Tailspin Tommy (1934)

I am very impressed finding this review of Tailspin Tommy. I have stumped many people with my knowledge of old serials. Most you mentioned I actually watched on TV " 6 Inch" WPIX CH 11 in New York, and or listened too on the Radio. Didn't they also do JACK Armstrong, All American boy??What about The Whistler? The Shadow Knows? Didn't they also have those or was that another company?You have brought back many memories, I would sit in my Landlords house and Listen to the Radio to all the Serials you mention and more with my childhood friend, Joe Abbenda, "Later Mr. America, & Mr. Universe" Joe and I still keep in touch and I cannot wait to tell him about this website. Going to the Movies on Saturday brought 12 Cartoons, 2 feature Films and 3 or 4 Serials for .35 cents. Later .50 cents, we would go in at 11AM and our folks would pick us up at 5:30 PM.

Universal's 24th sound-era serial was the first of their two serials featuring Hal Forrest's "Tailspin Tommy" ,and was, in style, retention of most of the strip's primary (and secondary) characters and story line, basically a live-action rendition of the early days of the comic strip. It was also the company's first serial based on a comic strip and, while they would make 16 serials based on comic strip-originated characters (Tailspin Tommy{2}, Flash Gordon {3}, Ace Drummond, Jungle Jim, Secret Agent X-9 {2}, Radio Patrol, Tim Tyler, Red Barry, Buck Rogers, Don Winslow {2} and Smilin' Jack), this one was the most faithful to its origin, followed closely by "Red Barry" and the "Flash Gordon" offerings. Yes, "Tarzan", "The Green Hornet" and "Gang Busters" also had comic strips in their history but they were first and foremost literary or radio originated.It was also the most episodic of all their serials, with some plot lines being resolved within the usual overall chapter 1-12 formatting. The six screenplay writers---Ray Cannon, Ella O'Neill, Robert Hershon, Basil Dickey, George Plympton and Vin Moore---appear to have taken the stories straight from day one of the comic strip's continuity... "adapted from the newspaper comic feature by Hal Forrest"... and tinkered very little while doing so, and retained the small-town Americana and wind-sock airport flavor of the strip.Serials, just as all other genres and films, should only be rated and judged against "their own", based on when (the era) and for whom (the market) they were made for and the restrictions they were made under..and an understanding of such by the judge. Which is why we don't participate in the very-subjective exercise of rating films.But, among serials, we consider "Tailspin Tommy" one of the top-keepers.

The thirties, drifting unknowingly toward the horrors of WW2, provided the context for these appropriately earnest young men to prove themselves by successfully competing for a mail contract( it could have been anything of value). The villains are devious and uncomplicated. The women chaste and nearly helpless. The acting (especially Noah Berry, Jr and Grant Withers) projects to the highest seat in the balcony. The flying sequences may be the best the film has to offer but on a Saturday afternoon in the mid-thirties this was quite good enough, thank you. This film stands as a worthy example of our sweet, innocent past.