THE BLACK WATCH (1929)
The Black Watch is a 1929 American Pre-Code adventure epic film directed by John Ford and starring Victor McLaglen, Myrna Loy, and David Torrence. Written by James Kevin McGuinness based on the 1916 novel King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy, the film is about a captain in the British Army's Black Watch regiment assigned to a secret mission in India just as his company is called to France at the outbreak of war. His covert assignment results in his being considered a coward by his fellows, a suspicion confirmed when he becomes involved in a drunken brawl in India that results in the apparent death of another officer. The film features an uncredited 21-year-old John Wayne working as an extra; he also worked in the arts and costume department for the film.[1] This was director John Ford's first sound film.
Cast
Victor McLaglen as Capt. Donald Gordon King
Myrna Loy as Yasmani
David Torrence as Field Marshal
David Rollins as Lt. Malcolm King
Cyril Chadwick as Maj. Twynes
Lumsden Hare as Colonel of the Black Watch
Roy D'Arcy as Rewa Ghunga
David Percy as Soloist, Black Watch Officer
Mitchell Lewis as Mohammed Khan
Claude King as General in India
Walter Long as Harrim Bey
Francis Ford as Maj. MacGregor
Frederick Sullivan as General's Aide
Richard Travers as Adjutant
Pat Somerset as O'Connor, Black Watch Officer
Joseph Diskay as Muezzin
Joyzelle Joyner as Dancer
Gregory Gaye as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)
Mary Gordon as Sandy's Wife (uncredited)
Bob Kortman as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)
Tom London as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)
Jack Pennick as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)
Randolph Scott as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)
Phillips Smalley as the Doctor (uncredited)
Lupita Tovar in a Bit Part (uncredited)
John Wayne as a 42nd Highlander (uncredited)[2]
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THE SECRET CODE (1942)--a colorized 15 chapter serial in one video
This serial introduces the World War II scenario when a masked hero tries to prevent Nazi agents from crippling the U.S.'s war effort. The spy ring is led by fifth columnist Jensen, who, with his lieutenant Rudy Thyssen and a network of Nazi saboteurs, is trying to get possession of a top-secret formula the United States had developed for manufacturing synthetic rubber while creating explosive gases and radio-controlled bombs to sabotage the exhausting war effort. Police Lieutenant Dan Barton stages a public dismissal from the police department in order to join the saboteurs ring and learn the secret code they have been using. To further assist his efforts (especially after his superior, the only person to know that Barton is working undercover, is murdered), Barton assumes the secret identity of the Black Commando, a masked man who is wanted both by the villains (who want the secret formula they think he has) and police (who are also searching for Barton for murder). Finally, Barton steals the formula and is captured by Thyssen and put under the protection of the sabotage ring. Joining the gang, he learns of their plans, which he immediately leaks to his best friend and former partner Pat Flanagan (and through Flanagan to reporter girlfriend Jean Ashley) and, as "The Black Commando", continually frustrates the Nazi plots. After innumerable dangers and lost efforts in trying to decipher the enemy's secret codes, Barton and Flanagan discover the key to the Nazi code, capture the Nazi ring and make sure that the Nazi U-boat which has been waiting to help the Nazis escape is depth-bombed and destroyed.
At the end of each episode, the audience is given a short lecture on solving complex secret messages.
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