PANAMA PATROL (1939) Leon Ames, Charlotte Wynters & Adrienne Ames | Action, Drama, Mystery | B&W

Panama Patrol is a 1939 American drama film. Directed by Charles Lamont, the film stars Leon Ames, Charlotte Wynters, and Adrienne Ames, it was released on May 20, 1939. The film was known during production by the working titles of Curio Cipher and Panama Cipher.

SYNOPSIS
The head of the cipher bureau, Phillip Waring, is about to marry his secretary, Helen Lane, when he is informed that the state department has discovered a message that must be decoded. With the information given, Waring and his assistant, Lieutenant Murdock, investigate, but their every move seems to be known to their alien adversaries. Helen discovers that Arlie Johnson, interpreter for the bureau, is the real leader of the spy ring, but before she can relay the information she falls into the hands of Johnson and his spy-ring henchmen.
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Major Phillip Waring, the head of the Cipher Bureau in Washington, D. C., is called away on the day of his wedding to secretary Helen Lane by an urgent request to decipher a diplomatic message intercepted from an international spy ring.

Waring and his assistant, Lieutenant Murdock, track down one of the spies, but he is shot before they are able to question him.

With the spy's death, their only clue is a letter written in Chinese, which they give to Bureau interpreter Artie Johnson to decipher. Unknown to Waring, Johnson is the clandestine leader of the spy ring, and the interpreter gives Waring information that leads him into a trap at the Maing curio shop.

When Waring fails to return from his mission, Murdock goes to the shop and rescues him. While at the shop, Waring discovers another letter, and when asked to interpret it, Johnson cleverly changes one of the letters in the code by means of a blotter.

Johnson's information sends Waring and Murdock to California on a wild goose chase. In their absence, however, Helen finds Johnson's blotter and realizes that he is involved in the spy ring. While confronting Johnson at his house, Helen is taken captive by the ring.

Meanwhile, Waring realizes that his mission is a frame-up, and returns to Washington to discover Helen's peril. Arriving at Johnson's house just after the spies have left with Helen, Waring discovers the final part of the code, which reveals the spy's plan to impede traffic traveling through the Panama Canal.

CAST & CREW
Leon Ames as Major Phillip Waring
Charlotte Wynters as Helen Lane
Adrienne Ames as Lia Maing
Weldon Heyburn as Lt. Murdock
Abner Biberman as Artie Johnson
Sidney Miller as Jimmy
Jack Smart as Eli Maing
Donald Barry as Lt. Loring
Hugh McArthur as Lt. Everett
William Von Brincken as Marlin

Directed by Charles Lamont
Written by Arthur Hoerl
Produced by Charles Lamont
Cinematography Arthur Martinelli
Edited by Bernard Loftus
Music by David Chudnow
Production company Fine Arts Pictures
Distributed by Grand National Films
Release date May 20, 1939
Running time 67 minutes
Country United States
Language English