Search - Holt of the Secret Service on DVD

Jack Holt -- Toughest "Tough Guy" in the Serials!

Laughing Gravy | Sacramento, CA United States | 02/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Holt on to your hat

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 08/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.

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

GREAT OLD TIME TV SERIES , 15 EPISODES !

William A. Croce | 07/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

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