of continuing multi-chapter serials in a waning market was not lost on management. Republic and Columbia Pictures were the last two film studios to offer serials in the mid-1950s. In 1956 Columbia offered only two 15-episode serials; that was the end the cycle. This was one of 14 feature films Republic made from their serials. The title was changed to Lost Planet Airmen after using the working titles The Lost Planet and Lost Planetmen. The ending was changed for this feature version. Instead of New York City being reduced to rubble by a deluge, as in the serial, those events are dismissed as just the "dream of a mad man" and did not really happen. (A similar change was made in the feature version of Drums of Fu Manchu.) Stunts David Sharpe as Jeff King/Tony Dirken/Prof Bryant (doubling Tristram Coffin in rocket suit, Don Haggerty & I. Stanford Jolley) Tom Steele as Jeff King/Burt Winslow (doubling Tristram Coffin and House Peters, Jr.) Dale Van Sickel as Jeff King/Tony Dirken (doubling Tristram Coffin in the helmet/rocket backpack and Don Haggerty) Carey Loftin as Burt Winslow (doubling House Peters Jr) Eddie Parker Bud Wolfe Receptions Jim Craddock, in VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 2001 included a slight mention of the "feature-length condensation of Republic's 12-part science fiction serial, King of the Rocket Man. He further noted (incorrectly) that, "Rocket man is pitted against the sinister Dr. Vulcan in this intergalactic (sic) battle of good and evil". References Notes Citations Bibliography Craddock, Jim, ed. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever 2001. Detroit: Gale/Cengage Learning, 2001. . Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. . External links 1950s science fiction films 1951 films American science fiction films American black-and-white films American aviation films Republic Pictures films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1950s American films