Several years before James Bond became the quintessential secret agent hero, there was Brass Bancroft, a lesser-known character who headlined a series of four spy movies called Secret Service. Perhaps surprisingly, all of them had none other than Ronald Reagan in the starring role. All four of them were produced and released within a two-year span.
Ahead of his climb into American politics, Ronald Reagan enjoyed a prolific movie career in Hollywood. Although far from one of the industry’s top stars, Reagan was often utilized as a leading actor, starring in films like Bedtime for Bonzo and Kings Row. Reagan also helped leave a mark in Hollywood through the supporting roles he held in the films of much bigger stars, such as Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, and Dick Powell. It was during this stage in his career that Reagan starred in Secret Service of the Air, a lesser-known spy film that spawned three sequels.
What Ronald Reagan’s Secret Service Movies Were About
Ronald Reagan Played Brass Bancroft 4 Times Between 1939 And 1940
The Secret Service movies centered on the undercover activities of Reagan’s Brass Bancroft, a United States Secret Service agent who would embark on important missions for the government. Each movie in the series paired Reagan with Eddie Foy, Jr., who played Gabby Watters, an associate of Bancroft and a de-facto sidekick to Bancroft. Aside from Reagan and Foy, all of the Secret Service movies came complete with their own casts, with Brass Bancroft inexplicably getting a new love interest in every installment. Every story was a standalone adventure, with none of its plotlines carrying over to the next movie.
The first in the series, titled Secret Service of the Air, saw Bancroft use his piloting skills to work his way into a smuggling ring that uses airplanes to illegally bring Mexicans across the United States’ southern border. The sequel, Code of the Secret Service, saw Bancroft infiltrate a counterfeiting ring and incidentally wind up in prison as a result. The next entry, Smashing the Money Ring, also featured a counterfeiting ring and Bancroft spending time in prison, but this time, his incarceration was part of a plot to take down the villains.
The fourth and final film in the Secret Service series was Murder in the Air. This time around, Bancroft had to assume the identity of a dead spy in order to figure out what he was involved in and what caused his death. His efforts led him to the Inertia Projector, an experimental high-tech device that can disrupt other forms of technology, much like a modern-day EMP. Similar to the first movie, it ends in an epic airplane chase sequence.
Why Ronald Reagan’s Secret Service Movies Became A Franchise
Warner Bros. Wanted To Turn One Of Its Contracted Actors, Ronald Reagan, Into A Star
Considering the era, it was admittedly not unheard of, but still rare compared to modern-day cinema, for a movie to receive multiple sequels. Some did receive follow-ups, but unlike popular hits like King Kong and Frankenstein, the situation with Secret Service was a bit different. Warner Bros. fast-tracked the Brass Bancroft movies, not even waiting to see how they’d perform at the box office. Just two months after Secret Service of the Air hit theaters in March 1939, Warner Bros. released Code of the Secret Service. Reagan had already played Bancroft three times by the end of this year, with his last outing as the character coming in June 1940.
While packing four films of the same series into such a short timeframe may seem surprising, it’s important to note that none were particularly complex to shoot. All of them were fairly low-budget productions with approximately one-hour runtimes, meaning that they likely didn’t take much time or studio resources to film. This made the four films an easy way for Warner Bros. to boost the profile of Reagan, regarded as one of the studio’s young and upcoming stars at the time (via Turner Classic Movies.)
In addition to serving as vehicles for Reagan, the Secret Service movies helped fill a second purpose. Among the studio’s most successful films in the 1930s were gangster movies, with ther work of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson contributing a lot to its revenue. Unfortunately for Warner Bros., this approach was not welcomed by numerous politicians, who deemed Warner Bros.’ interest in gangster movies as problematic. Warner Bros. countered that criticism by releasing a string of patriotic movies that made government and military figures the heroes, with the Secret Service films fitting neatly into that strategy.
Despite Heavy Criticism, Ronald Reagan’s Secret Service Movies Are Worth Watching
Ronald Reagan Didn’t Want The Second Movie To Be Released
Their initial critical reception alone don’t paint a favorable picture of the spy movies. Most didn’t go over well with critics, with the consensus being that the Secret Service movies didn’t offer much in the way of a compelling storyline, riveting acting, or anything else that was particularly memorable. The second film, Code of the Secret Service, was particularly disliked, with critics ruthlessly disparaging the film in reviews. Even Reagan himself has expressed dissatisfaction with the finished product. Reagan reportedly once said of the film, “never has an egg of such dimensions been laid.” (via Turner Classic Movies.)
On the whole, the series had its merits.
Code of the Secret Service
not withstanding, Ronald Reagan’s turns as Brass Bancroft are certainly worth watching.
At the heart of the problems were a lack of believability to the stories and uninspiring dialogue. This was a recurring issue for the franchise, but seemed even more prominent with the second installment. But on the whole, the series had its merits. Code of the Secret Service not withstanding, Ronald Reagan’s turns as Brass Bancroft are certainly worth watching. He was entertaining during his short time as an action star, doing his own stunts and delivering a charismatic performance as the character.
What helped the Secret Service movies was the undercover element of the stories; watching Bancroft befriend criminals while keeping his real motives a secret certainly had some entertainment value, given that movies like it weren’t exactly common. And while occasionally predictable, the mysteries could be interesting at times. And since they were made to be short adventure stories, it wasn’t necessary for the Secret Service movies to be so deep that they kept audiences engaged for long periods of time. They could, however, provide an hour of enjoyable action and a few light-hearted moments.
