Code of Silence
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mel Welles
Terry Becker
Elisa Loti
Bruno Vesota
Michael De Carlo
Victoria King
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After Mike Story, a former member of a crime syndicate, publishes a series of fictionalized articles detailing how the syndicate operates, he attracts the attention of the mob's leaders, as well as the U.S. Senate's Rackets Committee, and is traced to a small fishing village in Mexico. Years earlier, when Mike first moved there, he adopted two orphans, Pepe and his sister Maria, who has become a beautiful young woman. Pepe has been getting into fights in the village over gossip about Mike's perceived relationship with Maria. That situation is resolved, however, when Mike and Maria realize that they are in love and tell Pepe that they intend to get married. Meanwhile, north of the border, two very different factions are organizing to disrupt Mike's peaceful existence. The syndicate's boss, Max Franchel, sends two gunmen to silence Mike, then sets sail on his yacht to meet them, accompanied by his mistress Audrey. Meanwhile, at FBI headquarters, agent Paul Lane is certain that Mike could supply enough factual information to help the government break the syndicate and flies to Mexico to enlist his cooperation. When Paul locates Mike, however, Mike states that he has no intention of testifying for the government and refuses to return with Paul. Upon his arrival, Franchel fails in an attempt to buy Mike's silence then orders his two gunmen to eliminate him. The once serene village is terrorized as the killers search for Mike. When Pepe collects mail from a post office box, the killers follow him and beat him in order to discover where Mike is hiding. Pepe tries to escape, but the gunmen kill him. Distraught by the news of Pepe's death, Mike seeks revenge and, with Paul's help, pursues Franchel's men, eventually killing one of them and witnessing the other being eaten by sharks as he attempts to escape in the bay. Franchel, who abhors seeing violence, runs from the village. The trouble and grief he has experienced cause Mike to realize his responsibility to society and he agrees to testify in the U.S., although it may mean his own imprisonment. Whatever happens, however, Mike vows to return someday to Maria.
Director
Mel Welles
Cast
Terry Becker
Elisa Loti
Bruno Vesota
Michael De Carlo
Victoria King
Mel Welles
Gary Judis
Ed Nelson
José Torvay
Crew
Ian Adomian
Allan Adrian
Jaime Contreras
Luis Fernández
James L. Fields
Frank Fox
Berj Hagopian
Frank Kowalski
José Ortiz Ramos
Alex Pierce
José Rodríguez Granada
Galdino Samperio
Alfonso Sánchez Tello
Carlos Savage
Burt Schoenberg
Norman Toback
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
As a print of this film could not be located, the credits and summary above were derived from information in the film's file in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library. The completed film was approved by the PCA in January 1958 under its working title, Killer's Cage, which also served as its release title in Great Britain and on television. A August 23, 1957 Hollywood Reporter production chart adds Hy Anzelo to the cast, and a August 16, 1957 Hollywood Reporter news item adds Marc Lambert to the cast, but their appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
According to studio publicity materials, Code of Silence was based on a true story, which was also recounted in a series in Life magazine. In addition to studio work at Mexico City's Estudios Churubusco, location shooting took place in Acapulco, Mexico City and Baja California, Mexico. The film May have been the only theatrical release of Ararat Productions, the company owned by Berj Hagopian.
