Captain Midnight

Captain Midnight was the name of a U.S. radio serial aired from 1938 to 1949. It was originally sponsored by Skelly Oil as a syndicated show, from 1938 through the Spring of 1940. In the Fall of 1940, Ovaltine took over sponsorship, and moved it to the Mutual Radio Network, where it remained through December of 1949. The title character was not a person with the last name "Midnight"; rather, he was Charles James ("Jim") Albright, a pilot during World War I. He earned "Captain Midnight" as a code name by the general who sent him on a high-risk mission. When the show began in 1938, he was a private aviator who helped people; however, this changed in 1940. When the show was taken over by Ovaltine, his origin story was presented, and he was recruited to head a new aviation oriented paramilitary organization set up to fight sabotage and espionage during the period prior to the United States' entry into World War II. The organization, named the Secret Squadron, acted both within and outside the United States. When the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, the show shifted the Secret Squadron's duties to fight the more unconventional aspects of the war. Besides the stock villain, Ivan Shark, the war years introduced Axis villains, Baron von Karp, Admiral Himakito, and von Schrecker. After the war, some of the newer villains used war surplus equipment to carry out their activities. The show was extremely popular, with an audience in the millions. Just under half the listeners were adult, and it was a favorite of Army Air Corps crews during World War II, when they were stationed in the United States. The program was noted for its "decoders," called Code-O-Graphs, which were used to decipher weekly messages at the close of a program, giving a preview to the forthcoming episode. The show was notable that for its times, women were treated as equals, not just people to be rescued. Both Joyce Ryan, a young woman in the Secret Squadron, and Fury Shark, daughter of villain Ivan Shark, pulled their own weight in the adventures. Joyce even went on commando raids and became involved in aerial dogfights during World War II. In 1942, a movie serial, loosely based on the program, was released by Columbia Pictures. A newspaper comic strip and a Fawcett Comics title, only vaguely based on the radio program, were also published in the 1940s; clips of the radio program may be available here.

Related Topics:
U.S. - Radio - 1938 - 1949 - Skelly Oil - 1940 - Ovaltine - Mutual Radio Network - Army Air Corps - World War II - Decoders - 1942 - Movie serial - Columbia Pictures - Comic strip - Fawcett Comics

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