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Roy Barcroft  

 

G-MEN NEVER FORGET

Republic, 1948.  Directed by Fred C. Brannon, Yakima Canutt.  Camera:  John MacBurnie.  With Clayton Moore, Roy Barcroft, Ramsay Ames, Gil Frye, Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel, Edmund Cobb, Stanley Price, Jack O'Shea, Barry Brooks, Douglas Aylesworth, Frank O'Connor, Dian Fauntelle, Eddie Acuff, Ken Terrell, Robert Baron, John Crawford, John Daheim, Arvon Dale, George Douglas, Duke Green, James Lin, Carey Loftin, George Magrill, Tom McDonough, Tom Monroe, Gil Perkins, Charles Regan, Matty Roubert, David Sharpe, Charles Sullivan, Glenn Turner, Phil Warren,  Russell Whitman, Robert J.  Wilkie, Bud Wolfe.

"G-Men Never Forget" is another exciting serial from the serial factory, Republic Pictures.  It was co-directed by Fred C. Brannon and veteran stunt man Yakima Canutt.  With Canutt directing the fight scenes, we get to see Republic's stunt men performing at the top of their game.

This serial gives Republic's busiest villain, Roy Barcroft a dual role, one on either side of the law.  It also stars Clayton Moore as G-Man Ted O'Hara just a year before he donned the mask of The Lone Ranger for TV.

The story has racketeer Vic Murkland (Barcroft) escaping prison.  He goes to the Benson Sanitarium where his cohort Doc Benson (Stanley Price) performs plastic surgery on his face to make him look identical to Police Commissioner Cameron (Barcroft again).  Murkland's henchmen led by Duke Graham—played by Gil Frye (credited as Drew Allen)—kidnap Cameron, allowing Murkland to take his place at police headquarters.  From there he directs his protection racket.

Federal agent Ted O'Hara (Moore) has been trying to re-capture Murkland but is unaware of Murkland's masquerade.  Police Sergeant Frances Blake (Ramsay Ames) is assigned to assist O'Hara.  After surviving the stock serial cliff hanger chapter endings, O'Hara and Blake discover an information leak in the Commissioner's office and...

Republic's three top stunt men, Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel, and David Sharpe are evident in all of the picture's action sequences—in fact they appear in one or more small parts as Murkland henchmen.  As in most serials of the period, this one borrows heavily from stock footage.  For example, the tunnel sequence and the motorcycle over the cliff sequence are taken from the 1939 serial "Daredevils of the Red Circle."  And yes, that shot of the edge of a cliff just before the vehicle goes over is in there too.  And nobody could jump out of a speeding car or roll out of danger in the nick of time better than Clayton Moore.

Others in the cast are Edmund Cobb as industrialist R.J. Cook, Jack O'Shea as Benson's assistant, and Eddie Acuff as Fiddler the car dealer.  And watch for the brief early appearance of Robert J. Wilke as a phony cop.

Internet Movie Database

 

Notes
The official release date of G-Men Never Forget was January 31, 1948, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.  It was filmed between July 16 and August 7, 1947.  The serial's production number was 1698.  G-Men Never Forget was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966.  The title of the film was changed to Code 645.  This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.

 

 

Chapter Titles

 
 

01 - Death Rides the Torrent

02 - The Flaming Doll House/100,000 Volts

03 - Code Six-Four-Five

04 - Shipyard Saboteurs

05 - The Dead Man Speaks

06 - Marked Money/Marked Evidence

 

07 - Hot Cargo

08 - The Fatal Letter

09 - The Death Wind

10 - The Innocent Victim

11 - Counter-Plot

12 - Exposed

   

 

G-Men Never Forget was budgeted at $151,061 although the final negative cost was $151,554 (a $493, or 0.3%, overspend).  It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1948.

Wikipedia