Ace Drummond (film series)
Encyclopedia
Ace Drummond is a 1936 film serial
based on the Ace Drummond
comic strip
drawn by Clayton Knight and written by Eddie Rickenbacker
. It featured aviator
Ace Drummond and his adventures in Mongolia. A mysterious villain who calls himself The Dragon is attempting to prevent International Airways from beginning service there, in order to protect the secret of the mountain of jade for himself. It features a dungeon in the nearby monastery, the kidnapping of an archeologist who stumbles onto the secret, his daughter's attempts to rescue him with Ace's help, a death ray The Dragon uses on the airline pilots, a radio system by which The Dragon communicates with his henchmen via the rotation of Buddhist prayer wheels (each transmission concluding "The Dragon commands!"), and a squadron of his own fighter planes. Ace also regularly performs his theme song, "Give Me a Ship and a Song". Never explained is why International Airways selects flying boats for their planned Mongolia service instead of landplanes.
Ace Drummond gained good publicity following a set visit by Amelia Earhart. The famous aviatrix had driven out to the San Fernando Valley, after hearing that the serial was being shot there on location, where she watched the filming of the chapter two cliffhanger.
In the traditional foreword at the beginning of each chapter, Ace Drummond used comic strips to summarise the story so far. This worked well and Universal, who had been trying to get away from using written text in its forewords, used "similar gimmicks" in their succeeding serials.
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
based on the Ace Drummond
Ace Drummond
Ace Drummond was an aviation comic strip scripted by Eddie Rickenbacker, the celebrated World War I aviator, and illustrated by Clayton Knight , well-known aviation author and artist, who was the father of illustrator Hilary Knight...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
drawn by Clayton Knight and written by Eddie Rickenbacker
Eddie Rickenbacker
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines.-Early...
. It featured aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
Ace Drummond and his adventures in Mongolia. A mysterious villain who calls himself The Dragon is attempting to prevent International Airways from beginning service there, in order to protect the secret of the mountain of jade for himself. It features a dungeon in the nearby monastery, the kidnapping of an archeologist who stumbles onto the secret, his daughter's attempts to rescue him with Ace's help, a death ray The Dragon uses on the airline pilots, a radio system by which The Dragon communicates with his henchmen via the rotation of Buddhist prayer wheels (each transmission concluding "The Dragon commands!"), and a squadron of his own fighter planes. Ace also regularly performs his theme song, "Give Me a Ship and a Song". Never explained is why International Airways selects flying boats for their planned Mongolia service instead of landplanes.
Cast
- John KingJohn 'Dusty' KingJohn 'Dusty' King John 'Dusty' King John 'Dusty' King (born Miller McLeod Everson, July 11, 1909 – November 11, 1987 was a singer and film actor renowned for his Westerns particularly the Range Busters series.-Biography:Everson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio...
as Ace Drummond - Jean Rogers Jean RogersJean Rogers was an American actress. She portrayed Dale Arden in two of the three Flash Gordon serials.-Early life:...
as Peggy Trainor - Noah Beery Jr. as Jerry
- Guy Bates Post as the Grand Lama
- Lon Chaney Jr. as the henchman Ivan
- Jackie Morrow as Billy Meredith
Production
Ace Drummond was based on a comic strip by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.Ace Drummond gained good publicity following a set visit by Amelia Earhart. The famous aviatrix had driven out to the San Fernando Valley, after hearing that the serial was being shot there on location, where she watched the filming of the chapter two cliffhanger.
In the traditional foreword at the beginning of each chapter, Ace Drummond used comic strips to summarise the story so far. This worked well and Universal, who had been trying to get away from using written text in its forewords, used "similar gimmicks" in their succeeding serials.