The Secret Code (serial)

Infobox Film
name = The Secret Code


image_size =
caption = Lobby card (courtesy of [http://www.cinefania.com/movie.php/15167/ Cinefania.com] )
director = Spencer G. Bennet
producer = Ralph Cohn
writer = Basil Dickey
Robert Beche
Leighton Brill
Original screenplay
narrator = Knox Manning
starring = Paul Kelly
Anne Nagel
Trevor Bardette
Robert O. Davis
music = Lee Zahler
cinematography = James S. Brown Jr.
Black and white
editing = Earl Turner
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = September 4, 1942
runtime = 15 episodes
275 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = "Perils of the Royal Mounted"
followed_by = "The Valley of Vanishing Men"
website =
amg_id = 1:153239
imdb_id = 0035299

"The Secret Code" (1942) was the 19th serial released by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

* This interesting serial introduces us to the WWII scenery, when a superhero tries to prevent Nazi agents from stealing a secret formula. The spy ring is led by fifth columnist Rudy Thyssen, who is trying to get possession of this top-secret formula the United States had developed for manufacturing synthetic rubber. Then, Police Lieutenant Dan Barton stages a public dismissal from the police department, in order to join the saboteurs ring and learn their secret code they have been using, creating explosive gases and artificial lightning to sabotage the exhausting war effort. To further assist his efforts, Barton assumes the secret identity of the Black Commando, a masked man who is wanted both by the villains and police, who (allegedly) are also searching for Barton for a murder charge. Finally, Barton attempts to "steal" the formula and is captured by Thyssen and put under the protection of the sabotage ring. Joining the gang, he learns of their plans, which he immediately leaks to his girlfriend Jean Ashley. After innumerable troubles and lost efforts in trying to decipher the enemy's secret codes, our hero thinks that the villains could be annihilated by the "tried and true" method of having their escaping submarine rammed and destroyed. As an aggregate value, at the end of each thrill-packed episode the audience is given a short lecture on solving complex secret messages.

Cast

Chapter titles

# Enemy Passport
# The Shadow of the Swastika
# Nerve Gas
# The Sea Spy Strikes
# Wireless Warning
# Flaming Oil
# Submarine Signal
# The Missing Key
# The Radio Bomb
# Blind Bombardment
# Ears of the Enemy
# Scourge of the Orient
# Pawn of the Spy Ring
# Dead Men of the Deep
# The Secret Code Smashed

Facts

*During wartime, propaganda is designed to provide a focus for our mistrust and hatred, to dehumanize the enemy so they may be killed without remorse. Meanwhile, at Columbia Pictures they were also carrying on in a somewhat inept fashion in the 1940s, trying to turn out satisfactory serials on a minimal budget and, for the most part, steering clear of war propaganda. The two big exceptions were "The Batman" and "The Secret Code". "The Batman ", based on the popular comic-strip character, had its masked hero pitted against the devil Japanese agent, Dr. Daka. Other than "Batman", "The Secret Code" had versatile performer Paul Kelly playing a tightrope act, trying until the last possible minute in order to minimize the Nazi reaction time.
*Unlike most cliffhangers, one entertaining gimmick connected with this serial was the inclusion at the end of each chapter of a very short lecture and demonstration on the breaking of "secret codes", delivered by code expert Henry Lysing, revealing to the movie audience how codes are made, how codes are broken, and how they themselves might be able to assist the U.S. by spotting a code in public.
*"The Secret Code" was released in Latin America in May of 1944, under the title "La Clave Secreta", in English with Spanish subtitles.
*This serial also was released as a feature film overseas.

ee also

*List of film serials by year
*List of film serials by studio

ources

* [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:153239 AllMovie.com]
* [http://www.cinefania.com/movie.php/15167/ Cinefania.com]
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0035299/ IMDb.com]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DIO5O1-32aqE YouTube.com trailer]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Columbia Serial
before="Perils of the Royal Mounted" (1942)
years="The Secret Code" (1942)
after="The Valley of Vanishing Men" (1942)