Captain Video - Master of the Stratosphere 1951

ETs & UFOs : | 1971 Australian File | Bibliography | Captain Video | Cate Chassé | Directed Energy Weapons | Elena Danaan | Events, film and books | F.W. Birmingham, Parramatta Park, Australia 1868 | Flying saucer South Korea | Flying Saucers over Australia 1950 | Immaculate Constellation | Martin Sharp, LSD & UFOs | Maria Orsic | Mayan Alien & UFO hieroglyphs | Medbeds | MH370 | Mount Zeil, Australia | Mussolini's UFO 1933 | Origins | Shirley UFO 1952 | Space Force | Stan Deyo 1970s | TR-3B | TR-3B Chronology | UFOs, Aliens and the Vatican + References | Wilson/Davis transcript 2002 | Zero Point Energy |

3 sheet poster, 41 x 81 inches.

Contents

  1. Captain Video
  2. Film
  3. Posters
  4. Comics & toys
  5. Flying Saucers in posters
  6. References

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1. Captain Video?

Whilst browsing through various movie poster sites, the writer came across an intriguingly names cinematic serial from 1951 - the fifteen part of Captain Video - Master of the Stratosphere. Based off the earlier television series Captain Video and His Video Rangers which ran between 1949-55, this cinematic release was the first such TV-to-film production and one of many such serials presented to cinema goers from the 1930s through to 1956.

The word video was first cited in 1934 in relation to the invention of television and electronic visual imagery, and as a term related to audio which referred to sound. The precise origin of its relation to the individual referred to as Captain Video is unclear, as this person was a space ranger who travelled both on Earth and beyond. However, a lot of such fantastical words and names appeared during the science fiction book of the 1930s through to the 1960s.

The 15-part serial generally received favourable reviews, despite budget limitations and the very nature of studio-produced serials which were generally produced on tighter budgets then their individual film counterparts.

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2. Film

The film was released in 15 parts, black and white 35 mm, running time approximately 20 minutes, which is the normal running time for a 35 mm reel. The episodes were titled as follows:

  1. Journey into Space
  2. Menace of Atoma
  3. Captain Video's Peril
  4. Entombed in Ice
  5. Flames of Atoma
  6. Astray in the Stratosphere
  7. Blasted by the Atomic Eye
  8. Invisible Menace
  9. Video Springs a Trap
  10. Menace of the Mystery Metal
  11. Weapon of Destruction
  12. Robot Rocket
  13. Mystery of Station X
  14. Vengeance of Vultura
  15. Video vs. Vultura

A copy of the serial is available on YouTube, with a link below. DVD and Blu-rays copies are also available, with the later remastered and tinted. Some colour segments were included within the individual parts of the cinematic release.

Captain Video 1951 - 15 chapter cliffhanger, PizzaFlix, 13 May 2024, YouTube, duration: 262.49 minutes.

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3. Posters

As with most cinematic release - individual films, documentaries or serials - a variety of promotional material is associated with that, including posters, lobby cards, stills and pamphlets. Some of these are illustrated below.

6 sheet, 81 x 81 inches, 1951.

1 sheet, 27 x 41 inches.

Chapter 1 - Journey Into Space, lobby card. Cards issued in green, black, red and blue.

Chapter 14 - Vengeance of Vultura, lobby card.

Australian daybill, 14 x 30 inches.

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4. Comics

There was also a series of Captain Video comics issued in connection with the original Dumont Television Network series.

Above is a copy of the 36 page Miller and Son publication from 1951. 

The above and below is the front and rear covers of a Fawcett Publications production from June 1951.

Other Captain Video produced included a board game; plastic spaceships and figures from Post's Raisin Bran cereal packets; a tin metal space station; Halloween spaceship costumes; and a twin disc game involving listening to a recording.


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5. Flying Saucers in Movie Posters

The Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere movie posters by Glenn Cravath as illustrated above feature a variety of futuristic flying machines, including no-so-futuristic Flying Saucers and round, cigar-like spacecraft straight out of a 1930s Flash Gordon serial.

Flash Gordon, 1936.

Why labelled "no-so-futuristic"? Because in 1947 two such extraterrestrial vehicles crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, and were seized by US authorities, along with their Alien pilots, dead and alive. However, these were not the first flying saucers to come into the public sphere. During 1933 one had crashed in Italy and was seized by Mussolini who then transferred it to the Nazis. As a result, from the late 1940s through the 1950s there was something of a flying saucer craze and they very much entered the public realm. Therefore, by 1951, their inclusion in movie posters such as Captain Video was very much a feature of attraction which the public immediately recognised. For example, on 5 January 1959 the movie The Flying Saucer was released.

The Flying Saucer, 1950.

Of course, 1951 saw the release of the hit movie The Day the Earth Stood Still which featured a flying saucer landing in Washington.

The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951.

A flood of books, comics and film and television series then featured the craft through the 1950s. Over the following decades alien craft morphed into more sophisticated forms and the simple flying saucer was no longer as common.

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6. References

Bennet, Spence and Wallace A. Grissell (directors) , Captain Video - Masters of the Stratosphere, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hollywood, 15-part serial, 35mm film, 1951.

Blake, Jerry, Captain Video, Files of Jerry Blake: Movie Serial Reviews, 15 December 2014.

Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Nostalgia Central, n.d.

Cole, Mark, Captain Video - Master of the Stratosphere, Rivets on the Poster, 11 April 2020.

Cravath, Glenn [artist], Captain Video - Masters of the Stratosphere, Chapter 11 - Weapon of Destruction [poster], Columbia Pictures Corporation, Hollywood, photolithograph on paper, 27 x 41 inches, 1951.

Wikipedia, Captain Video and His Video Rangers, Wikipedia, accessed 15 May 2026.

-----, Captain Video - Masters of the Stratosphere, Wikipedia, accessed 15 May 2026.

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ETs & UFOs : | 1971 Australian File | Bibliography | Captain Video | Cate Chassé | Directed Energy Weapons | Elena Danaan | Events, film and books | F.W. Birmingham, Parramatta Park, Australia 1868 | Flying saucer South Korea | Flying Saucers over Australia 1950 | Immaculate Constellation | Martin Sharp, LSD & UFOs | Maria Orsic | Mayan Alien & UFO hieroglyphs | Medbeds | MH370 | Mount Zeil, Australia | Mussolini's UFO 1933 | Origins | Shirley UFO 1952 | Space Force | Stan Deyo 1970s | TR-3B | TR-3B Chronology | UFOs, Aliens and the Vatican + References | Wilson/Davis transcript 2002 | Zero Point Energy |  

Last updated: 16 May 2026

Michael Organ, Australia

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