The Purple Monster Strikes (1945)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

Spencer Gordon Bennet
Fred C. Brannon

Writers:

Royal K. Cole (original screenplay) and
Albert DeMond (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 August 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Warrior from another planet annihilates space...eliminates distance...carries diabolical devices!

Plot:

A Martian spacecraft crash-lands near the observatory of Cyrus Layton, designer of Earth's first spaceship...

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Spaceship | Observatory | Explosion | Serial

Cast

Dennis Moore	...	Craig Foster
Linda Stirling	...	Sheila Layton
Roy Barcroft	...	The Purple Monster
James Craven	...	Dr. Cyrus Layton
Bud Geary	...	Hodge Garrett
Mary Moore	...	Marcia [Chs. 11-13]
John Davidson	...	Emperor of Mars [Chs. 2, 10-11]
Joe Whitehead	...	Carl Stewart
Emmett Vogan	...	Saunders [Chs. 3-4]
George M. Carleton	...	Dr. Paul Meredith [Ch. 9]
Kenne Duncan	...	Charles Mitchell [Chs. 1-2, 10]
Rosemonde James	...	Helen / Maria posing as Helen [Chs. 11-12]
Monte Hale	...	Dr. Harvey [Chs. 13-14]
Wheaton Chambers	...	Prof. Benjamin [Ch. 11]
Fred Howard	...	Prof. Crandall (as Frederick Howard)

Also Known As:

D-Day on Mars (USA) (TV title)
The Purple Shadow Strikes

Runtime:

209 min (15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10851)

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park Observatory, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Trivia:

Chapter Titles: - 1. The Man in the Meteor - 2. The Time Trap - 3.Flaming Avalanche - 4.The Lethal Pit - 5. Death on the Beam - 6. The Demon Killer - 7. The Evil Eye - 8. Descending Doom - 9. The Living Dead - 10.House of Horror - 11.Menace From Mars - 12.Perilous Plunge - 13.Fiery Shroud - 14.The Fatal Trail - 15.Take-Off To Destruction

Quotes:

Purple Monster: I am not mad. The invasion has only been delayed because of our inability to build ships that could safely land and return to Mars. Your plans have supplied that need.
Dr. Cyrus Layton: Then you landed in the wrong country, my friend. Do you think the American people will sit by and do nothing while you build a jet plane for the purpose of bringing in an army of conquest?
Purple Monster: Yes - because they won't know I'm building it. I intend to build it in the personality of Dr. Cyrus Layton. You see, I have the ability to kill you, enter your body and use it for my own purposes.

Movie Connections:

Edited into D-Day on Mars (1966) (TV)

Not realistic but fun.

I love old matinee serials that I watch on Space (Canada's version of the Sci-Fi channel) and this one is fun. True no space alien would ever waste their time being a gangster but it's fun. Oh and by the way if you're expecting to see a man eating monster there is no monster. It's the name of the alien criminal.