Release date Title Description Theme

November 23, 1935 The Fighting Marines

February 17, 1936 The Leathernecks Have Landed The Leathernecks Have Landed is an adventure yarn revolving around three boisterous marines. Lew Ayres is the headstrong one, James Ellison the sincere one, and Maynard Holmes the roly-poly comic relief. Holmes is killed SERVICE PICTURE
in a nightclub brawl for which Ayres gets the blame. The real murderers are smugglers; the disgraced Ayres joins the gang to bring them to justice. Republic Pictures must have been entranced by this plotline, since it popped up Action Thriller
virtually scene for scene in four subsequent films over the next six years: Forged Passport (39), Rough Rider's Roundup (39 again!), Girl From Havana (40) and Remember Pearl Harbor (42).
Americans Abroad, Clearing One's Name

killing, agent [representative], bar [pub], China, conflict, enemy, false-accusation,

help, humiliation, investigation, Marines, murder, sea, service, shoot-out,
smuggling, soldier, weapons, weapons-dealer

Poster features man in uniform hugging a women

in the background are marching soldiers
April 3, 1936 The House of a Thousand Candles Based on a novel by Meredith Nicholson, The House of 1000 Candles is one of the slickest films ever to emerge from the Nat Levine unit at Republic. Phillips Holmes stars as diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been SPY PICTURE
entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel (Rosita Moreno), who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered
by sinister master spy Sebastian (Irving Pichel), owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles. Realizing that Tony is the only person who can decipher the message, Sebastian kidnaps Tony's
sweetheart Carol (Mae Clarke), threatening to kill her if our hero doesn't cooperate. Rescued by his faithful valet (Fred Walton), Tony and Carol make their escape then expose the secret behind Sebastian's insidiously complex
espionage network. Many reviewers in 1936 compared House of 1000 Candles to the best that Alfred Hitchcock had to offer -- quite a coup for director Arthur Lubin, a man best known for his Abbott & Costello and "Francis the
Talking Mule" pictures!
April 14, 1936 Federal Agent On the threshold of international fame as mature cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy, William Boyd made three low-budget action-melodramas for independent company Winchester Pictures, the last of which, Federal Agent, SPY PICTURE
featured the prematurely graying star as Bob Woods, a G-Man looking into the death of a colleague. As Bob learns, Recard Kantos (Don Alvarado), a vicious foreign spy, and his wife, Vilma (Lenita Lane), intend to buy a newly
invented explosive capable of destroying the entire world. Turning to one of Kantos' disgruntled associates, Helen Gray (Irene Ware), Bob gets the inside scoop on the spy ring but ends up its prisoner. Helen, who proves to be
the daughter of the murdered agent, manages to pass a knife to Bob and there is a final confrontation between the G-Man and his dangerous prey. Federal Agent, which was filmed in 1935 and released the following year by
Republic Pictures, proved William Boyd's final non-Hopalong Cassidy starring vehicle.
May 30, 1936 Undersea Kingdom
June 2, 1936 Navy Born Mariners of the Sky (also known as Navy Born) is a 1936 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Nate Watt, in his directorial debut. The film stars William Gargan, Claire Dodd and Douglas Fowley.[1] Filmed SERVICE PICTURE
with the cooperation of the U.S. Navy, it was a mild recruiting film in an era when the United States military was gearing up for a future war
Drama, Adventure

Daring Rescues, Kidnapping

rescue, kidnapping, victim, boy, navy

September 28, 1936 The President's Mystery
December 14, 1936 Happy Go Lucky In this tuneful programmer a singer, believing that her husband, a Marine pilot accused of treason, has died in the Pacific, takes a job singing in Shanghai. There she see spies a certain handsome dancer in the club show who SERVICE PICTURE
looks exactly like her late spouse. The resemblance is too uncanny for him to be anyone else. Surmising that he has amnesia, the singer decides she must somehow get him back and prove his innocence. But this is easier said
than done as she soon discovers Comedy, Musical

danger, amnesia, barnstorming, gangster, kidnapping, lookalike, missing, mistaken-

identity, treason

poster features man in uniform with dancers all around

January 25, 1937 Join the Marines This service comedy from the Republic Studio mills was perhaps the most aggressively titled of the "Marine Corps" film cycle of the mid-1930s (Come on Leathernecks, Pride of the Marines et. al.) Paul Kelly plays Phil Donlan, a SERVICE PICTURE
pugnacious ex-cop and ex-Olympic athlete who is run out of New York in disgrace after falsely being accused of drunkenness. The innocent cause of Donlan's woes is pretty Paula Denbrough (June Travis), daughter of a Marine
colonel (Purnell Pratt). To ingratiate himself with Paula -- and incidentally, to restore his reputation -- Donlan joins the Corps, where after a grueling training period he earns a commission. Offered a chance to return to the New
York police force, Donlan gives it up to re-enlist, and Paula couldn't be happier.
March 29, 1937 Navy Blues The 1940 peacetime draft spawned a whole slew of military and naval comedies, the most successful of which was Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates. In this vein, Warners' Navy Blues features several studio contractees SERVICE PICTURE
(including Ann Sheridan and Jack Carson), a few borrowed comedians (Jack Oakie, Jack Haley, Martha Raye) and a plethora of forgettable musical numbers. The plot: A ship's crew goes on leave in Honolulu, has a high old
time, meets a few pretty girls, and heads back to sea. That's all. Modern viewers will get a kick out of spotting Navy Blues supporting actor Jackie Gleason, who must have relished the opportunity of working with his idol Jack drama, spy film, romantic
Oakie.
assumed identities, unlikely heroes

