JUNIOR G-MEN (1940) Billy Halop, Huntz Hall & Gabriel Dell | Action, Crime, Drama, War | B&W

Junior G-Men is a 1940 Universal film serial. It was Universal's 116th serial (and the 48th with sound) of their total of output of 137. The serial is one of the three serials starring "The Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys" who were under contract to Universal at the time. The plot of Junior G-Men is a pre-World War II G-Man story about fifth columnists in the United States, with the FBI joining forces with youth to save the country.

SYNOPSIS
A gang of street kids, led by Billy Barton, teams up with the FBI to rescue Billy's father, Colonel Robert Barton, a scientist who has been kidnapped by a terrorist group called "The Order of the Flaming Torch." This nefarious organization, led by the ruthless Brand, seeks to undermine the United States' social order by targeting prominent scientists involved in crucial military projects. Initially hesitant to cooperate with the authorities, Billy and his gang eventually join forces with the FBI and the "Junior G-Men," led by Harry Trent.

As the boys uncover the saboteurs' plans, they face numerous dangers, including a daring escape from captivity and a perilous flight to prevent the enemy from obtaining a new aerial torpedo. When Billy and Harry discover that the terrorists are holding the scientists in an old warehouse, they send out a desperate radio signal for help. FBI agents arrive just in time to save the day, rescuing the captives and foiling the terrorists' plot. Reunited with his father, Billy proudly becomes a full-fledged member of the Junior G-Men.

CAST & CREW
Billy Halop as Billy Barton
Huntz Hall as Gyp
Gabriel Dell as Terry
Bernard Punsly as Lug
Ken Lundy as Buck
Kenneth Howell as Harry Trent
Roger Daniels as Midge
Phillip Terry as Jim Bradford
Russell Hicks as Colonel Robert Barton
Cy Kendall as Brand
Ben Taggart as Captain Severn
Victor Zimmerman as Al Corey, a thug
Edgar Edwards as Henchman Evans
Gene Rizzi as Henchman Foster
Florence Halop as Mary

Directed by: Ford Beebe, John Rawlins
Screenplay by: George H. Plympton, Basil Dickey, Rex Taylor
Produced by: Henry MacRae
Starring: Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsly, Ken Lundy
Cinematography: Jerome Ash
Edited by: Saul A. Goodkind, Joseph Gluck, Louis Sackin, Alvin Todd
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release date: October 1, 1940
Running time: 240 minutes (12 chapters)
Country: United States
Language: English

NOTES
To bring the Junior G-Men to life on the big screen, Universal Studios enlisted the Dead End Kids, a group of on-screen young street toughs that later became known as The Bowery Boys. The Little Tough Guys were combined with the earlier group. The Dead End Kids appear above the title in two serials that were made: Junior G-Men (1940) and Junior G-Men of the Air (1942).

Reviewer Jerry Blake in his blog The Files of Jerry Blake described the film as both pro-typical and, at the same time, conventional as a "chapterplay", "Junior G-Men contains much more action than some of its Universal contemporaries; fistfights and chases figure prominently in most episodes, and give the serial a pleasantly fast-paced feel. Stuntmen Dave Sharpe (who doubles Billy Halop) and Ken Terrell inject plenty of energetic leaps and flips into the fistfights, while cinematographer Jerome Ash and directors Ford Beebe and John Rawlins film the chase sequences in fluid and exciting style."

Chapter titles
Enemies Within
The Blast of Doom
Human Dynamite
Blazing Danger
Trapped by Traitors
Traitors' Treachery
Flaming Death
Hurled Through Space
The Plunge of Peril
The Toll of Treason
Descending Doom
The Power of Patriotism