Tim Tyler’s Luck (1937 Serial/VCI)
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Chapters: B-
Many remember and enjoy the opening sequence of the third Indiana
Jones film The Last Crusade with River Phoenix as a young Indy
battling for what is right and the relationship with his father in both his
youth and adulthood. Much of the
inspiration for the early sequence and what happens subsequently can be found
in Tim Tyler’s Luck, the 1937 Universal serial based on the King
Features Syndicate (now Hearst Corporation) character.
Tom is a precocious adventurer who is well-spoken,
educated for his age, resourceful and always wanting to get into the thick of
things (like Jack Armstrong, also on DVD from VCI and reviewed elsewhere on
this site) finding himself trying to get to Africa to find his missing
scientist father. The action begins on a
boat, one that the captain does not want any youngsters on of any kind. Of course, he gets there, along with some
thieves and an interesting, beautiful young lady (Frances Robinson) looking for
a missing person of her own, but for different reasons. It adds up to a minor classic of the serial
period and one that resonates nicely in lieu of the catch all Indiana Jones
character. Tyler’s father even has a
leather-bound diary that looks like that of… well, you know.
As for Frankie Thomas, he is very good in the role and
manages to carry the chapters, especially with the man actors who are also
good, but would be more interchangeable in these productions. Tyler is an original character and now an
archetype for later young male adventurers like Johnny Quest and the
many bad childish child heroes we have seen since the 1980s. The use of comic strips at the beginning of
each sequel chapter is a nice touch, while the cliffhangers are not bad.
The 1.33 X 1 image is on the soft side as the prints used
are a generation or so down, but they are watchable. It is shot by Jerome Ash, A.S.C., as
usual. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is a
tad clearer than expected, which is nice.
Extras include trailers for this and three other serials, plus an
interview with child star Frankie Thomas from 2005. He discusses how he went from films, to radio
drama, to TV and to writing books. He
had played Tom Corbett – Space Cadet, but is very coherent here and runs 18:48
total.
- Nicholas Sheffo