poster features men in unfiorms and a ship in the background

June 28, 1937 It Could Happen to You The working titles of this film were Gangs of New York and It Might Happen to You. Gangs of New York was also the title of a 1938 Republic film, directed by James Cruze, that was about New York gangsters. Republic bought a ANTI-NAZI PICTURE
novel by that title in Apr 1936 and some news items in late 1936 could be referring to either the 1937 film It Could Happen to You or the 1938 film Gangs of New York as both films were apparently known by the latter title during
that period. According to the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, the PCA rejected two early versions of the screenplay because they violated a resolution adopted by the PCA Board of Directors that prohibited
portrayals of "the activities of American gangster armed and in violent conflict with the law, or law-enforcing officers." Once the gangster elements were removed and the violence toned down, the script was approved. A HR
news item reported that "sideline musician" Harold Sorenson died while working on the picture.
June 30, 1937 Range Defenders In the fictional town where the film's action takes place, there are billboards advertising Gun Lords of Stirrup Basin and Guns in the Dark, two Republic films also released in 1937 (see entry). A HR production chart includes HINT OF ANTI-NAZISM
Donald Kirke in the cast, but his participation in the final film has not been confirmed. Modern sources add the following additional cast members: Jack O'Shea, Jack Rockwell, Merrill McCormack , Jack Kirk, George Morrell, Al
Taylor, C. L. Sherwood, Clyde McClary, Jack Evans, Bob Reeves, Art Dillard and Fred Parker. For additional information on the series, consult the Series Index and See Entry for The Three Mesquiteers.

The Three Mesquiteers are back for more action in this well-photographed Republic western. This time, heroes Stoney Brooke (Bob Livingston), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) find
themselves in a middle of a range war between cattlemen and sheepmen. The villains have the local constabulary in their pocket, and they intend to get what they want with a passel of forged land deeds and phony mortgages.
The two chief heavies are played by Harry Woods and John Merton, and two meaner cusses never existed. An outsized gun battle brings this Mesquiteers entry to a rousing conclusion.
August 20, 1937 Sea Racketeers Weldon Heyburn never did become Republic's answer to Clark Gable, though he always aimed to please. In Sea Racketeers, Heyburn is cast as Jim, a courageous Coast Guard officer whose legions of lady friends includes the SERVICE PICTURE
pert and perky Pat (Jeanne Madden). Jim leaves the ladies behind when he takes on the challenge of rounding up a gang of seafaring crooks who use a floating casino as a cover for their piratical activities. J. Carroll Naish
plays Durant, head of the modern-day buccaneers, and he proves quite a worthy adversary for the plucky Pat. Hoydenish comedy relief is handled by the vivacious Dorothy McNulty, who within a year would change her name to
Penny Singleton and headline Columbia's "Blondie" series.
August 28, 1937 S.O.S. Coast Guard This film is a re-edited, feature-length version of SOS Coast Guard, a twelve-part serial produced and released by Republic in 1937. After the opening credits, a written prologue dedicates the film "to the U.S. Coast Guard... SERVICE PICTURE
Those daring fighters of the sea waging a war that never ends...Battling treacherous storms and ruthless men that America's shores be always protected.

