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TOM LONDON
Above: The prolific and terrific Tom London in three of his favorite characterizations: the comic but cagey sidekick (left), the resourceful but ruthless henchman (center) and the upstanding but possibly two-faced "solid citizen" (right). The stills, from left to right, are taken from the Sunset Carson B-western RED RIVER RENEGADES, the serial MIRACLE RIDER, and the serial SON OF ZORRO. And now we come to the king of all serial character actors, the man who did more cliffhangers than any other performer, and the man who did more movies, period, than anyone else in the history of motion pictures. The man who played roles ranging from heroic Mounties to backshooting villains, from distinguished citizens to shiftless old reprobates. The man who is in the Guiness Book of World Records as the most prolific actor of all time. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TOM LONDON! Tom's year of birth is usually listed as 1889, not 1882, but William C. Cline, who knew London personally, cites the latter date in his books, so we'll go with Cline. London was from Louisville, Kentucky, and like Roy Barcroft and Herman Brix, enjoyed a varied pre-film career. He worked as a traveling salesman, a draftsman, a builder, a train engineer, and performed as a trick rider before breaking into films. It was probably during his stint as a real-life engineer that he appeared as the engineer in 1903's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY; though this credit has been disputed in recent years it has appeared in enough reliable books to be still treated as a fact. London's riding expertise made him a natural for work in westerns, and by 1915 he was working regularly in Hollywood's silent sagebrush pictures, playing heroes, villains, and anything in between, doing his own stunts and doubling other performers. His first serial (in which he was billed under his real name of Leonard Clapham) was NAN OF THE NORTH in 1922; he played the Mountie hero who supported Nan (Ann Little) against the villains. Incidentally, one of the villains, Edythe Stewart, became London's wife a while after the filming of the serial. He also played the evil Claw in William Desmond's 1928 cliffhanger THE MYSTERY RIDER, just before the era of sound dawned upon Hollywood. His first talkie serial was SPELL OF THE CIRCUS (Universal, 1930), in which he played Butte Morgan, a villainous profiteer trying to take over the title circus by marrying the daughter (Alberta Vaughn) of the owners. Circus cowboy Francis X. Bushman Jr., also in love with Vaughn, blocked London's attempts to force her acquiescence and saved the circus from Tom's greedy grasp.
Above: Francis X. Bushman Jr. (hatless) confronts Tom London while Bobby Nelson (far left) brandishes a pole and Alberta Vaughn hangs onto Bushman's arm in SPELL OF THE CIRCUS (Universal, 1930). The next year, Tom played what was probably his last leading man role in the B-western LIGHTNIN' SMITH RETURNS. The first ten years or so of his serial career would be spent as a henchman, starting with THE GALLOPING GHOST (Mascot, 1931). The athletic London made a fine opponent for real-life football star Red Grange, as the gridiron hero tried to track down a ring of crooked gamblers and clear himself of a bribery charge. Tom was Mullins, one of the gamblers, and in company with such illustrious rotters as Walter Miller and Ernie Adams, gave Grange a very hard time. Next came THE LOST SPECIAL (Universal, 1932), in which London had a very meaty role as Dirk, a shady nightclub owner who commanded a gang of train-robbing thugs. Dirk acted under orders from crooked businessman Slater (Frank Glendon), but since Slater had to keep his partner Potter Hood (Francis Ford), and Hood’s son Tom (Frank Albertson), from finding out about his criminal activities, Dirk did all the active villainous work throughout the 12 chapter serial.
Above: Tom London (center) confronts Frank Albertson while George DeNormand (behind London) watches in THE LOST SPECIAL (Universal, 1932). CLANCY OF THE MOUNTED (Universal, 1933), a Universal release that remains "lost" to this day, featured London in his first unequivocally "good" serial role since NAN OF THE NORTH. Appropriately, he was a Mountie again--a constable named MacGregor who helped Sergeant Clancy (Tom Tyler) track down the outlaws who had framed Clancy's brother. London also assisted Tyler in THE PHANTOM OF THE AIR (Universal, 1933), playing one of airborne Border Patrol officer Tyler’s men. Tom had a good cameo role as tough range detective Pat Campbell in GORDON OF GHOST CITY (Universal, 1933); Campbell (apparently based on Pat Garrett) arrived midway through the serial to help Gordon (Buck Jones) track down a gang of rustlers, but was killed off by the bad guys, leaving Buck to carry on alone. Next, Tom was back to henchman mold for THE WOLF DOG and THE WHISPERING SHADOW, both released by Mascot in 1933; in the first he took on Rin Tin Tin Jr., Frankie Darro, and George J. Lewis in an attempt to steal a valuable invention, and in the second he was one of the fearful lackeys of the ruthless Whispering Shadow, a master villain of mysterious intent who killed his own men as callously as he eliminated the good guys.
Above: Tom London (on the ground) watches as Stanley Blystone catches a good punch from George J. Lewis, while Yakima Canutt tries to restrain Lewis's other fist in THE WOLF DOG (Mascot, 1933). London was featured next as a policeman in Universal's 1934 sci-fi outing THE VANISHING SHADOW (not to be confused with the Whispering Shadow) and as a crooked oil speculator in the last three chapters of BURN 'EM UP BARNES (Mascot, 1934). He was an active action heavy again in MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (Mascot, 1934), THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935), and THE FIGHTING MARINES (Mascot, 1935), killing off people with no compunction whatsoever and engaging the heroes in endless horseback chases, motorcycle chases, and car chases (all of which chases he did himself, since Mascot couldn't afford stuntmen on a regular basis). In MOUNTAIN he took on Ken Maynard and tried to help the evil Rattler destroy a construction project; in RIDER he served the great Charles Middleton and tried to drive the Ravenhead Indians from their land despite the opposition of Tom Mix; and in MARINES, Mascot's final cliffhanger, he obeyed the orders of the murderous Tiger Shark, who was bent on keeping the US Marines from discovering his island hideout. Between RIDER and MARINES, he also journeyed over to Universal with fellow veteran Charlie King to "hench" for claim-jumper Walter Miller and to oppose Buck Jones in the 1935 cliffhanger THE ROARING WEST.
Above: Tom Mix gives Tom London a good kick in the stomach in THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935). Tom continued battling Buck Jones in THE PHANTOM RIDER (Universal, 1936), as a henchman named Tex. This time Harry Woods was the lead villain and was using London and other thugs in an attempt to drive the heroine (Marla Shelton) from her ranch. London then played a bit as a sailor in THE CLUTCHING HAND (Stage and Screen, 1936), and a slightly bigger role as a police detective in JUNGLE MENACE (Columbia, 1937). Next, he played a background thug in RADIO PATROL (Universal, 1937) and the honest rail crew foreman O'Shea in ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (Republic, 1937), before taking another major role in THE MYSTERIOUS PILOT (Columbia, 1937). As Kilgour, a satellite of political boss Carter Snowden (Kenneth Harlan), Tom performed his boss's dirty deeds in this North Woods/aviation cliffhanger. Tom was aided by perennial heavy Frank Lackteen, and both were opposed by real life aviator Frank Hawks.
Above: Tom London (left) and Frank Lackteen are about to engage in aerial combat in THE MYSTERIOUS PILOT (Columbia, 1937). THE LONE RANGER (Republic, 1938), Republic's "biggest" effort of the 1930s, cast Tom as one of the rotten bad guys opposed by "the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains." In the serial, the Ranger was a mystery man who was one of five ranchers sworn to overthrow the evil Marcus Jeffries (Stanley Andrews). Jeffries was really an army deserter named Captain Smith, who had murdered the real Jeffries (Forbes Murray), a government finance commissioner. Using Jeffries' name and position, Smith then began to tax the citizens of Texas mercilessly, with the strong-arm assistance of his lieutenant, Kester (John Merton), and his sergeant, Felton (Tom London). Felton lasted till Chapter 13, when he plunged off a cave ledge while fighting with Ranger "suspect" Lane Chandler; Chandler incurred a back injury but survived the fall, while Tom was killed.
Above: Stanley Andrews (far left) examines Forbes Murray's credentials while Jack Ingram (far right) and Tom London hold Murray and John Merton watches. This scene is from the first chapter of THE LONE RANGER (Republic, 1938). THE FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS (Republic, 1938) starred two of the Ranger "suspects" from LONE RANGER, Lee Powell and Herman Brix, and, filmed on a very low budget, enabled Republic to make up some of the costs of LONE RANGER. Though economical, DEVIL DOGS still emerged as a classic, thanks to Powell, Brix, the direction, and the mysterious villain known as the Lightning. London was Wilson, one of the Lightning's thugs, and aided the madman unquestioningly in his quest for world conquest. Tom manned both the villain's "Flying Wing" and his submarine at different times, and even donned a cumbersome rubber suit in order to ransack an electrified laboratory. Tom then returned to Columbia for THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOCK (Columbia, 1938), the serial that made Wild Bill Elliott a star. London was a henchman for rustler Robert Fiske, and oddly, his character name was a repeat of his moniker in his last Columbia outing, albeit spelled differently: Kilgore rather than Kilgour.
