''Holt of the Secret Service'' (1941) was the 16th serial released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

Plot

A murderous gang of counterfeiters has kidnapped John Severn (played by Ray Parsons), the U.S. government's best engraver. He is forced to engrave a set of counterfeit plates, to print phony money that is virtually undetectable from genuine currency. The

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

sends its toughest agent, Jack Holt (played by himself), and his female partner, Kay Drew (

Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Brent was born in Tampa, Florida, and known as Betty. When she was age 10, her mother Eleanor (née. Warner) died, ...

), after the gang. Holt poses as escaped tough guy, Nick Farrel. Masquerading as the bickering, tough-talking Mr. and Mrs. Farrel, Holt and Drew manage to infiltrate the ruthless gang of thugs. Holt locates Severn and instructs him to keep working but as slowly as possible, to give Holt time to find the head of the crime ring. Holt takes the set of counterfeit plates in hand, and much of the action has Holt keeping the plates away from the crooks. The scenes shift from the gang's hideout in a lost canyon to a

gambling ship A gambling ship is a sea vessel of any kind on which gambling takes place. Historically, international waters began just from land in many countries. Gambling ships, like offshore radio stations, would usually be anchored just outside the th ...

on the high seas, to a small island country where the gang hopes to escape U.S. extradition. The head of the ring is gambler Lucky Arnold ( John Ward), but he hides behind the facade of one of his loyal

henchmen A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies pri ...

, Quist ( Ted Adams), to shield himself from the Secret Service, and lets another one of his men, Ed Valden ( Tristram Coffin), do most of his dirty work. The island nation has its own self-appointed dictator ( Stanley Blystone), who is also trying to rub out our hero. During the 15 episodes, Holt endures numerous brushes with death, emerging from all of them virtually unscathed. Holt is so tough that, when he faces a firing squad and is asked if he wants a blindfold, he murmurs, "Forget it. This is the only thing in life I haven't seen!"

Cast

* Jack Holt as Jack Holt / Nick Farrel *

as Kay Drew - R49 * C. Montague Shaw as Chief John W. Malloy (as Montague Shaw) * Tristram Coffin as Ed Valden hs. 1-10* John Ward as 'Lucky' Arnold * Ted Adams as Quist * Joe McGuinn as 'Crimp' Evans * Edward Hearn as Agent Jim Layton * Ray Parsons as John Severn - Engraver hs. 1-4*

Jack Cheatham John Preston Cheatham (December 28, 1894 – March 30, 1971) was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career he appeared in almost 200 films, with 100 of them being features. Life and career Born John Preston Cheat ...

as Agent Frank hs. 3-5, 8-9, 15

Chapter titles

# Chaotic Creek # Ramparts of Revenge # Illicit Wealth # Menaced by Fate # Exits to Terror # Deadly Doom # Out of the Past # Escape to Peril # Sealed in Silence # Named to Die # Ominous Warnings # The Stolen Signal # Prison of Jeopardy # Afire Afloat # Yielded Hostage

Production

Jack Holt, Columbia's star of longest standing, had argued with studio head Harry Cohn. Cohn demoted him from working in feature films to this lowbrow serial adventure. Actually, it wasn't so much of a demotion because he was still working with the same feature-film crew, under producer

Larry Darmour Lawrence J. Darmour (1895–1942) was an American film producer, operator of Larry Darmour Productions from 1927, and a significant figure in Hollywood's Poverty Row. Career Darmour was born in Flushing, Queens. In September 1927 he released t ...

. Holt had misgivings about working in a serial, but was convinced by co-star Evelyn Brent to see it through. She knew that Darmour was making the serial for an adult audience, by making it thrilling and logical but never impossible.p.108 Kerr, Lynn & King, James ''Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook'' McFarland Darmour was also careful to cast the film with character actors who were not familiar from Darmour's serials.

Reception

''Holt of the Secret Service'' turned out to be exceptionally successful in theaters, with the Jack Holt name attracting fans of action and adventure. By the time it was released, Holt had left the studio behind and there were no sequels. After the serial's copyright lapsed in 1969, ''Holt of the Secret Service'' became one of the very few Columbia cliffhangers available for modern appraisal. Authors and critics marveled at the film's breakneck pace and hectic, six-against-one fight scenes as staged by former comedy director James W. Horne. Thus ''Holt of the Secret Service'' became the

poster child A poster child (sometimes poster boy or poster girl) is, according to the original meaning of the term, a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters or other media as part of a campaign to raise money or enlist ...

for Columbia serials until the advent of home video, when more of the Columbia serials went into circulation.

Notes

Sources

Cinefania.comeMoviePoster.com

External links

* * * {{James W. Horne 1941 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures film serials Films directed by James W. Horne 1941 crime films Articles containing video clips American crime films Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1940s American films