Red Barry

VCI REALLY GOT THIS ONE RIGHT. A NICE RE-MASTERED COPY OF THIS SERIAL IS WHAT COLLECTOR'S WERE LOOKING FOR,FOR YEARS MANY COLLECTORS WERE WATCHING A VERY GRAINY COPY THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD WATCH IT.IT'S NICE TO SEE BUSTER CRABBE IN A SUIT CHASING AFTER CRIMINALS INSTEAD OF FLYING AROUND ON A SPACESHIP,NOT THAT I DON'T LIKE HIM DOING THAT ALSO. THIS IS A ACTOR WHO TOOK HIS WORK SERIOUS,NOT THE GREATEST OF ACTORS BUT WHAT HE DID HE DID IT RIGHT.IF YOU PURCHASE THIS SERIAL YOU WILL GET A EXCELLENT PRINT THAT IS MUCH MORE FUN TO WATCH. THIS SERIAL ALSO CO-STARS FRANCES ROBINSON WHO WAS ALSO IN A RE-MASTED SERIAL TIM TYLER'S LUCK SHE WAS A UNIVERSAL CONTRACT PLAYER WHO ALSO CAN BE SEEN IN TOWER OF LONDON (UNIVERSAL 1939).THE ARTWORK ON THE BOX AND THE INSIDE ARE EXCELLENT. BEING A COLLECTOR OF SERIALS SINCE THE VHS CAME TO BE I'M PROUD TO ADD THIS TO MY COLLECTION.

"Red Barry" is a 13-chapter serial from Universal released in 1938, starring Larry "Buster" Crabbe and directed by Ford Beebe and Alan James, based on a newspaper comic strip by Will Gould that was one of several intended to compete with "Dick Tracy." Universal's effort was likely "inspired" by Republic's serials based on the better-known strip.The plot involves two million dollars in bonds, supplied by Russia to an unnamed country under siege and entrusted to an oriental importer, Wing Fu (Syril Delevanti) to be taken to the United States for the purchase of airplanes. Back in the U.S., "crack police agent" Red Barry is investigating a series of murders taking place in Chinatown. Wing Fu feels that while Red Barry could be a useful ally, he could also be a problem, because the purchase of warplanes is in violation of the United States' neutrality in the conflict. But there are other people after the bonds; underworld chieftain Quong Lee (Frank Lackteen), and a Russian dancer named Natacha (Edna Sedgwick) who claims the money is rightfully hers. Red Barry has problems of his own with the Police Commissioner (William Gould) who takes him off the Chinatown Murders in favor of bumbling British "scientific detective" Valentine Vane (Hugh Huntley). But with the help of his boss, Inspector Scott (Wade Boteler) and female newspaper reporter Mississippi (Frances Robinson) Red Barry continues his investigation of both the murders and the stolen bonds.The story has a complicated bunch of characters, of more depth than usual for serial movies. There is no clear division between "good guys" and "bad guys" since those after the bonds are all operating outside the law, to varying degrees, and each employs some thugs to further their efforts. It is unfortunate that the writers didn't lavish as much attention on the basic plot mover; pursuit of the bonds gets old in a hurry, and some of the plot twists don't make a lot of sense. The confusion as to who has the bonds extends to the written "recap" titles at the beginning of the chapters which are occasionally wrong. The cliffhangers are not elaborate, and sometimes uninspired; two chapters in a row have Red Barry dropped through the same trap door, though it is supposed to be in different locations. And dumping Buster Crabbe in the harbor is not likely to help the evildoers any more than releasing the lions did in Clyde Beatty's serials. But by serial movie standards the acting is good; special mention should be made of Philip Ahn as "Hong Kong Cholly," a friend of Red Barry who has to work against him at times. The action is fairly lively, with only short sections of padding, mostly by means of the performances in a Vaudeville theatre. It holds interest best if watched one chapter at a time, making the struggle for possession of the bonds seem less redundant.VCI's edition on DVD, # 8585 is supplied on two discs, with a pamphlet having background information on the comic strip and the serial. The transfer is a remarkably good, sharp and clear, to the point where significant difference can be seen between the material created for the serial and the many pieces of "stock" footage. A few "frozen frames" are seen in a couple chapters possibly to cover film damage, but the overall picture quality is impressive, much cleaner than the earlier edition on VHS. The titles are rock steady and quite clean. But all chapters have the same MPPDA Certificate number, 4292; in 1938 individual numbers were assigned to each chapter, as they were in the VHS edition with a couple exceptions. Still, the editing has title pictures of the main characters only on the first three chapters, standard at the time for Universal serials, and the sound appears to be the original for each of them. The sound is fairly good, though some distortion is present, noticed especially in the title music of some of the chapters, but it never gets bad enough to be a problem during the dialogue.So a good serial, if not a really great one, with many well-known character actors and a plot that is complex enough to maintain interest, and the price for two discs with excellent transfer quality is a bargain.Note that while my review appears under more than one edition, it was for the DVD, which as noted has a LOT cleaner picture, and crisper sound than VCI's old one on VHS.

For me Buster Crabbe is just plain cool. This serial is evidence of that. It's action oriented and just plain fun. It's hard to watch just one episode. This is not academy award winning stuff but like I said it was made for fun entertainment. The cliff-hangers are crazy at times but they do keep you going to the next episode to find out what happens. Best of all. I love Fedora hats and this serial is full of them (Icing on the cake). This serial was made in 1938. So there are also lots of cool old cars as well.

I find serials great fun and collect almost all of them. This Serial is like most of the era, with good guys and bad but Buster Crabbe makes it easy to stay interested and worth viewing. Mostly I wanted to tell prospective buyers this is a TWO disc set, not ONE. In case it makes a difference to anyone. I tried to change the data but got a response that Amazon system thinks it is one and wants to leave it that way.

I am a collector of serials from the silent era to the 1950's. This film called "Red Barry" was done in the year 1938. Buster Crabbe who portrays Red Barry is great for this role. There is plenty of action in this film and worth getting for collectors. I am pleased to say that this film copy is pristine clear and worth adding to your collection.

I watched this as a kid and have been trying to find it for years to find it. I finally found it at Amazon. If you are a fan of the old movie 1930/1940's serials you like this one. Especially if you liked Larry Buster Crabb.

It is a run of the mill serial it was Ok for its format

Buster Crabbe was the king of the cliffhangers. He played Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Tarzan, and now Red Barry. How many actors can say they played so many comic book characters. Red Barry is a great detective yarn and very exciting. Not many people liked it, but I did. I just like cliffhangers good or bad. Buster Crabbe was the best.

The Bonnes fins (trap)

excellent in every way