TAILSPIN TOMMY AND THE
GREAT AIR MYSTERY is a twelve-episode 1935
Universal movie serial based on the
Tailspin Tommy comic strip by
Hal Forrest and starring
Clark Williams,
Jean Rogers and
Noah Beery, Jr.. The picture was the 96th of the
137 serials released by the Universal studio (the 28th of which to be made with sound).
The plot centers around "
Tailspin" Tommy (Clark Williams) and his fellow pilots, who prevent a group of corrupt businessmen,
Manuel Casmetto (
Herbert Heywood) and
Horace Raymore (
Matthew Betz) from stealing
Nazil Island's oil reserves. They are aided in their efforts by news reporter
Milt Howe (Pat J.
O'Brien). When
Tommy is triumphant, he also finds he has a movie contract.
Chapters include: (1)
Wreck of the
Dirigible, (2) The Roaring
Fire God, (3) Hurled from the Skies, (4)
A Bolt from the Blue, (5)
The Torrent, (6)
Flying Death, (7)
The Crash in the
Clouds, (8)
Wings of
Disaster, (9)
Crossed and
Double Crossed, (10)
The Dungeon of Doom, (11)
Desperate Changes and (12)
The Last Stand.
This episode features great footage of
U.S. Navy aircraft carriers on maneuver, and a big naval exercise begin filmed by a biplane. It also has footage of a dirigible.
Tailspin Tommy was an air adventure comic strip about a youthful pilot, "Tailspin" Tommy Tompkins.
Originally illustrated by Hal Forrest and initially distributed by
John Wheeler's
Bell Syndicate and then by
United Feature Syndicate, the strip had a 14-year run from 1928 to
1942.
In the wake of
Charles Lindbergh's
1927 flight across the
Atlantic, the public's fascination with aviation escalated. Tailspin Tommy was the first aviation-based comic strip to appear as a result of this heightened interest, and it also became the longest lasting. The strip's 1928 launch was followed by others, notably Skyroads,
Scorchy Smith and
Flyin' Jenny.
Scripted by
Glenn Chaffin, a newspaper journalist and press agent, Tailspin Tommy began its run in four newspapers on April 30, 1928. By 1931, it was published in more than 250 newspapers across the country. After buying out Chaffin's interest,
Forrest took over the scripting in 1933; he wrote and drew the strip solo for the next three years. In 1936, when Forrest took on an assistant,
Reynold Brown, who inked (uncredited) over Forrest's pencils. Tailspin Tommy is held by some to have improved with
Brown's contribution.
Tailspin Tommy flew into movie theaters throughout the
1930s. He was portrayed by
Maurice Murphy in the 12-episode
1934 movie serial Tailspin Tommy. Another 12-chapter serial, Tailspin Tommy in the
Great Air
Mystery (1935), starred Clark Williams in the title role.
John Trent portrayed Tommy in a series of hour-long features, including Mystery
Plane,
Stunt Pilot,
Sky Patrol and
Danger Flight. All were released in
1939.
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This film is part of the
Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the
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- published: 23 Jan 2016
- views: 943