SwapTalk

Remember when kids still played cowboys and Indians? Heck, remember when they still went

out to play? Now they seem to all be couch potatos, watching TV or playing video games.

Anyway, my sister sent the pic so I thought I might as well post it. See below for the three

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From L to R: My cousin Rich, me, Buster Crabbe, my sister, Marlene. Taken at Palisades Amusement Park, NJ around 1950. Sent by my mom. Thanks Mom. -- Bruce David/Swapsale

These pix are of Brace Beemer, who was Radio’s most remembered Lone Ranger. John

Todd is the old guy with the bald head. He was Radio’s Tonto for the entire run of the show,

Until Clayton Moore came along, Brace Beemer remained the “image” of the Lone Ranger. Earlier serials starring Lee Powell and Bob Livingston led to the “radio” visualization. That’s why you have early Lone Ranger comics with the Ranger in a pale yellow shirt, later to become red. The serials had the ranger in the light colored shirt and dark trousers, etc. When Moore came along for TV, they made his “outfit” more of a costume with the blue shirt and trousers. Silver was lucky, he stayed pretty much the same except for a saddle change with Moore.

History: The character is "the Sandman", who is a DC character from the Golden Age of comics. He appeared about the same time as Batman (1939) and was one of the original members of the Justice Society of America. He faded away by the late '40s but was brought back in the '60s when he made regular appearances in the Justice League of America (in the cross-over stories with the Justice Society) and other stories. A series called Sandman Mystery Theater ran for about four years in the late '80s but it was a "mature" title and much darker than the Golden Age character. A new version of the Sandman is the leader of the new JSA which has a regular book, and the original Sandman has appeared a number of times in flashback stories in that title, too. The Golden Age Sandman has been making fairly regular appearances in limited series, such as a recent four part story with the current Starman. Still, he's a fairly obscure comic book hero but that was one of the things I liked about him. There would not be a crowd of Sandman costumes as there are for the really popular characters like Superman, Batman and Spiderman (in fact, there was one other Sandman at Dragon*Con this year but he was portraying the character from SMT, the 1980's series). Plus, he is a character that a middle aged man who is not in great shape and wears glasses can play. The gas mask covers the glasses and he wears a double-breasted suit instead of a spandex tights. I was pleasantly surprised by how many people at Dragon*Con did recognize the character. Apparently, Sandman has a small but enthusiastic fandom. So, in nearly all ways, the costume was a success.

Construction: The "gas mask" was made from a paintball mask. Alex Toth has suggested that the Sandman's mask is based on the mask worn by a villain, the evil Captain Judas, in Milt Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates". Although some latter-day artists draw it like a true vintage-1940 gas mask, it was never intended to be that. Interestingly, much later Neil Gaiman in his highly successful series of graphic novel about another Sandman linked the two characters and indicated that the design of the original Sandman's mask partially mirrored the Dream King's battle helmet. From a practical standpoint, using a paintball mask as the foundation for the mask meant it would fit over my glasses and would be reasonably comfortable and have adequate ventilation to keep the lenses from fogging. The hat is an Australian bush hat with a silk ribbon replacing the original leather hat band. I needed the extra brim width of the bush hat to compensate for the bulkiness of the paintball mask. The narrow brim of a real fedora would have looked silly. The gun was made using standard modeling techniques from a water pistol, a piece of vacuum ducting and sheet styrene. It is modeled on the gas gun from the Sandman Mystery Theater series and is the costume's nod to that series. Plus, I liked the design of the SMT gun. It was based on real gun technology of the period and was a reasonable interpretation of what a gas gun might actually look like if it were made in the late 1930s. The final factor was the existence of plans for the gun in one of the early issues of SMT. As a modeler, it's hard to resist having plans from which to work. Putting the rest of the costume together was straightforward, though a good deal of luck was involved in finding a green double breasted suit that fit me reasonably well, for $20 at a thrift store.

Jan (Roger Manning) Merlin, Bruce (Swapsale) David and Frankie (Tom Corbett) Thomas

favorite members of the Polaris crew getting my picture taken. It was at Jan's house in Burbank, California (you should see his collection of African art) and

Corbett uniform, can still fit in it. I can't even fit into the clothes I bought last

It's finally here! The book we've all been waiting for! And was it ever worth the wait! Four hundred and thirty eight pages including two hundred and eighteen photos plus notes, appendices, bibliography and index! It's all here in more detail than we had any right to expect or even think possible. Based on interviews with stars Ed Kemmer, Virginia Hewitt, Nina Bara, writer Norman Jolly, director Dick Darley, radio writer Lou Huston, announcers Jack Narz and Dick Tufeld (and many others), Jean-Noel Bassior takes us back to the early 1950s, putting us in the moment as TV invents itself and history is made. We are there when Space Patrol first goes on the air and we're there when Ed Kemmer comes on board to replace the show's original lead, Glen Denning. We're also there when a very young and inexperienced Gene Barry (later achieving fame as TV's Bat Masterson) goes blank during a live Space Patrol broadcast with Virginia Hewitt and we're there when Virginia and Lyn Osborn (Cadet Happy) -- who dated for a while -- have a laughing fit during another live broadcast. Sadly, we are also present when Osborn first experiences his blackouts and later confronts the awful truth about his condition. Bassior probes the memories and -- more tellingly -- the emotions of all her subjects in such unexpected detail that one is tempted to say she has captured and frozen, not just Space Patrol, but an entire slice of the 1950s for all of time. My only frustration with this book is that it is too thick to read in one sitting yet too fascinating to put down. -- Bruce David/Swapsale (12-25-04)

