Above: Don Terry as DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY, on the back cover of a comic book issued to promote Universal’s 1941 cliffhanger of the same name.

DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY

Universal, 12 Chapters, 1941. Starring Don Terry, John Litel, Walter Sande, Claire Dodd, Wade Boteler, Anne Nagel, Robert Barron, John Holland, Ben Taggart, Peter Leeds, Ethan Laidlaw, Lane Chandler, and Kurt Katch as the Scorpion.

DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY and its sequel, DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD, were two of the most popular serials of their day, but have suffered heavily at the hands of the infamous pseudo-critics in recent years. Despite that, both WINSLOW serials retain a loyal fan following, and after viewing NAVY it’s easy to see why. The serial has a relative lack of typical cliffhanger action (though there are a couple of good fistfights) but in best Universal style it compensates for this by featuring well-developed characters and a suspenseful, involving plot, which holds the viewer’s interest throughout.

The serial begins as Commander Don Winslow (Don Terry) is summoned to Naval Intelligence Headquarters. Winslow is a former Intelligence operative, and though he’s now in command of his own destroyer, the 620, the department wants him to take on a new job. It seems Don’s old enemy, the master spy known only as the Scorpion, is sabotaging the building of a new Navy base on Tangita Island in the South Seas. Since Don has had the most success in thwarting the plans of this master villain in the past, the Navy wants him to do it again. Don and his faithful lieutenant Red Pennington (Walter Sande) set sail for Tangita, where they’re just in time to prevent the Scorpion’s agents from torpedoing a Navy convoy ship. Spencer Merlin (John Litel), owner of the Tangita Gold Mine, is less than pleased at this, since he’s the secret leader of the Scorpion’s Tangita unit. Merlin’s mine is the cover-up for a vast underground submarine base, and the Scorpion wants him to protect the base’s existence at all costs. Don and Red, however, prove great security threats to this set-up, repeatedly blocking Scorpion sabotage attempts and slowly getting closer to the secret of the hidden base. Our heroes are helped by Navy nurse Mercedes Colby (Claire Dodd), Naval Intelligence operator Mike Splendor (Wade Boteler), contractor John Blake (Ben Taggart), Blake’s secretary Misty Gaye (Anne Nagel), and Seaman Chapman (Peter Leeds), trusty radio operator of the 620.

Thanks to the intelligent efforts of screenwriters Morgan Cox, Paul Huston, and Griffin Jay, DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY’s basic “cat and mouse” plotline is rendered much more exciting than you would expect. This is due, first of all, to the prominence given to character. Both heroes and villains have truly interesting, distinctive personalities, which gets us much more involved in the high-stakes game being played between them. Some of the credit for this should also go Frank V. Martinek, who created the Don Winslow comic strip and who is credited with “story” for the serial. Apparently Martinek went to extra lengths to make sure his characters retained their individuality when transferred to the screen. Directors Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor keep the pace swift--Taylor in particular was an expert at this--and the cast members do a fine job of playing their various roles.

Don Terry delivers an energetic, enthusiastic performance as Don Winslow. His tough, decisive voice, considerable height, and determined bearing make him much more convincing as an actual Naval officer than you would expect. But Terry’s Winslow isn’t stiff or wooden in the least--he also displays plenty of genuine good humor in his interactions with the other good guys. Few heroes can pull off an air of command and a friendly down-to-earth attitude with such skill. Of course, Terry later joined the Navy and was decorated for his valor during World War Two--you could almost say that he became Winslow in real life as well as on screen.

