Sky Patrol

Tailspin Tommy is back! After enjoying Danger Flight, he's back for more adventure in 'Sky Patrol'. Tailspin helps a bunch of graduates on their first assignment patrolling a piece of land for some clandestine activity. When one of the pilots is captured, it's up to Tommy and his crew to beat the bad guys AND to rescue the captured pilot! Will Tommy Save The Day? This was not bad, Tailspin is less of a pathetic wimp he was in Danger Flight, but still remains quite stupid (keeping live grenades in pockets for starters). Once again, as in Danger Flight, kids are there to save the day with valuable clues, and at the end of this one, they shill unapologetically for a another option besides the boy scouts, the SKY Scouts! And that's the next movie in the Tailspin Tommy canon, "Scouts of The Air!" Actually, no it isn't, because even if it was advertised, it was never made!

In the third of four Tailspin Tommy movies, John Trent deals with Jackie Coogan, who's washing out of the Patrol through lack of nerve, despite his father, Boyd Irwin, being the commandant. Trent is anxious to help the son of his old instructor, but a ring of aerial smugglers is at work. Workhorse director Howard Bretherton does his usual competent job.

Trent was a pilot for TWA who was noticed and signed for Paramount. He was good looking, but seems to have gotten no acting lessons, so eventually he went back to flying for a living. He died in 1966, aged 59.

Monogram Pictures gave us Sky Patrol in 1939 and the most memorable thing about it was it featured Jackie Coogan after he was Charlie Chaplin's Kid and before he was Uncle Fester. In 1939 you could see Coogan's brow getting higher and higher.

Coogan is a young man the son of Boyd Irwin the colonel in charge of the the Sky Patrol. A dutiful young man Coogan has joined the Sky Patrol and has come under the tutelage of the legendary Talespin Tommy and his sidekick Skeeter. But in his heart wants to go to medical school.

It was war closing in and any other time this kid would have gone to medical school and been a MASH doctor like Hawkeye and Trapper making their war contribution doing what they do best. I certainly wouldn't have gone into aviation to please my father.

Anyway when Coogan gets captured by smugglers who hold him for their own nefarious purposes, John Trent and Milburn Stone as Tommy and Skeeter have to rescue him and capture the smugglers.

Aviation buffs will like Sky Patrol. I can't think of anyone else doing so.