Ace Drummond

I agree, dedicated to die-hard fans of movie serials from the days of thrills and adventure. This serial holds the distinction of being created by WW I flying ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who (indeed) experienced some real-life cliff hangers in his distinguished career, transferring some ideas to the wide screen.

Dean of serials Wyndham Gittens (who may have been more famous because of his name!) took it from there, placing Ace Drummond, the G-Man of the Sky in all sorts perils.

Mission: Fly to Mongolia to find the notorious Dragon, attempting to keep an airline company from establishing a new airport.

The Prize: A mountain of Jade, discovered by archaeologist Dr. Trainer (C. Montague Shaw), kidnapped by the Dragon's henchmen to learn the exact location.

BEWARE of the Death Ray, plus many other dastardly tricks of the trade to stop our fearless hero. B western star John "Dusty" King is memorable as Ace, co-starring Jean Rogers, famous for playing Dale Arden in FLASH GORDON. A treat to also see young Noah Beery Jr (as Ace's side-kick) and Lon Chaney, Jr playing a henchman, a few years before the Wolfman. C. Montague Shaw also well cast, generally portraying the learned professor or scientist of the hour.

Considered a semi "singing serial," with King also handling a few songs, likely inspired by Gene Autry. King sang with Ben Bernie's orchestra before his western days. Veterans Robert Warwick (Winston), Frederik Vogeding (Bauer) and menacing Stanley Blystone (Sergei) appear.

If Ford Beebe directed, it's darn good.

13 exciting chapters, 4 hrs. 15 minutes running time.

Best dvd box set via Alpha Video. 2 separate boxes. Released 2003.

"Ace Drummond" is a 13 Chapter serial based on the popular comic strip of the day written by U.S. WW1 ace Eddie Rickenbacker.

The story takes place in Mongolia where International Airlines is attempting to establish a link to the orient. A criminal mastermind known as "The Dragon" is attempting to stop the airline. It seems that an archaeologist, Dr. Trainor (Montague Shaw) has discovered a mountain rich in jade and "The Dragon" feels that an international presence would foil his desire to gain control of the treasure.

"The Dragon" has developed a remote controlled "death ray" by which he brings down the International Airways planes. To the rescue comes Ace Drummond (John King) the "Flying G-Man of the Air", who it seems has a habit of bursting into song at every opportunity. A tip of the hat to the "singing cowboy" westerns, popular at the time.

Dr. Trainor is being held by "The Dragon's" men who are trying to force him to tell the location of the mountain of jade. Aiding Ace in his task of destroying the villains are Trainor's daughter Peggy (Jean Rogers), his pal Jerry (Noah Beery Jr.) and the requisite juvenile lead "Little Billy" (Jackie Morrow). Drummond also receives assistance from "The Holy One" (Guy Bates Post) and his monastery.

"The Dragon's" henchmen include such "orientals" as veterans Lon Chaney Jr., Edmund Cobb and Dick Wessel. The identity of "The Dragon" is of course, kept secret until the final chapter but suspicion falls upon members of International Airlines Board of Directors (Robert Warwick, Sam Ash, James Leong, Hooper Ashley, Selmer Jackson) and a couple of sinister archaeologist's Bauer (Fredrick Vogeding) and Wyckoff (Al Bridge) throughout the story.

Directors Ford Beebe and Cliff Smith keep the action moving and the chapter ending cliffhangers if unlikely, are at least believable. There is one instance though where Ace and Jerry are trapped in a cave-in with no way out only to have Ace turn up at the monastery in the next scene with his escape from the cave-in left unexplained.

There are some great flying sequences, whether taken from stock footage or not, that are quite well done. Love to see those vintage planes in action.

John King is probably best remembered as John "Dusty" King in the Range Buster western series from the early 40s. He also bears more than a passing resemblance to McLean Stevenson (of TV's M*A*S*H).

Jean Rogers is better known as "Dale Arden" in the first two "Flash Gordon" serials.

Noah Beery Jr. was only in his early 20s when this picture was made. He of course is the son of Noah Beery Sr. who was a popular villain of the 20s and 30s and the nephew of Wallace Beery. Beery Jr. enjoyed a long career in western character parts ending up on TV's "The Rockford Files" in the 70s.

Lon Chaney Jr. was still serving his apprenticeship in "B" movies and serials and was still five years away from his signature role as Universal's "The Wolfman (1941)".

Good entertainment.

You have to be "into" these old serials before you can really enjoy them. It takes some work. You can't just watch it and be entertained by the BOOM factor, like say, The Matrix. Nor will you be amazed by the story or acting. It was an older time and a different mindset. Fans of modern CGI will be especially displeased by the silly effects evident here. Watching a little toy plane on a string "fall through the sky" just doesn't make it today, but that's what they had then.

As far as these serials go, this was a pretty good one. The level two actors gave their best, and the writing was OK, but it's hard to get past those effects. If you're willing to totally suspend your disbelief, this will work for you. If you're a 21st century kid with zero tolerance, pass it up.