Adventures of Red Ryder

The Adventures of Red Ryder is a 1940 12-chapter Republic movie serial directed by William Witney and John English and starring Don "Red" Barry and Noah Beery, Sr., based on the Western comic strip Red Ryder. This serial is the 18th of the 66 serials produced by Republic.

The Adventures of Red Ryder
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Witney John English
Produced by	Hiram S. Brown Jr
Written by	Franklin Adreon Ronald Davidson Norman S. Hall Barney A. Sarecky Sol Shor
Starring	Don "Red" Barry Noah Beery Tommy Cook Maude Pierce Vivian Coe Harry Worth Hal Taliaferro
Music by	Cy Feuer William Lava Paul Sawtell
Cinematography	William Nobles
Edited by	William P. Thompson Edward Todd
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date	June 28, 1940[1]
Running time	12 chapters / 211 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$144,852 (negative cost: $145,961)[1]

Premise

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.

Synopsis

A gang, led by banker Calvin Drake, plans to drive off ranchers from their land to profit from 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.

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 J. 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

Production

The Adventures of Red Ryder was based on Fred Harman's comic strip.[2] 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.[1] It was filmed between 27 March and 25 April 1940.[1] The serial's production number was 997.[1] The special effects 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

Release

Theatrical

The Adventures of Red Ryder's official release date is 28 June 1940, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]

Chapter titles

1. Murder on the Santa Fe Trail (27min 48s)
2. Horsemen of Death (16min 42s)
3. Trail's End (16min 41s)
4. Water Rustlers (16min 39s)
5. Avalanche (16min 44s)
6. Hangman's Noose (16min 44s)
7. Framed (16min 42s)
8. Blazing Walls (16min 42s)
9. Records of Doom (16min 42s)
10. One Second to Live (16min 43s)
11. The Devil's Marksman (16min 41s)
12. Frontier Justice (16min 44s)

_Source:[1][3]

This was one of two 12-chapter serials produced by Republic in 1940. The other is the following King of the Royal Mounted, also based on a comic strip. Republic's standard pattern was two 12-chapter serials and two 15-chapter serials in each year.

References

1. Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 12–13. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
2. Cline, William C. (1984). "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 22. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
3. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 227. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

• Adventures of Red Ryder at IMDb
• Adventures of Red Ryder at AllMovie