Don 'Red' Barry

Acting

Don 'Red' Barry

Born 1912-01-11 · Houston, Texas, USA

Donald Barry went from the stage to the screen. After four years of playing villains and henchmen at various studios, Barry got the role that changed his image: Red Ryder in the Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Red Ryder (1940). Although he had appeared in westerns for two years or so, this was the one that kept him there. He acquired the nickname "Red" from his association with the Red Ryder character. After the success of "Red Ryder" Barry starred in a string of westerns for Republic. Studio chief Herbert J. Yates got the idea that Barry could be Republic's version of James Cagney, as he was short and had the same scrappy, feisty nature that Cagney had. Unfortunately, while Barry could in fact be a good actor when he wanted to be -- as he showed in the World War II drama The Purple Heart (1944) -- his "feistiness", combative nature and oversized ego caused him to alienate many of the casts and crews he worked with at Republic (ace serial director William Witney detested him, calling him "the midget", and director John English worked with him once and refused to ever work with him again). Barry made a series of westerns at Republic throughout the 1940s, but by 1950 his career had pretty much come to a halt, and he was reduced to making cheaper and cheaper pictures for bottom-of-the-barrel companies like Lippert and Screen Guild. Barry continued to work and still appeared in westerns up through the 1970s, but they were often in small supporting roles, sometimes unbilled. In 1980 he committed suicide by shooting himself.

Acting credits

Ocean's Eleven poster
6.4

Danny Ocean and his gang attempt to rob the five biggest casinos in Las Vegas in one night.

Ocean's Eleven

1960

Twilight of Honor poster
6.5

A young lawyer defends a drifter accused of a murder that he has already confessed to. He asks his mentor, a retired, legendary lawyer for help.

Twilight of Honor

1963

The Swarm poster
5.0

Scientist Dr. Bradford Crane and army general Thalius Slater join forces to fight an almost invisible enemy threatening America; killer bees that have deadly venom and attack without reason. Disaster movie-master Irwin Allen's film contains spectacular special effects, including a train crash caused by the eponymous swarm.

The Swarm

1978

Rio Lobo poster
6.5

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

Rio Lobo

1970

Warlock poster
6.8

A band of murderous cowboys has imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. With the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town, the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as de facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend, Tom Morgan, and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.

Warlock

1959

Orca poster
6.2

After witnessing the killing of his mate and offspring at the hands of a reckless Irish captain, a vengeful killer whale rampages through the fisherman's Newfoundland harbor. Under pressure from the villagers, the captain, a female marine biologist, and an Indigenous tribalist venture after the great beast, who will meet them on its own turf.

Orca

1977

Hooper poster
6.3

Legendary stunt man Sonny Hooper remains one of the top men in his field, but due to too many stressful impacts to the spine and the need to pop painkillers several times a day, he knows he should get out of the industry before he ends up permanently disabled.

Hooper

1978

Bandolero! poster
6.6

Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing a gang of outlaws, including his brother, from the gallows. Mace urges his younger brother to give up crime. The sheriff chases the brothers to Mexico. They join forces, however, against a group of Mexican bandits.

Bandolero!

1968

Shalako poster
5.6

While guiding a hunting party of clueless European aristocrats, cowboy Bosky Fulton leads them into hostile Apache territory. Becoming separated from the group, Countess Irina Lazaar experiences the first run-in with an Apache, which results in the tracker Shalako coming to her rescue. Despite Shalako's warning to leave the area immediately, the pampered foreigners fail to take him seriously, leaving them in grave danger.

Shalako

1968

7 Men from Now poster
6.8

A former sheriff relentlessly pursuing the 7 men who murdered his wife in Arizona crosses paths with a couple heading to California.

7 Men from Now

1956

Alvarez Kelly poster
6.2

In 1864, during the American Civil War, Mexican cattleman Alvarez Kelly supplies the Union with cattle until unexpected circumstances force him to change his customers.

Alvarez Kelly

1966

Only Angels Have Wings poster
7.3

A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a major contract.

Only Angels Have Wings

1939

Incident on a Dark Street poster
5.3

A small-time hood is murdered just as he is about to blow the whistle on an organized crime ring.

Incident on a Dark Street

1973

Johnny Got His Gun poster
7.5

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

Johnny Got His Gun

1971

Starsky & Hutch poster
6.9

A young couple in a car exactly like Starsky's is killed by hitmen and word is out on the street that there's a contract out on Starsky and Hutch. This is a TV-pilot that was an ABC Movie of the Week and later turned into the TV-series.

Starsky & Hutch

1975

Dead End poster
7.0

The lives of a young man and woman, an infamous gangster and a group of street kids converge one day in a volatile New York City slum.

Dead End

1937

The Last Crooked Mile poster
5.5

A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.

The Last Crooked Mile

1946

From Noon Till Three poster
5.9

Bank robber Graham Dorsey spends a few hours with beautiful widow Amanda Starbuck, in which time his gang takes part in a disastrous holdup. Learning of his comrades' demise, Dorsey goes on the lam. Believing her short-term lover was killed by the law, Amanda decides to make the most of having had a liaison with the supposedly deceased desperado by writing a book about him. Much to his confusion, the still-living Dorsey watches as his name becomes legendary.

From Noon Till Three

1976

One More Train to Rob poster
5.4

Harker Flet and compatriots Timothy X. Nolan and Katy, along with three other men, steal $40,000 in money and jewelry from a California train in the gold-mining country of the 1880's. The six split up and while they are hiding out awaiting the rendezvous to divide the loot, Hark is cornered, framed and sent to prison. He is released after two-and-a-half years and sets out to find Katy and Nolan and get his share of the loot.

One More Train to Rob

1971

Boss Nigger poster
6.7

Two black bounty hunters ride into a small town out West in pursuit of an outlaw. They discover that the town has no sheriff, and soon take over that position, much against the will of the mostly white townsfolk.

Boss Nigger

1975

The Shakiest Gun in the West poster
6.2

Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise. Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid".

The Shakiest Gun in the West

1968

Walk on the Wild Side poster
6.6

At a 1930s New Orleans bordello, Hallie is the main attraction for both clients and the shrewd madam. The arrival of Dove Linkhorn, her lovesick sweetheart from three years ago, disrupts the normal and triggers a chain of events involving a number of people, including the young woman he travelled with, who is now the Doll House's newest employee.

Walk on the Wild Side

1962

Ringside poster
5.0

Joe O'Hara finds out he has a damaged optic nerve just before a boxing match for the title. He needs the money badly, so he doesn't delay the fight. The opponent discovers Joe's weakness and pounds on his eyes, causing him to go blind.

Ringside

1949

Flying Down to Rio poster
6.3

An American bandleader woos a Brazilian beauty who is already engaged to his employer. His friends try to help him, while learning the local dance, The Carioca. The first pairing of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and their only pre-Code film.

Flying Down to Rio

1933

Behind the camera

Convict Stage poster
6.4

A cowboy whose sister has been murdered by a gang of vicious outlaws seeks his revenge. But a venerable old lawman is about to teach the vigilante a lesson about taking the law into one's own hands.

Convict Stage

1965

Jesse James' Women poster
4.5

Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate.

Jesse James' Women

1954

Jesse James' Women poster
4.5

Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate.

Jesse James' Women

1954

Jesse James' Women poster
4.5

Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate.

Jesse James' Women

1954