Code of the Secret Service

In his first autobiography, "Where's the Rest of Me," Ronald Reagan told of one movie, which he carefully avoided naming, that he feared would destroy his career -- and that of everyone else connected.

He begged Warner Brothers not to release it, but the studio promised only not to allow distribution around Los Angeles.

Surprisingly, even that promise was broken. (Who'd a-thunk a studio would break a promise?) Reagan told of walking by a theater where it was playing and having the ticket seller say, "You should be ashamed."

It was this movie.

Actually, it's not only not that bad, it's pretty darn good.

"Code of the Secret Service" moves! As someone said of another entry in the series, it almost looks like a serial re-edited into a feature.

There is one scene, though, Reagan mentioned in "Rest" at which I laughed out loud because I remembered his describing it all those years ago. I will say only that, when you watch "Code," pay close attention to the Spanish-English dictionary Brass gets from Gabby.

The director and script supervisor, though, did a smooth job on another scene, where Gabby wins a bet from one of the Mexican soldiers.

Another point to watch for: According to the opening titles, the first two "Brass Bancroft" films were based on writings by W.H. Moran, a former chief of the Secret Service.

Also be on the lookout for some outstanding character actors, including the wonderful Chris-Pin Martin and Martin Garralaga.

And Moroni Olsen gets one of his biggest parts. He was a fine actor in more than a hundred roles, and was working right up to his final year.

Finally, there is some really nice Mexican-sounding music that accentuates the locale of the action.

It's a good movie.

This is the second film Ronald Reagan made as Brass Bancroft, Secret Service agent, and according to Reagan the only film he made that he hated and refused to watch.

Reagan as a Secret Service agent is sent to Mexico to recover stolen Mint plates, along the way he becomes handcuffed to Rosella Towne, both of whom are going to be blown up when they escape at the last minute.

At under an hour this film is a strict programmer designed for the kiddies on a Saturday morning matinee.

It has an unbelievable plot, but it is not as bad as the film has been made out to be over the years. The producer, Bryan Foy, along with Reagan tried to stop Warner Brothers from releasing the film, and were successful in having the film released everywhere except Los Angeles.

Apparently when Reagan went to an out of town theater to see the film the ticket-taker said to Reagan "You should be ashamed," and Reagan promptly left the theater.

CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE has RONALD REAGAN as an agent on the trail of counterfeiters in Mexico, with ROSELLA TOWNES as his co-star. She's pretty and earnest, resembling Lana Turner in her starlet days. Reagan handles all the action in a believable enough way, so it's surprising that the film was received so indifferently by some reviewers.

Actually, it resembles a cliffhanger that could have been used as a serial for Saturday afternoon programming in the kind of serial chapters that were used in the '30s and '40s to keep the kids in their seats. Reagan keeps finding himself and Townes in precarious situations that they have to use a little ingenuity to get out of, always escaping in time to keep one step ahead of villainous MORONI OLSEN.

Not bad at all, as these crime capers go, with Reagan and Townes both giving earnest performances in what feels like a Republic serial but is actually a Warner Bros. B-film with a brief running time.

Interesting mainly for a glimpse of early Reagan as action hero in a programmer.

Code of the Secret Service is the second of several B films that has young B film star Ronald Reagan starring as T-Man Brass Bancroft on assignment to help break up a counterfeiting ring south of the border.

It's a good thing that Reagan went on to better parts in his film career because stuff like this could have sunk him. For reasons that the plot does not explain Reagan and sidekick Eddie Foy, Jr. are instructed not to notify the Mexican officials. That single fact is responsible for nearly all of Reagan's problems as he's accused of the murder of John Gallaudet, the original agent on the case. Reagan spends the entire film avoiding the police as well as trying to track down the ring.

Rising somewhat above this drivel is Moroni Olsen playing a padre who's definitely not what he seems. He overacts outrageously because he knows that this isn't Citizen Kane he's doing.

I'm not sure devoted fans of the Gipper could sit through this.

Code of the Secret Service (1939)

** (out of 4)

Follow up to SECRET SERVICE OF THE AIR has Lt. Brass Bancroft (Ronald Reagan) trying to track down some counterfeiters. He tracks them to Mexico where they plant a murder wrap on him so Brass must escape the Mexican police while trying to do his job as well. I enjoyed the first film in the series but this one here was pretty bland from start to finish and the 58-minute running time seemed like triple that. According to the Robert Osborne introduction on TCM, Reagan was so worried this film would end his career that he begged Warner not to release it. In a compromise they agreed to release it everywhere except for Los Angeles since Reagan lived there. I don't think the film was that bad but it's still not that good. The biggest problem is that there's just no energy to the film. The first film plays out like a fun serial and this one goes for that effect but it fails because of the rather weak direction. Many films around this era dealt with money laundering and most of them handled it better than this. Eddie Foy, Jr. is certainly the best thing about the movie as he brings a few laughs. Reagan sleepwalks through the role and doesn't bring much to the film. Two more sequels would follow though.