In his third of four action serials, horror star Bela Lugosi played Boroff, an internationally notorious fiend who's attempting to pawn off his deadly invention, a disintegrating gas, to the highest bidder. Before the gas can be
manufactured, however, Boroff must go in search of certain hard to come by ingredients and the villain is thwarted at every step by US coastguard agent Terry Kent (Ralph Byrd and crusading newspaper woman Jean Norman
(Maxine Doyle. In the serial's 12th and final chapter, "The Deadly Circle," Boroff is finally destroyed by his own invention, civilization thus saved for Democracy. Down on his luck by 1937, Lugosi could only watch as Republic
Pictures' screenwriters Barry Shipman and Franklyn Adreon wickedly named his character "Boroff," an obvious reference to Lugosi-rival Boris Karloff. S. O. S. Coastguard nevertheless emerged as one of the Hungarian star's
better vehicles, in no small measure due to its vigorous hero, Ralph Byrd, a handsome actor perhaps better remembered from Republic's Dick Tracy serials.
January 24, 1938 The Purple Vigilantes The Three Mesquiteers ride again in the economical Republic sagebrusher Purple Vigilantes. The Mesquiteers in question are Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin, played this time out by Robert Livingston, Ray DOMESTIC FASCISM
"Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune. The storyline is a timely one, inspired by the terrorist activities of the bigoted "White Legion" of the mid-1930s. When a group of hooded mercenaries begin to wreak terror on the frontier, the
Mesquiteers ride to the rescue. Their mission is a personal one: their old friend and mentor has been falsely accused of being the head of the Purple Vigilantes. Worth noting is that the Vigilantes are depicted as having once
been an honorable organization, now re-formed for evil instead of good.
August 28, 1938 Pals of the Saddle Pals of the Saddle is one of the more engaging entries in Republic's Three Mesquiteers Western series. Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune repeat their standard roles of Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin; the role of Stony Brooke, foreign agents
recently vacated by Bob Livingston, is here played by none other than John Wayne. The Mesquiteers films fluctuated between period stories and contemporary tales. This time around, we're in 1938, and Stony is chasing after
foreign agents who are trying to steal and smuggle a secret weapon, the deadly chemical "monium," out of the United States. Director George Sherman paces this 55-minute effort like a Republic serial, with excellent results.
April 4, 1938 Invisible Enemy Secret agent Jeff Clavering (Alan Marshal) is in the employ of a group of businessmen dedicated to world peace. In order to get the goods on war profiteer Kamarov (C. Henry Gordon), Clavering is ordered to romance
Kamarov's wife Stephanie (Mady Correll). Our hero and heroine experience any number of thrill-packed adventures while uncovering the villain's nefarious scheme to plunge the World into war. Gee? if Kamarov had only waited
a few months, he could have saved himself the trouble. Some much-needed comedy relief is provided by Herbert Mundin as a bumbling British detective.
May 28, 1938 The Fighting Devil Dogs In the late 1930's, Marine lieutenants Tom Grayson and Frank Corby are stationed in Shanghai when they receive orders to march their men through the jungle to the aid of Americans trapped in Manchuria. All goes well until they reach Linchuria, SERVICE PICTURE
where, at the fort of a Chinese ally, they discover that all of the occupants have been mysteriously killed. As the Marines investigate, the building is hit by a torpedo that generates a huge quantity of electricity, and all of the men are killed except Tom
and Frank. Tom, who was in command, is brought before a tribunal, and during the court-martial proceedings, he receives a letter from Lin Wing, the Linchurian consul. When the prosecutor telephones Wing about the letter, the nervous consul
confides that he has information about the weapon used in China and about The Lightning, a diabolical mastermind seeking to control the world. Wing is killed before he can reveal more information, however, and Tom's trial is postponed so that he
can investigate the murder. Tom and Frank find half-burned papers in Wing's fireplace and take them to the home of Warfield, a prominent scientist and old friend of Tom's father, Col. Grayson. Warfield is not surprised by Tom's description of The
Lightning's electrical torpedo and states that such a weapon is possible. As the group, which includes Warfield's daughter Janet, examines the papers, a stranger peers through the window. Tom and Frank chase the man and his companion, and while
one of the men escapes, the other is killed. The Marines then learn that the S.S. Rockingham is in danger. Soon after, the Rockingham is hit by one of The Lightning's torpedos, and its cargo, a gold shipment, is stolen. Col. Grayson's research work
with Warfield intensifies after the incident, and one night, the laboratory is targeted by The Lightning, and Grayson is killed. Crenshaw, a scientist who was working on the project, admits to Tom the next day that he left the lab out of fear but now
wants to avenge Grayson's death. Through Warfield's analysis of a shell fragment, Tom discovers that the casings for The Lightning's weapons are being made at the Atlas Steel Co. After several encounters with The Lightning's henchmen, Tom
locates the shipping information for the casings, which leads the Marines to Gehorda Island in the tropics. There, Tom and Frank find a schooner transporting more casings to The Lightning's secret hideout. During their search of the schooner, Tom
and Frank learn that the torpedoes are guided by a gyroscopic control. Their search is cut short by the return of the crew, and the ship is set aflame and sinks during the ensuing brawl. Tom and Frank escape, and later dive at the site of the sunken ship
to find the gyroscope. Despite interference from more henchmen and a shark, the Marines find the gyroscope and take it to Warfield's home laboratory. Before Warfield can analyze it, however, The Lightning sends word that he has kidnapped Janet.
At the hangar housing the "Wing," The Lightning's ultra-modern plane, Janet is astonished to learn the masked villain's identity, and he vows never to release her. Janet is taken to Gehorda and is seen there by Tom and Frank, who have found The
Lightning's cave hideout on the island, but are unable to rescue her. After vanquishing more of The Lightning's men, Tom and Frank return to the mainland, where Crenshaw arranges a meeting to test his new ray machine, which can destroy the
electrical torpedoes before they are launched from the Wing. Tom and Frank accompany their commander, General White, and Warfield to the conference room, where they debate the possibility of The Lightning having a spy in their midst. As the
