''FBI Code 98'' is a 1962

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Leslie H. Martinson Leslie Herbert Martinson (January 16, 1915 – September 3, 2016) was an American television and film director. Career Martinson was born to Gertrude and Lewis Martinson in Boston, Massachusetts on January 16, 1915. He had a brother named Bert ...

and produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

Originally intended as

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

, the film was instead released theatrically in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1962, and in the United States in 1963. ''FBI Code 98'' stars many Warner Bros. contract players such as Jack Kelly,

Ray Danton Ray Danton (born Raymond Caplan; September 19, 1931 – February 11, 1992) was a radio, film, stage, and television actor, director, and producer whose most famous roles were in the screen biographies ''The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond'' (1960 ...

Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage. Background Duggan was born in ...

and William Reynolds who later costarred on the

Warner Bros Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

show ''

The F.B.I. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

''. The film was narrated by

William Woodson William T. Woodson (July 16, 1917 – February 22, 2017) was an American film, stage, radio and voice actor, best known for his narration of the radio series ''This is Your FBI'', the animated series ''Super Friends'' and all its spin-offs, and t ...

, who had previously narrated the radio show ''

The FBI in Peace and War ''The FBI in Peace and War'' was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book of the same name. The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Ada ...

''.

Plot

The president of an electronics company, Alan Nichols (Andrew Duggan), and his two vice presidents, Robert Cannon (Jack Kelly) and Fred Vitale (Ray Danton), are required at Cape Canaveral to oversee the test launching of a missile which their company developed. But before they are able to board the plane to take them there one of their suitcases is switched for one containing a bomb. Cannon opens his luggage when the men are in mid air and discovers the bomb, and his colleague Vitale manages to disarm it. The FBI is called in to determine whether this is a case of attempting to murder Cannon, whose suitcase contained the bomb, or an attempt to sabotage the airplane. The investigation soon proves that electronics project engineer Petersen made and planted the bomb in the suitcase. Petersen's motivation for doing this is that his son was fired by CEO Nichols, and when failing to blow up the plane he instead tries to blow up Nichols yacht, with the wife and her lover on it. The task for the FBI is to stop this endeavour.

Cast

* Jack Kelly as Robert P. Cannon *

as Fred Vitale *

as Alan W. Nichols *

Philip Carey Philip Carey (born Eugene Joseph Carey, July 15, 1925February 6, 2009) was an American actor. Early life and education On July 15, 1925, Carey was born in Hackensack, New Jersey.William Reynolds as Special Agent Edward P. Fox *

Peggy McCay Margaret Ann "Peggy" McCay (November 3, 1927 – October 7, 2018) was an American actress whose career began in 1949, and includes theatre, television, soap operas, and feature films. McCay may be best known for originating the roles of Vanessa ...

as Deborah Cannon *

Kathleen Crowley Kathleen Crowley (born Betty Jane Crowley; December 26, 1929 – April 23, 2017) was an American actress. She appeared more than 100 times in movies and television series in the 1950s and 1960s, almost always as a leading lady. Biography E ...

as Marian Nichols *

Merry Anders Merry Anders (born Mary Helen Anderson; May 22, 1934 – October 28, 2012) was an American actress and model who appeared in a number of television programs and films from the 1950s until her retirement from the screen in 1972. Early life Ander ...

as Grace McLean *

Jack Cassidy John Joseph Edward Cassidy (March 5, 1927 – December 12, 1976), was an American actor, singer and theater director known for his work in the theater, television and films. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and a win, as well a ...

as Walter Macklin *

Vaughn Taylor Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour. Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High School ...

as Joseph Petersen *

Eddie Ryder Eddie Ryder (January 23, 1923 – March 29, 1997) was an American television and film actor, as well as a writer and television director. Ryder was born in New York City and died in El Paso, Texas. Career Ryder was a veteran of 92 movies and te ...

as Lloyd Kinsel *

Ken Lynch Kenneth E. Lynch (July 15, 1910 – February 13, 1990) was an American radio, film, and television actor with more than 180 credits to his name. He was generally known for portraying law enforcement officers and detectives. He may have been bes ...

as Special Agent in Charge Gibson White * Charles Cooper as Special Agent Bernard Lyons *

Paul Comi Paul Domingo Comi (February 11, 1932 – August 26, 2016) was an American film and television actor. Biography Paul Comi was born 1932 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Comi grew up in North Quincy, Massachusetts and joined the United States Army a ...

as Special Agent Philip Vaccaro * Robert Hogan as Timothy Farrell *

Laura Shelton Carl Monson (September 2, 1932 – August 4, 1988) a.k.a. Carlos Monsoya, Charles Monsoya, was at the forefront of independent low budget sexploitation/grindhouse films or paracinema during the 1970s and 1980s. He is most well known for ''B ...

as Anita Davidson *

Robert Ridgely Robert Ridgely (December 24, 1931 – February 8, 1997) was an American actor, known for both on-camera roles and extensive voice-over work. Biography Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Ridgely worked as a cabaret entertainer.Staff"Robert Ridgely, 65 ...

as Carl Rush *

Francis De Sales Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...

as Assistant Director *

Bill Quinn William Tyrell Quinn (1912 – April 29, 1994) was an American film actor. Quinn was born in 1912 in New York. He performed with his older brothers in a children's act in vaudeville. Quinn began working on radio around 1934. He starred as a de ...

as Special Agent Alan Woodward *

Ross Elliott Ross Elliott (born Elliott Blum, June 18, 1917 – August 12, 1999) was an American television and film character actor. He began his acting career in the Mercury Theatre, where he performed in ''The War of the Worlds'', Orson Welles' fam ...

as Special Agent Vernon Lockhart *

as Narrator

Production

The

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

cooperated in the filming of ''FBI Code 98'', with sequences filmed in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

Quantico, Virginia Quantico ( or ; formerly Potomac) is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC, bordered by the Potomac River to the east a ...

. The

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of the film was ''Headquarters F.B.I.'' with screenwriter and producer Stanley Niss having a

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the screenplay published under that title. Niss, a former police reporter, had written episodes for the radio shows ''

Gangbusters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

'' and '' Counterspy'' and episodes of several

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

shows. Niss also visited the set to smooth difficulties between Ray Danton and director Leslie H. Martinson.Magers, Boyd & Fitzgerald, Michael G. ''Western Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movies and Television'' p.18, 2004, McFarland The film reuses

Max Steiner Maximilian Raoul Steiner (May 10, 1888 – December 28, 1971) was an Austrian composer and conductor who emigrated to America and went on to become one of Hollywood's greatest musical composers. Steiner was a child prodigy who conducted ...

's score for ''

The FBI Story ''The FBI Story'' is a 1959 American drama film starring James Stewart, and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John Twist is based on a book by Don Whitehead. Plot John Michael ("Chip") Hardesty (James S ...

'' arranged by Howard Jackson.

References

External links

*
''New York Times'' film review
{{Leslie H. Martinson 1962 films 1962 crime drama films American black-and-white films Films shot in Washington, D.C. American police detective films Television films as pilots Warner Bros. films Films directed by Leslie H. Martinson American crime drama films Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation Television pilots not picked up as a series 1960s English-language films 1960s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links