Code of the Secret Service (1939)

Brass is assigned to uncovering a counterfeiting ring that has stolen bona-fide treasury plates and is converting $1 bills to $100's through a Mexicoan casino.

Director:

Noel M. Smith

Writers:

Lee Katz (original screen play), Dean Riesner (original screen play),

Stars:

Ronald Reagan, Rosella Towne, Eddie Foy Jr.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ronald Reagan	...	Lt. 'Brass' Bancroft
Rosella Towne	...	Elaine
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Gabby
Moroni Olsen	...	The Friar
Edgar Edwards	...	Ross
Jack Mower	...	Decker
John Gallaudet	...	Dan Crockett
Joe King	...	Tom 'Jim' Saxby (as Joseph King)
Steve Darrell	...	Butch (as Stevan Darrell)
Sol Gorss	...	Dutch
George Regas	...	Mexican Police Officer

Storyline

Dan Crackett, Secret Service Agent, is looking for a counterfeit money ring. He has tracked the stolen plates to somewhere in Mexico. In Washington, Saxby sends Brass Bancroft to El Paso to team up with Dan. They make plans to meet in a gambling saloon in Mexico called the 'Silver Slipper'. It is there that the gang kills Dan and pins the murder on Brass. Brass, with the help of Gabby and Elaine, must stay out of jail so that he can find where the press is working and who is behind the counterfeit bills.

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Plot Keywords:

counterfeit | mexico | jail | secret service | gambling | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Crime

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 May 1939 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Litel and Steffi Duna were listed in a Hollywood Reporter production chart, but they did not appear in the movie. Jack Richardson and Tom Wilson were in studio records/casting call lists for this movie but are not seen. Wally West is listed by a modern source as a croupier, but the only croupiers in the movie were played by Stuart Holmes and Jack Wise.

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Goofs

The fight doubles for Reagan and his villain adversary are clearly doubles in the casino medium shots.

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Quotes

Gabby: What assignmennt did you get?
Lt. 'Brass' Bancroft: The Treasury stick-up.
Gabby: Right down my alley. When do we leave?
Lt. 'Brass' Bancroft: Well, you'll have to include yourself out this trip, Gabby. Well, you couldn't go anyway. Aren't you guarding the President?
Gabby: Nah. he went fishin' again. Besides you need a man like me to look after yuh.
Lt. 'Brass' Bancroft: Who's gonna look after you?
Gabby: [Initially laughs but quickly realizes this is no compliment and he frowns] Whatta yuh mean?

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Quarterfinal 3 (2009)

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Soundtracks

"You Can't Stop Me from Dreaming"
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by Cliff Friend
Played when the International Bar sign is first shown

User Reviews

Reagan

Code of the Secret Service (1939)

** (out of 4)

Follow up to SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR has Lt. Brass Bancroft (Ronald Reagan) trying to track down some counterfeiters. He tracks them to Mexico where they plant a murder wrap on him so Brass must escape the Mexican police while trying to do his job as well. I enjoyed the first film in the series but this one here was pretty bland from start to finish and the 58-minute running time seemed like triple that. According to the Robert Osborne introduction on TCM, Reagan was so worried this film would end his career that he begged Warner not to release it. In a compromise they agreed to release it everywhere except for Los Angeles since Reagan lived there. I don't think the film was that bad but it's still not that good. The biggest problem is that there's just no energy to the film. The first film plays out like a fun serial and this one goes for that effect but it fails because of the rather weak direction. Many films around this era dealt with money laundering and most of them handled it better than this. Eddie Foy, Jr. is certainly the best thing about the movie as he brings a few laughs. Reagan sleepwalks through the role and doesn't bring much to the film. Two more sequels would follow though.