| Zombies of the Stratosphere | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Fred C. Brannon |
| Written by | Ronald Davidson |
| Produced by | Franklin Adreon |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | John MacBurnie |
| Music by | Stanley Wilson |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 12 chapters (167 minutes (serial)[1] 70 minutes (feature)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $176,357 |
Zombies of the Stratosphere is a 1952 black and white Republic Studios serial directed by Fred C. Brannon, with a screenplay by Ronald Davidson, and special effects by Republic's Lydecker brothers. It was intended to be Republic's second serial featuring "new hero" Commando Cody and the third 12-chapter serial featuring the rocket-powered flying jacket and helmet introduced in King of the Rocket Men (1949). Instead, for reasons unknown, the hero was renamed "Larry Martin", who must prevent Martian invaders from using a hydrogen bomb to blow Earth out of its orbit, so that the Martians can move a dying Mars into a much closer orbital position to the Sun. As in Radar Men from the Moon (also released in 1952), much of the screen time for each of the dozen chapters is spent on fistfights and car chases between the heroes and a gang of earthly crooks hired by renegade scientist Dr. Harding and his extraterrestrial colleague Marex to steal and stockpile the Atomic supplies needed for construction of the H-bomb.
The serial is notable as one of the first screen appearances of a young Leonard Nimoy, who plays Narab, one of the three Martian invaders.
In 1958, a feature film titled Satan's Satellites, was made by editing down the serial's footage from 167 minutes to a 70 minute runtime.