men talk, several gang members pump carbon monoxide into the locked room, but Tom's quick action saves them from death. Tom then discovers a clue on the floor, and the next day, calls a meeting at Warfield's home, at which White, Crenshaw,
Benson the butler and Sam Hedges, the gardener, are also present. Janet, who has been rescued by Tom, appears and is about to reveal The Lightning's identity when a bolt of electricity is shot at her. Hidden behind a mirror, Janet is protected from the
bolt's charge, and the culprit is revealed to be Warfield. Tom then explains that he deduced The Lightning's identity upon finding a tiny, hand-held gas mask on the floor near Warfield's chair in the conference room after the carbon monoxide attack.
Warfield then escapes to the Wing, but as he prepares to launch a torpedo at the house, Crenshaw proves the effectiveness of his ray by blowing up the Wing and its evil occupants.
November 14, 1938 Storm Over Bengal This being a Republic picture, it should come as no surprise that Storm Over Bengal was filmed in its entirety in the San Fernando Valley. Within its concise 65 minutes, the film manages to accommodate a Bengal Lancers main PRO BRITISH SERVICE PICTURE
plot, a romantic subplot, the obligatory coward who makes good, intrigue aplenty from a villainous Indian potentate, and an outsized climactic battle between the rebels and the British forces. Patric Knowles, previously one of the
leads in the British-India epic Charge of the Light Brigade, heads the cast. Worth noting is the presence in the cast of Richard Cromwell as secondary romantic lead Neil Allison and Douglass Dumbrille as the despicable Khan.
Three years earlier, Cromwell had been tortured by Dumbrille's minions in Lives of a Bengal Lancer, and he undergoes much the same treatment here-"just to make him feel at home" observed film historian Roger Dooley.
November 21, 1938 Come On, Rangers This Roy Rogers musical western (his second starring vehicle for Republic) concerns itself with a group of Texas Rangers, forced to disband when Texas is admitted the Union. The state brings in members of the U.S. Cavalry SERVICE PICTURE
to provide law enforcement in the Rangers' stead, yet the Cavalry officers become hopelessly confused and muddled -- not only from their ignorance of the territory, but by the guerilla tactics of Texas bandits and local political
corruption. When ex-ranger Rogers's brother is killed, he recognizes that the Cavalry will not be able to respond with proper force, and asks his fellow ex-rangers to take up arms in vengeance. The film co-stars Mary Hart,
Raymond Hatton, J. Farrell MacDonald and Purnell Pratt.
??? Come On, Leathernecks! Naval Academy football star Jimmy Butler has little regard for the discipline of Annapolis or that of the Marines, his father Colonel Stephen Butler's branch of the service, the Marines. Though he doesn't want to hurt his father, SERVICE PICTURE
Jimmy decides to become a professional football player after graduation. His father's aide, Hy Doland, tricks Jimmy into reporting for duty in San Diego, however, angering Jimmy and his manager, Curly Maxwell. After a week of
basic training, Jimmy plans to resign, but Hy tricks him and Curly into sailing to Manila, where Colonel Butler is stationed. Sailing toward Manila, Jimmy meets Valerie Taylor, who is returning to her plantation, accompanied by
Otto Wagner. Though Wagner is offering Valerie and her brother Dick a large price for their plantation, Valerie is suspicious of his motives. As the voyage progresses, Valerie and Jimmy fall in love, but Valerie does not approve
of Jimmy's plans for professional football. Jimmy wants to tell his father about his plans to resign from the Marines, but in order to do so, he has to go to an island on which his father is trying to stop gun running to the Far East.
Though disappointed, the colonel agrees to the resignation and Jimmy awaits his release. Just after an exhuasted Curly arrives at the post, some gunrunners break through the lines, and Jimmy follows and overtakes them, then
uses football tactics to find their hideout. He is surprised when they follow the gunrunners to Valerie's plantation. Valerie soon realizes that Wagner and Dick are working together, and to save her brother, she helps Wagner get
away by appealing to Jimmy to help Dick. Wagner double crosses her, though, and Jimmy thinks that she was in with them all along. Returning to the Marine encampment, Jimmy is put under house arrest by his father because
he deserted his post. Meanwhile, Hy is held prisoner by Wagner, and Valerie escapes from Wagner's boat and tells Jimmy where the gunrunners really are. Just after Jimmy arrives at the rendezvous site, Colonel Butler and his
men follow and a gun battle erupts. Jimmy and Hy manage to disarm and kill Wagner and blow up the arms shipments, after which both Jimmy and Curly decide to stay with the Marines, and Valerie becomes Jimmy's "new"
manager.
August 11, 1938 Army Girl Captain Dike Conger, a tank expert, is assigned to the Thirty-first Cavalry Regiment to determine whether it should convert to the use of small tanks suitable for the desert instead of horses. Accompanied by his cocky mechanic SERVICE PICTURE
friend, Three Star Hennessy, Dike encounters opposition from most members of the regiment who want to continue using horses. Dike, who considers himself a "ladies' man," agrees to go on a blind date arranged by his old
friend, Captain Bob Marvin, on the condition that she be a civilian, not an "army girl." Because of a mistake made by Three Star, however, his date turns out to be Julie Armstrong, daughter of camp commander Colonel
Armstrong, who uses the name Lucy May Praxton to break out of her boring, pre-arranged existence. Though he is angered by her deception at first, Dike soon relents, and the two begin to fall in love. Some time later, a contest
is held between tanks and horses to determine which is more effective. The tank wins the contest, and the details are forwarded to Washington while the post awaits the government's decision about the horses. As the weeks
pass, Dike and Julie decide to marry, but as Dike is about to tell the colonel, Armstrong reveals that tanks will replace the horses and that Dike will be replacing him as post commander, thus angering Julie, who breaks the
engagement. When word reaches Harry Ross, an old-fashioned sergeant and rival of Three Star, he alters a connecting rod in a tank which is to carry Dike and Three Star at the transition ceremony. When, on the day of the
ceremony, Ross sees the colonel enter the tank with Three Star instead of Dike, it is too late to stop them, and they are both killed in the wreck. Captain Joe Schuyler, a rival for Julie's affections, is the first to reach the tank, and
hears Three Star's dying words implicating Ross, but he decides to suppress the information. After a court-martial in which Dike is ruled negligent and responsible for the accident, Schuyler proposes to Julie. When she still
refuses him, he realizes that she will never love him and forces the truth out ot Ross before the military judges, thus incriminating Ross and himself, and exonerating Dike. Finally free, Dike and Julie reconcile.
