Secret Agent X-9 (1937 serial)

Secret Agent X-9 (1937) is a Universal film serial based on the comic strip Secret Agent X-9 by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond.

Secret Agent X-9
Directed by	Ford Beebe Clifford Smith
Written by	Charles Flanders [fr] Wyndham Gittens Norman S. Hall Leslie Swabacker Ray Trampe Dashiell Hammett (comic strip)
Produced by	Ben Koenig Barney A. Sarecky Henry MacRae
Starring	Scott Kolk Jean Rogers David Oliver Monte Blue Henry Brandon
Cinematography	Richard Fryer Jerome Ash
Edited by	Saul A. Goodkind Leete Renick Brown Joseph Gluck Louis Sackin Alvin Todd
Music by	Clifford Vaughan
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	April 12, 1937 (1937-04-12)
Running time	12 chapters (232 minutes)
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

G-Men learn that "Victor Brenda", a notorious jewel thief, is heading for the US, to steal the Belgravian crown jewels currently on exhibit. The jewels are placed on a ship bound for Belgravia. However, the guard is murdered and the treasures are stolen. Agent Dexter, alias Agent X-9, trails Blackstone, one of the gang members, who hides the jewels in a safe deposit vault of a bank. He takes the bank receipt to an art shop, where Marker, a paid accomplice, conceals it between an oil painting and its frame. Dexter arrests Blackstone and pursues Marker with the full intention of unmasking Brenda.

Cast

• Scott Kolk as Agent Dexter (X-9)
• Jean Rogers as Shara Graustark
• Henry Brandon as Blackstone/Victor T. Brenda
• David Oliver as Pidge
• Monte Blue as Baron Michael Karsten
• Lon Chaney Jr. as Maroni, primary henchman
• Ben Hewlett as Scarlett, primary henchman
• Larry J. Blake as Chief FBI Agent Wheeler
• Henry Hunter as FBI Agent Tommy Dawson (C-5)
• George Shelley as Packard, a henchman
• Lynn Gilbert as Rose, gun moll
• Robert Dalton as Thurston
• Leonard Lord as Ransom, dissident henchman
• Bob Kortman as "Trader" Delaney
• Eddy Waller as Lawyer Carp
• Si Jenks as "Jolly Roger", ticket barker

Production

Secret Agent X-9 was based on the comic strip by Dashiell Hammett (writer) and Alex Raymond (artist).

Stunts

• George Magrill
• Eddie Parker doubling Scott Kolk
• Tom Steele doubling Henry Brandon & Jack Cheatham

Chapter titles

1. Modern Pirates
2. The Ray That Blinds
3. The Man of Many Faces
4. The Listening Shadow
5. False Fires
6. The Dragnet
7. Sealed Lips
8. Exhibit A
9. The Masquerader
10. The Forced Lie
11. The Enemy Camp
12. Crime Does Not Pay

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