Variety Weekly - October4, 1950
(Article under copyright)
TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET
With Frankie Thomas, Jan Merlin, Al Markim, Michael Harvey, MargaretGarland, others
Producer: Leonard Carlton
Director: George Gould
Writer: Albert Aley
15 Min., Mon.-Wed.-Fri.; 6:45 p.m.
KELLOG CO.
CBS-TV, from New York
(Kenyon & Eckhardt)
"Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" is anadventure series that should capture a good juve audience and may pickup a few adult viewers through its fanciful science-fiction theme and setting.Story, set in the 24th century, centers around young Tom Corbett, a cadetin the Solar Guides, interplanetary police force which is supposed to maintainthe Solar Alliance.
First segment bounced immediately into action,with a member of the Guides crashing in his rocket after giving an incompletewarning that the Earth and the Solar Alliance were in danger. Backgroundof story was unfolded in a lecture by Capt. Strong, head of the Guides,who explained that after years of planetary warfare the Solar Alliancewas formed and the guides set up to maintain it. A villain was introducedinto the piece in the person of another cadet, who had joined the cadetsfor his own advancement.
Dialog, although filled with expressionlike "by the clouds of Venus" and "by the rings of Saturn"was convincing within its confines, and acting was okay. Frankie Thomaswas good in the role of Corbett, and Jan Merlin was adequately sneeringas the cynical cadet. Michael Harvey was sincere as Capt. Strong, althoughhe fumbled on a couple of lines. Al Markim was okay as another cadet.
Setting and costumes were top-notch, backdropswere severely lined, with scientific instruments setting the motif. Costumeswere in the Buck Rogers style. Camera work was excellent, and a particularlygood effect was achieved in the rocket crash sequence, in which light flickeredon the faces of the watching cadets to give the impression of the shipin flames.
Chan.
