Foreign Agent (1942)

Hollywood starlet foils an Axis plot to sabotage the L.A. infrastructure.

Director:

William Beaudine

Writers:

John W. Krafft, Martin Mooney (screenplay),

Stars:

John Shelton, Gale Storm, Ivan Lebedeff

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Shelton	...	Jimmy
Gale Storm	...	Mitzi Mayo
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Okura
George Travell	...	Nick Dancy
Patsy Moran	...	Joan Collins
Lyle Latell	...	Eddie McGurk
Hans Schumm	...	Dr. Werner
William Halligan	...	Bob Davis
Kenneth Harlan	...	George McCall
Herbert Rawlinson	...	Stevens
Boyd Irwin	...	Elliott Jennings
David Clarke	...	Carl Beck
Fee Malten	...	Anna
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Robert Nelson (as Edward Peil)
Paul Bryar	...	Jerry the bartender

Storyline

Hollywood starlet Mitzi Mayo gets involved in a plot to steal her late father's searchlight filter plans. She joins forces with her friend Jimmy, who is working for the government. Together they manage to foil a German-Japanese plot to obtain the blueprints and to support a planned Japanese bombing of Los Angeles.

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Plot Keywords:

searchlight | secret document | radio broadcast | electronic surveillance | fistfight | 

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Taglines:

America on the ALERT!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1942 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters of Robert Nelson and Elliott Jennings were based on real-life traitors Robert Noble and Ellis Jones, who worked together in an organization called "Friends of Progress" and staged a mock impeachment trial of President Franklin Roosevelt that was still going on when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Ultimately both men were arrested and convicted under a California state law calling for the registration of subversive organizations.

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Soundtracks

"Down Deep in My Heart"
Written by Bill Mellette
Performed by Gale Storm at the Harbor club

User Reviews

Another Monogram Quickie

With William "One Shot" Beaudine directing, Monogram reacted to the US entry into WWII with its typical style........cheap and cheaper. Starring John Shelton (whoever that was) and Gale Storm (better known as "My Little Margie" from early television), the story, what there is of it, concerns a group of spies ("group" in a Monogram film means two or three individuals) ineptly working at espionage. There are basically two sets, an apartment and the spies' hideout and the acting is what you expect from Monogram Studios.

The story is unimportant here......needless to say the spies get caught in the end before any damage is done. But there are a couple of things worth noticing. In the beginning of the film there is a shot of the Hollywood Blvd. and Gower street sign. "Gower Gultch" as it was known was the home of the poverty row studios, Monogram, PRC, etc. It appears Beaudine ran outside the building to take a shot of the street sign as a lead in to the film. Sure beats location work.

Secondly, in an earlier part of the film the conversations of the spies are recorded by the good guys. In order to flesh out the film's running time, the recording is played later in the story and we have the chance to hear a total repeat of the earlier scene of the aforementioned conversation. It is this kind of thing that is endearing about the poverty row studios. They found a way to make films on a shoestring using little tricks like that.

This film isn't much but it is not as bad as some of Monogram's offerings. So if you are a fan of Monogram, Mascot, PRC or Tiffany studios, give it a watch. You just have to love these little footnotes to Hollywood history.