Code of the Secret Service

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.

This is a lousy movie; even Ronald Reagan named it as the worst he ever made. There's only one interesting thing about it: Jerry Parr was inspired to join the Secret Service because of this movie, and he ended up saving President Reagan's life!

Besides that, it's plain and simple lousy. Reagan plays a Secret Service agent who is tasked to find a money scam in Mexico. Someone has stolen official treasury plates and is printing fake currency. Do you think the good guys will capture the bad guys before it's too late? What about inflation? Well, that's not really discussed. This movie is only an hour long, so there's not much time for details. It's a C-picture, showing how the USA always has good guys running around capturing bad guys, so you'd better not think about stealing from us! Folks, stick with Kings Row.

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.

Someone has stolen the plates used to make $100 bills, but don't worry, the Treasury Department is right on it. They know who has them, and where, and how thy're using acid to remove the ink from $1 bills so they can reprint them for enormous illegal profits. So they send Ronald Reagan, who speaks no Spanish down to Mexico across the river from Laredo, because that's how our government works. Fellow agent Charlie Foy tags along because someone has to get Reagan out of jail and make sure he hooks up with Rosella Towne. Besides, he's the brother of Bryan Foy, who runs Warner Brothers' B division. So there.

Cheaply shot by director Noel Smith, with mismatched shots and lack of attention to detail, this one was clearly intended for the Saturday matinee audience who wanted a break from the elevated performances of Gower Gulch oaters, and just wanted to see Reagan beat up Mexicans, and kiss a girl instead of a chimpanzee. It does that.

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.