Ace Drummond (serial)

Ace Drummond
Ace Drummond
	Film poster for Chapter 8
Directed by	Ford Beebe; Clifford Smith
Starring	John 'Dusty' King; Jean Rogers; Noah Beery Jr.; Lon Chaney Jr.
Cinematography	Richard Fryer
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	October 19, 1936;
Running time	13 chapters (258 min)
Country	United States
Language	English

Ace Drummond, Chapter 1: Where East Meets West

Ace Drummond, Chapter 2: The Invisible Enemy

Ace Drummond, Chapter 3: The Doorway of Doom

Ace Drummond is a Universal Pictures 1936 film serial based on the comic strip "Ace Drummond" written by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and drawn by Clayton Knight. The serial's cast features John King, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr. and Jackie Morrow, with Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role.

Plot

A mysterious villain who calls himself the Dragon is attempting to prevent International Airways from beginning service in Mongolia, in order to protect the secret of the mountain of jade for himself.^[1]

The serial features a dungeon in the nearby monastery, the kidnapping of an archeologist who stumbles onto the secret, his daughter's attempts to rescue him with Ace's help, a death ray the Dragon uses on the airline pilots, a radio system by which The Dragon communicates with his henchmen via the rotation of Buddhist prayer wheels (each transmission concluding "The Dragon commands!"), and a squadron of his own fighter planes.

Cast

John King as Ace Drummond
Jean Rogers as Peggy Trainor
Noah Beery Jr. as Jerry
Jackie Morrow as Billy Meredith
Selmer Jackson as Mr. Meredith
Guy Bates Post as the Grand Lama
C. Montague Shaw as Trainor
Frederick Vogeding as Bauer
Al Bridge as Wyckoff
Chester Gan as Kai-chek
James B. Leong as Henry Kee
James Eagles as Johnny Wong
Arthur Loft as Chang Ho/The Dragon
Lon Chaney Jr. as Henchman Ivan
Stanley Blystone as Henchman Sergei
Edmund Cobb as Henchman Nikolai
Richard Wessel as Henchman Boris

together with: Sam Ash as LePage; Hooper Atchley as Caldoni; Louis Vincenot as Lo Tan; Eddie Parker as Dmitri; Tom Steele and George De Normand as Other Henchman; Russell Wade as Pilot; House Peters Jr. as Co-Pilot; Diana Gibson as Stewardess; and Ed Piel Sr. as Passenger.

Production

Ace Drummond was based on a comic strip by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker.^[2]

Ace Drummond gained good publicity following a set visit by Amelia Earhart. The famous aviator had driven out to the San Fernando Valley, after hearing that the serial was being shot there on location, where she watched the filming of the chapter two cliffhanger.^[3]

In the traditional foreword at the beginning of each chapter, Ace Drummond used comic strips to summarise the story so far. This worked well, and Universal who had been trying to get away from using written text in its forewords, used "similar gimmicks" in their succeeding serials.^[3]^[4]

Music

Ace also regularly performs his theme song, "Give Me a Ship and a Song".

Critical reception

In the words of Cline, Ace Drummond "exuded the futuristic aura of Flash Gordon combined with the eerie mystery of Baron Frankenstein's castle laboratory."^[5]

Chapter titles

Chapter 1 - Where East Meets West
Chapter 2 - The Invisible Enemy
Chapter 3 - The Doorway of Doom
Chapter 4 - The Radio Riddle
Chapter 5 - Bullets of Sand
Chapter 6 - Evil Spirits
Chapter 7 - The Trackless Trail
Chapter 8 - The Sign in the Sky
Chapter 9 - Secret Service
Chapter 10 - The Mountain of Jade
Chapter 11 - The Dragon Commands
Chapter 12 - The Squadron of Death
Chapter 13 - The World's Akin

_{Source for titles:}^[6]

References

^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 111. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "2. The Perils of Success". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 17. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
^ ^a ^b Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "7. The Aviators "Land That Plane at Once, You Crazy Fool"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 149, 151. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
^ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "5. Shazam and Good-by". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 32. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 215–216. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

[1] Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 111. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.

[2] Cline, William C. (1984). "2. The Perils of Success". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 17. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

[GMS-3] Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "7. The Aviators "Land That Plane at Once, You Crazy Fool"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 149, 151. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.

[4] Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "5. Shazam and Good-by". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.

[5] Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 32. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

[6] Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 215–216. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

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