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"Federal Agents Vs. Underworld, Inc" (1949) ... Fred C. Brannon ... A Republic 12 Chapter Serial"
Republic Pictures present "FEDERAL AGENTS VS UNDERWORLD INC" (1949) (163 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Kirk Alyn, Rosemary LaPlanche, Roy Barcroft, Carol Foreman & James Dale, 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 department, released in November 12, 1948, the plot line is driven by greed, Nila (Carol Forman), the villianous leader of an international crime ring steals a valuable artifact that can give her the power to control men's minds. Federal agents led by Dave Worth (Kirk Alyn) are dispatched to get it back and stop her evil plans ... and the lovely Carol Forman (my favorite serial villainous) in another of her ice cold no nonsense portrayals, but she does it in such an enticing way ... favorite badman Roy Barcroft, as usual gives his best accounting within the tight screenplay ... the once fabulous Republic Studio serial machine turned out true masterpieces of action during the late 30s and early 40s ... remember this serial from the Saturday double features at our neighborhood theater ... 12 breathtaking chapters come across with all the gusto Republic Studios has to offer. <
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>Under Fred C. Brannon (Director), Franklin Adreon (Associate Producer), Royal K. Cole (Screenwriter), Basil Dickey (Screenwriter), William Lively (Screenwriter), Sol Shor (Screenwriter), Mort Glickman (Original Score), Ernest Gold (Original Music), John MacBurnie (Cinematographer), Cliff Bell Sr.(Editor), Sam Starr (Editor) ------ the cast includes Kirk Alyn (Insp. David Worth), Rosemary La Planche (Laura Keith), Roy Barcroft (Spade Gordon), Carol Forman (Nila), James Dale (Agent Steve Evans), Bruce Edwards (Prof. Paul Williams), James Craven (Prof. James Clayton), Tristram Coffin (Frank Chambers), Tom Steele (Henchman Grey/Pilot Haskell/Henchman Larkin/Native #1), Dale Van Sickel (False Prof. Graves/Cave guard #1), Jack O'Shea (Ali), Marshall Reed (Det. O'Hara), Robert J. Wilke (Pursuit plane pilot), Art Dillard (Native #2), Loren Riebe (Digger #2), David Sharpe (Native #4), Duke Taylor (Roadblock thug/6th Native), Ken Terrell (Museum thug), Bud Wolfe (Chemical company thug), Joe Yrigoyen (Roadblock thug/Native 5) ... great stunt work by the Republic stunt personnel Tom Steele (stunt double: Roy Barcroft, Tristram Coffin & Kirk Alyn), John Daheim (stunt double: James Dale), Dale Van Sickel (stunt double: Bruce Edwards & Kirk Alyn ) --- don't leave the theater until the final chapter ... another winner from the vaults of Republic Serials --- this is a must watch for the serial buffs in all of us. <
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>BIOS: <
>1 Kirk Alyn (aka: John Feggo Jr.) <
>Date of birth: 8 October 1910 - Oxford, New Jersey <
>Date of death: 14 March 1999 - The Woodlands, Texas, <
> <
>Special footnote, Kirk Alyn was an American actor, best known for being the first actor <
>to play Superman on screen, in the 1948 film serial "Superman", and its 1950 sequel <
>"Atom Man Vs. Superman", starring in some similar comic book-type serials <
>"Daughter of Don Q" (1946), "Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc" (1948), <
>"Blackhawk" (1952) Alyn shared a very short cameo with his serial co-star, Noel Neill, <
>as the parents of the young Lois Lane in the 1978 feature film, "Superman: The Movie". <
>Kirk Alyn had been Grand Marshal of the Metropolis, Illinois Christmas parade and <
>Annual Superman Celebrations several times. <
> <
>2. Carol Forman (aka: Carolyn Sawls) <
>Date of birth: 19 June 1918 - Epps, Alabama <
>Date of death: 9 July 1997 - Burbank, California <
> <
>Special footnote, Raven-haired Carol Forman's main claim to fame is the fact that she was one <
>of the first villainesses in serials, Forman was not afraid to use her considerable attractiveness to <
>bamboozle the poor saps who tried to stop her nefarious plans for world domination, to steal <
>atomic secrets, or whatever she had up her sleeve, It was in 1947 that she essayed the role that <
>she is probably most famous for: "The Spider Woman" in Republic's The Black Widow (1947). <
>Forman made a big splash in that part and Republic immediately assigned her to other "bad girl" parts, <
>but she turned them down, not wanting to be pigeonholed in serials, she freelanced for a while, <
>doing a few westerns and a Columbia serial, then returned to Republic for her turn as the villain <
> <
>3. Rosemary La Planche <
>Date of birth: 11 October 1923 - Los Angeles, California <
>Date of death: 6 May 1979 - Glendale, California <
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>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 <
> <
>Second 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.The Lost City (Kane Richmond, William Stage Boyd & George Gabby Hayes) <
>16.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke) <
>17.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis) <
>18.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr) <
>19.The Painted Stallion (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) <
>20.The Phantom (Tom Tyler) <
>21.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi) <
>22.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones) <
>23.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon) <
>24.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke) <
>25.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop) <
>26.Undersea Kingdom (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) <
>27.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens) <
>28.Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane) <
>29.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), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) 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! <
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>Total Time: 163 mins on VHS ~ Republic Video ~ (5/30/1995)

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Brannon's Best
This is one of the best serials directed solely by Fred Brannon, who had some good credits with ther, more talented directors (The Crimson Ghost) but on his own proceeded to oversee the slow decline of the Republic serial before handing off to Franklin Adreon for the final sorry stinkers. Carol Foreman plays the role she plays best, a foreign villianess, and she is here teamed up with Roy Barcroft, who has one of his thuggier roles. The plot concerns Foreman's attempts to obtain both of a pair of golden hands from her homeland is Central Asia. Kirk Alyn, her ever-present nemesis, is the daring G-Man who battles her. There is a good supporting cast (Tris Coffin in a smal role is partiularly good) and enough budget to keep it lively. I enjoyed it for having a lot of colorful settings and dressings on what is really just another guys-in-suits-chasing each-other-around-and-shoting plot. I'd really give it 31/2 stars, or three on a four star scale. Not a desert-island serial, but an enjoyable and lively 1/66th of the Republic catalogue.