In the days before zero-tolerance policies and school shootings, kids were allowed to bring truth-telling alien rayguns to school anytime they could get their hands on one. Little orphaned boy Timmy was one of the lucky ones who did, and his raygun adventures were chronicled in the 1954 film The Rocket Man.
Timmy receives the gun as a Christmas present, little knowing it was delivered by an outer space visitor. The orphaned waif assumes, like everyone else, that the gun is merely a toy, but he soon discovers its power to make anyone tell the truth.
Sweet-hearted soul that he is, little Timmy uses his new powers for good, setting out to foil the plot of crooked politician Big Bill Watkins (Emory Parnell) to shut down the orphanage.
In the meantime, Timmy’s gun helps nice young folks Tom Baxter (John Agar) and June Brown (Anne Francis) discover and develop their mutual attraction.
Low-budget and campy, The Rocket Man starred B-movie sci-fi legend John Agar as Tom Baxter, while deep-voiced child actor George “Foghorn” Winslow was the lucky lad selected to play Timmy.
A silly fantasy/comedy, The Rocket Man was never intended to be a Hollywood blockbuster, but its B-movie charm made it a Saturday matinee regular for years after its release.
Knowing Lenny Bruce wrote this makes it even better.
Mayor Ed Johnson Charles Coburn
Justice Amelia Brown
Spring Byington
Timmy
George “Foghorn” Winslow
June Brown
Anne Francis
Tom Baxter
John Agar
Big Bill Watkins
Emory Parnell
Bob
Stanley Clements
Ludine
Beverly Garland
Miss Snedley
June Clayworth
Officer O’Brien
Don Haggerty
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