Howdy, you Truly Adventurous Souls!
Hello and welcome back to Squadron Central!
"The Adventures of Smilin' Jack" was a Universal serial released way back in 1943, inspired by a newspaper comic strip. There was a collection of names in the credits that I remember seeing in other serials, but a few members of the crew especially stand-out.
Chiefest of these was Sidney Toler, no doubt he is best known for playing Charlie Chan.
Turhan Bey is also in the cast. According to his IMDB page, he was apparently a pretty big star in Hollywood, I'm almost ashamed that I really only know him as evil priest Mehemet Bey in "The Mummy's Tomb".
The star I am most familiar with is Keye Luke. He was in a wide array of serials, and was Charlie Chan's number one son, Lee. However, this was during Warner Oland's run as Charlie Chan. A few fun facts: Keye Luke played Kato in two Green Hornet serials, and later got to be a guest star on the show in '66. He also got to be the voice of Charlie Chan in the Hanna Barbera cartoon series "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan". Of course, I first encountered him later in his career, first when he was David Carradine's old blind master on "Kung Fu", and later as the old man who didn't want to sell the Mogwai in the beginning of "Gremlins".
But we're here to talk about Smilin' Jack. So what's it about? Well, the story begins in China in the early days of WW2. Smilin' Jack Martin was a flier for the Chinese, but quits to go home and fly for the US, who will surely soon enter the war. Before he leaves, General Ling (Sidney Toler) asks him for a favor...
The small, rural Mandon Province has a secret road through the mountains into India, and the General believes it could be a vital supply route during the war. Jack is asked to deliver a message to the governor of Mandon inviting him to discuss releasing this secret for the good of China.
However, this information is also coveted by the enemy, embodied by the Black Samarai, a Japanese spy ring. They bristle with resentment at their wartime leader, Fraulein Von Teufals, an accomplished and infamous German spy.
The Governor of Mandon is reluctant to disclose the secret pass without assurances from all involved that the road will again be forgotten and closed when the war is done. The rest of the serial is spent pursuing signatures from dignitaries in China, India, and the United States (because hey! This is an American production!) ensuring this promise.
This leads our hero and his stalwart companions on a rollicking journey over land and sea and through the air to collect the promise of three countries and release the secret. There are bombings from planes, ships get torpedoed, submarines get rammed, and our Jack even learns that the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor!
I've never read the comic strip, but I dig the serial! There are tons of non-stop action, and the mystery of who among their group is secretly a double-agent!
I guess if I'm to be objective, I should admit that there's really not much to differentiate this from other serials. There is at least one fight every chapter, they don't confirm the identity of the villain (in this case, Fraulein Von Teufals) until the final chapter, each chapter starts with a summary of what's so far transpired, and ends on a life-threatening cliffhanger. I find that earlier serials suffer from poor editing and move pretty slowly, but this one moves at a pretty brisk pace. Yeah, it's kinda juvenile, and its VERY corny, but it's also very FUN! Basically, if you like serials, I think you would enjoy this one.
I've watched this one more than once. It's available for free on YouTube from multiple channels, and you could probably find it on DVD from a variety of specialty websites and Amazon, too, I'll bet.
Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I recommend it! Have you seen it? Do you want to? Tell us about in the comments below, and be sure to tune in next time when I prattle on about...uh...something else!
Until then, I wish you all...
Good Adventuring!
Timothy A. Sayell