S.O.S. COAST GUARD (1937) Ralph Byrd, Bela Lugosi & Maxine Doyle | Adventure, Romance | B&W

S O S Coast Guard is a 1937 Republic film serial. It was the seventh of the sixty-six serials made by Republic. The plot concerns the mad scientist Boroff (Bela Lugosi) attempting to sell a superweapon to the highest bidder, opposed by Coast Guard Lieutenant Terry Kent (Ralph Byrd), for both personal and professional reasons.

The main stars were Bela Lugosi and Ralph Byrd. It was made during the 2-year period when the Hayes Office put a moratorium on horror movies, Lugosi's usual genre, and in the midst of Byrd's notoriety for the highly popular Dick Tracy serials.

SYNOPSIS
A mad scientist tries to sell his formula for a dist integrating gas to foreign powers.

Boroff is a mad scientist who has invented a "disintegrator gas" and plans to smuggle it to his buyers in Morovania. When his ship, the Carfax, gets stranded on outlying rocks in the first chapter, the Coast Guard comes to rescue him. Recognized by the reporters, Jean and Snapper, Boroff runs and kills the pursuing Coast Guard Ensign Jim Kent, who turns to be Lt. Terry Kent's brother.

As the gas is made from the rare substances Arnatite (which is radioactive) and Zanzoid, Boroff attempts to acquire more of these materials to create more (including salvaging supplies of arnatite from the sunken Carfax). Hot on his heels are the Coast Guard, led by Lt. Kent, and the two reporters, with the expert aid of Jean's chemist brother, Dick.

Eventually Terry finds, and leads a squad against, Boroff's cave-based hideout, with disintegrator gas bombs exploding around them.

CAST & CREW
Ralph Byrd as Terry Kent, Coast guard lieutenant
Bela Lugosi as Boroff, mad scientist
Maxine Doyle as Jean Norman
Richard Alexander as Thorg
Lee Ford as Snapper McGree
Herbert Rawlinson as Boyle, Coast guard commander
John Picorri as G. A. Rackerby
Lawrence Grant as Rabinisi
Thomas Carr as Jim Kent,
Carleton Young as Dodds
Allen Connor as Dick Norman
George Chesebro as L.H. DeGado
Ranny Weeks as Wies

Directed by Alan James, William Witney
Written by Franklin Adreon, Morgan Cox, Ronald Davidson, Edward Lynn, Winston Miller, Lester Scott, Barry Shipman
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Cinematography William Nobles
Edited by Helene Turner, Edward Todd
Music by Raoul Kraushaar
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates August 28, 1937 (U.S. serial)
April 16, 1942 (U.S. feature)
Running time 12 chapters (224 minutes) (serial), 71 minutes (feature)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $107,217 (negative cost: $128,530)

NOTES
The name Boroff is very similar, and possibly based on, that of Bela Lugosi's rival, Boris Karloff. Maxine Doyle later married the director William Witney after meeting him for the first time during production of this serial.

S O S Coast Guard was budgeted at $107,217 although the final negative cost was $128,530 (a $21,313, or 19.9%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1937 and the most expensive of all Republic serials until the release of The Lone Ranger in 1938. It was filmed between 10 June and 15 July 1937. The serial's production number was 422.

The serial's special effects were created by Jack Coyle and the Lydecker brothers.

Chapter titles
Disaster at Sea
Barrage of Death
The Gas Chamber
The Fatal Shaft
The Mystery Ship
Deadly Cargo
Undersea Terror
The Crash!
Wolves at Bay
The Acid Trail
The Sea Battle
The Deadly Circle