Product Details

• Actors: Maurice Cass, Kernan Cripps, Lorna Gray, Jack Ingram, Frank Jaquet
• Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace Grissell
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Republic Pictures
• VHS Release Date: May 30, 1995
• Run Time: 169 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302944945
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,190 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Serial Of Federal Law Officer vs. Crime Lord, June 7, 1999

By 

Michael Daly "Monkeesfan" (Wakefield, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Federal Operator 99 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Federal Operator 99 is one of Republic's best serials, combining action-filled cliffhangers with an engaging cast and several good twists.

Marten Lamont is Jerry Blake, Operator 99. Part James Bond (he speaks with a mild English accent, is quite charming looking, and gets into traps worthy of Ian Fleming), part Joe Friday, and part Frank Bullitt, Jerry Blake is after Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis), an escaped crimelord with a unique characteristic; he is a musician with a talent for piano, which he plays incessently for relaxation; his taste for music figures prominently in one of his robberies, when he kidnaps a famed violinest to swipe his expensive Stradivarius.

Both Blake and Belmont are ably backed by two lovely ladies - Joyce Kingston (Helen Talbot) and Rita Parker (Lorna Gray), both of whom get quite involved in the action - at one point both ladies fight for the wheel of an out of control truck. Rita shows herself to be as mean as any gunsel (she calmly sticks a flaming lighter in the face of a kidnapped Countess to make her spill the beans on hidden crown jewels), while Joyce is Cloudy Russo to Jerry's Popeye Doyle (she rescues him from one of Belmont's traps and kills the driver of a car trying to knock them over a cliff).

Both couples become ever more frustrated at the cat-and-mouse game that proceeds; there is a great scene where Belmont is playing piano while Rita glumly stares into space. Jerry Blake, meanwhile, becomes noticably less confident over the course of the story; he records a letter to his superiors in Washington, and displays a very real sense of failure in reporting on Belmont's escapes.

But when Belmont's chief gunman Matt Farrell (Hal Taliafero) is nabbed after the botched Stradivarius heist, Belmont and Rita kidnap Joyce, hoping to trade her for Farrell. Jerry gets the break needed and tracks them down to an abandoned theatre. Rita hides herself and the bound-and-gagged Joyce in a closet, but Blake fools Belmont and a gun battle ensues, in which the closet in hit by Belmont's gunfire and one of the ladies perishes. Blake pursues Belmont throughout the theatre, dodging thrown knives as he closes on his quarry.

If you've never seen an old Saturday serial, this is one to start with.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Federal Operator 99" (1945) ... Spencer Gordon Bennet ... A Republic 12 Chapter Serial", December 31, 2006

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Federal Operator 99 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Republic Pictures present "FEDERAL OPERATOR 99" (1945) (169 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Marten Lamont, Helen Talbot, George J. Lewis, Lorna Gray & Hal Taliaferro, 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 June 4, 1945 our plot line has crime lord Jim Belmont escapes FBI custody and begins a reign of thievery that is thwarted at every turn by Jerry Blake, the FBI's Operator 99.

