Customer Reviews

Holt of the Secret Service

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

VCI continues to release top-notch serial fun and entertainment with HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE, a 15-episode Columbia chapterplay from 1941.

Jack Holt and Evelyn Brent comprise one of the most unusual tandems of heroes in serial history, long in the tooth but also plenty long on toughness. Masquerading as "Nick Farrel", escaped tough guy, and his wife, Holt and Brent infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters. The setting is surprisingly widespread for a chapterplay, 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 main villain is a fellow named Arnold, but he hides behind the facade of one of his men, Quist, to shield himself from the Secret Service, and lets another one of his men, Valden (frequent serial henchman Tris Coffin), do most of his dirty work. The island nation has its own pocket dictator, who is also trying to rub out our boy Jack.

Jack Holt is, simply put, the toughest leading man in serial history, the type of guy who could swallow nails and crap thumbtacks. When he gets in a fistfight with four of Arnold's boys and beats the hell out of the entire quartet, you can believe it.

As this is a James Horne serial, some of you might wonder about the "comedy" content. There is little of the funny stuff that you'll find in such Horne classics as TERRY AND THE PIRATES or THE SPIDER RETURNS, unless you count the occasional "undercranking" that makes everybody look like they are rushing out of a burning house, or the fact that, unlike the Republic serials in which bands were used to keep the Fedoras on during fights, Columbia apparently just instructed their actors and stuntmen to crush their hats down tightly on their heads, making everybody resemble two-fisted Buster Keatons.

I give HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE a solid *** and recommend it highly. It's available on DVD from a cheap company, and you get what you pay for -- the VCI release is the one to get.

Hawk-faced Jack Holt may be the toughest screen good guy of all time. With nerves of steel and fists of iron, Holt takes on crowds of villains and always manages to come out the winner. HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE features 15 chapters of breathtaking action that starts immediately in episode #1 and never lets up for a second!

THE STORY:
Agent Jack Holt and his partner Evelyn Brent infiltrate a counterfeiting gang that's kidnapped a government engraver and are producing undetectable bogus money.

THE CAST;
Jack Holt - Jack Holt (aka Nick Farrel)
Evelyn Brent - Kay Drew, R49 (aka Mrs. Farrel)
C. Montague Shaw - Chief John W. Malloy
Tristram Coffin - Ed Valdin [Chs. 1-10]
John Ward - 'Lucky' Arnold
Ted Adams - Quist
Joe McGuinn - 'Crimp' Evans
Edward Hearn - Agent Jim Layton

TRIVIA:
Jack Holt's cinematic career began with a series of silent screen Zane Grey westerns. He was one of the few stars of that era to make a successful transition when "talkies" arrived in the late 1920s.

Leads Jack Holt and Evelyn Brent wear the same clothes for all 15 chapters! (Can you say: "major dry cleaning bill"?)

Director James Horne previously worked with Laurel & Hardy. He was notorious for injecting humorous moments into serials he supervised.

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Once considered "lost," the newly restored SECRET AGENT X-9 (1937) is one of the finest movie serials of any era.

Grumpy, snarky and quick to anger, Jack Holt growls and mutters as he goes from one fightscene after another. Though he's clearly almost 50, he takes on 4 gangsters at a time...and LOOKS LIKE HA CAN DO IT! This guy's got that leathery Charles Bronson quality about him. You know...that "He's old, but could still kill you" charm that makes him outclass every opponant he encounters. The cliffhangers are good and the twists and turns almost always entertain. Evelyn Brent is a tough, spunky cop in her own right. Paired with Holt as his wife (not his moll), she plays her part with zest and energy. Tristram Coffin (what a great name) plays the badguys best henchman...and it's priceless when he enters a room and sees Holt trouncing half his minions with his bare hands. Poor Tris always seems to be on the verge of screaming "Oh, what the hell, Holt? Knock it off!"

Just for the record, Jack Holt HATED THIS PART and you can see it in his face some times. It's like he's thinking "Just keep plugging away, boy. Just keep saying the lines and punching the clock. It's just a roll...and it'll be over soon.", but every so often he looks like he was having fun with it.

Director James Horne has a reputation among serial fans for his tongue-in-cheek approach and his illogical fight scenes, and HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE is probably the best-known example of Horne's devil-may-care style. Something's always happening in this one, and it's such a crazy quilt of action scenes that both the locale and the supporting players actually change about two-thirds in, and certain characters and plot points are forgotten along the way. But most of the action is firmly in the hands of rock-jawed, two-fisted Jack Holt, who makes this serial worth seeing.

Holt, the grand old man of Columbia action features since the silent days, had clashed with studio head Harry Cohn, who promptly assigned Holt to this lowbrow serial adventure. Whatever Holt's private feelings were, he gives a professional performance as a Secret Service investigator on the trail of counterfeiters. Posing as an underworld type, he delivers dialogue with a cynical smirk or a disgusted sneer, and he has to be the toughest guy in serials. You'll lose count of the fistfights Holt has during the course of his mission; he usually has to subdue four guys at a time. One of the brawls has the panache of a Popeye the Sailor cartoon, with Holt chopping each guy down with one punch and piling them up on the floor like cordwood!

