Tim Tyler's Luck (serial)

Tim Tyler's Luck
Directed byFord Beebe
Wyndham Gittens
Written byWyndham Gittens
Norman S. Hall
Ray Trampe
Lyman Young
Produced byHenry MacRae
Elmer Tambert (associate)
StarringFrankie Thomas
Frances Robinson
Jack Mulhall
Al Shean
Norman Willis
CinematographyJerome Ash
Edited bySaul A. Goodkind (supervisor)
Joseph Gluck
Louis Sackin
Alvin Todd
Music byWilliam Schiller
Clifford Vaughan
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • December 27, 1937 (1937-12-27)
Running time
12 chapters (212 minutes)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Tim Tyler's Luck (1937) is a Universal movie serial based on the comic strip Tim Tyler's Luck.

Premise

Tim Tyler stows away on a ship bound for Africa to find his father, Professor James Tyler. He meets, and is joined by, Lora Lacey, who is chasing the criminal "Spider" Webb, the man responsible for framing her brother.

Cast

  • Frankie Thomas as Tim Tyler
  • Frances Robinson as Lora Lacey, posing as Lora Graham
  • Norman Willis as "Spider" Webb
  • Jack Mulhall as Sargeant Gates
  • Al Shean as Professor James Tyler, Tim's father
  • Anthony Warde as Garry Drake
  • Earl Douglas as Jules Lazarre
  • William 'Billy' Benedict as Spud
  • Frank Mayo as Jim Conway
  • Alan Gregg as Brent, one of Spider's henchman
  • Stanley Blystone as Captain Clark
  • Everett Brown as Mogu, Spider's native henchman
  • Skippy as Ju Ju, the Chimp

Critical reception

Author Raymond William Stedman considers Tim Tyler's Luck to be perhaps the best of Universal's "Jungle Thrillers." Tim Tyler's Luck has good direction and convincing performances. The serial has quiet moments balancing the action, which was rare for a serial. The characterization is more nuanced than "might have been expected in an action serial".[1]

Chapter titles

  1. Jungle Pirates
  2. Dead Man's Pass
  3. Into the Lions' Den
  4. The Ivory Trail
  5. Trapped in the Quicksands
  6. The Jaws of the Jungle
  7. The King of the Gorillas
  8. The Spider Caught
  9. The Gates of Doom
  10. A Race for a Fortune
  11. No Man's Land
  12. The Kimberley Diamonds

Source:[2]

Home media

All 12 chapters were released on a single DVD on February 28, 2006 with special features including a 2005 interview with Frankie Thomas, bios, the original theatrical trailer, and bonus classic cliffhanger trailers.

See also

  • List of film serials
  • List of film serials by studio

References

  1. ↑ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "4. Perilous Saturdays". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 119. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
  2. ↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 219. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
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