Posted by The Captain on December 24, 2000 at 13:52:06:
In Reply to: Long before the TV show . . . posted by Donn on December 24, 2000 at 09:01:32:
Well, several strands converge.
The Brass Monkey liguor campaign played on the Asian angle and a noir pre-WWII "Casablanca" mood of doomed romance and international intrigue. Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan, and Fu Manchu all had a part to play as exotic, adventurous pulps.
(Hey, your not just hanging around a bar, you're on a secret mission. You have a larger purpose for pouring your money away.)
Gardner McKay of course borrows from Michener's Adventures in Paradise (best seller after the war, based on Michener's experiences in the war) which was the basis for Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.
Belasario also borrowed from the '30's serials probably prompted by the success of Indiana Jones. The serials were inspired by the pulps or penny dreadfuls which followed the very popular adventure books (non-fiction) of Richard Harding Davis. Heck, King Kong derives from these same strands. Someone on this board mentioned the Lost World series. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Lost World as a boy's adventure. The concept of adventure being educational was his contribution to the stewpot. When the Lost World was made into a movie they took Pearl White, the heroine of the Perils of Pauline (one of the first serials) and wrote in a female part just for her.
There were skads of aviation based serials. Aviation was the bees knees. Didn't need a plot just flight sequences, a good-looking gal, and maybe a kid and his dog.
Er, how far back do you want me to go?
THE CAPTAIN