Lost 1940 Adventures of SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON

Initially titled Challenge of the Yukon, the Sergeant Preston radio program started out in 1939 as a 15-minute series with massive epics in serial format. By 1940, the series evolved into single adventures (and sometimes two-part adventures). Broadcast "live" over the Michigan Radio Network, the program could be heard in Chicago, northern Indiana and Ohio, and certain sections of Canada where radio receivership (and superb weather conditions) could allow someone with a superb radio set to pick up the broadcasts. The program never went national until 1947. It was not until 1943 that the radio broadcasts were recorded on transcription discs. All of which makes these 1940 plot summaries treasured. Over the years I have been reading those pre-1943 radio broadcasts to fill in the gaps, progressing to a complete broadcast log of each and every radio adventure. The plots below are from radio scripts where recordings do not exist. (The plots are rough draft, not final draft.) 

By the way, it would not be until the broadcast of May 30, 1940, that Tom Dougall began assigning script titles. 

Episode #126 [NO TITLE LISTED]

Broadcast April 9, 1940

Copyright Registration D-69607, script received at Registration Office April 22, 1940.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Sergeant Preston, accompanied with young Constable Evans, arrive in Forty Mile. When they reached the edge of the town, a hundred miners crowded around their sled with the news of a murder which had been committed the night before. Black Mike Carney had shot and killed Eddie Ryan in the Northern Lights café after which he had managed to escape. Black Mike’s wife, Linda, would not testify. His right-hand man, Trigger Mason, practically spits and defies the law, insisting he had nothing to do with the murder. But men in the café insist Eddie was provoked into gunplay and Black Mike knew Eddie was a poor shot. Black Mike fled North for five miles and, certain that no one was following him, returned to Forty Mile and safely hid in a second floor room of the Northern Lights café. Three days later, Constable Evans receives a note tipping him off to Black Mike’s whereabouts. The criminal knocked the Mountie unconscious and stole the uniform. In his haste to escape, Black Mike never staked on Trigger’s desperation to shoot and kill the Constable to save his friend. Mike was shot and killed. Preston arrived in own to learn what happened and Linda confessed she and Trigger conpisred with Black Mike to kill Eddie. She also confessed that she was aiding in her husband’s escape. Trigger attempted to flee out the back window, but King raced out to fell the body and give Preston the advantage.

 

Trivia, etc. Opening narrative provided by the narrator referred to last week’s episode, even though by this time they were offering single-adventure stories: “Sergeant Preston captured a bank robber in Forty Mile and left Pierre behind when he took his prisoner down to Dawson. A week later he headed North once more with young Constable Evans who was to be stationed in Forty Mile.”

 

Episode #127 [NO TITLE LISTED]

Broadcast April 16, 1940

Copyright Registration D-69608, script received at Registration Office April 22, 1940.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Young Jim Hanley drove into town from his claim on Placer Creek, only to momentarily exchange fisticuffs with Red Frazer. The men fought over the love of Louise. Jim and Louise have it fixed up to get married in the spring but according to Greg Carlton, her stepfather, Red was promised her hand. The next morning, Red was found dead – shot in the back. Jim was accused of the crime but the remains of a paper found in the fireplace suggested the crime involved the a Yukon claim. Excitement ran high in the town all day long and no one could understand why the Sergeant should spend his time in the claim office when there was a murder to be solved. All the miners believed Jim to be guilty in spite of the sympathy they felt for him, but he remained a free man and that night, he called on Louise. The girl insisted they run off to the mission and get married but her stepfather puts a halt on their plans. He granted them permission in exchange for a signature on a contract, giving her mother’s $10,000 to him – not her. Louise would not sign, forcing Greg to create a story: Jim confessed to Red’s murder and tried to take Louise away with him, she would not allow it, so Jim shot the girl and then in the struggle, Greg shot Jim. Preston intervenes, preventing the murder, and verifies Greg was selling company land and pocketing the money himself. Red Frazer discovered the embezzlement and attempted blackmail with Louise’s hand and Greg’s blessing, later silenced when Jim returned and Red discovered he would not get Louise.

 

Episode #128 [NO TITLE LISTED]

Broadcast April 23, 1940

Copyright Registration D-69805, script received at Registration Office May 2, 1940.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: A hundred miles to the northwest of White Horse, Mrs. O’Brien ran the trading post which her husband had started many years before. She was all alone except for her daughter, Ann, and the few Indians who worked around the place. It was desolate country at the southern end of the Pine River district, good for furs and nothing else. The Yukon Trading Company made a good offer for her post and Sergeant suggested she take it. He warns her of the gold strike on Pine River that was a false alarm. Within a few weeks there will be thousands of men migrating south. She has a lot of gold dust in her safe and a lot of supplies in her storehouse. “A desperate man turns to crime very easily,” Preston warns. Mrs. O’Brien scoffs until a man name Jack shows up and attempts to sell his furs, then attempts to rob her. Bull McAllister, wanted for murder in White Horse, shows up and shoots and wounds Jack in the shoulder, then attempts to shoot and rob the ladies. King charges in and takes down Bull, moments before Pierre places cuffs on the killer. Preston explained that Jack was hired by Preston to pretend to be a robber, with Preston intending to arrest the man and demonstrate what he meant about desperate men posing a threat. Bull McAllister was an unexpected surprise. Mrs. O’Brien and Ann forgive the Mountie for having saved their lives. Ann, however, fell for Jack and the two might visit the mission to get married.

 

Episode #129 [NO TITLE LISTED]

Broadcast May 2, 1940

Copyright Registration D-70044, script received at Registration Office May 17, 1940.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: On the morning the news of the gold strike on the Klondike reached San Francisco, Laura Baker was to be married. Instead, she faced an empty parlor with young Dave Warren, who wished he could take Don Warren’s place. Don left to seek his fortune and promised to return so they can get married – while the wedding guests remained puzzled. Six months later in a café in Dawson, Don Warren caught Harvey Ransom, a card sharp, cheating him. Don pulled a gun and shot the poker player dead through the heart. Don fled the town and while a blizzard covered his tracks, Sergeant Preston was able to pick up the trail two weeks later. Arriving at Hilo Jackson’s way cabin at the mouth of Lonesome Creek, Preston discovers the whereabouts of the Warren cabin and that his twin brother Dave was there – with a warning not to make a mistake deciphering the two. At the cabin, Dave switches clothes with Don in exchange for a promise that his brother return to San Francisco and promise to take care of Laura. Preston and Pierre arrive and ask a couple questions, verifying Dave and Don switched clothes. Don, having overheard the discussion from behind the cabin and realizing the ruse was up, shoots himself. Before Don passes away, he confesses that he read a letter from Laura that was addressed to Dave: “Time changed a lot of things. I always thought I loved Don, but now I’m all mixed up. Maybe it was pity instead of love. Anyway, now that you’re both gone, it’s you I miss. I wish you’d come back home, Dave.”

 

Episode #130 [NO TITLE LISTED]

Broadcast May 9, 1940

Copyright Registration D-70045, script received at Registration Office May 17, 1940.

Written by Tom Dougall.

Plot: Sergeant Preston was more interested in saving Slim Elliott than capturing Barney Walsh. The latter is an outlaw who stole Miss Ryan’s old dust and it was Barney who pulled the trigger. Pierre caught a bullet in the shoulder. After mending the wound and sledding Pierre to Metka Joe’s cabin to heal, the policeman set out on the trail in pursuit of Barney Walsh and his two companions, Slim and Kurt. The men were headed for Circle City in Alaska, out of the Yukon. They stop to rest at Matt Davies’ way cabin, only to soon receive a visit from Sergeant Preston, who kept on their trail. At the way cabin, Preston holds the men at bay with his gun while he warms up by the stove and eats a hot meal, while having a conversation with Slim to offer the youth a choice of living inside or outside of the law. When Barney attempts to challenge Preston, the men draw and the Mountie wins. Kurt attempts to draw on Preston but Slim takes care of Kurt. Preston assures Slim that since he never broke any laws, he can deliver evidence against Barney and Kurt and collect the reward money.