Under Spencer Gordon Bennet (Director), Yakima Canutt (Director), Wallace Grissell (Director), Ronald Davidson (Associate Producer), Albert DeMond (Screenwriter), Basil Dickey (Screenwriter), Jesse Duffy (Screenwriter), Joseph F. Poland (Screenwriter), Mort Glickman (Original Score), Bud Thackery (Cinematographer), Cliff Bell Sr.(Editor), Harold Minter (Editor), Fred A. Ritter (Art Director), John McCarthy Jr.(Set Decorator), George Milo (Set Decorator), Bob Mark (Makeup), Roy Wade (Unit Manager), Victor B. Appel (Soundman), Howard Lydecker (Special Effects), Theodore Lydecker (Special Effects) ------ the cast includes Marten Lamont (Jerry Blake), Helen Talbot (Joyce Kingston), George J. Lewis (Jim Belmon), Lorna Gray (Rita Parker), Wally Wales (Matt Farrell (as Hal Taliaferro), LeRoy Mason (Morton), Forrest Taylor (Otto Wolfe), Tom London (Prof. Crawford), Jack Ingram (Riggs), Ernie Adams (Tony, undercover agent), George Chesebro (Solko, a thug), Edmund Cobb (Police Officer Corwin), Fred Graham (Hinds, Nightclub Owner), Duke Green (Clay, Thug Pilot), Jack Kirk (Mr. Hood), Rex Lease (Bower, Barn Thug), Jack O'Shea (Baker, thug), Stanley Price (Monte Mason), Tom Steele (Johnny Daniels), Ken Terrell (Norton Corby, thug ), Dale Van Sickel (Thug Guard Carlson) ------ this Republic Serial has several actors as stand outs George J. Lewis in one of his best performances any where and anytime, just about steals the entire 12 Chapter play with his suave and debonair ways the part of loving music and still being the mastermind behind all of the Republic episodes, great stuff ... Marten Lamont throws himself into each situation with gusto, very believable ... the female characters Helen Talbot proves she's tough to the end and Lorna Grey (aka Adrian Booth) is the nastiest of all, quite good throughout ... director Spencer Gordon Bennet's fantastically designed fist fights, and imaginative chapter endings are legend, with backup from Yakima Canutt and Wallace Grissell this is one of Republic's best ... great stunt work by the Republic stunt personnel Dale Van Sickel (stunt double: Marten Lamont), Duke Green (stunt double: George J. Lewis), Tom Steele (stunt double: Wally Wales), Fred Graham (stunts), Ken Terrell (stunts) --- don't leave the theater until the final chapter "The Case of the Musical Clue" ... another winner from the vaults of Republic Serials --- this is a must watch for the serial buffs in all of us.

CHAPTER TITLES:
1. The Case of the Crown Jewels
2. The Case of the Stolen Ransom
3. The Case of the Lawful Counterfeit
4. The Case of the Telephone Code
5. The Case of the Missing Expert
6. The Case of the Double Trap
7. The Case of the Golden Car
8. The Case of the Invulnerable Criminal
9. The Case of the Torn Blueprint
10.The Case of the Hidden Witness
11.The Case of the Stradivarius
12.The Case of the Musical Clue

BIOS:
1. Marten Lamont
Date of birth: 16 March 1911 - Preston, England, UK
Date of death: Still Living
2. George J. Lewis
Date of birth: 10 December 1903 - Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Date of death: 8 December 1995 - Rancho Santa Fe, California
3. Lorna Gray/Adrian Booth (aka: Virginia Pound)
Date of birth: 26 July 1918 - Grand Rapids, Michigan
Date of death: Still Living
4. Spencer Gordon Bennet (Director)
Date of birth: 5 January 1893 - Brooklyn, New York, New York
Date of death: 8 October 1987 - Santa Monica, California

Special Footnote, Spencer Gordon Bennet, was known as the "King of Serial Directors" he directed more film serials than anybody else, Bennet first entered show business as a stunt man, when he answered a newspaper ad to jump from the Palisades of the Hudson River while wearing a suit for the serial film Hurricane Hutch. The gig at that time paid $1 per foot he had to fall ... Bennet made his directorial debut in "Behold The Man" (1921), but made his serial directorial debut in with "Sunken Silver" (1925), Bennet would keep making serials, as well as B westerns features, until the very end of the genre, directing the very last two made in the United States, "Blazing the Overland Trail" (1956) and "Perils of the Wilderness" (1956). After the serials ended he directed a handful of features, his final directorial credit with "The Bounty Killer" (1965) with Dan Duryea, Bob Steele, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, I. Stanford Jolley Richard Arlen and Rod Cameron, which was also the final film to feature noted cowboy star Gilbert "Broncho Billy" Anderson ... when Bennet died in 1987, his tombstone was engraved "The Final Chapter" ... over his long career Bennet directed over a hundred serials including "Atom Man vs Superman" (1950) serial, "The Adventures of Sir Galahad" (1949), "Batman and Robin" (1949), "The Tiger Woman" (1944), "Captain Video" (1951), and numerous western serials. Among his western b-features were his long running "Red Ryder" series, featuring Don "Red" Barry, Wild Bill Elliott and Allan Rocky Lane during the '40s.

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: 169 min on VHS ~ Republic Video ~ (5/30/1995)

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, October 10, 2007

By 

M. Zaslowsky "Zas" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Federal Operator 99 [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I thought this was very good. Helen Talbot was a great sidekick to the hero and guys if your into the hero rescuing the pretty sidekick Federal Operator99 is full of it from the opening scene when the bad guys are trying to force our hero into a closet and there is our heroine Helen Talbot bound and gagged. All 12 chapters are action packed