Red Barry

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.

You would think Universal/Filmcraft with their top Serial Star Larry 'Buster' Crabbe would be a worth while watch, wrong. Based on the RED BARRY comic strip by William Gould I would expect a strong plot and two-fisted action, that does not occur in this Serial.

WITH THE FILMING and release of this 13 Chapter Serial, Universal brought us the 3rd one of 5 to star Clarence Linden (aka Larry) "Buster Crabbe.* It followed the first 2 of the 3 FLASH GORDON'S and also predated BUCK ROGERS.

Universal's 40th of 69 sound serials. In 1936, the studio entered into an arrangement with King Features Syndicate to bring a number of newspaper comic strip heroes to life on the screen.