

Tales of the Gold Monkey
1982–1983 · ABC · 60 min · 1 season
S01E22 · Mourning Becomes Matuka
Thu, 2 June, 11:00 am
Someone is trying to assassinate Princess Koji. After Todo is wounded while saving her life, she persuades Jake to act as her bodyguard until she can discover who is trying to kill her.
About
Set in 1938 in the South Pacific, the series is about an ex-Flying Tigers fighter pilot named Jake Cutter. Now the operator of an air cargo delivery service based on the fictional South Seas island Bora Gora, he flies a red and white Grumman Goose called Cutter's Goose. Jake's best friend is his mechanic Corky, a good hearted alcoholic with a hazy memory from heavy drinking. However, a one eyed Jack Russell terrier named Jack, which barks once for "no" and twice for "yes" (or the opposite if it suits him) would dispute just who Jake's best friend really is. Jack wears an eye patch, but used to have a false eye made of opal with a star sapphire center that Jake lost in a poker game—and refuses to let Jake forget it.
Jake's love interest and U.S. government spy contact is Sarah Stickney White. She sings in the Monkey Bar as a cover for her espionage activities. The Reverend Willie Tenboom, a phony man of the cloth who likes to "bless" the female natives in private "prayer", is in reality a Nazi spy named Willy, with interests in both sides.
"Bon Chance" Louie is the owner of the Monkey Bar and the French magistrate for Bora Gora. Jake's nemesis is the Japanese princess Koji, a Dragon Lady type of character who has eyes for Jake. Koji's devoted bodyguard is Todo, a fierce practitioner of Bushido and loyal to the princess.
The title is derived from a gigantic mythical golden statue that is the focal point of the pilot episode, seen only by the viewer at the end of the show. The characters end their search for the statue after finding a substitute brass monkey that is kept at the Monkey Bar for the rest of the series.
Episodes
- E01
Tales of the Gold Monkey
Thu, 23 Sept· 120 minFreelance pilot Jake Cutter and his mechanic Corky become involved with Nazis and American Sarah Stickney White while searching the south Pacific for a mythical gold monkey.
- E02
Shanghaied
Thu, 30 Sept· 60 minA mysterious sailor calling himself Captain Ahab comes to Bora Gora and kidnaps Corky, forcing him to fix a broken part on Ahab's ship. Despite suffering from malaria, Jake goes after them.
- E04
Black Pearl
Thu, 14 Oct· 60 minThe Nazis are building a super bomb on an island near Bora Gora. Jake finds a part of the bomb on the body of an escaped native slave, so he decides to investigate.
- E05
Legends Are Forever
Thu, 21 Oct· 60 minAn old friend of Jake's shows up and convinces him to help fly medicine to a malaria stricken Watusi tribe. But Jake's friend may have an ulterior motive.
- E06
Escape from Death Island
Thu, 28 Oct· 60 minJake and Corky are imprisoned on an island penal colony when they try to free the son of an Englishman.
- E07
Trunk from the Past
Thu, 4 Nov· 60 minSarah receives a mysterious trunk from her late father and it leads her to a lost civilization.
- E08
Once a Tiger...
Thu, 18 Nov· 60 minJake leads the search for a downed plane flown by a former Flying Tiger transporting a prototype gunsight of interest to the Japanese.
- E09
Honor Thy Brother
Thu, 25 Nov· 60 minJake is mystified by several harrowing brushes with death, Sarah is on the trail of a suspicious Japanese bomber, a brawling German sailor turns up with Jack's eye and Corky unexpectedly lands a bride.
- E10
The Lady and the Tiger
Thu, 9 Dec· 60 minWhile Jake is flying a routine job, the Goose's engines fail and he crash lands on an island inside the Japanese Mandate. He is rescued by an Amish woman and her son, who agree to harbor him until he can find a way to radio his friends for help.
- E11
The Late Sarah White
Thu, 23 Dec· 60 minA telegram from the Philippines informing everyone of Sarah's death is sent to Bora Gora. Jake doubts that she is really dead, and he and Corky go to Manila to find the truth.
- E12
The Sultan of Swat
Thu, 6 Jan· 60 minGamble Rogers, a famous American baseball player who also happens to be Jake's boyhood hero, arrives in Bora Gora on his way to play a goodwill baseball game in China. During his stay on the island, a young native girl is raped and murdered in his bedroom. Jake believes he is innocent, and he sets out to find the real killer.
- E13
Ape Boy
Thu, 13 Jan· 60 minJake and Sarah help an abandoned boy found living among the apes on an isolated island.
- E14
God Save the Queen
Thu, 20 Jan· 60 minJake and Corky fly a British Nobleman to a cruise ship only to find out that this man has planted a bomb on board, and he will tell the captain where it is only when he is given the royal jewels that are on board the ship with the Duke of Windsor.
- E15
High Stakes Lady
Thu, 27 Jan· 60 minJake agrees to accompany a woman to Tagataya to play in a high stakes poker game. While there, the Japanese capture Jake and the woman in order to reclaim a secret film that contains classified Japanese plans which were stolen by the woman, who is actually a spy.
- E16
Force of Habit
Thu, 3 Feb· 60 minTwo nuns carrying vaccinations to a poor village in China land on Bora Gora. Jake recognizes one of them as his former girlfriend and is suspicious of her motives, but when the clipper that is carrying the vaccinations is stolen, the two of them must work together to retrieve it.
- E17
Cooked Goose
Sat, 5 Mar· 60 minA Clipper pilot is beaten and his bride apparently kidnapped by Princess Kogi and held for ransom.
- E18
Last Chance Louie
Sat, 12 Mar· 60 minLouie is sentenced to the guillotine for the murder of a French army deserter, and Jake's only hope of saving him is a story that Louie wants to remain a secret.
- E19
Naka Jima Kill
Sat, 19 Mar· 60 minAn ambitious newswoman tricks Jake into flying her to Princess Kogi's island for an interview with the Japanese defense minister, a recent target for assassination.
- E20
Boragora or Bust
Sat, 26 Mar· 60 minJake's prospector buddy stands to lose his platinum strike to an unscrupulous businessman from the States.
- E21
A Distant Shout of Thunder
Sat, 9 Apr· 60 minSarah is used as a scapegoat by an island revolutionary who accuses her of removing a sacred statue from a cemetery on the island.
- E22
Mourning Becomes Matuka
Thu, 2 June· 60 minSomeone is trying to assassinate Princess Koji. After Todo is wounded while saving her life, she persuades Jake to act as her bodyguard until she can discover who is trying to kill her.
Cast

Stephen Collins
Jake Cutter

Jeff MacKay
Corky

Caitlin O'Heaney
Sarah Stickney White

Roddy McDowall
Bon Chance Louie

Ron Moody
Bon Chance Louie

John Calvin
Rev. Willie Tenboom

John Fujioka
Todo





