January 23, 1939 Pride of the Navy Naval Lieutenant Jerry Richards is developing a high-speed, torpedo-carrying boat, but cannot perfect the design, so he seeks the aid of top speedboat racer and designer Speed Brennan. Egotistical Speed was Jerry's SERVICE PICTURE
roommate at Annapolis but has had ill will toward the Navy ever since he was kicked out of the academy for committing reckless pranks. Speed arrogantly refuses Jerry's request for help but reconsiders when he meets Gloria
Tyler, Jerry's girl friend and the captain's daughter. Hoping to win Gloria's favor, Speed agrees to work on the project and moves to the base with his mechanic, Gloomy Kelly, and their monkey Jinxie. Speed devises a
catamaran-style design for the boat, which Jerry builds despite Speed's nagging doubts that it lacks something. A week passes as the men build a model to test before a high-ranking Naval committee, and finish the night before
the test run. Jerry badgers Speed into agreeing to make the trial run with him, as the boat requires two pilots, and then the pair go to a celebration party. Speed is greeted by Ethel, the wife of racer Joe Falcon, who thanks
Speed for earlier helping Joe. Jerry sees Ethel give Speed a grateful kiss and misinterprets the gesture, so later, when he finds Speed kissing Gloria, he loses his temper and the men fight. The captain interrupts the fisticuffs
and tells Speed to leave immediately. Gloomy is angered by Speed's grandstanding behavior and denounces him when Speed refuses to ask the captain for a second chance. The next day, Gloomy replaces Speed in the test
run, but Speed's prediction about the model not being ready is proven correct when it crashes and Gloomy and Jerry are seriously injured. Onboard a plane to visit Gloomy, Speed is given an idea by its ailerons, which he
believes will solve the boat's design problem. Gloomy is at first hostile to Speed but is quickly taken up by his ideas. Speed persuades Gloomy to steal the former model's torpedo so that he can include it in the new design.
Gloomy is caught during his theft attempt, but once he explains the situation to Tyler, the captain aids him, and soon Speed is hard at work. Working night and day, Speed, Joe and Gloomy finish the new model and are ready to
demonstrate it while Tyler tests a new torpedo for visiting senators. Speed and Joe wait at a distance as the test begins, but when one of the torpedoes goes wildly out of control, they demonstrate both their bravery and the
perfection of the boat by exploding the torpedo safely away from the spectators. Tyler rewards Speed with a citation for bravery and a commission in the naval reserves. Once again a Navy man, Speed restores his friendship
with Jerry and prepares to marry Gloria.
March 27, 1939 Mexicali Rose Gene Autry goes up against a crooked oil company in this delightful music Western restored in 2001 by Gene Autry Entertainment. Carruthers (William Royle) of the so-called Alta Vista Oil Company is selling worthless stock Good Neighbor?
from a non-existent well located on a Spanish land grant occupied by Padre Dominic (William Farnum) and his orphanage. At first, the padre's niece, Anita Loredo (Luana Walters), accuses radio entertainer Gene Autry of being
in cahoots with Carruthers, but the crooner instead unmasks the oil company for the phony outfit it is. A defecting engineer, Blythe (LeRoy Mason), suspects that there really is oil in them thar hills and with the help of Mexican
outlaw turned Robin Hood Valdez (Noah Beery), Gene tricks Carruthers and his equally crooked salesman McElroy (Roy Barcroft) into abandoning the well. A heroic Valdez is killed during the rescue of a couple of wayward
orphans (Wally Albright and Kathy Frye) but the discovery of oil saves the orphanage from bankruptcy. In addition to the hit title song, Gene Autry performs "You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven," "El Rancho Grande," and
"Robin Hood" while comic sidekick Smiley Burnette takes care of "My Orchestra's Driving Me Crazy."
April 24, 1939 Dan Frazer, a fiery-tempered but effective immigration officer stationed at the Mexican border, has earned the enmity of a smuggling ring, whose shipments of illegal aliens Dan has repeatedly stopped. Jack Scott, owner of a SERVICE PICTURE
Tijuana nightclub and a member of the gang, warns Dan to be transferred. After Dan refuses to be intimidated, Scott receives orders from his boss, known only as Lefty, to set a trap for Dan. Imitating Dan's nightclub-owner
friend, Nick Mendoza, to whom Dan owes money, Scott calls the station and demands that Dan settle the debt immediately. Dan sends new officer Kansas Nelson and realizes too late that it is a set-up. Dan rushes to the club,
where Kansas has been shot in the back by Lefty, and Kansas dies in Dan's arms. Dan determines that the killer was left-handed and is discharged after taking complete responsibility for Kansas' death. Helene, an entertainer in
Nick's club and Dan's girl friend, tries to persuade Dan to go to New York with her and get married, but Dan tells her that he must avenge Kansas' murder and help re-open Nick's club, which has been closed by Miguel, the
Mexican police chief. Dan discusses the problem with his friend, Jack Rogers, an influential Chamber of Commerce member and rancher, who advises him to forget the matter. Dissatisfied, Dan goes to Nick and the pair open a
gas station. Dan's plan is to pretend to be smuggling illegal aliens across the border, in the hopes of attracting Scott's gang. The plan soon works and Scott offers to take over Dan's operation, guaranteeing him a percentage of
the earnings as well as fraudulent citizenship papers for the immigrants in San Diego. Dan agrees to the deal, which entails collecting $500 from each man shipped, but insists on sending his own load through that night. Nick
supplies the money to Dan's men, and Dan follows the truck to a warehouse on the other side of the border. The next day, Dan intends to send five armed men in the shipment, but Nick does not have enough money to pay for
them, so Dan goes to Rogers. He explains to Rogers that he has located the mysterious Lefty's headquarters in the warehouse and can capture him that night. Rogers gives Dan the money, but after Dan leaves, reveals himself
to be Lefty when he orders Scott to place a time bomb in the truck with Dan's men. Scott does so, and also has Riley, a bouncer, guard Helene, who now works in his club. Scott inadvertently reveals that Rogers is behind the
plot against Dan, and Helene cleverly passes the message on to Shakespeare, one of Dan's former co-workers, by discussing the story of one of Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare and Helene escape and catch Dan after a
mad chase. The bomb explodes on time, but the truck's passengers are long gone and Dan alerts Miguel. Dan and the others go to Rogers' house, where Dan tricks Rogers into revealing that he is left-handed. Rogers
