''Code of the Secret Service'' is a 1939 film directed by Noel M. Smith and starring Ronald Reagan. It is the second of four films in the U.S. Secret Service Agent Brass Bancroft series, having been preceded by '' Secret Service of the Air'' (1939) and followed by '' Smashing the Money Ring'' (1939) and ''Murder in the Air'' (1940). The series was part of a late 1930s effort by Warner Bros. to produce films depicting

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

in a positive light under pressure from

Homer Stille Cummings Homer Stille Cummings (April 30, 1870 – September 10, 1956) was an American lawyer and politician who was the United States Attorney General from 1933 to 1939. He also was elected mayor of Stamford, Connecticut, three times before founding th ...

(

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

) and Will H. Hays (creator of the

Motion Picture Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

, the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre ...

's censorship guidelines), due to the studio's part in producing early 1930s films glamorizing

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

s. The series also enabled Warner Bros. to create Reagan's screen

persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatri ...

, with Reagan even showing up to the set of ''Code of the Secret Service'' and asking director Noel M. Smith, "When do I fight and whom?"

Plot

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security charged with co ...

Lieutenant Brass Bancroft ( Ronald Reagan) and his partner, Gabby Watters (

Eddie Foy, Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...

, producer

Bryan Foy Bryan Foy (December 8, 1896 – April 20, 1977) was an American film producer and director. He produced more than 200 films between 1924 and 1963. He also directed 41 films between 1923 and 1934. He headed the B picture unit at Warner Bros ...

's brother), seek engraving plates stolen from the U.S. Treasury Department by a

counterfeiting To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

ring in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Fellow Secret Service agent Dan Crockett informs Bancroft that the leader of the gang is a peg-legged man named Parker, but he is killed and Bancroft is falsely blamed for the death. He boards a train to Santa Margarita with two members of the counterfeiting gang, who tip off authorities and bring the police to the train. After Bancroft escapes the train, Parker arrives in disguise as a friar and captures him at an abandoned mission church. After Bancroft flees, the police capture him. Gabby helps him break out of prison by distracting the guards with a game of

strip poker file:strip solitaire.jpg, alt= A man sits on a pillow facing away from the viewer, wearing only a belt and a bandanna. He holds a fanned hand of playing cards. An electric guitar and other objects frame the edges of the image., A man plays a strip ...

. Brass kidnaps a woman named Elaine and forces her to take him to a

telegraph station Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

to contact the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

. They are captured by the counterfeiters but escape and destroy the engraving plates. The mission explodes and Parker flees with the remaining plates but dies in an automobile crash after a car chase. Brass wins Elaine's heart and returns to Washington, D.C. with the plates.

Cast

The cast included: * Ronald Reagan as Lieutenant Brass Bancroft *

Rosella Towne Rosella Towne (January 20, 1918 – August 29, 2014) was an American film actress. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio. Her film career began in 1937, after making a screen test for Warner Bros. and signing a contract for the studio. At first she ...

as Elaine *

as Gabby Watters *

Moroni Olsen Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889November 22, 1954) was an American actor. Life and career Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Latter-day Saint parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha ( Hoverholst) Olsen, who named him after the Moroni found in the ...

as Parker * Edgar Edwards as Ross *

Jack Mower Jack Mower (September 5, 1890 – January 6, 1965) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 520 films between 1914 and 1965. He was born in Honolulu and died in Hollywood. After studying at Punahou College, in Honolulu, Mower moved ...

as Decker * John Gallaudet as Dan Crockett *

Joseph King Joseph King may refer to: *Joseph King (politician) (1860–1943), British politician, Member of Parliament for North Somerset 1910–1918 *J. C. King (Joseph Caldwell King, 1900–1977), CIA officer *Joseph E. King (born 1945), American politician ...

as Tom "Jim" Saxby * Steve Darrell as Butch, a henchman * Sol Gorss as Dutch, a henchman * George Regas as Mexican police officer

Production

The film was shot on location in Mexico using extras and sets from the film ''Juarez''. Ronald Reagan insisted on doing all of his own stunts.

Reception

Reagan called ''Code of the Secret Service'' "the worst picture I ever made" and commented on it, "never has an

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

of such dimensions been laid." Producer

attempted to shelve the film. Warner Bros. refused to do so, but did agree to not release it in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. Commenting on the film, a ticket taker at a

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

in another city reportedly told Reagan, "You should be ashamed." In a 1939 review, the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The Ca ...

'' called the movie "quite far-fetched in places and not very interesting as a whole."

Ronald Reagan assassination attempt

After seeing the movie repeatedly as a child,

Jerry Parr Jerry S. Parr (September 16, 1930 – October 9, 2015) was a United States Secret Service special agent who is best known for defending President Ronald Reagan during the attempt on the president's life on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C. Par ...

was inspired to join the Secret Service. Parr would go on to save the life of the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

in a 1981 assassination attempt. The President was Ronald Reagan, the star of ''Code of the Secret Service''.

References

External links

* * * * {{Authority control 1939 films 1939 crime drama films American crime drama films Films directed by Noel M. Smith Warner Bros. films American black-and-white films American sequel films Films set in Mexico Ronald Reagan Films about the United States Secret Service Films shot in Mexico Films set in Washington, D.C. 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun