''Don Winslow of the Navy'' is a 1942

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

Serial film A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

based on the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

'' Don Winslow of the Navy'' by Commander Frank V. Martinek. It was theatrically released in January 1942.

Plot

Commander Don Winslow is returned to the

Office of Naval Intelligence The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serve ...

from his command of his

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

to investigate strange events on the Pacific island of Tangita, noticeably a ship being torpedoed. He discovers that there is a ring of saboteurs and enemy agents who are trying to destroy ships carrying supplies to the troops stationed in the islands and sabotage the war effort. Though the US Navy is preparing to build a naval base on Tangita, an unknown foreign power secretly has a subterranean submarine base beneath the island with the goal of preventing the American base from being completed. He sets out with three assistants to find the mastermind behind the activities.

Cast

Production

The serial was based on the comic strip by Commander Frank V. Martinek, which was approved by the US Navy. The strip gained new meaning with the approach of World War II, which would also affect the serial: "Its presentation as a Universal serial in October 1941 - just before the infamous

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawai ...

in December - was one of the most timely contributions of the serial field." The Universal serials for 1941-42 were meant to run: '' Riders of Death Valley'', '' Sea Raiders'', ''Head Hunters of the Amazon'', ''

Gang Busters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

''. ''Head Hunters of the Amazon'' was, however, dropped in favor of this serial. This is possibly due to the greater name recognition of the licensed property over the more generic planned serial.

Chapter titles

# The Human Torpedo # Flaming Death # Weapons of Horror # Towering Doom # Trapped in the Dungeon # Menaced by Man-Eaters # Bombed by the Enemy # The Chamber of Doom # Wings of Destruction # Fighting Fathoms Deep # Caught in the Caverns # The Scorpion Strangled _Source:

Sequel

In 1943, a sequel, '' Don Winslow of the Coast Guard'', was released by Universal.

References

External links

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Chapter 1 of ''Don Winslow of the Navy'' from Internet Archive. (Page includes links to other chapters.)
1942 films American spy films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Universal Pictures film serials Films based on comic strips Films based on American comics Films directed by Ray Taylor Films about the United States Navy in World War II World War II films made in wartime 1940s spy films {{comics-film-stub