Forged Passport confesses to killing Kansas and is taken away by Miguel. Later, Nick's club re-opens and Dan and Helene sneak out together as Nick begins one of his long-winded stories.
September 20, 1939 Calling All Marines Gang members Blackie Cross and Snooker try to pick up Judy Fox and her friend Pat as they welcome home Judy's brother, Marine Sergeant Marvin Fox. Blackie's rudeness starts a brawl, which results in Marvin being thrown in the brig and SERVICE PICTURE
Blackie's arrest. Blackie is bailed out, then taken to the boss, Big Joe Kelly, who orders him to help in a deal involving foreign spies Murdock, Brill and Vogler. The spies want plans to the military's new aerial torpedo, and after Blackie bungles an
attempt to steal the plans directly from Colonel C. B. Vincent and Captain Chester, Kelly orders him to join the Marines. Blackie engineers the shanghaiing of new recruit John Gordon in order to steal his enlistment papers, because Blackie's police
record prevents him from enlisting under his own name. As the weeks pass, Blackie alienates the other Marines with his cynical attitude and hatred for authority. One night, Marvin catches Blackie as he is sneaking into the building where the top
secret torpedo plans are kept. Blackie punches Marvin, and Marvin agrees to fight Blackie later that night, even though as a higher ranking soldier, he will be severly punished if he is caught brawling with a private. The pair are indeed caught and
Marvin is demoted to corporal. Marvin does not tell Vincent the cause of the fight, however, and this selfless act shames Blackie, but Marvin refuses to accept his apology. Later, after being taunted by Snooker, who tells him that he is getting soft,
Blackie steals the plans and hides them in his rifle butt. The next day, while Blackie and Marvin are unloading a cargo ship, the ship catches fire and Blackie rescues Marvin, who is trapped below deck. His heroic act brings respect from the Marines,
and at a celebration party soon after, Blackie is touched by their new regard for him. The party is interrupted, however, when Blackie is taken away after Vincent learns the truth about his identity from the real Gordon. Blackie, unaware that he is
being arrested, has a change of heart and asks Marvin to burn the papers in his rifle. Unknown to Blackie, Marvin is also arrested as he retrieves the plans, and once Blackie learns of the conspiracy charges against him, he assumes that Marvin
squealed. Blackie is sprung from jail by Kelly, who blames him for Murdock's withdrawal from the deal. Kelly sends Blackie "for a ride," but Snooker saves him, then warns him that Murdock is planning to steal the torpedo itself. Blackie realizes he
has become a true Marine and sets about to help protect the torpedo, which is being tested that day. Murdock's gang starts a forest fire to distract the Marines and then attacks the soldiers who have been left as guards. After the gang succeeds in
stealing the truck containing the torpedo, Blackie sets the torpedo off, killing some of the gang, while the rest are captured. Blackie's heroics exonerate him and Marvin, and the grateful Marines help out Blackie when he is ambushed later by Gordon.
Blackie has also proven himself to Judy, who happily accepts his attentions.
August 14, 1939 In Old Monterey When the United States Army selects a piece of ranch land out West on which to build an air base, the local ranchers, led by Gabby Whittaker, refuse to sell their land to the government. To sway the ranchers, the government SERVICE PICTURE
dispatches Gene, an army attache who in civilian life was a rancher. Gene soon discovers that the ranchers' refusal to sell their land benefits borax mine magnate Stevenson, who wants more money than the government is
offering for his mine. To make sure that the ranchers will never sell their land to the army, Stevenson and his men embark upon a plan of sabotage that makes it appear that the army fliers are employing ruthless tactics to force
the ranchers into selling. Stevenson's covert agitation finally drives the ranchers to armed resistance when Gabby's nephew Jimmy is killed in an explosion. As the ranchers prepare to barricade the town, Gene rides to the
rescue with proof that Stevenson was responsible for the explosion and all the rest of the treachery. Incensed, the ranchers, led by Gene in an armored truck, ride to the borax mine, where they bring Stevenson and his gang to
justice.
October 13, 1939 Sabotage In this patriotic wartime drama set during WW II, a test plane crashes killing all aboard and causes the locals to accuse the aircraft engineer of being a traitor and sabotaging the plane. To prove his son's innocence, the SPY PICTURE
engineer's father looks into the crash and soon reveals the real spies. The justifiably angry patriarch then delivers a stern lecture to the community about making hasty judgments concerning a person's patriotism.
December 15, 1939 South of the Border South of the Border, a western directered by George Sherman, features two United States government agents (Gene Autry) and (Smiley Burnette) and their trip to Mexico, where they hope to stop German agents from forming a SPY PICTURE
revolution. This propagandist musical feature was released approximately two years before World War II, and marked the beginning of a successful career for Autry. Also included in South of the Border are actors Michael Carr,
Sheila Darcy, William Farnum, and Reed Howes.
June 6, 1940 Women in War HR news items add the following information about the production: Barry Trivers was signed to do a "dialog polish" for this film; the picture was to mark the screen debut of English radio actress Wela Davies, whose participation SERVICE PICTURE
in the completed film has not been confirmed; and Republic set a "minimum of $350,000" as the film's budget. HR production charts and DV news items include Gwen Gaze, Peter Cushing, Holmes Herbert , Estelle Ettere ,
Marjorie Benedict, Doris Stone, Anne Donoghue, Jean Murray and Betty Farrington in the cast, although their participation in the completed film has not been confirmed. A preproduction HR news item noted that the film was to
depict "a girl entertainer for the soldiers, a la the [Elsie] Janis tour in France in 1918." A NYT article written during the film's production noted that the fluctuating situations in "the European war has engendered all sorts of
confusion at Republic," and that the script had to be re-written to encompass the latest developments. Women in War marked the last film appearance of Elsie Janis, a famed American stage and screen performer and writer
who toured extensively during World War I and was proclaimed the "Sweetheart of the AEF." Her previous performance in a film was in the 1919 Selznick picture A Regular Girl (See AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.
3680). This was also the first film that actress Mae Clarke appeared in since the 1937 Columbia production Trouble in Morocco. Howard Lydecker and his crew, consisting of William Bradford, Ellis F. Thackery and Herbert
Norsch, were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects.

