Zeus

The Flaming Signal (1932)

• Directors
  • George Jeske
  • Charles E. Roberts
• Writers
  • William G. Steuer(story)
  • Charles E. Roberts(screenplay)
  • Thomas Hughes(adaptation)
• Stars
  • Flash the Dog
  • John David Horsley
  • Marceline Day

  Flash, yet another German shepherd in a long line of would-be Rin Tin Tin successors, took center stage in this obscure action-melodrama, which came complete with supernatural overtones. Stowing away on his master's plane, a parachuting Flash rescues Jim Robbins (John David Horsley) from drowning in the ocean between Los Angeles and Hawaii when Jim's aircraft catches fire during a fierce lightning storm. They both make it safely to Tabu Island where Sally James (Marceline Day), the skinny-dipping daughter of the local missionary, guides them to the nearby trading post. Said operation is lorded over by Von Krantz (Noah Beery), a nasty trader who is getting rich from exploiting the native villagers. Irredeemably villainous, Von Krantz not only attempts to ravage a native girl, much to the dismay of his floozy girlfriend, Molly (Carmelita Geraghty), but shoots the local high priest (Mischa Auer) when the latter takes umbrage to the goings-on. Soon, an uprising is under way, during which the high priest is resurrected in a cave, but in the end it is Flash who saves the day for all and sundry.