By the early 1950s, Republic was looking to save money on serial production. They cut the runtime of each chapter, added stock footage from previous serials, and shortened production time.
One major clearance problem involved the trade name of Ace Hi gasoline, required to be diplayed on the back of a tank truck [Ep. 7] to match stock [footage] from Mysterious Doctor Satan. When it was discovered that Ace Hi was a real brand marketed by the Midwest Oil Company of Minneapolis, associate producer Franklin Adreon and production manager Jack Baker approved the usage of Ace Hi with the addition of the nonexistent Holt Oil Company lettered beneath the product name. Loeb and Loeb, Republic’s law firm, opinioned that associating Ace Hi with the fictitious oil company still maintained the risk, but its incidence was lessened. In line with Republic’s policy not to prominently feature trade names, the pumps and signs at a Union Oil station used as a location prior to the truck sequence were masked with large X-lettered paper sheets to conceal the labeled product actually being dispensed on the immediate premises. (Valley of the Cliffhangers, Jack Mathis, 1975)
