Behind the Scenes with Commando Cody
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of the Universe. Though his Saturday morning series was shortlived (it only
ran on NBC Saturday mornings for 12 weeks in 1953), you may recall his debut
film, Radar Men from the Moon or his follow-up film, Zombies of the
Stratosphere (both in 1952). However, we’re willing to bet you don’t know
some of the finer facets of what made Commando Cody so intriguingly
retro-cool:
1. Cody, originally played by George Wallace, wore a big
leather jacket, an aluminum helmet, rocket packs and… woolen slacks. Wallace
was once quoted as joking, “It seemed interesting to me that they would costume
this character in regular woolen slacks–which would have caught fire in the
first take-off.”
2. Special effects for the films and series were
particularly advanced for their time, thanks to the tireless and ingenious
efforts of The Lydecker Brothers. Republic Pictures’ resident special effects
go-to men, Howard and Theodore Lydecker were credited with using a wooden
platform and “techna-process” (a very, very early predecessor to blue/green
screen projection) to simulate flight. They were also responsible for creating
Commando Cody’s bullet-shaped rocket ship, multiple explosions on land and sea
and small scale models of outer space sets.
3. Lone Ranger Clayton Moore
made a cameo in Radar Men as (of all things) a villain’s henchman, Graber. Moore
was available due to a salary-related strike from the Long Ranger series.
Ironically, George Wallace later auditioned to replace Moore as Lone Ranger, but
Johnny Hart landed the role.
4. Wallace later experienced the bitter
taste of replacement as actor Judd Holdren reprised Wallace’s role in both
Zombies of the Stratosphere and the NBC Commando Cody serials. Wallace never
received a formal explanation as to why he was replaced.
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