THE GREEN HORNET Cliffhanger Serial

Theatrical Release Date: January 9, 1940

Universal Studios Production #1010

Dates of Production: Thursday, September 7 to Friday, October 6, 1939

 

After months of negotiations, The Green Hornet, Inc. entered into a contract with Universal Pictures Company, Inc. on June 30, 1939. Under the 28 terms outlined in the contract, Universal was granted a license to film a series of film shorts based on the characters from The Green Hornet radio program. Under the third term, the film studio was required to conform to the type of story and characterization as featured on the radio program.

 

The Green Hornet, Inc. (i.e. radio producer George W. Trendle) was to approve of all scenarios, including the proposed plot, characters, action and dialogue by reviewing the scripts before they were filmed. This included all synopses and shooting scripts. Universal had to pay for vocal recordings or electronically transcribed voice tests of all the principal actors to be used in the film and approval was required from George W. Trendle in writing before actors could sign contracts. Trendle had to approve of the gas gun, Kato’s driving uniform and the make of automobile to be used in the production. Naturally, such oversight from the owner of a property was rarely achieved under a studio contract. Republic Pictures, however, broke box office records for a cliffhanger serial with Trendle’s The Lone Ranger, which prompted Universal to grant Trendle whatever oversight he asked for. Among Trendle’s requests was a copyright notice regarding the radio program on all advertising — including lobby cards, stills and posters.

 

Payment for the license cost the studio $20,000. Universal was obligated to mail Trendle quarterly statements of the world-wide gross film rentals beginning 60 days after the cliffhanger began distribution. If the total gross film rental exceeded $300,000, Universal was obligated to pay The Green Hornet, Inc. 15 percent of all world-wide film rentals in excess of that amount (100 percent of the gross revenue, not net). Certified statements were to be mailed to Trendle on a monthly basis, providing a breakdown of all funds received as a result of film rentals.

 

Clause 28 was unique, offering the film studio an option to produce an additional cliffhanger serial, provided it met the terms of the contract to Trendle’s satisfaction. The pricing would be slightly different — in order to exercise the option of producing a second series of films, the studio prior to May 31, 1940, would have to notify Trendle in writing of its intention to exercise the option, which would be accompanied by a payment of $15,000. on or before January 9, 1941. Universal would have exclusive title use until January 31, 1942, and non-exclusive title use until January 31, 1945, after which the studio would be required to enter a new contract for the reuse of the serials, or new productions.

 

The serial started shooting on the morning of Thursday, September 7, with an approved budget of $160,000 on the 25 percent basis. In order to take advantage of weather conditions that sparked news in California at the time, it was decided to concentrate on all exterior shots for the first three days of production. This included a trip along Ranch Road, a popular spot with movie directors for highway filming, for all the floral roadside scenes. The gas station was filmed on location on the road to Back Ranch. The junk yard was filmed in Glendale, while the interior scenes would later be filmed on the studio back lot. A number of car chase sequences were filmed on Mulholland Drive, and director Ford Beebe took advantage of the opportunity to film more material than required so the studio would have stock footage to use in future productions. The freight train was shot at Chatsworth, California. The flying airfield was filmed at the Metropolitan Airport. By the third day, however, the serial began fighting adverse weather and production ran behind schedule.

 

Knowing the latter part of the schedule was devoted entirely to interior stage work, Martin Murphy of Universal consulted Henry MacRae, famous “serial king” of the screen who had been with the studio since 1915; he suggested they add an alternating director (Ray Taylor) to relieve Ford Beebe starting September 14. “With these two men on the job we feel there should be no difficulty in at least completing the entire serial on schedule and for the budget amount,” reported Murphy to the studio executives.

 

On September 30, Murphy said in an inter-office memo “it appears the addition of Ray Taylor as an alternating director on this serial has worked out as planned. During the past week the company has made very good headway and are now running right on schedule.”

