Code of the Secret Service (Warner Bros.) (1939)

Exposes Counterfeiting The United States Secret Service’s unceasing war against counterfeiters is thrillingly depicted in “Code of the Secret Service,” the second in a series of Warner Bros. pictures starring Ronald Reagan, which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday. It is a sinister band of counterfeiters operating across the Mexiean border that Reagan is assigned to round up in this exciting film. Reagan gets into some dangerous scrapes ‘down below the line.” When a buddy is killed, and the operative is accused of the murder, he has to clear out, sought by the police. Out of the frying pan into the fire, he is captured by the head of the gang. He escapes, only to be caught by Mexican authorities and jailed for the murder of his pal. Then managing to break out of the jail, he and Rosella Towne, ADVANCE PUBLICITY _ Eee nesses (Lead ) ‘Code of the Secret Service’ playing an American rancher’s daughter, are captured by the gang. They are both slated to die, but overpower their captor and escape just as the mission in which they were held is blown up, to hide its secret from the Mexican cavalry troop on the way to capture it. Material for the plot of this exciting story was taken from the files of William H. Moran, former chief of the U. S. Secret Service. Two members of the cast of the first picture of the series appear in “Code of the Secret Seryice,’ Eddie Foy, Jr. and Rosella Towne. New members of the cast are Moroni Olsen, Edgar Edwards, Jack Mower, John Gallaudet and Joseph King. The sereen play was written by Lee Katz and Dean Franklin and the production was directed by Noel Smith. Rogella Towne Made Good In Her Own Home Town Fortunately for red-haired Rosella Towne, playing in “Code of the Secret Service,” at the Strand Friday, motion picture players Mat 107—15e Rosella Towne aren’t like prophets. It’s possible for them to win recognition, and stardom, in their own home town. Miss Towne has lived in, or near, Los Angeles for more than 18 of her 21 years and is a graduate of Huntington Park High School, which is in a suburb of the west coast metropolis of which Hollywood is a part. She has been a screen actress less than two years but in that brief period she has progressed so rapidly that Warner Bros. Studio regards her as one of its bright new stars. Playing the lead in a high school drama at Huntington Park inspired Miss Towne’s theatrical ambition. After she was graduated, she worked part-time in a doctor’s office and studied at the Neely Dickson Dramatie School. One of her neighbors chanced to be Herman Bing, well known screen comedian. He suggested she get an agent who could arrange a screen test. Miss Towne followed the advice, got a test at Warner Bros. and it resulted in a contract. Giant Killers, Inc. Thirteen members of the cast and crew of Warner Bros.’ “Code of the Secret Service,” which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday, would have been right at home in “The Valley of the Giants.” They’re all above six feet tall. Ronald Reagan, star of the series film, is six feet, oneand-a-half; Moroni Olsen, the heavy, is six feet, four. Noel Smith, the director, is six feet. Conductor Ist Detective 2nd Detective Takes No Chances Rosella Towne has doubled her life and accident insurance. Since playing the title role in Warner Bros.” “The Adventures of Jane Arden” and being cast opposite Ronald Reagan in the same studio’s secret service picture, “Code of the Secret Service,’ which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre, she’s had so many narrow screen escapes that she’s become afraid something may happen. RONALD REAGAN Rosella Towne Eddie Foy, Jr. Moroni Olsen Edgar Edwards Jack Mower John Gallaudet Joseph King Stevan Darrell Sol Gorss ..... George Regas Frank Puglia Rafael Corio Antonio Filauri Noel Smith Lee Katz and Dean Franklin W. H. Moran, Ex-Chief of U.S. Secret Service Photographed by Art Director Ted McCord, A.S.C. Charles Novi John Langan Frederick Richards Milo Anderson Dolph Thomas Lex Neal HOLD TIGHT! DANGER AHEAD Mut 20(—sUVE THERE’S TROUBLE in the air, to judge from the anxious appearances of Rosella Towne and Ronald Reagan, starring in ‘Code of the Secret Service’. the Strand Theatre next Friday. Warner Bros.’ second secret service series film comes to Eddie Foy Jr. Got Red Krom Blushing, Not Frost It was a chilly day and the wind was whistling through the street of the little Mexican village as though it really meant business. Add to that the fact that the street was crowded, with many snapping-eyed, laughing senoritas in the throng and it’s easy to see that Eddie Foy, Jr., had a legiti mate complaint when Director Noel Smith ordered him to undress. Foy was to play one of his comedy scenes for the Warner Bros. secret service picture, ‘‘Code of the Secret Service,’’ which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday, and Smith had an idea the laughs would be heightened by having him do it in the semi-nude. ““Come on,’’ he said, ‘‘off with your shirt and’ trousers.’? ‘*But Noel,’’ protested Foy, ‘‘this is winter, and I’m wearing summer underwear. Besides .. .’? ‘‘Besides nothing,’’ snapped Smith. ‘‘We’ll give you a serape to use for a fan.’’ Orders are orders and Foy undressed. He stayed in his dressing room, where the wind couldn’t hit him and the laughing senoritas couldn ’t see him, while a wardrobe assistant draped a bright-hued serape around his torso. Then Smith yelled ‘‘ceamera,’’ and Foy emerged. He was imme diately grabbed by a uniformed soldier and was escorted down the street. The senoritas shrieked with honest mirth. Small boys screamed and oldsters howl ed with delight. Everyone was_ having a swell time but Foy. Reaching the point where an accordion player was squeezing out a lively tune, Foy broke into a buck and wing step. His captor released his hold in order to join in the applause. Foy’s dance turned into a run, and the chase was on. ‘‘Great scene,’? Smith complimented him when the pursuit was called off. ‘‘But gosh, you’re red. You must really be cold.’? ‘Cold nothing,’’? snapped Foy, “*T am actually blushing.’? Mat 109—15e Eddie Foy, Jr. Ronald Reagan His Own Stunt Man Screen actors encounter a lot of strange quirks in their trade. Ronald Reagan, for example, jumped through a window and mixed in some savage free-forall fights for Warner Bros” “Code of the Secret Service,” which comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday, and nobody insisted he have a double do the stunts. When, however, it came time for him to jump a horse over a corral fence, he was told a double would make the ride. It so happens that Reagan is a cavalry lieutenant in the U.S. Army reserve and one of Hollywood’s most expert horsemen. After making sure the double would be given another bit to do and not lose a check, he argued the point and got the jump. Reagan is starred with Rosella Towne. Others in the east include Eddie Foy, Jr., Moroni Olsen and John Gallaudet. [8] Rosella Teoria i ew Series Queen Rosella Towne is well on her way to becoming Hollywood’s series picture queen. Not only is she starring in Warner Bros.’ Jane Arden series, but she’s being featured in the same studio’s secret service series, which stars Ronald Reagan. In the first of the G-men series, ‘Secret Service of the Air,’’ Miss Towne was a sinister siren. However, in the newly launched ‘‘ Code of the Secret Service,’’ which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday, she had a complete reversal of character and played the heroine. Between the two secret service productions, Miss Towne did the title role in ‘‘The Adventures of Jane Arden,’’ first of a series based on the cartoon strip. Rosella is tall enough to play ‘clothes horse’ roles. She managed to escape that fate through her fine acting ability. RONALD REAGAN AS “SERIES” HERO KEEPS ACTIVE There’s never a dull moment in the life of a movie series picture hero, as Ronald Reagan will testify. Reagan is the star of the Warner Bros. secret service pictures series. An hour after he started the second picture of the series, “Code of the Secret Service,” which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday, he had five skinned knuckles, a bruised knee, and « lump half the size of an egg on his head. The makeup man covered the knuckles, Reagan’s trousers covered the shin bruise and his hair concealed the cranium bump, so all was well from the studio standpoint. Reagan walked onto the set — a Mexican cabaret — to start the picture. He shook hands with Director Noel Smith, who direeted him in the series opener, “Seeret Service of the Air,” and asked, “When do I fight — and whom?” “Johnny Gallaudet,” replied Smith, “in about fifteen minutes. First you play a few rounds of roulette. And how did you know you were going to fight? Did you read the seript?” “Tt did, but I didn’t have to, to know that,’ Reagan said. “A secret service man always gets into trouble in a place like this. And trouble means a fight.” No Unemployment Getting Mexican extra players for the below-the-border scenes of his pictures proved no problem for Noel Smith, director of the Warner Bros. secret service picture, ‘*Code of the Secret Service,’ which opens at the Strand Theatre next Friday. All he did was send over to the ‘‘Juarez’’ set for them. Hundreds of Mexieans were appearing in that Paul Muni-Bette Davis starring special. When Smith needed a few of them he borrowed them and put them in modern costumes for his pieture, Has New Career Moroni Olsen often wonders what his former school students think when they see him now. Right now, he’s cast as the head of a counterfeiting gang in Warner Bros.’ Seeret Service series picture, “Code of the Secret Service,’ coming to the Strand. Real Inside Stuff Secrets of counterfeiting are revealed in “Code of the Secret Service,” second of Warner Bros.’ U. S. Secret Service series pictures starring Ronald Reagan, coming to the Strand Friday. STORY SYNOPSIS (Not for publication) Ronald Reagan is sent into Mexico by his chief, head of the U.S. Secret Service, to break up a counterfeiting gang operating below the border. Reagan is captured by the gang while escaping a false charge of murder. He slips out of the gang’s hands, only to be jailed by the Mexican authorities. This time Eddie Foy, Jr., his pal, comes to his aid. They join forces with Rosella Towne, a rancher’s daughter, but fall into the clutches of the counterfeiters, escaping none too soon, before the gang hideout is blown up by Moroni Olsen, counterfeiting chief. Reagan later lures Olsen across the International line, captures him, and breaks up the gang.