Daredevil stunt pilot Smilin’ Jack Martin takes on the air war in China during the darkest days of WWII.

Adventures of Smilin’ Jack

Ep. 05: A Watery Grave

As the water from the underground is pushing the spikes upwards toward the trapped Smilin’ Jack, Axis spy Fraulein Von Teufel is demanding the answer to the whereabouts of Mandon leader Mah Ling, the only one who knows the whereabouts of a hidden road leading from China to India. Luckily, Tommy and Captain Wing arrive just in the nick of time. Von Teufel makes her escape, only to reappear in her disguise of foreign correspondent at the press conference where Mah Ling is supposed to divulge the location of the secret passage. Armed with a poisoned dart to be fired from her ballpoint pen, the Fraulein is disappointed when Mah Ling demands a guarantee from the British High Commission in Hong Kong that the whereabouts of the road to India will only be used to further the allied war efforts. While Smilin’ Jack is escorting Mah Ling to Hong Kong for the important counter signature, Fraulein Von Teufel plots to have the Mandon dignitary kidnapped before he can divulge his secret. Working with Hardigan, a Hong Kong outfitter, Fraulein Von Teufel’s plan succeeds and Mah Ling is soon on his way to a Japanese submarine entombed in a wooden box. Trapped in another box is Smilin’ Jack, who discovered a clue leading him straight to Hardigan’s on Water Street. This second box, however, is soon bobbing up and down in the Hong Kong harbor, the trapped Jack in grave danger of “A Watery Grave.”

Set just before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Jack Martin helps the Chinese obtain the Mandon Secret, a secret route from China to India, lying in an isolated Chinese sector, which would aid the Chinese in the war effort or cause disaster if fallen into the hands of the Black Samurai, a Japanese espionage organization in partnership with the Nazis, and its leader the elusive Fraulein Von Teufel, who assumes the guise of Trudy, a press correspondent and friend of Jack. For thirteen chapters, Jack goes in and out of danger in order to assist the allied war effort. The serial’s main drawback is that it didn’t follow the comic strip (with a Jack Holt looking Jack, a Peter Lorre-ish villain called The Head, and aerial escapades) and its characters, which suggests that the character was tied in to the serial, just so it could be used. Its a good serial, but could have been better.

Cast and Crew:

* Tom Brown/’Smilin’ Jack’ Martin
* Rose Hobart/Gertrude Muller
* Edgar Barrier/Tommy Thompson

Director: Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Producer: Ford Beebe
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Date Release: 1943

Additional details in: IMDB
Video streaming: courtesy of www.finemoviesonline.com

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