SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE

Rivals turned pals: David Durand; Jackie Cooper

SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE (12-chapter Universal serial/1939). Directors: Alan James; Ray Taylor. Colorized. 

Little "Skeets" Scanlon (Bill Cody Jr.), who longs to be a boy scout, finds a map which he thinks leads to treasure. He and the scouts, led by Bruce Scott (Jackie Cooper), go to a Ghost Town, where they find a fortune -- unfortunately it's counterfeit. Skeets' uncle is a crook so G-Man Hal Marvin (William Ruhl), jumps to the conclusion that Skeets' father, Pat (Edwin Stanley), must be involved in criminal activity as well. In actuality there is a gang of counterfeiters run by Turk Mortensen (Ivan Miller) who not only want some special plates the uncle made but to have Pat help them run off the phony bills. If that weren't enough, there are a group of very weird Indians living in the hills near the ghost town -- they not only hate Whites but are prone to human sacrifice!  

Junior Coghlan, Bill Cody Jr., Vondell Darr, and Cooper

Scouts to the Rescue is a busy and fairly entertaining Universal serial with several enthusiastic players. 17-year-old Jackie Cooper is top-billed and is fine as the stalwart leader of the scouts, although there's nothing in the script that would make him break out in a sweat. David Durand, who played Bette Davis' younger brother in Bad Sister, is swell as the good-looking Rip, who gets in with the thieves but whose conscience gets the better of him. Ruhl, Stanley and Miller are all professional enough, and we've also got Junior Coghlan (Frank Coughlan Jr.) as Ken, another scout, and Vondell Darr as Skeets' older sister, Mary. 

Cody and Durand

The serial is pretty fast-paced, with a lively musical score and some decent cliffhangers: an avalanche of boulders; a makeshift wooden elevator that plummets towards the ground; a stampede of rushing horses. The only problem with the serial is that it may seem bland as compared to the wilder super-hero and science fiction serials of Columbia and Republic studios. On its own terms, however, Scouts to the Rescue is a superior Universal serial. 

Verdict: Jackie Cooper -- still a star at 17! **3/4.