Tim Tyler's Luck (serial)

Tim Tyler's Luck
Tim Tyler's Luck
Directed by	Ford Beebe; Wyndham Gittens
Written by	Wyndham Gittens; Norman S. Hall; Ray Trampe; Lyman Young
Produced by	Henry MacRae; Elmer Tambert (associate)
Starring	Frankie Thomas; Frances Robinson; Jack Mulhall; Al Shean; Norman Willis
Cinematography	Jerome Ash
Edited by	Saul A. Goodkind (supervisor); Joseph Gluck; Louis Sackin; Alvin Todd
Music by	William Schiller; Clifford Vaughan
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	December 27, 1937;
Running time	12 chapters (212 minutes)
Country	United States
Language	English

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

Jungle Pirates
Dead Man's Pass
Into the Lions' Den
The Ivory Trail
Trapped in the Quicksands
The Jaws of the Jungle
The King of the Gorillas
The Spider Caught
The Gates of Doom
A Race for a Fortune
No Man's Land
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.

References

^ 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.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 219. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

Tim Tyler's Luck at IMDb

Preceded by Radio Patrol (1937)	Universal Serial Tim Tyler's Luck (1937)	Succeeded by Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

[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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