''Government Agents vs Phantom Legion'' (1951) is a 12-chapter American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

action

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, ge ...

produced and distributed by

Republic Pictures Corporation Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

in 1951. It is an original, studio-commissioned screenplay by

Ronald Davidson Ronald Anstuther Davidson Sr (July 13, 1899 – July 28, 1965) was an American screenwriter, story editor and associate producer. Born in Arizona and reared in Los Angeles, he was the son of Dr. Anstruther Davidson and author Alice Jane Merritt ...

, produced by

Franklin Adreon Franklin "Pete" Adreon (November 18, 1902 – September 10, 1979) was an American film and television director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Early life and career Born in Gambrills, Maryland, Adreon was a Marine Reservist during the 30 ...

and directed by Fred C. Brannon.

Plot

Two American government agents, Hal Duncan and Sam Bradley, must prevent agents of a foreign power, led by Regan and Cady, from hijacking trucks and stealing defense materials being transported by truck. They are hired by an interstate trucking association whose constituent truck lines have been principal targets of the hijacking, and it becomes evident that one of the four directors of the association is "the Voice," the secret leader of the gang who provides them with shipment and route information necessary for the gang's success.

Cast

Walter Reed Walter Reed (September 13, 1851 – November 23, 1902) was a United States Army, U.S. Army physician who in 1901 led the team that confirmed the theory of Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay that yellow fever is transmitted by a particular mosquito ...

as Hal Duncan *

Mary Ellen Kay Mary Ellen Ruffalo ( Keaggy, August 29, 1929 – 2017), better known as Mary Ellen Kay, was an American television and film actress. Biography Kay was born in Boardman, Ohio, on August 29, 1929. She was one of ten siblings and the sister ...

as Kay Roberts * John Pickard as Sam Bradley *

Dick Curtis Richard Dye (May 11, 1902January 3, 1952), known professionally as Dick Curtis, was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career. Early years Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dye ...

as Regan *

Fred Coby Frederick G. Beckner Jr. (March 1, 1916 – September 27, 1970) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing Pony Deal in the fifth season of the American western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp''. ...

as Cady *

Pierce Lyden Pierce W. Lyden (January 8, 1908 – October 10, 1998) was an American actor best known for his work in television and film Westerns. Early life Lyden was born in a sod house on a ranch near Hildreth, Nebraska on January 8, 1908. The son of a hor ...

as Armstrong *

Arthur Space Charles Arthur Space (October 12, 1908 – January 13, 1983) was an American film, television and stage actor. Today's audiences know him as the eccentric inventor opposite Laurel and Hardy in '' The Big Noise'' (1944), and as veterinarian Doc W ...

as Crandall *

Mauritz Hugo Mauritz Hugo (January 12, 1909 – June 16, 1974) was a Swedish-born American film and television actor. Selected filmography * '' Wanted by the Police'' (1938) * ''Criminal Investigator'' (1942) *'' The Crime Smasher'' (1943) * '' Outlaws of ...

as Thompson *

George Meeker George Meeker (March 5, 1904 – August 19, 1984 ) was an American Character actor, character film and Broadway theatre, Broadway actor. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Meeker made several films such as ''Crime, Inc.'' (1 ...

as Willard Stunts *

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. Van ...

as Hal Duncan/Brice/Kern (doubling

) * Tom Steele as Regan/Armstrong/Brandt/Warehouse Thug (doubling

and

) * Eddie Parker as Payne * Duke Taylor as Kirk * David Sharpe

Production

Republic had been economizing on its serials, shortening the running time from an average of 18 minutes per chapter to 13, and reusing cliffhanger endings from older serials to avoid staging new ones. The studio also stopped licensing expensive comic-strip and radio properties (like

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

, and

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

) and instead filmed generic cops-and-robbers adventures and original science-fiction stories. The studio scaled back production as well, from four new serials per year to three. (The fourth would now be a reissue of an older serial.) Republic's serials of the 1930s and 1940s had been scripted by writers working in teams, with as many as seven authors contributing to a single screenplay. ''Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion'' was written by only one man:

. Davidson was the ideal choice because he had written and/or produced many Republic serials, and therefore knew where to consult the old film footage, and how to work it into his new screenplay. ''Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion'' was budgeted at $153,083 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example '' The Blair Witch Project'', can have promotional expenses that are much larger than the ne ...

was $153,612 (a $529, or 0.3%, overspend). It was the least expensive Republic serial of 1951, filmed between May 1 and May 23, 1951 under the

working title A working title is a preliminary name for a product or project. The usage is especially common in film and TV, gaming, music and publishing. It is often styled in trade publications as (wt) and is synonymous with production title and tentative ...

''Government Agents vs. Underground Legion''. The serial's production number was 1931. All special effects in ''Government Agents vs Phantom Legion'' were produced by Republic's in-house team of the

Lydecker brothers Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), billed together as Howard and Theodore Lydecker, were a special effects team primarily working as contract staff members of Re ...

Release

''Government Agents vs. Phantom Legions official release date was July 4, 1951, although this was actually the date upon which the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. The film was followed by a re-release of ''

Haunted Harbor ''Haunted Harbor'' (1944) is a Republic serial, based on the novel by Ewart Adamson. Plot Sea captain Jim Marsden is about to be hanged for a murder he didn't commit, and is rescued from the gallows by two of his crewmen. To clear the captain ...

'', retitled ''Pirates' Harbor'', instead of a new serial. The next new serial, ''

Radar Men from the Moon ''Radar Men from the Moon'' is a 1952 Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George D. Wallace, George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and serial veteran Roy Barcr ...

'', followed in 1952.

Chapter titles

# River of Fire (20 min) # The Stolen Corpse (13 min 20s) # The Death Drop (13 min 20s) # Doorway to Doom (13 min 20s) # Deadline for Disaster (13 min 20s) # Mechanical Homicide (13 min 20s) # The Flaming Highway (13 min 20s) # Sea Saboteurs (13 min 20s) # Peril Underground (13 min 20s) # Execution by Accident (13 min 20s) (a recap chapter) # Perilous Plunge (13 min 20s) # Blazing Retribution (13 min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Government Agents Vs. Phantom Legion 1951 films 1950s English-language films American spy films American black-and-white films Republic Pictures film serials Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1950s spy films 1950s American films Films scored by Stanley Wilson (composer)