Other premiums included rings, telescopes, and World War II items. These Code-O-Graphs were used by listeners to decipher encrypted messages previewing the next day's episode, usually broadcast once a week. Radio premiums offered by the series (usually marked with Midnight's personal symbol of a winged clock with the hands pointing to midnight) included decoders. Just under half the listeners were adult, and it was a favorite of World War II United States Army Air Force crews when they were stationed in the U.S. The show was extremely popular, with an audience in the millions. The action continued to operate internationally, with adventures in South America and Africa as well as within the United States. Secret Squadron activities shifted to contending with criminals as well as spies. War-related subject matter included the theft of an experimental Flying Wing aircraft, radar coupled antiaircraft guns, jet aircraft and other weapons.Īfter the war, some of the newer villains used war surplus equipment to carry out their activities. The Secret Squadron wartime activities were usually outside the continental United States, with adventures in Europe, South America, the Pacific, and continental Asia. Besides the stock villain, Ivan Shark, the war years introduced Axis villains Baron von Karp, Admiral Himakito and von Schrecker. When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, which curiously was foreshadowed in the program, the show shifted the Secret Squadron's duties to fight the more unconventional aspects of the war. The Secret Squadron acted both within and outside the United States. When the show was taken over by Ovaltine, the origin story explained how Albright was recruited to head the Secret Squadron, an aviation-oriented paramilitary organization fighting sabotage and espionage during the period prior to the United States' entry into World War II. When the show began in 1938, Albright was a private aviator who helped people, but his situation changed in 1940. His Captain Midnight code name was given by a general who sent him on a high-risk mission from which he returned at the stroke of 12. The title character, originally Captain Jim "Red" Albright, was a World War I U.S. ( December 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. The show was known for the imaginative use of exciting technological advancements to create narrative thrills, inspiring young audiences to dream of future advances. Government broke up the NBC Red and Blue Networks, Ovaltine moved the series back to Mutual, beginning September 1945, where it remained until December 1949. It moved to the Merchandise Mart and the NBC Blue Network in September 1942. With Pierre Andre as announcer, the series was then heard nationally on the Mutual Radio Network where it remained until 1942. In 1940, Ovaltine, a product of The Wander Company, took over sponsorship. ĭeveloped at the Blackett, Sample and Hummert advertising agency in Chicago, Captain Midnight began as a syndicated show on October 17, 1938, airing through the spring of 1940 on a few Midwest stations, including Chicago's WGN. Burtt, who had previously scored a success for Skelly with their boy pilot adventure serial The Air Adventures of Jimmie Allen. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the Captain Midnight radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. The character's popularity throughout the 1940s and into the mid-1950s extended to serial films (1942), a television show (1954–1956), a syndicated newspaper strip (1942 – late 1940s), and a comic book title (1942–1948). adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. Captain Midnight (later rebranded on television as Jet Jackson, Flying Commando) is a U.S.
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