Walter Sande works perfectly with Terry--always acting very breezy and humorous, but always proving totally reliable in a tight spot. Wade Boteler, as always, is a welcome presence, virtually reprising his feisty, fight-loving Mike Axford character from the Green Hornet serials. Mike Splendor, however, is a bit quicker on the uptake than Axford, and provides our heroes Don and Red with valuable assistance. The lovely Claire Dodd is an appealing, helpful, and intelligent heroine, and Anne Nagel gets in some good wisecracks as Sande’s girlfriend Misty, though her part is smaller than it was in her previous serials. Ben Taggart, usually a pompous stuffed shirt (as in DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE) or an outright villain (THE GREEN HORNET and OVERLAND MAIL) manages to be dignified and sympathetic as concerned contractor John Blake. And Peter Leeds, who later became a prolific TV comedian (usually playing slightly obnoxious characters opposite performers like Alan Young or Milton Berle), is underbilled but has a lot to do as Don’s reliable aide Chapman. As in all the best Universals, Don and his friends become more than stick figures who mindlessly battle villains--they’re genuinely likable people that you care about.

It was a little surprising to see John Litel as the villain in DON WINSLOW after seeing him so often as the dignified but frequently exasperated Sam Aldrich in the classic HENRY ALDRICH comedies, but he does a fine job. His Merlin is not a chuckling, fiendish sort of heavy but comes off as very menacing nonetheless, due to his precise and businesslike villainy--he seems so certain that his plans will succeed, and so ready with a new plan when they fail, that we begin to worry he will indeed come out on top. The resourceful Merlin is definitely a worthy match for our hero, and we’re forced to agree with Don when he comments “I’ll say one thing for the Scorpion--he certainly knows how to pick smart agents.” Litel also does a great job fooling the good guys as to his true intentions, using his trademark “bluff man-of-the-world” routine to keep them from suspecting him.

The wonderfully diabolical Kurt Katch, as the Scorpion, is unfortunately limited to giving Litel orders via a TV screen once a chapter. However, Katch makes the most of his brief appearances, making his every line of dialogue sound creepy. John Holland and Robert Barron are Litel’s lieutenants, both smooth, cunning, and deadly. The perpetually cranky Ethan Laidlaw and the husky, drawling Lane Chandler are the other principal henchmen, assisted by Paul Bryar (one of the action heavies in SPY SMASHER) in the earlier chapters. Samuel S. Hinds and Herbert Rawlinson have high billing but miniscule parts as Navy “brass” in the first chapter, and Frank Lackteen has a fine “guest appearance” as a scheming witch doctor who helps the Scorpion’s men incite the natives in one chapter. Arthur Loft plays a discredited henchman who is forced to undertake a rather suicidal mission for the Scorpion, Anthony Warde appears as a Scorpion submarine captain, and Ray Teal is the bad guys’ radio operator. Dirk Thane is Lieutenant-Commander Grady, who assumes command of the 620 during our heroes’ escapades ashore, and John Merton pops up briefly as the 620’s helmsman. Jack Rockwell, Tom Steele, and Ken Terrell also pop up as henchman--the last two plus Dale Van Sickel also providing stunt work.

No doubt we have Steele, Terrell, and Van Sickel to thank for the occasional fistfights that pop up in DON WINSLOW, particularly the fight in the native temple between Don and two of Frank Lackteen’s men in Chapter Seven and a fight in the mine between Don Terry, Ethan Laidlaw, and Lane Chandler in Chapter Twelve. Some of the miniature work in the cliffhangers is very well done, worthy of Republic’s Lydecker Brothers themselves--particularly the Chapter Two ending, with Don’s car colliding with John Holland’s and going over a sea-cliff, the Chapter Four ending, with a factory chimney collapsing on a building containing Don, and a terrific scene in which Don rams an attacking submarine with his cruiser and sinks it. One of the best non-miniature cliffhangers comes when Terry and Peter Leeds are trapped in a cell filling with water--the directors give this sequence a very effective claustrophobic feel.

DON WINSLOW also benefits from a varied backdrop to the action. Some of it takes place on the jungly Tangita Island, some aboard various ships, some in the underground submarine base, and some in the natives’ vast temple, a leftover set from Universal’s Mummy films. And the music score, making good use of the rousing “Anchors Aweigh!” forms a perfect accompaniment to our Navy hero’s struggle against the ruthless saboteurs. DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY, as far as I’m concerned, is as good a Universal as they come.