The Adventures of Smilin' Jack

The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943) is a Universal movie serial based on the comic strip The Adventures of Smilin' Jack. The serial was based on the comic strip by Zack Moseley but it was not in the spirit of the strip as would normally be expected from a Universal production. Very little of the original comic strip was used and a new character, Tommy Thompson, was created by Universal. The similarity to Tommy Tomkins, of the Tailspin Tommy sto... more

The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943) is a Universal movie serial based on the comic strip The Adventures of Smilin' Jack. The serial was based on the comic strip by Zack Moseley but it was not in the spirit of the strip as would normally be expected from a Universal production. Very little of the original comic strip was used and a new character, Tommy Thompson, was created by Universal. The similarity to Tommy Tomkins, of the Tailspin Tommy stories, may imply a crossover of sorts. Cline suggests that it was "a quick attempt to get a story on screen about a topical subject, and could have had almost any flyer with any name as a hero.” Source: less