ROCKY JONES SPACE RANGER: CRASH OF THE MOONS (1954) - This was a Saturday morning TV program that played during 1954. Some very 50's characters especially the female and the boy. The story is about these two moons that don't orbit around around a planet, but have they're own orbit and they are approaching Rockys space station while friends seem to be visiting. Watching it is kinda funny. Worth a look if you get the chance. The ship isn't as good as the FLASH GORDON (1936) series model or even RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON (1952). In fact the ship dosn't even look like a model, but more like a paper cut out.
(http://www.oldies.com/images/boxart/small/6/089218620996.jpg)
Post Edited (09-18-05 21:07)
I really like the Rocky Jones adventures. They're more fun than most of the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days. This one is perhaps the BIGGEST of the Rocky Jones adventures as far as an epic. I tend to prefer MENACE FROM SPACE over this one however.
Had to be a real stud to put up with a sidekick named...."Winkey"...it think it was that....some dunderheaded monicker...
Flangepart wrote:
> Had to be a real stud to put up with a sidekick
> named...."Winkey"...it think it was that....some dunderheaded
> monicker...
>
I think "Winkey" is right.
hehe... Winkey...
Anyway, what I find funny about these films is the very 50's costumes, they just look so darn funny when looking back on them...
One can only shudder about what people will think about our fashion sense today, and what the fashion will actually be like, 20 years from now.
Here is a rather harsh yet funny review from imdb that will give you an idea about the show. He even mentions Winky.
"Rocky Jones is an emotionless space ranger who is never wrong. Everyone he knows follows his every whim, even his superiors in the Space Ranger chain. He's smarter than everybody and knows everything about everything. Nothing fazes him, nothing is beyond his control. He looks like Kirk but acts like Spock, only not as excitable. He's about as fun to watch as a dead hamster. On the opposite end of the spectrum are all the other characters, who are so inept and annoying that you wonder why Rocky even bothers with them. There's tow-headed, chipmunk-toothed Bobby, a know-it-all kid who sucks up to everyone and comes along on all the missions for no discernable reason. Also along for no reason is Vena, who is someone's sister. Vena wears a lot of short skirts, which is nice, but she's also dumber than a stick, which is not. And don't forget senile old Professor Newton, who is one of those movie scientists who doesn't specialize in any specific realm of science or medicine, but is called upon for everything from astrophysics to childcare. Worst of all is Rocky's effeminate sidekick Winky (yes, Winky), who constantly yammers on about his swingin' social life with the ladies. He claims to be girl crazy and quite the player, but spends 24 hours a day with chiseled and asexual Rocky, chirpy man-boy Bobby, and platonic gal-pal Vena. All the male characters wear really tight pants.
Their adventures seem to be aimed at kids, but they're shot so drably and acted so woodenly that it's the visual equivalent of Nyquil. The mind-numbingly-simple plots are over-explained to the point where you can't tell what's going on. People get captured and recaptured by their nemesis over and over again until you can't tell who's a captor, who's a captive, and who's just pretending to be a captive. The "futuristic" sets show all the ingenuity and imagination as a Sears catalog. The scripts are written by people who cannot grasp simple human interaction, let alone the science of space flight. They're technically inept, which should be funny on some level, but they're also boring and made by people who just didn't put any heart into their work, so I guess television hasn't changed much since 1954."
I think Richard Crane and William L. Petersen from CSI look a lot alike.
Winky was at one time Spanky's sidekick in the Little Rascals.
I'm writing Rocky Jones into a novel I'm writing which takes place in the 50's.
That should be interesting. : ) A novel idea.
Winkey and Spankey....what kind of buddy picture would THAT team up make?
Or is it too dangerious to the brain cells to ask?
Rocky Jones was a GREAT t.v. show. It is full of American archetypes and good guys/bad guys type two-fisted action. You can buy the entire show on Ebay for about $30. If you like 50s sci-fi, it's a really good deal.
As to "Winky" he was indeed played by Scotty Beckett of the Little Rascals. He was fired from the show (and later died from an overdose in the 60s). His character was replaced with "Biff" who was written as an exchange officer from another planet.
Never thought I'd get that kind of info on Winky. You always wonder what happens to some of the old actors. Thanks ZeroZed.
If you haven't already, pick up the Dear Friends collection by Firesign Theatre -- They have a dean-on parody of this series & Flash Gordon called "Mark Time"-- or, if you want to see some flash-art animation along with the cut, go to www.firesigntheatre.com & click around on the opening page. Mark Time has its own link --
peter johnson/denny crane