Federal Operator 99

Republic's serials were usually the most exciting of the genre, and for this 1945 entry a bit of a twist was added. The fantasy element inherent in serials was toned down, and here we have a more realistic but still engagingly over the top action story.

Jim Belmont is a master criminal who is rescued from his captor, FBI Agent Tom Jeffries, by his chief gunman Matt Farrell. Once reunited with his gang, Belmont relaxes by incessant playing of the piano, and then goes to work to enrichen his empire, first with a plan to steal crown jewels from the countess of a European principality. For this and other tasks he has a large army of co-conspirators, led by Farrell and also by Belmont's moll, Rita Parker.

Rita and another gunman, Riggs, get information on the countess from the FBI's West coast office, and promptly run into the new agent assigned to track down Belmont, Jerry Blake. Rita escapes but Riggs is shot and Tom Jeffries' secretary, Joyce Kingston (quite a few serial ladies were named Joyce for some reason), is freed from capture. Belmont knows Blake from previous encounters, and warns his mob not to underrate him. This proves the case when Farrell steals the crown jewels only to see Blake free the captured countess and take off on pursuit.

A series of crimes then ensues, as Blake works to frustrate Belmont only to see Belmont escape. At one point Rita is captured, but a trap to snare Belmont goes wrong and the criminal and his moll escape.

Marten Lamont is very sympathetic as Jerry Blake. Part James Bond (he speaks with a mild British accept) and part Joe Friday, Jerry steadily becomes more disconsolate at Belmont's escapes, nicely illustrated when he must record a letter to his superiors updating the pursuit. George J. Lewis meanwhile adds menace through his unflappable demeanor.

Both men are ably abetted by the two ladies involved. Helen Talbot is spunky as Joyce Kingston and Lorna Gray adds a nice noir touch as Rita Parker.

Good, solid thriller-diller from Republic. Lamont is effective, but why is this English-accented guy working for the US government? Helen Talbot is GORGEOUS, and Lorna Gray as the bad girl is not far behind. George J. Lewis gets a chance to be the "brains" bad guy, and does it well, but after five or six chapters you get plenty sick of his constantly playing the Moonlight Sonata (don't you know ANYTHING else?). Wally Wales is an adequate lantern-jawed henchman, and all of Republic's best stuntmen show up more than once, usually after being killed off earlier, to bust up the furniture in a slugfest. All in all, a fun romp!

Federal Operator 99 has some of the best fight and actions scenes from any of the Republic serials of the era. This is an excellent example of using sound stages as "warehouses" with almost no props to stage a two and three level fight scene. Both Tom Steele and Dale Van Sickle are at the height of their athletic ability in this serial that stars a realatively unknown, Marten Lamont. The chapter endings, however, are among some of the weakest and contrived by the Republic studios. It is hard to accept some of them given it is a serial.

This wonderful serial is from the Republic Studios heyday, 1937-1947, full of director Spencer Gordon Bennet's fantastically designed fistfights, and imaginative chapter endings. But the best things about this one are the excellent performances by everyone involved. Marten Lamont, who portrays the title character, gets much "into" his role and gives a much more animated performance than a lot of other serial heroes. I wish he had done more serials, but probably Republic decided that his charming British accent was too out of place. Lamont can be seen in small roles in Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT and John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY.

Helen Talbot, who played in hundreds of Republic B-Westerns opposite stars such as Don "Red" Barry and Allan "Rocky" Lane, is a very likeable heroine, and gets herself into a lot of nasty situations, although she is probably one of the only serial heroines to never get knocked unconcious in the course of the whole serial.

As for the bad guys, George J. Lewis gives his greatest serial performance as the suave, urbane, music-loving master criminal Jim Belmont. Although Lewis did lots of other serials, this was his only part as a "brains" heavy, and he gives it everything he's got.

Equally impressive is the talented Lorna Grey, as Belmont's henchwoman, Rita Parker. Miss Grey is almost as nasty in her portrayal of Rita as she was as Vultura in NYOKA AND THE TIGERMEN, three years earlier. And yet, in several other serials, she played the heroine, and just recently I saw her in a old Three Stooges short on AMC, as the scatter-brained wife of a wealthy tycoon. Truly a versatile actress!

As for the supporting cast, Hal Taliferro, as Belmont's chief gunman, is a typically tough and stupid "action" heavy. Ernie Adams has an entertaning bit as a reporter, and all of Republic's stuntmen pop up as assorted hoods, more than once. But the crowning performances are by Lamont and Lewis, both in brief moments of glory.