Tales of the Gold Monkey: Part 1 (22 Sep. 1982)

Story of a ex-Flying Tiger pilot, and his mechanic and their Grumman Goose as they fight the Japanese, before World War II.

Director:

Ray Austin

Writer:

Donald P. Bellisario

Stars:

Stephen Collins, Jeff MacKay, Caitlin O'Heaney

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Stephen Collins	...	Jake Cutter
Jeff MacKay	...	Corky
Caitlin O'Heaney	...	Sarah Stickney White
Marta DuBois	...	Princess Kogi
John Calvin	...	Reverend Willie Tenboom
John Fujioka	...	Todo
Ron Moody	...	Bon Chance Louie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Conrad Bachmann	...	Commander
Loyita Chapel	...	Bobbi
Greg Elliot	...	Sparks (as Gregory Elliot)
William Forsythe	...	Kurt (as Bill Forsythe)
John Hillerman	...	Monocle
Les Jankey	...	Waiter - Bartender (as Les H. Jankey)
Elizabeth Lindsey	...	Tiki
Michael Shawn McCracken	...	Monkey

Storyline

This TV movie is an introduction to the characters that starred in the TV series with the same name. We meet Jake Cutter, a freelance pilot who lives at the Marivellas islands a few years before the beginning of World War II. Jake and his best friend Corky meet Sarah, a woman working on a mission against the Nazis and decide to help her.

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Genres:

Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 September 1982 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many aspects of this show were duplicated in the animated series TaleSpin. Baloo is a bush pilot in the South Pacific (even wearing the same outfit), and flying a similar plane. Baloo has a friend named Louie who runs a bar, a slow mechanic and a female lead, who's his boss. Only the time period has changed.

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Goofs

This program was set in the late 1930s, yet pilot Jake Cutter is supposed to be a former Flying Tiger who occasionally tangles with Japan's Mitsubishi Zero fighters in his new South Pacific home. Two problems: 1) the Flying Tigers weren't even in existence at this time, and 2) neither were Zero fighters.

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Connections

Followed by Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982)

User Reviews

A lost treasure...

Unfortunately this show was cancelled way too early. I had a chance to ask Stephen Collins about it once and he said it had more to do with politics between the network and the executive producer than it did with ratings. Yes, it was obviously inspired by the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark but that doesn't make it bad. Where would Battlestar Galactica be without Star Wars or The Facts of Life without Cooley High? The point is this was a great family adventure show. A fun cast aided Jake Cutter, a cargo plane pilot, in his efforts to make a living in the South Seas in 1938 while avoiding the Japanese and Nazis in the pre-WWII era. A highlight has to be the one-eyed dog, Jack. Jake lost Jack's glass eye in a poker game - classic. This dog was part Lassie and part Clyde (Every Which Way But Loose) and he understood several languages. Sarah and Corky rounded out an ensemble of comic relief that made this show as entertaining as it was exciting. Even though this was in the mold of 1930's action serials this show was pure 80's - a harmless romp. My only hope is that the complete set (all 21 episodes) will become available on DVD so some day when I have kids I'll be able to show them what family television used to be all about. They may have buried this show in the television oblivion but they'll never take away that one year my whole family watched Gold Monkey every week. Awesome.