"The Planet Man" - 3 Episodes From 1950

"The Planet Man" - 3 Episodes From 1950

is a graduate of the Space Patrol/Tom Corbett, Space
Cadet school of old-time radio drama, serving up plenty of breezy,
not-to-be-taken-seriously adventure fun. Marston is a great
megalomaniacal comic villain, very similar to the bad guys in the
Columbia Studios serials who were always griping about their bungling
subordinates and their inability to follow orders. But the series
utilizes other colorful villains as well -- particularly a pair of
Brooklynese dese-dem-and-dose space pirates named Slick and Blackie who
sound like refugees from a Monogram B-gangster pic. And yet, the show
showcases ideas that will be used later in other, classic sci-fi films:
one particular story arc echoes the Cold War paranoia of "The Invasion
of the Body Snatchers," in which the nefarious Marston manages to
dehumanize Dantro and others with his handy-dandy "Hypno-Ray."