The Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Don “Red” Barry and Noah Beery, Sr. based on the western comic strip “Red Ryder”. It was directed by William Witney and John English. This serial was the eighteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic. Westerns, such as this serial, made up a third of all serials produced by the studio.
The plot follows a standard B-Western pattern of a villain trying to run the legitimate owners off their valuable land. In this case, the value comes from the building of a railroad.
Plot
A gang, led by banker Calvin Drake, plans to drive off ranchers from their land in order to profit from the building of a railroad. However, on one of these ranches, the Circle R, lives the Ryder family who resist the gang. After his father, Tom, is killed by One Eye Chapin, Red Ryder swears revenge and sets out to defeat the gang once and for all.
Production
Adventures of Red Ryder was based on the comic strip “Red Ryder” by Fred Harmon.
The serial was budgeted at $144,852 although the final negative cost was $145,961 (a $1,109, or 0.8%, overspend). 1940 was the first year in which Republic’s overall spending on serial production was less than in the previous year.
It was filmed between 27 March and 25 April 1940. The serial’s production number was 997.
Special Effects
The special effects in this serial were created by the Lydecker brothers, Republic’s in-house effects team.
Stunts
- David Sharpe as Red Ryder (doubling Don “Red” Barry)
- Duke Green
- Ted Mapes
- Post Park
- Ken Terrell
- Bill Yrigoyen
- Joe Yrigoyen
Cast
- Don “Red” Barry as Red Ryder. Donald Barry retained the nickname from this serial as Don “Red” Barry.[2]
- Noah Beery as Ace Hanlon
- Tommy Cook as Little Beaver
- Maude Pierce Allen as Duchess Ryder
- Vivian Coe as Beth Andrews
- Harry Worth as Calvin Drake
- Hal Taliaferro as Cherokee Sims
- William Farnum as Colonel Tom Ryder
- Bob Kortman as One-Eye Chapin
- Carleton Young as Sheriff Dade
