Special Inspector
Cast & Crew
Leon Barsha
Charles Quigley
Rita Hayworth
George Mckay
Edgar Williams
John Spacey
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Assigned to track down a gang that hijacks Canadian fur shipments and smuggles them across the border to San Francisco, customs agent Tom Evans goes undercover and gets a job as a truck driver at the Arctic Fur Company, a firm that has been victimized by the hijackers. On the first night of his job, Tom and the driver showing him the ropes meet Patricia Lane, a hitchhiker at the truck stop, and they offer her a ride. As they drive, Tom's truck is stopped by Silver and Dapper, two of the hijackers, and Pat escapes and disappears into the woods. Dapper and Silver drive off in the truck, leaving Tom and the other driver tied up along the road. Pat reports the robbery to the police, who search the highway and arrest the two truck drivers. After discovering that Tom is an undercover agent, the police release him, and he meets Pat, who is waiting for him near the fur company warehouse. The authorities inform David Foster, the manager of the company, of the robbery and tell him that Tom is a government agent working undercover. Unknown to the authorities, Foster is second in command of the hijackers, and upon learning that a government agent is on the payroll, he orders Silver and Dapper to cancel the next hijacking. Certain that another robbery is imminent, Tom warns the police to watch the border, where they stop Skip, one of the drivers, for questioning. After Tom accuses Skip of being involved with the murder of one of the drivers, Skip's mother confesses that she and her son were forced to allow Dapper and Silver to operate from their trailer camp. Meanwhile, Pat begins her own investigation and is led to the camp, where she is taken prisoner by Silver and Dapper. After learning that Pat's brother was one of the murdered drivers, Dapper and Silver decide to defy Foster's orders and hold up Tom's truck and then skip town. At gunpoint, the pair force Tom to drive to a warehouse, but when they reach their destination, Foster appears and threatens to kill them for their betrayal. At that moment, L.L. Williams, the San Francisco mastermind of the ring, appears. Tom uses the ensuing confusion to seize a gun and arrest the gang members.
Director
Leon Barsha
Cast
Charles Quigley
Rita Hayworth
George Mckay
Edgar Williams
John Spacey
Eddie Laughton
Bob Rideout
Grant Macdonald
Bill Irving
Vivian Coomb
Fred Bass
Vincent Mckenna
Don Douglas
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this picture was The Devil in Ermine. According to modern sources, the film was first released in the United Kingdom in 1938 by Columbia as Across the Border. This was Rita Hayworth's first role for Central Films. She went on to shoot Convicted with the company in 1938 before it folded. Modern sources list the following additional crew members: Columbia supv Jack Fier, Art Director Lionel Banks, Music Director Morris Stoloff and Sound Garry Harris. Modern sources also add the following actors to the cast: Reginald Hincks (Canadian customs man); Michael Heppell (Mike); James McGrath (Cafe proprietor); Arthur Kerr (Trent); Doreen MacGregor (Daisy); Patrick Wormold (Man in Foster's office).
