Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion

Government Agents vs Phantom Legion
Directed by	Fred C. Brannon
Produced by	Franklin Adreon
Written by	Ronald Davidson
Starring	Walter Reed Mary Ellen Kay Dick Curtis John Pickard Fred Coby Pierce Lyden George Meeker
Music by	Stanley Wilson
Cinematography	John L. Russell Jr
Edited by	Cliff Bell
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release dates	July 4, 1951[1]
Running time	12 chapters / 167 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$153,083 (negative cost: $153,612)[1]

Government Agents vs Phantom Legion (1951) is a 12-chapter American black-and-white film serial produced and distributed by Republic Pictures Corporation in 1951. It is an original, studio-commissioned screenplay by Ronald Davidson, produced by Franklin Adreon and directed by Fred C. Brannon, and presents a combined international intrigue-action genres story involving interstate shipments of products critical to national security being hijacked by a gang of foreign agents.

Plot

Two US government agents, Hal Duncan and Sam Bradley, must prevent agents of a foreign power, led by Regan and Cady, from hijacking trucks and stealing defence materials being transported by truck. They are hired by an interstate trucking association whose constituent truck lines have been principal targets of the hijacking, and it becomes evident that one of the four directors of the association - Armstrong, Crandall, Thompson or Willard - is the secret leader of this gang and provides them with shipment and route information necessary for the gang's successes.

Cast

• Walter Reed as Hal Duncan
• Mary Ellen Kay as Kay Roberts
• Dick Curtis as Regan
• Fred Coby as Cady
• John Pickard as Sam Bradley
• Pierce Lyden as Armstrong
• Arthur Space as Crandall
• Mauritz Hugo as Thompson
• George Meeker as Willard

Production

Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion was budgeted at $153,083 although the final negative cost was $153,612 (a $529, or 0.3%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1951.^[1]

It was filmed between May 1 and 23 1951 under the working title Government Agents vs. Underground Legion.^[1] The serial's production number was 1931.^[1]

Special Effects

All special effects in Government Agents vs Phantom Legion were produced by Republic's in-house team, the Lydecker brothers.

Stunts

• Dale Van Sickel as Hal Duncan/Brice/Kern (doubling Walter Reed)
• Tom Steele as Regan/Armstrong/Brandt/Warehouse Thug (doubling Dick Curtis & Pierce Lyden)
• Eddie Parker as Payne
• Duke Taylor as Kirk
• David Sharpe

Release

Theatrical

Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion's official release date is 4 July 1951, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.^[1]

This was followed by a re-release of Haunted Harbor, re-titled as Pirates' Harbor, instead of a new serial. The next new serial, Radar Men from the Moon, followed in 1952.^[1]

Chapter titles

1. River of Fire (20 min)
2. The Stolen Corpse (13 min 20s)
3. The Death Drop (13 min 20s)
4. Doorway to Doom (13 min 20s)
5. Deadline for Disaster (13 min 20s)
6. Mechanical Homicide (13 min 20s)
7. The Flaming Highway (13 min 20s)
8. Sea Saboteurs (13 min 20s)
9. Peril Underground (13 min 20s)
10. Execution by Accident (13 min 20s) - a re-cap chapter
11. Perilous Plunge (13 min 20s)
12. Blazing Retribution (13 min 20s)

_Source:^[1][2]

See also

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio

References

1. Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 126–127. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
2. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 252. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

• Government Agents vs Phantom Legion at the Internet Movie Database