be a common mode of enforcement. I remember CV & VR trapped under a paralyzing lamp on the rear wall to the cockpit as the Galaxy plunged toward the sun. CV struggled mightily for the entire 15 minutes to move his finger up to the light switch adjacent to the lamp. Also the Paralyzing Ray was the Space Cadets' primary weapon -- which un-paralyzed you if you were already paralyzed. Dr. Dale (Vale?) invented an advanced version that could paralyze/unparalyze through a steel bulkhead. You had to keep track of these odd/even phenomena as numerous times characters faked being paralyzed only to pounce at the proper moment. It was even explained once, I believe, as being analogous to "multiplying by minus one!" Consider how much more mathematically sophisticated this was than a Star Trek episode where an audio detector amplified sound "one to twenty-third power!" As an aside, this pistol shaped flashlight with buzzer was the only gun I have ever owned. Thank you for the nostalgia stimuli. Conrad YoungrenReturn to Top
Professor of Engineering
S.U.N.Y. Maritime College
Fort Schuyler, Bronx, NY PS Does the "Opitcon Scalometer" ring a bell? [SpacEditor's note: For more information about the composer of the Space Cadet March and Song, check out Cadet Ed Pippin's Solar Guard website. Sounds like the pajamas were pretty close to the TV SC uniform colors, except the yoke of the TV uniforms seems to have been brownish or magenta, rather than dark blue. Our Space Gallery is loaded with images of uniforms. We have heard of CV using gas masks as space helmets, but not TCSC. However, it certainly makes sense to use a mask instead of a helmet on a planet with atmosphere. Maybe someone can even pinpoint the TCSC episode for us. Planet over-run with rabbits: what I recall is that the planet was Lar, and the "rabbits" were spherical blobs of fur identical to the later Star Trek Tribbles. They were called "wonkies" or something like that. We are working on posting on RR an exclusive interview with Charles Polacheck, the first director of CV. He put together the opticon scillometer, and an electronic pistol, from scratch, a few hours before the first episode was telecast!]
From Chuck Lassen (6/16/99):
Re: Conrad Youngren's note: Amazing--- another old fan who went into science/education as a career. Maybe not so amazing--- this seems to be the norm. None of the juvenile delinquents I went to high school with had any interest in Space Opera. Their main sport was ridiculing those of us who did. I would not expect to receive a message such as, "Just got out of the 'Big House' after serving 35 years, and can't wait to renew my old memories of Captain Video...!"Return to Top
July 1999
From Gregory Robert Jackson, Jr. (7/14/99):
Roaring Rockets readers who are interested, take note. Six weeks from this Saturday, Kim and I will be married. We have so many things to do in preparation for our wedding. BUT THE BIG NEWS IS: [SpacEditor's note: What news, indeed! And what better man than Commander Tom Corbett to give the bride away? Roaring Rockets played a small but vital part in bringing Greg and Kim together, as explained in the May 1999 cosmic correspondence. ]Return to Top
September 1999
From Gilbert Pena (9/1/99):
I'm one of your old students in Physics 341, Pseudoscience. (You wouldn't remember me, although when you showed a piece of art on a slide one class, I was the only other one in the room who knew that the art in question was created by Wally Wood!) Anyway, I've been in love with old space serials (and mostly, alas, the idea of them) for a long time. Recently, I created a comic book harkening back to those days and, as a byproduct of the research, came across the Roaring Rockets site. I LOVED IT! I thought it was the very best repository of information on this subject that I had seen. Later (today, actually) I decided to write and express my appreciation to the authors when I noticed that a) one of them was in Austin, where I was born and live to this day, and b) this author was named Coker. Immediately I put two and two together, and hence, this gushy and fannish email to you. I loved your class, I love your site, and I tip my hat to you with sincere appreciation. I'd give a hell of a lot to be able to actually see some of those Captain Video episodes...I've seen Space Patrol, but man, Captain Video was the original. It's a tragedy that I can't watch them, but at least I have a sense of the flavor of the series thanks to your excellent, even scholarly, website. Now (I hope) my comic will have a ring of authenticity that it might not have had without your input.Return to Top
From the SpacEditor (9/99):
Here are some snapshots from Jan Merlin that will be of interest to Roaring Rockets readers. At left is Frankie Thomas in tux with new red Cadillac, just before the wedding of Greg and Kim at which Frankie served as Best Man. And at right is Jan himself in one of the Space Hero jackets being produced by Mike Elmo. To learn more about them, e-mail Mike directly at rocky@blazenet.net.Return to Top
From John Darcy (11/3/99):
In 1953 or 1954 Hodge (as Captain Video) ran a live charity telethon broadcast on live TV from the headquarters of the Paragon Oil Company somewhere in eastern Long Island, NY. My brother Bob, who was about 10 years old at the time, dressed up in his "Alpha Zeta" costume --- a cheesy black cape, and ray gun made out of wooden dowels painted black and red. But what blew Al Hodge away was Bob's old army helmet liner painted silver with big screwed on viking wings which had been cut out of beaver-board. It was an impressive getup, put together by a ten-year-old kid out of about 15 cents worth of materials. Hodge conducted a serious on-air interview with him. And pressed him for details about Alpha Zeta. "It's just me and my pal Bob Markel," my brother admitted to Captain Video and all the world on live television on Long Island in 1953 or 54. It was a time when giants roamed the earth!
Comment from Lou Rugani (11/4/99):
Al Hodge made $60 per week in his role, but did tons of public service. And then, the country forgot him.... There's a similar scenario with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, who at their own expense traveled the nation to raise war-bond money, and did raise nearly $100 million in the first few weeks of their private campaign. The government thanked them fifteen years later by suing them for inappropriate tax deductions, which impoverished them.
From Eric Hogling (11/20/99):
Thanks for your trip down memory lane! I was an ardent fan of Captain Video. I was born in 1944 and his show was one of the first entertainments for a kid my age at that time. I watched it faithfully on a 12 inch black and #ffffff Philco TV. How primitive! Maybe that's why I wear glasses today. Anyway, if the show had gaffs and mistakes, I certainly didn't notice or care. I was completely mesmerized. I even recall owning one of the toy ray guns that were copies of those featured on the show. It was like a flashlight with a pistol grip. I also met the good captain once at a supermarket opening in Levittown, New York. He drove up in a shiny red sportscar wearing that khaki uniform, including hat. He gave the crowd of kids a little pep talk, but looking back at it now, he seemed uncomfortable with the assignment. I also recall that Don Hasitings lived briefly in my town (Levittown) next door to one of my school buddies. I also enjoyed reading about Space Patrol, another of my favorites, and I sent an e-mail to Jean-Noel Bassoir with my recollections. By the way , my name is Eric Hogling and I'm a former New Yorker living happily in San Diego with my wife and two daughters. Thanks so much for keeping these memories alive. They mean a lot as we grow older.Return to Top