Above, from left to right: Reed Howes, Tom London, Edmund Cobb, the Lightning, Eleanor Stewart, and John Picorri aboard the "Flying Wing" in THE FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS (Republic, 1938). The rest of 1938 and all of 1939 saw London only making fleeting visits to the cliffhangers, generally in one-chapter parts. He played a bank guard in THE SPIDER'S WEB (Columbia, 1938), henchmen in MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN (Columbia, 1939), and THE OREGON TRAIL (Universal, 1939), a truck driver in THE SHADOW (Columbia, 1940), and a henchman in WINNERS OF THE WEST (Universal, 1940). DEADWOOD DICK (Columbia, 1940) kept him onscreen throughout as Jake, a key member of the mysterious "Skull's" outlaw gang. Tom's last two serial outing for Universal, JUNIOR G-MEN and THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, were both released in 1940. In G-MEN he played a cop named Kearney, and in HORNET he was an unnamed henchman who got in a fight with the Hornet just before the Chapter 9 cliffhanger. He followed this part up with an appearance as a police detective in THE GREEN ARCHER (Columbia, 1940). London played another police detective in THE SPIDER RETURNS (Columbia, 1941), before moving over to Republic for a plum villain role in their popular 1942 outing SPY SMASHER. Kane Richmond played the spy-fighting hero, and Hans Schumm was his Nazi antagonist, the Mask. Since both the Mask and lieutenant Tristram Coffin didn't do much active work, the villainous offensive was left to London and to Paul Bryar as the Mask's chief henchmen. According to Bill Cline, London considered his part in the action-packed SPY SMASHER one of his more difficult jobs. In Tom's own words: "That was a real stuntman's serial and the action fast-paced. They kept me on the go, even though I wasn't doing the tough stuff."
Above: Hans Schumm (far left) gives his orders to Paul Bryar (center) and Tom London in SPY SMASHER (Republic, 1942). London had a noticeable supporting role in PERILS OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (Columbia, 1942), as a fur trapper who switched back and forth from hostility towards Sgt. MacLane’s (Robert Kellard) attempts to keep peace with the Indians to friendly helpfulness whenever Kellard needed additional support (director James W. Horne wasn’t one for consistency). THE SECRET CODE (Columbia, 1942), featured Tom briefly as a watchman at a weather bureau. When the bureau was invaded by spies, London was knocked on the head and tied up, but hero Paul Kelly, posing as one of the bad guys but secretly the masked Black Commando, set him free and put him in reach of a phone. London immediately dialed the cops upon reviving, and the villains had to make a hasty retreat. THE VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN (Columbia, 1942), had London playing Slater, one of villain Kenneth MacDonald's lieutenants, and DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST featured him as a bad guy named Miller, who engaged hero Allan Lane in a terrific brawl in a blacksmith shop.
Above: A rather fiendish-looking Tom London is trying to push Allan Lane's head into a forge in this still from DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST (Republic, 1943). Tom signed a "Term Player" contract with Republic in 1943, and for the next four years worked exclusively at that studio. His last free-lance cliffhanger before signing up was THE BATMAN (Columbia, 1943), in which he handled much of the henchman work (together with other greats like George J. Lewis and Jack Ingram) for the second half of the serial. London's first serials under the new contract were THE MASKED MARVEL (Republic, 1943), and CAPTAIN AMERICA (Republic, 1943). In the former he was an honest trucker drugged by Axis spies, and in the latter he was a henchman who died in a shootout with Captain America (Dick Purcell). THE TIGER WOMAN (Republic, 1944), featured him as a crooked riverboat captain named Dumont, who blew up aboard his ship in Chapter Ten when stars Allan Lane and Linda Stirling started a fight with villains George Lewis and Eddie Parker in the boat's explosive-laden hold. ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944), starring Stirling as the heroine and Lewis as the hero, featured Tom in Chapter One as a government official who was gunned down by outlaws just after sending Lewis on his mission to clean up the territory of Idaho. Republic then put their term player into FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945), where he played a professor kidnapped by racketeer Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis) and ordered to decode some airplane plans. London was brutally beaten when he refused, but hero Marten Lamont came to the rescue just in time and saved both the professor and the plans. THE PHANTOM RIDER (Republic, 1945), handed Tom the silliest role of his career, that of a corrupt Indian medicine man named Ceta. The part was much better suited to someone like Charles Stevens, but Tom did his best to overcome the miscasting and delivered an acceptable performance.
Above: George J. Lewis and Linda Stirling assist the dying Tom London in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944).
