Tailspin Tommy 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...

 film serial 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 97th serial of the 137 released by that studio (and the 24th 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...

). The plot concerns a conflict over a government airmail contract.

Plot

Two cargo airlines clash over a government mail contract. "Tailspin" Tommy, a young mechanic, gets a job with Three Points Airlines, who win the contract. Their opponents resort to sabotage in order to have the contact for themselves.

Cast

• Maurice Murphy as "Tailspin" Tommy Tompkins
• 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 Peter "Skeeter" Milligan
• Patricia Farr as Betty Lou Barnes
• Walter Miller
  Walter Miller (actor)
  Walter Miller was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 248 films between 1911 and 1940.He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack, aged 48...
  
   as Bruce Hoyt
• Grant Withers
  Grant Withers
  Grant Withers was an American film actor. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into talkies establishing himself with a list of headlined features as a young and handsome male lead...
  
   as Milt Howe
• Charles A. Browne as Paul Smith
• 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 Mr Grant, director of Midnight Patrol
• Belle Daube as Mrs Martha Tompkins, Tommy's mother
• John Davidson
  John Davidson (actor)
  John Davidson was an American film actor. He appeared in 148 films between 1915 and 1963.He was born in New York, New York and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
  
   as Wade "Tiger" Taggart
• Harrison Greene
  Harrison Greene
  Harrison Greene was an American film actor. He appeared in over 230 films between 1931 and 1946. He was born in Portland, Oregon, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
  
   as the Air circus announcer
• William Desmond
  William Desmond (actor)
  William Desmond was an Irish-born American actor. He appeared in 205 films between 1915 and 1948. He was nicknamed "The King of the Silent Serials."...
  
   as Sloane, Taggart's office henchman
• Lew Kelly
  Lew Kelly
  Lew Kelly was an American film actor. He appeared in over 200 films between 1928 and 1944.He was born in St...
  
   as Victor Martin, Three Point airport dispatcher
• John Ince
  John Ince (actor)
  thumb|John Ince in 1915John Ince, also known as John E. Ince, was an American stage and motion pictures actor, a film director, and the eldest brother of Thomas and Ralph Ince. A leading man from the early 1910s, he also directed and scripted several of his own vehicles...
  
   as Eric Peabody, one of Taggart's henchmen
• Lee Beggs as Deacon Grimes
• Ethan Laidlaw
  Ethan Laidlaw
  Ethan Laidlaw was an American film actor. He appeared in over 350 films between 1923 and 1962.He was born in Butte, Montana, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:* Sea Spoilers...
  
   as Bart Dirk, one of Taggart's henchmen

Production

Tailspin Tommy was the first serial to be based on a 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....

. From 1936 to 1945, Universal almost made more serial adaptations of comic strips than both of their rivals, Columbia and Republic, combined. Jimmy Allen was a rival radio serial character to the Tailspin Tommy newspaper strip. He featured in the film Sky Parade. Grant Withers played the sidekick in this film as well as both Tailspin Tommy serials.

Chapter titles

1. Death Flies the Mail
2. The Mail Goes Through
3. Sky bandits
4. The Copper Room
5. The Night Flight
6. The Baited Trap
7. Tommy to the Rescue
8. The Thrill of Death
9. The Earth God's Roar
10. Death at the Controls
11. Rushing Waters
12. Littleville's Big Day

_Source:

External links