SOS Coast Guard
An internationally-notorious criminal scientist returns to the US to sell his latest invention, a disintegrating gas, to a foreign power. When he arrives, however, he is spotted by a young Coast Guard man, whom he kills - and thus earns the enmity of the entire US Coast Guard, but especially the murdered Guardsman's older brother who, together with his reporter-girlfriend and her comical photographer, vigorously sets to tracking him down and interfering with his plans to develop the city-melting gas in quantity. A Republic Serial in 12 Chapters.
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- Cast：
- Bela Lugosi , Ralph Byrd , Maxine Doyle , Richard Alexander , Herbert Rawlinson , Thomas Carr , Lawrence Grant
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Reviews
That was an excellent one.
A Masterpiece!
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
This is a very intriguing serial - gets quite interesting. Fun - most definitely fun. All the characters, including the supporting ones, are good. Of course the best are our leading and rival men, Ralph Byrd as Lt. Terry Kent and Bela Lugosi as Boroff.As you can easily guess this is mainly a sea adventure - one that takes a few surprise twists and turns - good cliff hangers - and a fun but far fetched story of disintegrating gas and mass destruction. Lt. Kent stays hot on the trail of Boroff so there is never a dull moment.This one is good for a few giggles but is a refreshing change to see Lugosi outside of the horror genre that he is well known for. Recommended for Lugosi fans - he gets lots of screen time.8/10
The main reason this serial is popular with the fans is the casting of Bela Lugosi as the chief villain. Unfortunately, although he appears in every episode, his role is comparatively small until chapter 8 when he really becomes the dominant villain. It's Lugosi's man, Richard Alexander, who provides most of the action, and even continues to prove a rousingly unworthy, stop-at-nothing opponent for super-natty hero, Ralph Byrd, even when Lugosi finally has more than a few fleeting scenes. Mind you, Lugosi doesn't do much in the way of acting. He does little more than say his lines. The same goes for hero Byrd. It's the rather boring Lee Ford as an incompetent photographer who seems to get all the attention from directors Alan James and William Witney. Ford even does his best (or worst!) to push our lovely heroine, Maxine Doyle, out of the picture. Miss Doyle started in movies as an extra in 1933 but quickly graduated to feature player (Babbitt 1934) and feminine lead (The Mystery Man 1935). She left movies after making this serial. When she returned in 1943, her roles were so small, she was usually uncredited. Another lovely girl that Hollywood wasted or didn't know what to do with! This was Republic's seventh serial and was brought in at $128,530. The original budget was $107,217. Costs and delays while shooting on location in the Los Angeles area were responsible for the increase. Barry Shipman, Franklin Adreon, Winston Miller and Edward Lynn were responsible for the screenplay, which was based on a story outlined by Morgan Cox, Ronald Davidson and Lester Scott. U.S. release: 28 August 1937. Available on two DVD discs from Alpha.
*Spoiler/plot- SOS Coast Guard, 1937, Follow a tenacious Terry Kent, US coastguard officer & secret agent as he attempts to capture the international criminal scientist, Doctor Boroff, before he can auction of a dangerous gas weapon capable of killing whole cities inhabitants. A nail-biting race to beat the clock in it's final conclusion.*Special Stars- Ralph Byrd, Bela Lugosi. Maxine Doyle *Theme- American honesty and patriotism conquers evil and foreign designs for terror.*Trivia/location/goofs- Republic theatrical Serial, black & White, Locations filmed at the west San Fernando Valley movie ranch's, Iverson Film Ranch Chatsworth California.*Emotion- I heard good things of this serial. I was NOT misinformed. A very enjoyable film for it's on-screen production values, plot and acting. Much more enjoyable with Bela Lugosi as the 'baddie' and he does add to things here. Even today, very watchable and enjoyable. Fun to see Ralph 'Dick Tracy' Byrd in his prime.
When this serial was made, there was a moratorium on horror films, brought on by Joseph Breen of the Hays Office. Consequently, Boris Karloff did thrillers at Warner Bros. (but not really any horror films), and Lugosi did poverty row movies and serials. Of the latter, this one I think is his best, but his having the name "Boroff" plus his using a ship called the "Cairfax" (as in Cairfax Abbey, where Dracula stays in London) are obvious in-jokes, though I doubt they were of Lugosi's doing.