Above: Lorna Gray, Dale Van Sickel, and Jack O’Shea (far right) have been giving poor Tom London a bad time in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945). Though working round the clock in Republic's B-westerns and non-Western features by this time, London managed to make an appearance in KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS (Republic, 1946), in the pivotal role of old Tom Judson. Judson was a lovable old timer who discovered an ancient Indian rug leading to a lost treasure, and was ruthlessly murdered for it by thug Anthony Warde. London's death led to an investigation by Forest Ranger hero Steve King (Larry Thompson), and the eventual unmasking of Warde and his boss, scientist Stuart Hamblen. London was completely uncredited in Republic's 1947 serial SON OF ZORRO, but he nevertheless took a leading part in this above-average cliffhanger. He was genial storekeeper Mark Daniels, who applauded and supported lawyer Jeff Stewart's (George Turner) attempts to clean up the corrupt Box County. When the bad men in high places proved too much for the law, Stewart rode as the masked bandit Zorro to bring down shifty Judge Hyde (Ernie Adams), cunning outlaw Boyd (Roy Barcroft), thuggish Sheriff Moody (Edward Cassidy), and their secret leader. SPOILERS AHEAD! In the final chapter, the leader turned out to be the genial Daniels, who then tangled with Stewart in a climactic fistfight--and lost. Through a clerical error, London was not credited in this key role, but he appeared in every episode, and got to do his friendly-and-responsible bit till unmasked, when he reverted to his 1930s nastiness.
Above: Peggy Stewart and Tom London in SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947). Before Tom's Republic contract expired, he appeared in one more cliffhanger for the studio, JESSE JAMES RIDES AGAIN (Republic, 1947). He played Sam Bolton, the benevolent, cheery, wheelchair-bound father of heroine Ann Bolton (Linda Stirling). The Boltons were farmers in Peaceful Valley, Tennessee, but the valley proved to be not so peaceful when the Black Raiders started attacking them and their neighbors. Enter the reformed Jesse James (Clayton Moore), who defeated the Raiders and discovered that the gang's secret leader, banker Tristram Coffin, was after oil on the Valley's farmland. London finished out his serial career at Columbia Pictures, now in the charge of producer Sam Katzman. In Katzman's SUPERMAN in 1948, London joined a near "all-star" cast of serial greats to play a hilarious little cameo role as a garrulous old timer. When Lois Lane (Noel Neill) arrived to cover a mining disaster, the police wouldn't let her go down the mine for an eye-witness report. The frustrated Lois ran into Tom, who promised to show her a way down in exchange for a fee. He helped her through a small tunnel, but when she got inside, the entrance caved in, trapping her with the miners who were stuck in the main tunnel. Tom panicked and tried to tell the police, only to be dismissed because of his past record as a tale-spinner. Fortunately, he bumped into Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn), who went with him to the caved-in tunnel. Alyn pretended to doubt London's story, and the irate Tom, grumbling "So you think I'm crazy too, huh? Well, I'll find someone--I'll find someone!", rushed off--leaving Clark free to change to Superman and rescue Lois and the miners. London's last cliffhanger was CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS (Columbia, 1950). Reunited with his old friend Peggy Stewart, who had worked with him countless times at Republic, London seemed to have fun playing Doc Laramie, the grizzled, intelligent sidekick to young Bill Cody (Dickie Moore) and Army scout Jim Archer (Jock Mahoney). Stewart was the heroine, and she, London, Mahoney, Moore, and George J. Lewis (also an old pal of London's) gave the serial's rather pedestrian script some good-natured energy and character.
Above: Tom London ties up Rusty Westcoatt as Jock Mahoney (far right) keeps the prisoner covered in CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS (Columbia, 1950).
Above, from left to right: Jock Mahoney, Dickie Moore, and Tom London in CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS (Columbia, 1950). Tom was well past retirement age by now, but went on to appear in about thirty more movies and make more than sixty TV appearances. He was a regular member of Gene Autry's "Flying A" production outfit, appearing in many of Gene's later features, his TV show, and other Flying A shows like THE RANGE RIDER. In the late fifties, Tom became a semi-regular on Walt Disney's NINE LIVES OF ELFEGO BACA, playing a deputy sheriff. He made his final TV appearance in 1961 on MIAMI UNDERCOVER, and bowed out of movies in 1962 with a role in the classic RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. HIGH COUNTRY is justly famous as Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea's final film, but it was also the career finale of another man who was just as great in his own field. The next year, Tom passed away at the age of 81. He had been an actor to the very end. I could go on at length about Tom London's charisma and personality, his importance to the serial world, his untiring professionalism, and his great versatility. But I don't think I could do justice to any of those attributes, so instead let's give Bill Cline--and Tom himself--the last word: "...when I asked him how many films he had made, the grand old man grinned and in that familiar, hoarse stage whisper of his said, "Bill, I could no more tell you that than I could tell you how many pairs of socks I ever wore. When I'm on call, I go to work and do what the director says, and then I go home...All I know is that I've been in a good many." Grand old man indeed!
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