 

An October 1939 issue of a Zaneszille, Ohio, newspaper inaccurately reported the original title of the serial as The Adventures of the Green Hornet, subtitled “The Masked Avenger of Mis-Deeds in the Big City.” The newspaper even reported there were three directors — Saul A. Goodkind, Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor — working simultaneously. Two units shot continuously, so that each director got every third day off to rest. According to the studio’s production notes, Goodkind had nothing to do with this serial, even though he was film editor for many of Universal’s other serials, including Pirate Treasure(1934), The Perils of Pauline (1933) and the Flash Gordon trilogy. Goodkind did propose dubbing his own voice in as The Green Hornet instead of using the voice of Al Hodge, as he did for other serials, but this was quickly disregarded. 

 

While the crew completed the interior shots on time, the studio used a number of techniques not uncommon in studio production — using everything on the lot at their disposal. The exterior scenes of the Acme Transportation Company and the scenes at the Whippet Garage were filmed at the studio garage. The parking lot was shot at the studio’s A-Gate. The airplane hangar was filmed on the backlot. The exterior of The Daily Sentinel Platform was filmed at the studio’s lumber yard. Most of the scenes of offices and interiors were shot on Sound Stage #15, while city streets were shot on the backlot’s “New York Street.”

 

Filming was completed on Friday evening, October 6, right on schedule. In 26 shooting days the unit completed 13 episodes of the serial — equivalent to one reel of finished product each day. The musical score was recorded on October 10 and arrangements were made to fly radio actor Al Hodge from Michigan to California to dub his lines on October 19 and 20. When Gordon Jones is masked as The Green Hornet on screen, it is the radio actor’s voice heard on the soundtrack.

 

During production of the serial, Trendle insisted the buzzing sound of a hornet was inserted into the soundtrack whenever the Black Beauty was speeding through the streets. It was his attorney, Raymond Meurer, who insisted that Al Hodge supply the voice of The Green Hornet so radio listeners could best associate the matching voice on film.

 

Even with a stunt man, actor and star of the title role, Gordon Jones had to be athletic for the title role. “You’re supposed to be an actor but you’ve also got to be a trapeze artist, a professional strong man, and a marvel of memory,” he remarked to the trade papers. “Yesterday, from 8 a.m. until midnight, I used up 24 pages of dialogue.”

 

Reportedly the entire serial script (all 13 chapters) ran 700 pages. “Last week, when we were on location, and the temperatures were in the 120s at Chatsworth, I thought I’d die,” Gordon continued. “I was in my whole regalia, fighting people inside a railroad locomotive cab, falling off cliffs, and carrying guys over my shoulders.”

 

Editing the serial was no easy task, but the first three episodes were completed and shipped out to movie theaters on November 7, three weeks before the trailer promoting the serial was completed. (The 15-page script for the trailer was dated November 17, 1939.)

 

The serial chapters were loosely adapted from original radio scripts. Script writers George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, Morrison Wood and Lyonel Margolies received a large handful of scripts from which to choose material. The first chapter, “The Tunnel of Terror,” for example, came from the radio broadcast of October 12, 1937, which involved Reid’s efforts to shut down Henry Adsit of Liberty Construction, who managed to underbid everyone for city construction jobs — but at the cost of a tunnel collapse because of inferior lumber and materials.

 

Chapter six, “Highways of Peril,” was a loose adaptation of the radio broadcast of December 29, 1936, which involved Mr. Longworth, owner of a crooked transportation company plotting sabotage so his competition, Grant Mitchell of Six Point Airlines, would be forced to sell the business. After sabotaging four airplanes, Longworth finds himself a victim of his own scheme when The Green Hornet forces him to fly the next targeted airplane. 

 

These chapter plays for the cliffhanger serial is a Godsend to fans of the radio program. The radio program was never recorded on a regular basis until the spring of 1938 so the stories adapted for the screen are from radio broadcasts not known to exist in recorded form.

 

The question of Kato’s nationality came into question for the cliffhanger serial.

