Junior G-Men of the Air

The third of Universal's three serials headlining the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys (preceded by "Junior G-Men" and "Sea Raiders") is the 55th of Universal's sound-era serials (followed "Gang Busters" and ahead of "Overland Mail") and is the last 12-chapter serial (despite some source that lists it as 13 chapters) released by Universal; "Overland Mail" had 15 episodes while the remaining 13 serials released by Universal Pictures (none of which were ever distributed to theaters by MCA/Universal which didn't exist in the years that Universal produced serials) were all 13 episodes. This one finds the gang, Billy "Ace" Holden, "Bolts" Larson, "Stick" Munsey and "Greaseball" Plunkett working in an airplane/auto junk yard owned by Ace's father. Their truck is stolen by members of a fifth column organization, the Order of the Black Dragonfly, but when government agent Don Ames returns the recovered truck, Ace, who distrusts law men, refuses to give Ames a description of the men who stole the truck. Ames decides to let Jerry Markham, young leader of the Junior G-Men, who knows both Ace and his brother Eddie through their mutual interest in airplanes and flying, try to gain Ace's cooperation. The Axis agents, Araka, Augar, Beal, Monk and Comora, report to the Japanese leader of the Black Dragonfly, The Baron, at his farmhouse headquarters outside the city. In an attempt to track down the spies, Ace and his friends drive their truck near the farm and are spotted by the enemy agents. Monk, the gang's pilot, tries to bomb the truck and the boys appear doomed. But not so with many chapters still remaining in this 12-chapter-only serial.