 | Hollywood prepares for the possible war ahead
rating: 4
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS made 137 serials between 1914 and '46-- more than any other outfit. Some of their most famous cliffhangers featured Tarzan, Flash Gordon, The Green Hornet, Buck Rogers and the Dead End Kids.
SKY RAIDERS played theaters half a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor drew America into WWII. With all the war news coming out of Europe in those months prior to that terrible event, it's clear the country was already gearing up for the possibility of military action. Serials such as this one, HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE or SEA RAIDERS were good barometers of pre-war America's mood.
THE STORY of SKY RAIDERS (1941):
A former WWI ace (Woods) hires a member of the Air Youth of America (Halop) to help him develop an aircraft with a special bombsight. An enemy agent (Ciannelli) seeks to ruin their goal and steal the plans.
CAST:
Donald Woods - Capt. Bob Dayton/John Kane
Billy Halop - Tim Bryant
Robert Armstrong - Lt. Ed Carey
Eduardo Ciannelli - Felix Lynx
Kathryn Adams - Mary Blake
Jacqueline Dalya - Innis Clair
Reed Hadley - Henchman Caddens
CHAPTERS:
1. Wings of Disaster
2. Death Rides the Storm
3. The Toll of Treachery
4. Battle in the Clouds
5. The Fatal Blast
6. Stark Terror
7. Flaming Doom
8. The Plunge of Terror
9. Torturing Trials
10. Flash of Fate
11. Terror of the Storm
12. Winning Warriors!
RAIDERS trivia:
After he retired from acting, Donald Woods became a newspaper editor who fought against apartheid. In support of this cause Woods was the first-ever private citizen to address the United Nations, in 1978.
Kathryn Adams had the same name as a more famous silent screen star. Besides SKY RAIDERS, Adams' 8-year Hollywood stint included roles in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939) and Alfred Hitchcock's SABOTAGE (1942).
Billy Halop was the original leader of the Dead End Kids on Broadway and in movies. Other gang members included Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Gabe Dell, Bernard Punsley and Huntz Hall.
Reed Hadley was 6' 4" tall. Hadley was typecast throughout his 35 year career as either a cop or bad guy. In the 1950s he hosted two TV crime dramas: RACKET SQUAD and PUBLIC DEFENDER.
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Dead End Kids: SEA RAIDERS - Chapters 1-6 and Dead End Kids: SEA RAIDERS - Chapters 7-12 is a similar UNIVERSAL serial.
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