Cynical socialite Pamela Starr goes out with Captain Tedford to celebrate a British naval victory, but when Tedford takes liberties after seeing her home, she pushes him away, causing him to crash through the bannister at the
top of the stairs and fall to his death. Pamela is tried for manslaughter but is acquitted after her mother, Miss O'Neil, comes to England and instructs Pamela's lawyer, Gordon, to enlist Pamela in the auxillary nursing service unit
bound for the front lines in France. Pamela resents the trick but begins training as a nurse. She is unaware of her mother's involvement or that her mother, whom she has not seen since she was an infant, is O'Neil, the head
matron of the unit. The other girls in the unit, Gail Halliday, Ginger, Millie and Phyllis, are suspicious of Pamela because of the trial and her haughty attitude, and matters grow worse when Pamela is locked in a stateroom with
Gail's fiancé, Lieutenant Larry Hall, while their ship to France is being bombed. Soon after they arrive in France, Pamela and Larry meet again during an air raid. Gail's suspicions and accusations intensify despite Pamela's
assurances, and so Pamela vows that she will steal Larry. O'Neil tries to dissuade Pamela, but when she refuses to listen, O'Neil assigns her extra duties to toughen her, and time passes as Pamela works hard on her job and
on Larry. One night, Larry tells her that he loves her and wishes to break his engagement to Gail. Pamela replies that their relationship is only a flirtation, but Larry insists that she accept his RAF wings as he is going on a
dangerous patrol the next morning. Larry is shot down during his patrol and is taken to Pamela's hospital, where he recovers quickly and again asks for Pamela's love when she says goodbye before the unit is sent on a mission
to the front. Ginger overhears Pamela tell Larry that they are through and that he must return to Gail. Gail, however, misunderstands when she discovers that Pamela was with Larry, and later, when Gail, Pamela and Ginger are
in a truck enroute to the front, Gail lets Ginger out, then deliberately drives to a village under barrage. Ginger finds O'Neil and Frances, another matron, and they go to the village, where Pamela has dragged Gail to shelter in a
basement. Pamela lies to protect Gail, and after O'Neil saves her from being crushed by a falling beam, Pamela admits she has behaved awfully to them all. The barrage increases, and Ginger tells Gail that Pamela was not
trying to take Larry away from her. Gail runs outside, intent on getting through to their side and telling them to end the barrage, but she is hit. O'Neil stops Pamela from pursuing Gail, after which O'Neil goes to Gail's body, then
crosses through the front. While they wait in the basement, Frances tells Pamela that O'Neil is her mother. O'Neil is successful and the barrage ends. Soon after, Pamela visits O'Neil in the hospital, where the mother and
daughter are reconciled, and Pamela announces that she will tell Larry that she loves him.
April 17, 1941 Rookies on Parade Songwriters Duke Wilson and Cliff Dugan tend to lose all their earnings by gambling, and after being left repeatedly at the altar because of these debts, Duke's perpetual fiancée, chorus girl Lois Rogers, finally calls off the SERVICE PICTURE (CONSCRIPTION)
engagement. Soon after, the duo force their way in to audition for manager Augustus Moody and impress him with their ability to write songs for a musical play. Moody, at the urging of his luxury-loving girl friend, Marilyn Fenton,
convinces millionaire Bob Madison to put up money for the play, and when Bob auditions Lois on Cliff's recommendation, he is charmed by her talents. Just as prospects are looking sunny for Duke and Cliff, the Army drafts
them, along with Bob. Their new sergeant is Mike Brady, the formerly meek husband of their landlady, who now unleashes all his repressed hostility on his men. Lois and her friend, Kitty Mulloy, end up at the same camp as Cliff
and Duke, where they entertain the recruits, and Lois' disappointment with Duke grows as he vents his cynicism about the Army and Brady. She turns her attentions on Bob, making Duke jealous. Secretly, Duke makes a deal
with Moody to launch a show for the Army, which he will then turn over to Moody for a hefty profit. As the show progresses, however, Duke realizes what a morale-booster the effort is and, inspired by the words of the brigadier
general, he abandons his idea to sell the show to Moody. Lois overhears his change of heart and recognizes how much he has grown. The show is a huge success and soon after, both Lois and Duke and Kitty and Cliff are
reconciled.
November 10, 1941 The Devil Pays Off Late one night, former Navy lieutenant Chris Waring is roused from Gilhooey's flophouse by police and taken to Admiral Curtiss, his ex-commander. Curtiss tells Chris that he had recommended leniency when Chris was dismissed from the service SPY PICTURE
for a drunken escapade, then asks for his help with an undercover operation. Curtiss explains that shipping magnate Arnold DeBrock has been selling his ships to the United States government, but the vessels mysteriously wind up in the hands of
foreign powers. Hoping to employ Chris's well-known playboy tendencies, Curtiss asks him to get to DeBrock through his philandering wife Valerie. Chris declines, but when he sees a beautiful woman boarding a ship to Havana, the same one that