 

Originally Japanese from the very first radio episode, news events of the escalating war overseas forced Striker and Trendle to change Kato to a Filipino. In 1937, Japan’s army conquered Shanghai, China. A broadcast of December 1937 featured Kato’s disgust for the war in the Far East. By July of 1939, it was decided to switch Kato’s nationality from Japanese to Filipino to avoid any distaste by radio listeners. Then, in June of 1941, months before the U.S. entry in World War II, Kato was officially declared a Filipino and numerous references were made during the radio broadcasts. But Universal had its own solution: Kato would be Korean in the serial, avoiding any possible reference to the Japanese, and Kato’s nationality was disclosed in the very first chapter of the serial. Keye Luke played the role of the Hornet’s aide, and between scenes during production, he sketched a portrait of actress Anne Nagel for a leading American magazine.

 

This serial offers a number of casting surprises. Alan Ladd, a virtual unknown at the time, plays the part of Gilpin, the young pilot in Chapter 3. Jack Perrin, who played starring roles in a string of B-westerns during the early ’30s, makes an appearance as a patrol policeman in Chapters 5 and 9 (and would return as an Army deserter in the Hornet sequel). Anne Gwynne played the role of Josephine Weaver in Chapter 3. This was her seventh screen role under contract to the studio, but she would soon establish herself as one of the best “screamers” in Universal Studios’ horror films starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. She went on to play the role of Tess Trueheart in Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947).

The financial rewards were enough to satisfy both the studio and Trendle, and Universal optioned to produce a second sequel. Years later Universal Studios would reissue the serial as a 99-minute motion picture. Edited down from the 13 chapters, the studio was able to profit again from the same film. This was common for most studios like Mascot and Republic, but fans today still prefer to watch the serial in its entirety, chapter-by-chapter.

NOTES: The above contains excerpts from The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion-Pictures, Comics and Television, by Terry Salomonson and Martin Grams, Jr.

THE MASKED RIDER PULP MAGAZINE

Debuting in 1934, mere months after The Lone Ranger premiered over Detroit radio in 1933, was The Masked Rider. Produced by Ranger Publications (later Better Publications), the western pulp magazine featured the adventures of Wayne Morgan, who was secretly the masked vigilante known as “The Masked Rider.” Dressed all in black like Zorro, he went about investigating crimes and thwarting the villains with assistance of an Indian sidekick of the Yaqui tribe named Blue Hawk.

 

For many years people speculated whether the authors of the Masked Rider novels, or the publishers, heard the radio program and decided to publish their own rendition to capitalize on the radio program, but no direct connection has been found. In addition, the radio program was primarily a regional Michigan radio broadcast at the time and not a national phenomenon that it would become in 1938. Historians truly insist the pulp magazine was a coincidence applying a similar premise and with few western plots available and a variation-on-a-theme more than likely, I personally insist The Masked Rider magazine was a coincidence.

 

That, however, did not prevent me from buying the first three volumes from Altus Press, publishing the first nine novels in chronological order. Bold Venture Press has also been publishing the novels as double features. As of the time I type this, they have seven volumes available for sale. Both publishing companies incorporate the original illustrations.

 

Among the talented authors who contributed to the series were Johnston McCulley (creator of Zorro), Gunnison Steele, Norman A. Daniels (creator of The Black Bat, writing as Jud Tally) and Walker A. Tompkins. The issues were published hap-hazardly, sometimes monthly, sometimes bi-monthly, from 1934 to 1953. 

 

It was my initial intention to read the novels with The Lone Ranger in mind, to enjoy what could have been (through my eyes) additional adventures of the masked man and his faithful Indian companion, but I quickly discovered the mannerisms of Wayne Morgan were different from that of The Lone Ranger. Every summer I spend a week at the beach and every summer I take along one of these volumes to read. Give or take there are about 100 novels in the series so it may take me a few decades to read them all… that is, if reprints continue to be published from both Altus and Bold Venture.

DICK TRACY: A Scrapbook of Rare Photos and Fun

For fans of DICK TRACY, the following are some obscure and rarely-seen photos. Enjoy the fun!