Other serials were based on comic heroes that have long been forgotten. Hal Forrest's Tailspin Tommy strip ran from 1928 to 1942. Dashing aviator Tommy, his sidekick Skeeter and his girlfriend Betty Lou Barnes ran Three Point Airlines, named after the perfect landing technique. Universal invested heavily in the franchise. Maurice Murphy played Tommy for 1934's Tailspin Tommy serial, and four 1939 feature films starred John Trent as the intrepid airman. Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) sees our three cheerful pilots foiling a conspiracy in the Latin American country of Nazil, where American gangsters have conspired with an usurper to steal the country's oil reserves. Making use of considerable new flying footage, the serial opens with an impressive dirigible crash. Tommy (Clark Williams), Betty Lou (Jean Rogers) and Skeeter (Noah Beery, Jr.) must fight a masked flier called the 'Double-X Pilot,' who leads a rogue fighter squadron based from a secret jungle fortress. Our heroes are occasionally aided by a mysterious aviator known as 'El Condor,' whose 'Eagle Plane' appears and disappears into an artificial cloud. The serial's first three chapters promise plenty of action and spectacle: Wreck of the Dirigible, The Roaring Fire God and Hurled from the Skies.
Tailspin Tommy
Brief Synopsis
A young mechanic gets a job with a small airline, which he helps win a mail contract. A rival airline plots to destroy it in order to get the contracts for itself.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Lew Landers
Director
Maurice Murphy
Patricia Farr
Noah Beery Jr.
Belle Daube
Lee Beggs
Film Details
Release Date
1934
Production Company
Universal Pictures
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures
Technical Specs
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
A young mechanic gets a job with a small airline, which he helps win a mail contract. A rival airline plots to destroy it in order to get the contracts for itself.
Director
Lew Landers
Director
Film Details
Release Date
1934
Production Company
Universal Pictures
Distribution Company
Universal Pictures
Technical Specs
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery -
Hollywood's long legacy of matinee serials has been seriously neglected in film studies. Multi-chapter adventures began screening as added short subjects early in the silent era; their emphasis on action over characterization continued when sound came in. The minor company Mascot Pictures specialized in silent serials. In 1935, it was consolidated with several other studios to form Republic Pictures, which made Western, crime and fantasy serials its stock in trade. But leading the pack was Universal Pictures, which scored hits with relatively lavish serial adventures adapted from Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
Other serials were based on comic heroes that have long been forgotten. Hal Forrest's Tailspin Tommy strip ran from 1928 to 1942. Dashing aviator Tommy, his sidekick Skeeter and his girlfriend Betty Lou Barnes ran Three Point Airlines, named after the perfect landing technique. Universal invested heavily in the franchise. Maurice Murphy played Tommy for 1934's Tailspin Tommy serial, and four 1939 feature films starred John Trent as the intrepid airman. Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) sees our three cheerful pilots foiling a conspiracy in the Latin American country of Nazil, where American gangsters have conspired with an usurper to steal the country's oil reserves. Making use of considerable new flying footage, the serial opens with an impressive dirigible crash. Tommy (Clark Williams), Betty Lou (Jean Rogers) and Skeeter (Noah Beery, Jr.) must fight a masked flier called the 'Double-X Pilot,' who leads a rogue fighter squadron based from a secret jungle fortress. Our heroes are occasionally aided by a mysterious aviator known as 'El Condor,' whose 'Eagle Plane' appears and disappears into an artificial cloud. The serial's first three chapters promise plenty of action and spectacle: Wreck of the Dirigible, The Roaring Fire God and Hurled from the Skies.
Other serials were based on comic heroes that have long been forgotten. Hal Forrest's Tailspin Tommy strip ran from 1928 to 1942. Dashing aviator Tommy, his sidekick Skeeter and his girlfriend Betty Lou Barnes ran Three Point Airlines, named after the perfect landing technique. Universal invested heavily in the franchise. Maurice Murphy played Tommy for 1934's Tailspin Tommy serial, and four 1939 feature films starred John Trent as the intrepid airman. Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) sees our three cheerful pilots foiling a conspiracy in the Latin American country of Nazil, where American gangsters have conspired with an usurper to steal the country's oil reserves. Making use of considerable new flying footage, the serial opens with an impressive dirigible crash. Tommy (Clark Williams), Betty Lou (Jean Rogers) and Skeeter (Noah Beery, Jr.) must fight a masked flier called the 'Double-X Pilot,' who leads a rogue fighter squadron based from a secret jungle fortress. Our heroes are occasionally aided by a mysterious aviator known as 'El Condor,' whose 'Eagle Plane' appears and disappears into an artificial cloud. The serial's first three chapters promise plenty of action and spectacle: Wreck of the Dirigible, The Roaring Fire God and Hurled from the Skies.
Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery -
Hollywood's long legacy of matinee serials has been seriously neglected in film studies. Multi-chapter adventures began screening as added short subjects early in the silent era; their emphasis on action over characterization continued when sound came in. The minor company Mascot Pictures specialized in silent serials. In 1935, it was consolidated with several other studios to form Republic Pictures, which made Western, crime and fantasy serials its stock in trade. But leading the pack was Universal Pictures, which scored hits with relatively lavish serial adventures adapted from Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
Other serials were based on comic heroes that have long been forgotten. Hal Forrest's Tailspin Tommy strip ran from 1928 to 1942. Dashing aviator Tommy, his sidekick Skeeter and his girlfriend Betty Lou Barnes ran Three Point Airlines, named after the perfect landing technique. Universal invested heavily in the franchise. Maurice Murphy played Tommy for 1934's Tailspin Tommy serial, and four 1939 feature films starred John Trent as the intrepid airman. Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) sees our three cheerful pilots foiling a conspiracy in the Latin American country of Nazil, where American gangsters have conspired with an usurper to steal the country's oil reserves. Making use of considerable new flying footage, the serial opens with an impressive dirigible crash. Tommy (Clark Williams), Betty Lou (Jean Rogers) and Skeeter (Noah Beery, Jr.) must fight a masked flier called the 'Double-X Pilot,' who leads a rogue fighter squadron based from a secret jungle fortress. Our heroes are occasionally aided by a mysterious aviator known as 'El Condor,' whose 'Eagle Plane' appears and disappears into an artificial cloud. The serial's first three chapters promise plenty of action and spectacle: Wreck of the Dirigible, The Roaring Fire God and Hurled from the Skies.
