Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) is a Universal

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 movie serial

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 Tailspin Tommy

Tailspin Tommy

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...

 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....

 by Hal Forrest

Hal Forrest

Hal Forrest was an American comic strip artist best known for the his work on Tailspin Tommy.Forrest was born July 22, 1895, in Philadelphia. When he was 16, he drew a comic strip, Percy the Boy Scout, for the Philadelphia Telegraph, and a year later he became the youngest scoutmaster in the...

. It was the 96th of the 137 serials released by the studio (the 28th of which to be made with sound

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

).

Plot

"Tailspin" Tommy and friends prevent corrupt businessmen from stealing Nazil Island's oil reserves.

Cast

• Clark Williams
  Clark Williams
  Myron Clark Williams was an American banker and politician.-Life:...
  
   as "Tailspin" Tommy Tompkins
• Jean Rogers
  Jean Rogers
  Jean Rogers was an American actress. She portrayed Dale Arden in two of the three Flash Gordon serials.-Early life:...
  
   as Betty Lou Barnes, one of "Tailspin" Tommy's companions
• Delphine Drew as Inez Casmetto
• Noah Beery, Jr.
  Noah Beery, Jr.
  Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting...
  
   as Skeeter Milligan, one of "Tailspin" Tommy's companions
• Bryant Washburn
  Bryant Washburn
  Born Franklin Bryant Washburn , Bryant Washburn was an American film actor. He appeared in 330 films between 1911 and 1947....
  
   as Ned Curtis, Betty's uncle and a heroic oil tycoon
• Pat J. O'Brien as Milt Howe, a masked mystery plot known as The Eagle and El Condor
• Herbert Heywood as Manuel Casmetto, villain
  Villain
  A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
  
  ous half-brother of Don Alvarado Casmetto
• Matthew Betz as Horace Raymore, villainous oil tycoon
• Paul Ellis
  Paul Ellis
  Paul B. Ellis MNZM is a New Zealand record producer, manager, and radio host. He is most known to audiences for being the former judge of New Zealand Idol and the current judge of the reality series New Zealand's Got Talent....
  
   as Enrico Garcia, Don Casmetto secretary and Manuel Casmetto's henchman
• Harry Worth as Don Alvarado Casmetto, Nazil Island's ruler
• Manuel López as Gomez
• Charles A. Browne as Paul Smith
• James P. Burtis as Bill McGuire, a reporter
• Frank Mayo
  Frank Mayo (actor)
  Frank Mayo was an American actor. He appeared in 310 films between 1911 and 1949.He was born in New York, New York and died in Laguna Beach, California from a heart attack...
  
   as the Dirigible Captain
• Frank Clarke as a flyer, billed as "Air Ace Frank Clark"

Critical reception

Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery is considered to be an improvement on the previous Tailspin Tommy

Tailspin Tommy (serial)

Tailspin Tommy is a Universal film serial based on the Tailspin Tommy comic strip by Hal Forrest. It was the 97th serial of the 137 released by that studio . The plot concerns a conflict over a government airmail contract....

serial.

Chapter titles

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
12. The Last Stand

_Source:

External links