''G-Men Never Forget'' is a 1948 Republic

movie 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, gene ...

. The serial was condensed into a feature film in 1966 and re-released under the title ''Code 645''.

Plot

Escaped criminal Victor Murkland (Roy Barcroft) kidnaps the police commissioner and, with the aid of plastic surgery, takes his place. Federal Agent Ted O'Hara (Clayton Moore) is called in to try to stop the wave of crime initiated by Murkland, not knowing that Murkland is posing as the police commissioner and is aware of O'Haras' every move. The real commissioner is being held captive in a mental hospital run by Dr. Benson (Stanley Price). O'Hara is aided by the beautiful Sgt. Frances Blake (Ramsay Ames). Murkland's gang threatens to destroy a major tunnel being built underneath a channel, and blackmails the builder into paying him protection money.

Cast

Clayton Moore Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the sa ...

as Agent Ted O'Hara *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for Re ...

as Victor Murkland/Commissioner Angus Cameron * Ramsay Ames as Frances Blake * Drew Allen as Duke Graham * Tom Steele as Parker, a thug *

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. ...

as Brent/Slocum, both thugs * Edmund Cobb as R.J. Cook *

Stanley Price Stanley Price (December 31, 1892July 13, 1955) was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. Career Price was an actor whose artistic career sp ...

as 'Doc' Benson *

Jack O'Shea Jack O'Shea (born 19 November 1957 in Cahersiveen, County Kerry) is an Irish former sportsperson. He played Gaelic football at various times with his local clubs St Mary's in Kerry and Leixlip in Kildare. He was a member of the Kerry senior fo ...

as Slater

Production

''G-Men Never Forget'' was budgeted at $151,061 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 ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural ho ...

was $151,554 (a $493, or 0.3%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1948. It was filmed between July 16 and August 7, 1947. The serial's production number was 1698.

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Agent Ted O'Hara/Vic Murkland/Commissioner Angus Cameron/Duke Graham (doubling Clayton Moore, Drew Allen & Roy Barcroft) *

as Agent Ted O'Hara/Duke Graham (doubling Clayton Moore & Drew Allen) * David Sharpe *

John Daheim John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

* Duke Green *

Carey Loftin William Carey Loftin (January 31, 1914 – March 4, 1997, a.k.a. Cary Loftin, Carry Loftin, Carey Lofton, Gary Loftin, William Carey Loftin) was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is ...

George Magrill George Magrill (January 5, 1900 – May 31, 1952) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 320 films between 1923 and 1952. Magrill performed on stage before he began to work in films. Besides his acting, Magrill worked as a s ...

Gil Perkins Gilbert Vincent Perkins (24 August 1907 – 28 March 1999) was an Australian film and television actor. Early life As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norwe ...

Ken Terrell Kenneth Jones Terrell (April 29, 1904 – March 8, 1966) was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcelli in the 1956 film ''Indestructible Man ''Indestructible Man'' is a 1956 American cri ...

* Bud Wolfe

Special effects

The special effects were created by the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract ...

Release

Theatrical

''G-Men Never Forgets official release date is January 31, 1948, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Television

''G-Men Never Forget'' was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to ''Code 645''. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.

Chapter titles

# Death Rides the Torrent (20min) # The Flaming Doll House/100,000 Volts (13min 20s) # Code Six-Four-Five (13min 20s) # Shipyard Saboteurs (13min 20s) # The Dead Man Speaks (13min 20s) # Marked Money/Marked Evidence (13min 20s) # Hot Cargo (13min 20s) # The Fatal Letter (13min 20s) # The Death Wind (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter # The Innocent Victim (13min 20s) # Counter-Plot (13min 20s) # Exposed (13min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* {{Yakima Canutt 1948 films 1948 crime films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials American crime films Films directed by Yakima Canutt 1940s American films