Holt of the Secret Service (1941) was the 16th serial

Serial (film)

Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...

 released by Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

.

Plot

A murderous gang of counterfeiters has kidnapped John Severn, the U.S. government's best engraver, who is being held against his will and is forced to print virtually undetectable phony cash. The Secret Service sends its toughest agent, Jack Holt, and his female partner Kay Drew after the gang. Holt and his boss Malloy decide to try to pass Holt off as escaped tough guy, Nick Farrel. Masquerading as Mr. and Mrs. Farrel, Holt and Drew manage to infiltrate the ruthless gang of thugs and the tough talk and action never stops from there. Holt's hunches lead him to the culprits and into trouble on a canoe ride and in an outlaw camp, as the action moves from the gang's hideout in a lost canyon to a gambling ship on the high seas to a small island country where the gang hopes to escape U.S. extradition. The brains heavy is a man named Lucky Arnold, but he hides behind the facade of one of his loyal henchmen, Quist, to shield himself from the Secret Service, and lets another one of his men, Valden, do most of his dirty work. The island nation has its own pocket dictator, who is also trying to rub out our hero. During the 15 episodes, Holt endures numerous brushes with death, emerging from all of them with nary a hair out of place nor a crease in his well-tailored business suit.

Cast

Jack Holt Jack Holt (actor) Jack Holt was an American motion picture actor. He was a leading man of silent and sound films, and was known for his many roles in Westerns.-Early life:...	SS Agent Jack Holt/Nick Farrel
Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Born Mary Elizabeth Riggs in Tampa, Florida and known as Betty, she was a child of 10 when her mother Eleanor died, leaving her father Arthur to raise her alone...	Kay Drew, R49
Montague Shaw C. Montague Shaw Charles Montague Shaw was an Australian character actor, often appearing in small supporting parts in more than 150 films....	SS Chief John W. Malloy
Tristram Coffin Tris Coffin Tristram Coffin , also known as Tris Coffin, was a film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s, usually in westerns or other action-adventure productions.-Biography:...	Ed Valdin
John Ward John Ward (actor) John Ward was an English actor and theatre manager. The founder of the Warwickshire Company of Comedians – a Birmingham-based theatre company who toured throughout the West Midlands and into Wales during the mid to late eighteenth century – he was the first of the Kemble family theatrical dynasty,...	Lucky Arnold
Ted Adams Ted Adams (actor) Ted Adams was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly two hundred films between 1926 and 1952.He was born in New York City, New York, and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...	Quist
Joe McGuinn	Crimp Evans
Edward Hearn Edward Hearn Edward Hearn was an American actor. He appeared in 361 films between 1915 and 1955.He was born in Dayton, Washington and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:* Daredevil Jack...	Agent Jim Layton
Ray Parsons	John Severn, engraver
Jack Cheatham	Agent Frank
Stanley Blystone Stanley Blystone Stanley Blystone was an American film actor who made over 500 films appearances between 1924 and 1956.-Career:Born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Blystone's full name was William Stanley Blystone...	J. Garrity
Lynton Brent Lynton Brent Lynton Brent was an American film actor. He appeared in over 240 films between 1930 and 1950.Brent is best known for his prolific work with Columbia Pictures in the Three Stooges short subjects such as A Ducking They Did Go and From Nurse to WorseIn addition to his film career, Brent also wrote a...	Radio Operator 6X241
George Chesebro George Chesebro George Chesebro was an American film actor. He appeared in over 400 films between 1915 and 1954, beginning in two reelers starring Texas Guinan.He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died in Los Angeles, California....	Rankin, Garrity thug
Franklyn Farnum Franklyn Farnum William Smith , better known by his screen name, Franklyn Farnum, was an American character actor and Hollywood extra who appeared in 433 productions between the years 1916 and 1961....	Denny, Prison Guard
Pierce Lyden Pierce Lyden Pierce Lyden was an American actor best known for his work in television and film Westerns.-Early life:Pierce Lyden was born in a sod house on a ranch near Hildreth in rural Franklin County, Nebraska, on January 8, 1908. Son of a horse buyer for the U.S...	Henchman
George Magrill George Magrill George Magrill , was an American film actor. He appeared in 326 films between 1923 and 1952.He was born in Brooklyn, New York, was married to Ramona Oliver, and had a daughter named Marilynn...	Henchman
Jack Perrin Jack Perrin Jack Perrin was an American actor specializing in westerns.-Biography:He was born Lyman Wakefield Perrin in Three Rivers, Michigan; his father worked in real estate and relocated the family to Los Angeles, California shortly after the turn of the century.Perrin served in the United States Navy...	Mutiny henchman
Stanley Price Stanley Price Stanley Price was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was born in Kansas, United States.-Career:...	Dent, Garrity thug
Buddy Roosevelt Buddy Roosevelt Buddy Roosevelt was an American film actor and stunt performer from Hollywood's early silent film years through the 1950s.-Biography:...	Carew, henchman
Harry Tenbrook Harry Tenbrook Harry Tenbrook born Henry Olaf Hansen, was a Norwegian-born American film actor. He appeared in some 332 films between 1911 and 1960. A favorite of John Ford, Tenbrook was a prominent member of the John Ford Stock Company...	Detour henchman
Al Thompson Al Thompson (actor) Al Thompson is an American film and television actor and stuntman. He has also been a casting director and producer.-Filmography:*The Impostors , stunts*For Love of the Game , as Pete*Flawless , as Paramedic...	Gambler
Dale Van Sickel Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years...	Slugger, henchman

Chapter titles

1. Chaotic Creek
2. Ramparts of Revenge
3. Illicit Wealth
4. Menaced by Fate
5. Exits to Terror
6. Deadly Doom
7. Out of the Past
8. Escape to Peril
9. Sealed in Silence
10. Named to Die
11. Ominous Warnings
12. The Stolen Signal
13. Prison of Jeopardy
14. Afire Afloat
15. Yielded Hostage

Production

In this serial, Jack Holt strictly played himself with all the gimmicks he had used at silent and talkie movies still very much in evidence. Producer Larry Darmour felt the serial was made for adults and not children by making it thrilling and logical but never impossible. He also felt that this was the first film with the lead actor's name in the title.

Sources

• Cinefania.com
• eMoviePoster.com