Valerie is to sail on, he changes his mind and pursues her. After a vigorous flirtation with the woman, Chris takes her to his cabin, where he is surprised to find Joan Millard, Curtiss' secretary. In response to Joan's assertion that she is Chris's wife, the
woman reveals that she is Valerie and leaves. Joan tells the stunned Chris that Curtiss sent her to help him, and the pair begin their investigation. Later, a castaway is brought aboard and Chris learns that he is Captain Jonathan Hunt, one of DeBrock's
captains who was put adrift by his crew when he refused to follow DeBrock's orders to put into a foreign port and relinquish his ship. Captain Brigham and the ship's doctor drug Hunt in an attempt to force him to give the orders to them, but Hunt
refuses. Chris rescues Hunt, and Brigham believes that a coffin he buries at sea contains Hunt's corpse. Meanwhile, Chris continues his flirtation with Valerie, which is reported to DeBrock by his right-hand man, Greb. Upon docking in Havana, Chris
and Joan check into their hotel, while DeBrock castigates Brigham for killing Hunt. Following DeBrock's orders, Greb murders Brigham to prevent him from talking. DeBrock then tries to reunite with Valerie by telling her that he will retire from
business soon and take her away to a secluded spot. Valerie, who does not love her husband, is distraught at the news and tells Chris that after an important meeting, DeBrock will be giving up his business. Soon after, Greb attempts to shoot Chris, for
DeBrock has learned his true purpose and wants him out of the way. During the pursuit of Greb, Chris learns that Carlos, a handyman, is actually part of the Cuban military intelligence assigned to protect him and investigate DeBrock. With Carlos
and Hunt standing by, Chris and Joan attend a farewell dinner given by DeBrock, during which DeBrock intends to signal Greb to kill Chris. DeBrock cannot give the signal, however, because he is shocked by the appearance of Hunt, whom he
believes is a ghost come to haunt him. Hunt then interrupts DeBrock's meeting with his cohorts just as he is about to order his ships to sail to foreign ports. Carlos comes in and arrests all the participants, and Chris forces DeBrock to order his vessels
to report to American ports. When Joan and Valerie rush in, DeBrock tries to get Chris's gun and falls out a window during the struggle. With the case solved, Chris and Joan prepare to sail back to America, and Joan is thrilled when Chris asks the
captain to marry them.
September 30, 1941 Sailors on Leave Navy sailors and ex-vaudevillians Swifty Hooper and Mike Haynes get their pal Chuck Stephens in hot water when they tell their shipmates that Chuck will inherit $25,000 if he marries before he is twenty-seven years old. Chuck, who believed SERVICE PICTURE
Swifty and Mike's tale about the inheritance, has borrowed lots of money against it and is furious when he finds out about their deception. When the ship docks in San Pedro, California, it is only four days before Chuck's birthday and his other
shipmates determine to find him a bride, even though he is a confirmed misogynist. Swifty, Mike and Chuck are forced to go along with their efforts because of the loans taken out against the supposed inheritance, but they secretly agree that Chuck
will refuse all of the women his friend suggest. Swifty and Mike learn that one of their former co-workers, Linda Hall, who hates sailors as much as Chuck hates women, is now employed at Aunt Navy's nightclub and they decide to introduce Chuck
to her. Realizing that Linda may be the way out of his dilemna, Chuck tells his friends that he will marry only her, while simultaneously repulsing her with his rude behavior. Linda is intrigued by Chuck's odd behavior, however, and deduces that it is
caused by an inferiority complex. One evening, Chuck's friends engineer a romantic date for Chuck and Linda, during which Chuck gives her a stolen bracelet unwittingly purchased by his dense friend Dugan. Worried that Linda is falling for Chuck,
Swifty and Mike dress up as the "ex-Mrs. Stephens" and Chuck's "aunt," but Linda sees through their disguises and jumps to the conclusion that Chuck is using them to propose to her. On their way back to the boat, Swifty and Mike run across another
of their old pals from vaudeville who is now using an "electro-magnetic" belt as a scam to sell a strengthening tonic. They borrow the belt and enter Mike in a wrestling match with Bonecrusher Blake in the hope that they can win enough bets to pay
off Chuck's debts. Although the belt does stun Bonecrusher at first, the referee discovers the device and Mike is disqualified. Meanwhile, Linda and Chuck learn that the bracelet is stolen, and, wanting to get out of their wedding, which will be held
that night at Aunt Navy's club, Chuck tells the police that Linda has the bracelet. Linda is arrested, but Chuck's scheme backfires when his shipmates parade a line of women before him and tell him to marry one of them or else. As the midnight
deadline approaches, Chuck realizes that he loves Linda and orders Swifty and Mike to bail her out. Chuck is nearly forced to marry Bessie the Blonde, but Linda arrives and they are married, although their final vows come after the deadline. While
Chuck is promising to somehow pay back his friends, an insurance agent arrives and gives him a $5,000 check for helping to retrieve the bracelet. Although Linda is at first furious when she realizes that Chuck was responsible for her arrest, he
quickly seals their marriage with a kiss.
October 4, 1941 King of the Texas Rangers SPY PICTURE, ANTI-NAZI