S.O.S. Coast Guard


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 attempting to sell a superweapon to the highest bidder, opposed by Coast Guard Lieutenant Terry Kent, 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.

Plot

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 and Zanzoid, Boroff attempts to acquire more of these materials to create more. 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

Main cast

S O S Coast Guard was budgeted at $107,217 although the final negative cost was $128,530. 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.
Director William Witney met his first wife, Maxine Doyle, while working on this serial.

Stunts

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

Release

Theatrical

SOS Coast Guard's official release date is 28 August 1937, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.
A 71-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together with some additional scenes shot during the serial's production, including a new shot featuring Bela Lugosi, was released on 16 April 1942. The new scenes involved a substantial plot alteration to feature a made-up chemical, called arnatite, as a deadly explosive in and of itself, and other dialogue to cover continuity gaps arising from the editing.

Chapter titles

  1. Disaster at Sea '
  2. Barrage of Death '
  3. The Gas Chamber '
  4. The Fatal Shaft '
  5. The Mystery Ship '
  6. Deadly Cargo '
  7. Undersea Terror '
  8. The Crash! '
  9. Wolves at Bay '
  10. The Acid Trail '
  11. The Sea Battle '
  12. The Deadly Circle '
Source:

Cliffhangers

  1. Disaster at Sea: Terry and Thorg fight on a Tramp steamer as it sinks.
  2. Barrage of Death: Terry is tied up aboard a boat as the Coast guard open fire unawares.
  3. The Gas Chamber: Terry and Snapper are trapped in a glass cabinet as the Disintegration Gas melts the room.
  4. The Fatal Shaft: A freight elevator crashes down onto Terry.
  5. The Mystery Ship: Whilst attempting to shut them down, Terry is caught in a boiler explosion.
  6. Deadly Cargo: A water tower, weakened by the Disintegration Gas, collapses on Terry.
  7. Undersea Terror: While fighting underwater, Thorg cuts through Terry's air line.
  8. The Crash!: The car carrying Terry, Jean and Snapper plunges down a steep slope after Boroff's henchmen shoot out a tyre.
  9. Wolves at Bay: Terry, Jean and Snapper are caught inside an exploding warehouse.
  10. The Acid Trail: When Terry attempts to rescue Dick Norman from a burning truck, the brake line melts and it plunges over a cliff into the sea.
  11. The Sea Battle: Terry is caught by Thorg and pulled into the water to drown.