6 DVD-R - 2 MOVIE SERIAL and 4 FILMS - 1934 - 1939
Tailspin Tommy was an air adventure comic strip
about a youthful pilot, "Tailspin" Tommy Tomkins (sometimes spelled
Tompkins). Originally illustrated by Hal Forrest and initially
distributed by John Wheeler's Bell Syndicate and then by United Feature
Syndicate, the strip had a 14-year run from 1928 to 1942. Living in
Littleville, Colorado, young Tommy Tomkins had such an obsession with
flying that he was given the nickname Tailspin Tommy before he ever
actually went inside a plane. Although Tommy took an aero-engineering
correspondence course, his real introduction to aviation happened when
mail pilot Milt Howe made an emergency landing in a field near Tommy's
neighborhood. Tommy watched the downward spiral of Milt's plane and ran
to help. Howe rewarded Tommy with a greasemonkey job in Texas at the
Three Point Airlines, where he soon became a pilot along with his
girlfriend, Betty Lou Barnes, and his best buddy, Peter "Skeeter"
Milligan. The trio eventually became part owners in Three Point and took
off for many airborne adventures. By 1940, Tailspin Tommy began to lose
papers. A change in syndicates from Bell to United Features did little
to help, and the strip ended in 1942 Tailspin Tommy flew into movie
theaters throughout the 1930s. He was portrayed by Maurice Murphy in the
12-episode 1934 movie serial Tailspin Tommy. Another 12-chapter serial,
Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935), starred Clark Williams
in the title role. John Trent portrayed Tommy in a series of hour-long
features, including Mystery Plane, Stunt Pilot, Sky Patrol and Danger
Flight. All were released in 1939.
These films were originally
produced long before the advent of High Definition TV, therefore they
are best viewed on a small screen. HD TVs tend to stretch and skew the
picture. Set your HD TV on 4:3 aspect ratio. (That was the old TV
format). Please do not expect DVD or Commercial level DVDs from these
films. Email us for any additional info.
Bay’s Public Domain policy:
These movies are in the public
domain.
Thousands of Hollywood motion pictures are in the Public Domain because they
were released without Copyright Notices, never registered with the Library of
Congress, had improper or late registrations; or were not properly renewed under
the old requirements for films made before 1964.
The status of films registered from 1929 through 1956 is noted in 3 volumes of
Copyright Catalogs of motion picture registrations published by the Library of
Congress.