Government Agents Vs Phantom Legion Customer Review: “Government Agents Vs Phantom Legion” (1951) … Fred C. Brannon … A Republic 12 Chapter Serial”
Republic Pictures present “GOVERNMENT AGENTS VS PHANTOM LEGION” (1951) (163 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) — is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Walter Reed, Mary Ellen Kay, Richard Curtis, John Pickard & Fred Cody, relive those thrilling days week after week venue brought you to the theater, as you were mesmerized in your seat waiting for the final chapter … exciting action within 12 episodes from the Republic Serials Factory, released in August 23, 1951, our plot line has Government Agent Hal Duncan is called in after thugs led by a mastermind called “The Voice” begin hijacking shipments of precision equipment and uranium to sell to an unfriendly country … the long and short of it, a solid professional piece of work with exciting cliffhanging episodes.

Under Fred C. Brannon (Director), Franklin Adreon (Associate Producer), Ronald Davidson (Screenwriter), John L. Russell (Cinematographer), Cliff Bell Sr.(Editor), Fred A. Ritter (Art Director), Mort Glickman (Original Score) —— the cast includes Walter Reed (Hal Duncan), Mary Ellen Kay (Kay Roberts), Dick Curtis (Regan), John Pickard (Sam Bradley), Fred Coby (Cady), Pierce Lyden (Armstrong), George Meeker (Willard), Mauritz Hugo (Thompson), Edmund Cobb (Turner), Dale Van Sickel (Brice), Tom Steele (Brandt), Arthur Space (Crandall), Roy Barcroft (Coast Guard Dispatcher/voice), Terry Frost (Car heavy), Frank O’Connor (Policeman), Eddie Parker (Payne), Duke Taylor (Henchman Kirk) … every episode is loaded with action that is fast-moving, plus the usual well-staged cliffhangers, repeatedly outstanding fist fights, and a number of car chases, and an excellent supporting cast of Republic serial and western-film veterans … great stunt work by the Republic stunt personnel Dale Van Sickel (stunt double: Walter Reed), Tom Steele (stunt double: Dick Curtis & Pierce Lyden), Eddie Parker (stunts), Duke Taylor (stunts) and David Sharpe (stunts/archive footage) — don’t leave the theater until the final chapter “Blazing Retribution” … another winner from the vaults of Republic Serials — this is a must watch for the serial buffs in all of us.

CHAPTER TITLES:
1. River of Fire
2. The Stolen Corpse
3. The Death Drop
4. Doorway to Doom
5. Deadline For Disaster
6. Mechanical Homicide
7. The Flaming Highway
8. Sea Saboteurs
9. Peril Underground
10.Execution By Accident
11.Perilous Plunge
12.Blazing Retribution

BIOS:
1. Walter Reed (aka:Walter Reed Smith)
Date of birth: 10 February 1916 - Bainbridge Island, Washington
Date of death: 20 August 2001 - Santa Cruz, California

2. Mary Ellen Kay
Date of birth: 29 August 1929 - Boardman, Ohio
Date of death: Still Living

3. Dick Curtis (aka: Richard Dye)
Date of birth: 11 May 1902 - Newport, Kentucky
Date of death: 3 January 1952 - Hollywood, California,

4. Fred C. Brannon (Director) (”The Black Widow” (1947)/Serial)
Date of birth: 26 April 1901 - Louisiana, USA
Date of death: 6 April 1953 - Los Angeles, California
[Special footnote, “King of the Rocket Men” has a truly amazing mid-air chase in one of its early
chapters, ending with a startlingly realistic piece of stunt work as the rocket man flies in pursuit of
a plane, Brannon also directed episodes of the “Commando Cody” (1953) television series]

If you’re into vintage serials as I am, why not pick up a copy of the following titles from VCI Home Video:
VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:
1. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don “Red” Barry)
2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)
3. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)
4. Captain Midnight (Dave O’Brien)
5. Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (Judd Holdren & I. Stanford Jolley)
6. Dick Tracy’s G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
7. Don Winslow of the Navy (Don Terry)
8. Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (Don Terry)
9. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)
10.Fighting Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown)
11.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)
12.The Green Archer (Victory Jory)
13.Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)
14.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
15.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke)
16.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis)
17.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)
18.The Painted Stallion (Ray “Crash” Corrigan)
19.The Phantom (Tom Tyler)
20.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi)
21.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones)
22.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)
23.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)
24.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop)
25.Undersea Kingdom (Ray “Crash” Corrigan)
26.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens)
27.Zane Greys “King of the Royal Mounted” (Allan “Rocky” Lane)
28.Zorro’s Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of “Trail Talk”), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of “The Real Bob Steele”) as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials — looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the ’20s, ’30s & ’40s and B-Westerns … order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure — if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials — all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 167 min on VHS ~ Republic Video ~ (5/30/1995)

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