Navy Spy (1937) On DVD

Naval lieutenant Matthews is kidnapped by enemy spies seeking the formula for his revolutionary new military fuel. Federal agent Alan O'Conner is assigned the task of rescuing the scientist. Joining forces with beautiful reporter, Bobbie Reynolds, he follows the trail of clues to a tramp steamer leaving port with the captive scientist aboard. They manage to smuggle themselves aboard but will be hard-pressed to survive as they attempt to free the prisoner.

Conrad Nagel's long film career began in the silent era (Little Women, 1918), extended to the 1950s (All That Heaven Allows, 1955) and later into television through the 1960s. A founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927, Nagel received an honorary Academy Award for his work with the Motion Picture Relief Fund in 1940.

This B-budget outing from co-directors Crane Wilbur and Joseph H. Lewis served as a vehicle for now-forgotten 1930s star Conrad Nagel. At the outset of the story, foreign agents abduct a U.S. naval officer, Dr. Matthews (Phil Dunham) who holds a secret formula. Federal agent Alan O'Connor (Nagel) gets summoned and a transcontinental pursuit begins. O'Connor teams up with a comely reporter, Bobbie Reynolds (Eleanor Hunt), and the two smuggle their way aboard the tramp steamer that holds Matthews. Unfortunately, the boat has just left port, and the couple must not only rescue the scientist, but find a way to survive and return home safely.