Holt was no youth at the time (age 52) and required a more mature, worldly vis-a-vis instead of the usual helpless heroine. Evelyn Brent, another former silent-film star, was ideally cast as Holt's associate agent. During much of the serial they pose as man and wife, constantly bickering and backtalking, which is a refreshing change for serial heroes (and Holt even has a drunk scene!).

The supporting cast is serviceable but undistinguished; Columbia serials often feature many of its resident character actors, but not this time. The young Tristram Coffin is the only bad guy of note until the two-thirds point, when the scene shifts to a remote island and serial stalwarts Stanley Blystone, George Chesebro, and Stanley Price take over the villainy. Another silent-era Columbia player, Walter McGrail, also steps in at this point.

All in all, par for Columbia and Horne, and fun to watch. This serial is in the public domain and is available from many sources, in variable quality. The Serial Squadron (Hermitage Hill) edition is carefully restored from at least two good original prints, and is probably the best-quality version you'll find.

VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present "Holt of the Secret Service" (1941) (Dolby digitally remastered), 15 Chapters of vintage serial loaded with action sequences...story line involves counterfeiters and a gang of thugs that will stop at nothing with the government's best engraver who is being held against his will...can our hero Secret Agent Jack Holt who is the toughest guy on the Columbia lot keep the counterfeit plates out of circulation...will Holt and his partner agent Kay Drew infiltrate the gangs hideout foil the henchman...does Valden the gang's top dog believe Holt's story or will he learn the true identity of the boss and leader of the gang...what has a gambling ship got to do with Arnold who runs the show and Quist now impersonating the leader of the gang...Arnold and Garrity are at odds, which villain will wind up running the show and taking control over the always missing plates...never fear Granite-Jawed Jack Holt is here, watch Chapter 15 and see what we mean....keep that thought as each chapter is more exciting than the previous one...return next week to this local theater for another episode of action and adventure that will keep you thrilled until the next chapter.

Under director James W.; Horne with original screenplay by Basil Dickey, George Plympton and Wyndham Gittens, music score by Lee Zahler...the cast include Jack Holt (Agent Jack Holt, alias Nick Farrel), Evelyn Brent (Agent Kay Drew), C. Montague Shaw (Chief John W. Malloy), Tristram Coffin (Ed Valdin), John Ward ('Lucky' Arnold), Ted Adams (Quist), Joe McGuinn ('Crimp' Evans), Jack Cheatham (Agent Frank), George Chesebro (Rankin, Garrity - Henchman), Dale Van Sickel (Slugger - Henchman)...Columbia Pictures stuntwork is always good till the last drop and this serial is no exception...there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One)
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

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc One)
VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:
1. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)
2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)
3. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)
4. Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)
5. The Phantom (Tom Tyler)
6. Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)
7. Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)
8. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)
9. Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)
10.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)
11.Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
12.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)
13.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
14.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)

BIOS: (Disc One)
1. Jack Holt (aka Charles John Holt)
Birth Date: 5/31/1888 - Winchester, VA
Died: 1/18/1951 - Los Angeles, CA
2. Evelyn Brent (aka Mary Elizabeth Riggs)
Birth Date: 10/20/1899 - Tampa, FL
Died: 7/04/1975 - Los Angeles, CA
3. Tristram Coffin
Birth Date: 1910
Died: 3/26/1990
4. James W. Horne (Director)
Birth Date: 12/14/1880 - San Francisco, CA
Died: 6/29/1942 - Los Angeles, CA

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Two)
11.Ominous Warnings
12.The Stolen Signal
13.Prison of Jeopardy
14.Afair Afloat
15.Yielded Hostage

TRAILERS: (Disc Two)
1. The Secret Code (Paul Kelly as the Black Commando)
2. Superman (Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill and Tommy Bond)
3. The Great Adventures of Captain Kidd--King of Pirates" (John Crawford, Richard Crane and Marshall Reed)
4. The Vigilante (Ralph Byrd, Lyle Talbot, George Chesebro and Jack Ingram)

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...if you enjoyed this serial check out another release from VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present "Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere" (1951) (digitally remastered), 15 Chapters.finally for the first time on video the really great Columbia Serial that broke the mold...we have everything a serial fan would want...the tinted sequences by Cinecolor and unique inventions that were unlike any other serial out there in the '50s...get out there as they're going fast, this is the one you've been waiting for.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Holt of the Secret Service" (1941), the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '30s, '40s & '50s...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 280 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8411 ~ (12/28/2004)

Another great 12 episode serial from the late 1940's with plenty of action and suspense. We like it because we can play it all day while we do other things and it always has something new we didn't notice before. I would recommend it for 1930/40's action movie enthusiasts.

What A Great Deal I Got On This 15 Episode Series ! , Also Brand New ! A+