This is Rocketman. Rocketman was the hero of a 1949 twelve episode Movie Serial. It was one of the last movie serials produced by the Hollywood’s Republic Studios and perhaps even contributed to the decline of that medium of the Silver Screen. Loosely scripted and assembled, the serial followed a standard formula plot; powerful, evil (and ugly) monster wants to take over the world and is foiled by a good guy in a white hat. It usually took 12 to 15 episodes to do it, with a “cliff-hanger” in the final footage of each chapter. This is an old promotional photo or “lobby card” I found somewhere around the Strand Theater in Salina, Kansas, where I faithfully attended the showing of each chapter on consecutive Saturday afternoons. Admission was fifteen cents, a package of Milk Duds was a nickel and the serial was accompanied by a feature film usually staring Abbott and Costello or the Bowery Boys, six or seven cartoon shorts and the weekly issue of Movietone News.
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