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.
