Red Barry (1938)

A famous detective sets out to discover who stole $2 million in bonds.

Directors:

Ford Beebe, Alan James

Writers:

Norman S. Hall (original screenplay), Ray Trampe (original screenplay),

Stars:

Buster Crabbe, Frances Robinson, Edna Sedgewick

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Buster Crabbe	...	Red Barry (as Larry 'Buster' Crabbe)
Frances Robinson	...	Mississippi
Edna Sedgewick	...	Natacha
Cyril Delevanti	...	Wing Fu (as Syril Delevanti)
Frank Lackteen	...	Quong Lee
Wade Boteler	...	Insp. Scott
Hugh Huntley	...	Valentine Vane
Philip Ahn	...	Hong Kong Cholly
William Ruhl	...	C.E. Mannix
William Gould	...	Commissioner Tom
Wheeler Oakman	...	Weaver
Stanley Price	...	Petrov
Earl Douglas	...	Igor (as Earle Douglas)
Charles Stevens	...	Capt. Moy
Eric Wilton	...	Tubbs, Vane's Butler

Storyline

"Red Barry" was the 40th sound-era serial produced by Universal Pictures (followed "Flaming Frontiers" and preceded "Scouts To the Rescue"), and was based in the Will Gould comic strip distributed to newspapers by King Features Syndicated, Inc. It was the third of five serials from Universal starring Buster Crabbe, and while the plot only revolves around two million dollars in bonds and soon evolves into a game of "Bonds, Bonds, Who Has the Bonds?", it has so many groups, and their armies of henchmen, acquiring and re-acquiring the bonds that, in a chapter or two, the people who have the bonds don't appear to know they are the current holders. Wing Fu, brings the bonds to the USA to buy war planes for an unnamed county, and quickly loses them to Quong Lee, a Eurasian underworld chief, but they are re-taken in chapter two by Red Barry. Ballet dancer Natacha, representing a ruthless group of Russians, acquires them in chapter three, but Barry gets them back in chapter four. Hong Kong ...

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Plot Keywords:

bonds | serial | russian | trunk | ballet dancer | 

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Taglines:

That's Ace Detective Red Barry...hero of your favorite newspaper serial! He'll yank you from your seats with his death-defying daring!

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Genres:

Action

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Barreira Vermelha

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

256 min 256 min (13 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chapter Titles:

• 1. Millions For Defense
• 2. The Curtain Falls
• 3. The Decoy
• 4. High Stakes
• 5. Desperate Chances
• 6. The Human Target
• 7. Midnight Tragedy
• 8. The Devil's Disguise
• 9. Between Two Fires
• 10.The False Trail
• 11.Heavy Odds
• 12.The Enemy Within
• 13.Mission For Mercy

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Quotes

Commissioner: What do you mean, writing tripe like this about Red Barry?
Mississippi: Did y'all say "Tripe"?
Commissioner: Yes, I said "Tripe"!
Mississippi: Oh. That's what I thought you said.

User Reviews

An Overlooked Serial Gem

Lost in the shuffle between Flash Gordon and Busk Rogers, Buster Crabbe's only mystery serial is an unfairly neglected serial romp made during Universal's hey day. Based on William Gould's comic strip about a San Francisco police detective stationed in Chinatown, Crabbe plays the title character on the trail of stolen bonds needed for Chinese War Relief. Also after the bonds are Tong Warlord Quong Lee (Frank Lackteen), exiled Russian Countess Natacha (Edna Sedgewick)who feels they are her rightful property, and dilettante detective Valentine Vane (Hugh Huntley)who just wants to show up the cheerfully dogged police detective. The serial is an action packed, thrill ride filled with fist fights, shoot outs and car chases. The first eight chapters are the best with Crabbe constantly matching wits with Lackteen and besting Huntley at every turn, but then it takes a serious misstep in Chapter Eight when it is revealed that Lackteen is really a disguise for another character and Lackteen disappears while the rest of the serial is a repetitive back and forth between the characters as first one gets the bonds, loses them to someone else, only to recover them and lose them again in the next chapter. Still and all an enjoyable film to watch on a lazy summer day off.