Celebrating another year of Aventuras de Tom Tyler: Milestones

 How time flies when life happens but Tom Tyler is part of that life! Another year has passed with the success of my Aventuras de Tom Tyler website and blog, not to mention an ever-increasing interest in Tom himself. As the saying goes, “If you build a website, they will come.” This article however is not about the many hours of research and work but rather a celebration of Tom Tyler – just like the site Aventuras de Tom Tyler is. Having said all this, here are the milestones which took place between 2015 and December 2021:

August 2015. The previously thought lost Monogram Pictures western “The Man from New Mexico” (1932) surfaced at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

September 2015. This milestone is the icing on the cake to date: Tom Tyler’s long thought lost serial made for Universal, “Jungle Mystery” (1932) surfaced, was restored, and exhibited at Cinecon the following year in September 2016. While this has not yet been released on DVD, the potential exists, which is important.

May 2016. The previously thought lost Syndicate Pictures silent film “The Man from Nevada” (1929) surfaced at the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive.

December 2016. The Aventuras de Tom Tyler blog started. To date, it has 190 blog posts and over 30,000 post views total.

January 2017. A monthly newsletter was sent to those who signed up to receive it. The newsletter lasted for two years before going on hiatus due to time constraints.

June 2017. A second print of “The Man from Nevada” (1929) surfaced at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

August 2017. One of Tom Tyler’s silent films from 1928, “The Phantom of the Range”, made it to Youtube. The quality is not the best, the intertitles are in Castilian, and there is no music to accompany it. Correspondence with the poster of the video revealed it was from a 16mm rental film print in Madrid.

August 2017. “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” was released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber to coincide with the upcoming “Shazam!” 2018 action film starring Zachary Levi.

October 2017. The renowned Mixed Martial Arts reporter, Mike Radich interviews Tom Tyler’s biographer Mike Chapman and posted it on Youtube. 

May 2018. Two of Tom’s silent films made for FBO were removed from “7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29)” published by the Library of Congress: “Lightning Lariats” (1927), plus a segment of "The Avenging Rider" (1928) have surfaced at Gosfilmofond in Moscow, Russia; “Cyclone of the Range” (1927) surfaced at Filmoteca Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

May 2019. Dario Lavia of Cineficción Radio and the Cinefania website mentions the Aventuras de Tom Tyler blog in his book, “Weird Western” Third Edition. The blog article “Lost in translation: How ‘Tyrant of Red Gulch’ became ‘The Sorcerer’ across the pond”  is listed under the entry for “Tyrant of Red Gulch”  (1928).

March 2021. Tom’s Universal serial “Phantom of the Air” (1933) was released on Blu-ray by VCI Entertainment.

I will also add the following: in 2022, more exciting milestones are to come. As usual, all and any new news on Tom Tyler and the rediscovering of his lost silent films will appear on this blog.

An enormous thank you to everyone who has visited Aventuras de Tom Tyler since its inception in 2015, this blog, and social media pages. Because Tom Tyler is worth it. 

Meet Imogene, a special Tom Tyler fan

While one of the most fascinating insights into Tom Tyler’s personality was the type of charity work he did as a famous Hollywood star – visiting orphanages as his unique way of giving back to the community, and inviting them to see him in person when he traveled the nation back in 1937 with Wallace Brothers Circus, the following event is sure to tug at the heart strings of the reader.

A young girl and very special fan of Tom’s named Imogene Brown lived at 203 South Charles St. in Belleville, Illinois. She loved watching Tom Tyler’s movies and even wrote him a fan letter or two during the 1930’s at the height of his career. In an article from The Belleville News-Democrat, August 7, 1937, her name is mentioned along with Tom about his national tour with Wallace Brothers circus. At the tender age of seven, her letter must have touched Tom rather deeply, enough for him to invite her personally to see him perform at the circus, riding horseback and performing muscular feats upon the high bar. In Imogene’s own words, "There are times when being a shut-in is not so bad", upon speaking on the phone with Tom Tyler’s representative who made it a priority to call her. So why was Imogene a shut-in, for want of a better word, invalid?

In her letter to Tom Tyler, she described what happened to her as a toddler which resulted in her being handicapped. Confined to a board which held her spine in place, a horrific accident occurred to her when she was two years old in her hometown of Clinton, Indiana. Playing outside with friends, little Imogene fell onto the pavement the wrong way, which resulted in a spinal injury, two vertebrae cracking. Due to her young age, Imogene’s doctors could not perform surgery on her until she reached the age of eight, to happen at Shriner’s Hospital in St. Louis. Unlike present-day medicine, which would have little Imogene wearing a brace to hold her spine in place, she remained immobile for five years as a child, strapped to a special board. Can you imagine young Imogene, unable to move as she wished, running and playing with her friends, while she had to be confined to a certain position? Chances are she would dream of walking, running, dancing – and even horseback riding while watching Tom Tyler westerns during the early 1930’s. Just receiving the news she was invited to see her hero at the circus making an appearance in her hometown must have had her dancing on air:

Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing
           - Andrew Marvell

Residing in Belleville, Illinois by 1936 with her parents according to The Belleville News-Democrat, December 4, 1936, Imogene did attend the local school, Washington School, by means of using a special bench built just for her by the school janitor, who was handy in creating a “desk” just for her use. Being disabled certainly did not hinder Imogene’s ability to excel at academics, for she remained a straight-A student in grammar school. Neither did her disability prevent her from practicing tap-dancing at home before bedtime, while remaining strapped to her special board. The injury did not affect her foot movement ability, thankfully, and it did help blood circulation in her lower half. Upon speaking with Tom Tyler’s representative, little Imogene must have felt tremendous joy being able to take part in an activity with her friends, which was to attend the circus. Not that she was unhappy about not taking part in everything with her friends, for earlier in 1937, she celebrated her seventh birthday party in April that year, playing the role of hostess. However, the circus was going to be her first main event to attend, and at the encouraging of her hero, Tom Tyler. Better yet, she would get to meet one hundred children from St. John’s Orphanage, Belleville, also attending the circus, courtesy of Tom Tyler’s invite.

