User Reviews

I confess: I also watched this episode to see what 12 year old Jill Oppenheim looks likes. More about her later. But this episode is also worth watching for its provocative script, which surprised me because this is a show aimed at children. It's difficult to watch the opening's "Reach for Nabisco" commercial without wanting to eat a box of cookies, RIGHT NOW. I'M HUNGRY! Coincidentally this is copyright MCMLII by Derby Foods, Inc.

21 year old Penny is seriously feisty and extremely cute, doing her part to stick up for women's equality with men. You can judge for yourself. I wouldn't go as far as reviewer tforbes-2 in calling the story line prehistoric. Sky does make a good point when he tells Penny that the armed kidnappers are dangerous, and notes that Penny will be safer back home. Ultimately, Penny does play a major part.

What about 12 year old, seemingly prepubescent, Jill? In her 7th TV appearance per IMDb, she appears in the first scene with Steven Geray as her father, both of them being refugees from an unnamed, evidently totalitarian, country. Jill is enthusiastic and lasts almost half of the first scene before her foreign accent begins to slide into and go out of Los Angeles English throughout the rest of the episode.

About halfway through the episode, while Prof. Gluckmann is being held captive (while Heinrich Mahler waits until dark before flying his henchmen, Gluckmann, and himself back to their native land), Mahler raises a provocative issue. Who is a traitor? Gluckmann did betray his country by defecting to the USA. As Gluckmann and Mahler argue the issue, Mahler notes, "The professor is hardly in a position to call another man a traitor when he is one himself."

Will Sky and Clipper arrive in time? What will Jim, Penny, and Gretchen do in the meantime? How talented are Mahler's henchmen? You will have to watch and see for yourself. You might also wonder, as I did, what kinds of shirts Clipper keeps in his closet. And reach, partner, reach for Nabisco.

I BARELY remember "Sky King" was run on CBS as a child, but know the show was run on Saturdays. I certainly do not remember this episode at all.

But this one catches my eye because of a child actress named Jill Oppenheim.

The story line is prehistoric when it comes to the role of the sexes, but it is a product of its time. The story is definitely ripped right from the time of the Red Scare of the 1950s, and involves kidnappers from a "totalitarian" regime, obviously a reference to the Iron Curtain. And the episode reminded me of "The Adventures of Superman," which ran during this time.

When this episode first aired in 1952, Ian Fleming had begun work on a novel concerning a spy named James Bond. This may be unrelated, except for the child actress mentioned above. I would go on to see her for the first time on TV in 1966--as Jill St. John, playing the role of Molly in the first episode of Batman. Five years later, she was the female lead in the 007 movie "Diamonds Are Forever." Definitely a far cry from "Sky King," but it is a real treat to see this actress in a role this early in her career!! Both she and the other cast members do a fine job!