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 bills through a Mexican casino.

Director:

Noel M. Smith (as Noel Smith)

Writers:

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

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:

counterfeiting | mexico | secret service | murder | police | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 May 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Código do Serviço Secreto

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

In interviews during his presidency, Ronald Reagan called this movie, "the worst picture I ever made" and also said, "never has an egg of such dimensions been laid". He recalled that a movie usher who had seen the film once told him, "You should be ashamed." However, the film did have one positive effect for Reagan. After seeing the movie, a young man named Jerry Parr was inspired to enter the Secret Service. On March 30, 1981, Parr was the agent who quickly pushed Ronald Reagan into his limousine when John W. Hinckley Jr. fired six shots at the President outside the Washington D.C. Hilton. Parr's quick reaction, and his decision to take the wounded Reagan immediately to George Washington University Hospital, were credited with saving the President's life.

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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

Followed by Murder in the Air (1940)

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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

An ENORMOUS step backward for Ronald Reagan's career

Early in Ronald Reagan's career, he made some surprisingly good films such as LOVE IS ON THE AIR, BROTHER RAT and SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR. While they weren't exactly masterpieces, they were competently made and good B vehicles for the struggling young actor. However, among these films came the awful CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE--ostensibly a follow-up to SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR, though the films really aren't all that similar (besides, CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE was written by chimps, the other one was not).

Reagan once again plays the character "Brass Bancroft", though oddly, he isn't a pilot in this film nor does it have much to do with the last one--especially in tempo. Instead of an action-adventure film, this film lacks depth and has so many logical errors that it looks like a bad movie serial (such as SPY SMASHER) and condenses it all into one very brief movie. Again and again, characters defy logic and the plot is amazingly banal because the emphasis is on fist fights and guns like a bad B-Western--making Reagan seem to have the charisma of a tomato. Some examples of how bad it was were the plane Reagan rode on at the beginning of the film changed from a Lockheed airliner to a Douglas DC-3 (taking off as one and landing as the other), a car that whipped around corners on a dirt rode that sounded exactly like one on asphalt and Reagan almost getting killed again and again by the Mexican police yet all he had to do was show him his i.d. and let them know he was a US Secret Service agent!! The bottom line is that this is a super-bad B-picture that is bad enough it should be considered a "C-picture"--it's THAT bad. Warner Brothers should have been ashamed of themselves.