The Belleville News-Democrat, IL, December 4, 1936

Imogene Brown was Tom Tyler’s guest of honor, and, strapped to her support board, was in a special place of the audience next to her parents where her view of his act would remain unobstructed for the duration of the show. One can only imagine just how bright her smile was that day, her face lighting up the audience like a spotlight:

And of condensed Rays a Gem to make,
'Twould be the brightest Lustre of a Crown,
And an esteem invaluable take
- Thomas Heyrick

To be sure, Imogene must have had a grand time that day at the circus, enjoying and cheering Tom Tyler’s performance, a day to be remembered long afterward. After all, who would not want to attend the circus and be the honored guest of its #1 touring star? Tom Tyler lived up to his public image and always kept his major fan base in mind. Perhaps most importantly, Tom was, for one day in a little girl’s life, a real-life superhero – five years before he portrayed the most popular superhero in the world on the silver screen, in “Adventures of Captain Marvel”.

Note: If anyone knows whatever became of Miss Imogene Brown of Belleville, Illinois, born April 9, 1930, if she grew up and married, had children, please contact me (aventurasdetomtyler_@_triggertom.com – remove underscores) and I will include it here as an update. Thank you!

Collectibles: Tom Tyler on the R423 movie cards

 When it comes to collecting small movie cards, the ones manufactured by Cloetta (1 1/8” x 2") and De Beukelaer (1 1/16” x 2") can certainly be counted among them. Yet there is one even smaller in size, smaller than one inch, tiny yet highly collectible. Known as the R423 strip cards, these were printed in a series of 13 different cards on a single strip, issued with bubblegum starting in 1950.  Measuring 5/8" x 7/8" in size, baseball players as well as actors were issued in these small accordion strips of collectible paper. For the baseball players, each card was numbered, a total of 120 different cards printed, while the total number for the actors is unknown, but well over 84 for the black and white cards, and over 34 for the color cards. 

The backs of the black and white cards were orange in color and bear a silhouette of a seated man operating a film projector, while the color cards depict the same against a purple background. The color cards ones are of different portraits of the actor compared to the black and white one, as can be seen from the ones with Tom Tyler.

Other actors who appear on the R423 movie cards include: Charles Starrett, Red Skelton, Rita Hayworth, Jane Russell, and Desi Arnaz.

Tom Tyler and Jackie Fields: The weightlifter and the boxer

To the fan of early twentieth-century welterweight boxing, the name Jackie Fields is a familiar one. Holding several titles throughout his career, National Boxing Association (NBA), New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) and The Ring welterweight titles, Jackie joined the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) in 1921 when his family moved from Chicago to the City of Angels when his father fell ill with tuberculosis. With regards to Jackie's professional boxing record, between 1925 and 1933 he had 72 wins and 9 losses out of a total of 86 fights.

At the time the following photo was taken of Jackie with Tom Tyler and published in Exhibitor’s Daily Review, March 29, 1927, Jackie Fields was on a winning streak, having lost one match to Jimmy McLarnin on November 12, 1925, and one match against Johnny Lamar on August 12, 1925 ending in a draw. Jackie had the time to meet with other athletic stars in Hollywood at the time who were also members of the LAAC, such as Tom Tyler. By 1927 Tom already won the 1925, 1926 and 1927 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) of Southern California heavyweight weightlifting championships. It seems natural for two winners in their chosen field of sport to pose for a photo like this one, meeting outside the sports club they were members of to chat together and maybe have a bite to eat.

Exhibitor’s Daily Review, March 29, 1927

Reading silent films: “When the Law Rides” 1928 starring Tom Tyler

In observance of National Silent Movie Day, September 29, 2021, I am very pleased to say that my second translation project of “When the Law Rides” of the Biblioteca Films film booklet “La Ley en la Mano” is now completed and available for reading.

I encourage everyone to read the Introduction to my translation and Terms of Use before reading the actual story.

Most importantly, enjoy my translation, and hopefully this will be an incentive to rediscover “When the Law Rides”. I am hoping to add more of these film booklet translations as time permits in the near future to Aventuras de Tom Tyler.

Click here to read my translation!

Tom Tyler in “Galloping Thru” 1931...in Vietnam!

Being able to peruse the many global newspaper archives for film research can bring any number of surprises. Case in point: Tom Tyler’s early sound film “Galloping Thru” (1931) was exhibited in Vietnam under its French title, “Diligence Infernale”, as seen in a cinema ad in the newspaper Thời sự November 19, 1949. Chances are “Galloping Thru” was relaxing entertainment for the French troops at the time.

Tom Tyler Westerns in India

In the February 1933 issue of Sound and Shadow, there is an advertisement for a newly formed American film import company, Starrex Films. Headquartered in Madras (now called Chennai), India, this film distribution company specialized in American action movies, one of America’s top action stars at the time being Tom Tyler. The first title on Starrex Films list was “Honor of the Mounted” from 1932. 

Sound & Shadow was a monthly trade publication based in India but had offices in Hollywood, London, and Australia.