SOS Coast Guard

Boroff, a munitions expert, has just perfected a disintegrating gas which he plans to sell to any nation that will meet his price. Despite being a wanted man across the world, Boroff smuggles himself aboard the SS Carfax to ship a load of arnotite to Morovania, who plans to use the disintegrating gas. The Carfax is wrecked at sea and is rescued by the Coast Guard led by Lieutenant Terry Kent. Boroff is recognized but manages to escape the Coast Guard, while killing Kent's younger brother Jim. Boroff disguises himself and plans to manufacture the disintegrating gas while evading the watch of Kent and the Coast Guard, who go piece clues together to find Boroff and stop the gas from being made, which also means battling Boroff's lobotomized, hulking servant Thorg. The serial had a great first two chapters and well done ending, but the middle part of the serial was very routine since all of the atmosphere, villainous characterizations, and action packed encounters seemed to be lessened. Richard Alexander must have had a great agent for getting him these memorable serial roles, since Thorg is among his best, where he evokes a lot of sympathy from the audience. Lugosi is fine here as well, but as I said before, he loses his evil touch as the serial progresses. Byrd is somewhat disappointing comparing this to his Dick Tracy roles since his reading of lines doesn't always sound too heroic. Doyle is cute, but no actress, and Ford is annoying as he was in Dick Tracy Returns. Rating, based on serials, 6.

This is a very intriguing serial - gets quite interesting. Fun - most definitely fun. All the characters, including the supporting ones, are good. Of course the best are our leading and rival men, Ralph Byrd as Lt. Terry Kent and Bela Lugosi as Boroff.

As you can easily guess this is mainly a sea adventure - one that takes a few surprise twists and turns - good cliff hangers - and a fun but far fetched story of disintegrating gas and mass destruction. Lt. Kent stays hot on the trail of Boroff so there is never a dull moment.

This one is good for a few giggles but is a refreshing change to see Lugosi outside of the horror genre that he is well known for. Recommended for Lugosi fans - he gets lots of screen time.

8/10

Movie serials are odd when seen today. After all, there are a lot of conventions of the films which were just accepted back in the 1920s-50s but today seem strange. The strangest is the division of the serial into (usually) 12-15 parts...one which was shown each week. This meant that a viewer needed to go to the theaters weekly to finish the series. Another odd thing about them is each episode ending on a cliff hanger...where the hero or another good guy or gal is about to die or even appears to die...only to be magically saved at the start of the next installment. Finally, the stories were LONG...3-5 hours! They also were never intended to be seen all at once like you can today...and if you watch all 3-5 hours at once, you'll surely notice how padded each episode is. Again...folks in the day just accepted all this and to enjoy them, you need to 'grade it on a curve'...comparing it to other serials instead of a typical movie.

"SOS Coast Guard" is a serial from Republic Pictures and the serial was later chopped to pieces and made into a normal movie-length film in 1942. I had an easy time finding the serial on YouTube...but not the shorter 1942 version.

This serial stars Ralph Byrd and Bela Lugosi. Byrd always played heroes in serials, such as in this one and the Dick Tracy serials. Lugosi always played baddies in serials...and this one is no exception. And, in such roles, Lugosi was exceptional.

Boroff (Lugosi) has created a formula which literally makes things disappear...making it a very dangerous weapon. While returning to Marovania with arnatite to make his formula, his ship sinks off the California coast and the Coast Guard and other authorities are trying to capture him before he uses the formula or gets the arnatite. But considering this occurs in episode one and there are many more, you know the guy won't be easy to stop! Plus, he's aided by his slave, Thorg, who does his bidding because Boroff did brain surgery on the big guy! Between them, the pair seem unstoppable.

I was surprised by the quality of this serial...as it seemed much better than usual. The scenes in the ships and along the coast looked real even though in many cases they used rear projection...which usually looks poor but not here. Also, Lugosi is very good and restrained playing the baddie...possibly too restrained actually. Overall, it's a bit better than usual for a serial. Enjoyable throughout.

When this serial was made, there was a moratorium on horror films, brought on by Joseph Breen of the Hays Office. Consequently, Boris Karloff did thrillers at Warner Bros. (but not really any horror films), and Lugosi did poverty row movies and serials. Of the latter, this one I think is his best, but his having the name "Boroff" plus his using a ship called the "Cairfax" (as in Cairfax Abbey, where Dracula stays in London) are obvious in-jokes, though I doubt they were of Lugosi's doing.

Typically exciting Republic serial, with Ralph Byrd, who went on to a career as Dick Tracy, in stalwart form with an unlimited supply of dress uniforms: in every chapter he's either dirtied, soaked, or blown up, but he always comes back conforming to regulations. Lugosi is evil scientist with a gas that disintegrates almost everything. Some great (and some laughable) special effects from the Lydecker brothers, gaining experience that would make them tops in the field in coming years.