Fred C. Brannon on AllMovie

Fred C. Brannon enjoyed an unusual directorial career across an eight-year period at Republic Pictures. From 1945 until his death in 1953 just a few weeks short of his 52nd birthday, Brannon directed ten Western movies but also directed or co-directed two-dozen serials, including some of the best of the studio's postwar science fiction-oriented chapter plays. Working in tandem with Spencer Gordon Bennet, he made his debut on The Purple Monster Strikes (1945), while with William Witney he was responsible for The Crimson Ghost (1946), both among the most popular sci-fi serials of their period; with Thomas Carr he made Jesse James Rides Again (1947), and with Yakima Canutt he directed G-Men Never Forget (1948), the latter a rare vehicle for actor Roy Barcoft in a benevolent role. It was on a trio of serials that Brannon directed by himself -- King of the Rocket Men (1949), Radar Men From the Moon (1952), and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) -- that he made his biggest mark on movies, however. Those three serials introduced and elaborated upon the character of the bullet-helmeted, jet-pack-wearing rocket man, known variously as Jeff King, Larry Martin, or Commando Cody. The last original hero of the serials, the Rocket Man was also among the most compelling, depicted by Brannon and his crew in spectacular flying sequences and other stunts. (King of the Rocket Men has a truly amazing mid-air chase in one of its early chapters, ending with a startlingly realistic piece of stunt work as the rocket man flies in pursuit of a plane.) Brannon also directed episodes of the Commando Cody television series.