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The 12-episode Universal serial Tim Tyler's Luck was based on the comic strip of the same name by Lyman Young (the brother of "Blondie" creator Chic Young). Frankie Thomas stars as youthful adventurer Tim Tyler, who heads to Africa in search of his scientist father (played by veteran vaudevillian Al Shean). Along the way, he links up with Lora Lacey (Frances Robinson), who hopes to capture Spider Webb (Norman Willis), the man responsible for the incarceration of Lora's brother. Once they've reached the Dark Continent, Tim and Lora are exposed to every imaginable peril before Spider can be brought to justice. Like many of the best 1930s serials, Tim Tyler's Luck is chock-full of familiar movie names from the past, including Jack Mulhall, Frank Mayo and Stanley Blystone (incidentally, the "Pat O'Brien" in the cast is not the Warner Bros. star of the same name).