Edward Kemmer, known to millions of his fans as Commander Buzz Corry, passed away in New York City. Ed starred in that role during the 50’s run of the top rated television series, Space Patrol. Most of time, heroes of the screen are celluloid only. I’ve been a film and television director for 30 years and during that time I’ve seldom seen any similarity between an actor’s screen image and the actor. This was not true with Ed Kemmer. Ed Kemmer and Commander Corry were so similar that it often appeared that only the name changed.

In real life, Ed was a hero. He was a fighter pilot during World War II and crash landed behind enemy lines on his 48^th combat mission. He escaped and was recaptured and remained a POW until freed by General Patton’s army at the end of the war.

I got to know Ed some 25 years ago when directing a television network Saturday morning sci-fi movie. During the filming, the special effects team failed to deliver several crucial rocket cockpit scenes.

The studio panicked when it learned the “cockpit” special effects were unable to be filmed. Hearing of it, I improvised. I had the “blue screen” cut from the cockpit and mounted a camera on the outside looking in. Actors were put in place and the scenes filmed. As the space craft veered this way and that, the camera mount tilted and turned, matching the movement of the actors who were directed to do the same.

“Brilliant,” cried the studio executives. “Impressive,” said another, “And, all without the costs of special effects.”

Fortunately, the studio had never seen or didn’t remember, Space Patrol. I was merely duplicating the shots I remembered as a child. As I drove home, I mused on the “effect” the series had upon my childhood and adult life. My education, career, and avocations all owe their genesis to the space opera of my childhood. You can imagine my delight when one of my cast members informed me that she had worked with Ed Kemmer for several years in the soap opera, The Guiding Light. She had Ed’s address and phone number and soon arranged for me to meet him.

Having the opportunity to know Ed Kemmer over the past years has been one of the real delights of my life. Ed was Commander Corry. He was very much the same person off the screen that he was on. Just as he’d been a “leader” in the military, he fit the role of a leader of the Space Patrol. When you work in a world of actors as I do, it’s so refreshing to find a non-actor, actor. If he had any pretense, I never picked up on it. If there was an out of control ego, I never saw it.

Ed worked his entire professional life which is no small feat in this business. After Space Patrol he starred in a number of features and appeared in countless television productions. He spent the later years of his career as a highly successful lead in the soaps. Ed was successful because he was a very talented actor. His talent and military leadership skills were obvious in the Space Patrol series. He easily moved from television to radio and back to television again. Each media required different acting skills and Kemmer mastered them all.

Generations later, young people continue to watch and enjoy Space Patrol. Fifty years later, it can still grip the imaginations of young people. Yes, the sets and production values are crude by modern standards but so are most things. Yet, the characterization of Kemmer’s Commander Corry still commands the attention and respect of young people, new to the show.

My 12 years old son Grayson, grew up on Space Patrol as have many children of the series early fans. When he learned of Ed’s death, he cried. As I write, he sits on the stairs leading down to my office and is sobbing quietly. He sits directly below a framed poster from the show.

When Space Patrol suddenly went off the air, I was stunned. It came as a shock to the millions of children and adults who tuned in every Saturday. The show’s ratings had been quite high for both the television and radio productions. As other sci-fi programs had shrinking sets and diminished budgets, Space Patrol was just the opposite. Unfortunately, irreconcilable conflict between ABC and Helen Mosher led to it’s premature demise.

Children saw Space Patrol as an integral part of their life. Commander Corry was a family member. When the series ended, kids lost their first important fraternity membership and a loved one. I once remarked to Ed that when the series went off the air, I didn’t think I would ever get over the loss. As I sit here writing, I realize that I never have.

Ed Kemmer was always kind, considerate, and generous to his legions of fans. He signed autographs endlessly, answered the same questions over and over with remarkable enthusiasm, and always posed for pictures whenever asked. His passing will forever leave an empty space in the lives of the fans who knew him or just viewed him. Other’s will step in and fill his space…but, they will never fill his place.

I joined him and we ate in silence, staring at a “collector’s” box of Chex. For you see, it’s hard to lose a hero.

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Frankie Thomas and Jan Merlin with Polaris model made by Jan from a Herb Deeks kit for Frankie's April 9,

The photo beside the one of us differs quite a bit from my version. I painted my POLARIS

white, as were the models we used on the show...and I had POLARIS printed vertically along

one side fin, with serial number 1021950 (the date of the first show) vertically along the

opposite side fin of the front view, just below the control window port. (Those numbers and

names on our rockets were later mistaken for portholes by some of our less observant fans.)

I also wished Frank a Happy Birthday and signed the side fins on the back of them, which is

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