--- name: "Robert Barrat" canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-barrat" roles: ["Actor"] born: "9 July 1889" died: "8 January 1970" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 73 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-19T23:23:08.808662+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Robert Barrat Actor. Born 9 July 1889 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 8 January 1970. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 9 July 1889, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 8 January 1970 - **Active:** 1934–1937 - **Also known as:** Robert Harriot Barrat, Robert H. Barrat, Robert H. Barratt, Robert Barratt - **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 2, Adventure 1, History 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Barrat, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q556990, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0056719/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88672 ## Fi1m on Robert Barrat > Robert Barrat explained the rules. For four decades he stood at the edge of other people's films, deep-voiced and broad-shouldered, as the commander, the judge, the father and the officer, and did the job reliably. In *Here Comes the Navy* (1934), James Cagney breaks a rule and Robert Barrat's Commander Denny tells him what it was. He does this clearly, and he does it often. In *Captain Blood* (1935) he is Wolverstone, one of Errol Flynn's crew, with a line or two and a hearty laugh. That is the work: to be the solid thing the star is quicker than. He came to it late and stayed a long time. Stock theatre and vaudeville first, then Broadway from 1918 to 1932, with a few silent films from 1915. From 1932 he was in pictures full-time, around 150 of them, most as stern officials, sailors, fathers, judges and military men. He made seven films with Cagney and three with Michael Curtiz. In the 1930s the parts had some bite: Nick Powers, the abusive father in *Baby Face* (1933), and Major Walsin-Esterhazy, the treacherous officer in *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937). In the 1940s he became the studios' historical figure of choice, playing the General in *They Were Expendable* (1945), which is MacArthur without a word spoken, and Jacques d'Arc, Joan's father, in *Joan of Arc* (1948). He moved to television in the mid-1950s and retired after an *Alfred Hitchcock Hour* episode in 1964. What he had was a voice, low and rough, that he could bend into accents, and a big frame he kept fit enough to use. Those are the tools of a man who is cast for what he looks and sounds like, and he was. We will be honest about the two films we have reviewed: in *Captain Blood* we tried to tell Flynn's crew apart and could not. That is not his fault. A script that gives a man two lines and a laugh has decided what he is for, and Barrat's misfortune, across most of his career, was scripts that had decided. The better parts, by reputation, are the unkind ones, the father in *Baby Face* and the officer in *Zola*, and we have not seen enough of them to say more than that they exist and are the ones people name. His career slowed after the 1930s. Watch *Captain Blood* for Flynn and *Here Comes the Navy* for Cagney. Barrat is in both, doing the job he did about 150 times. ## Biography Robert Barrat was an American character actor who worked in stage, film and television. He began his career in stock companies and on Broadway in the 1910s and 1920s before moving into motion pictures in the early 1930s. Barrat appeared in around 150 films over four decades. He is noted for roles including Nick Powers in *Baby Face* (1933), Wolverstone in *Captain Blood* (1935), Major Walsin-Esterhazy in *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), 'Red' Baxter in *Go West* (1940) and Jacques d'Arc in *Joan of Arc* (1948). He appeared in seven films with James Cagney and played several historical figures on screen. His final acting role was in an episode of *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* in 1964. He died in Hollywood in 1970 and was survived by his wife, Mary Dean. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), Fi1m 70, as Major Walsin-Esterhazy — [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-of-emile-zola.md) - *Captain Blood* (1935), Fi1m 80, as Wolverstone — [page](https://film.one/film/captain-blood.md) - *Here Comes the Navy* (1934), Fi1m 70, as Commander Denny — [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-the-navy.md) ## Complete filmography (149) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Big Parade of Comedy* (1964), as Baxter in 'Go West' (archive footage) (uncredited) - *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Stoney Likens - *Mister Ed* (1961), series, Actor - *Bronco* (1958), series, Actor - *Telephone Time* (1956), series, Actor - *Tall Man Riding* (1955), as Tucker Ordway - *Cow Country* (1953), as Walt Garnet - *Son of Ali Baba* (1952), as Commandant - *Denver and Rio Grande* (1952), as Charlie Haskins - *Distant Drums* (1951), as Gen. Zachary Taylor - *Flight to Mars* (1951), as Tillamar - *Darling, How Could You!* (1951), as Mr. Rossiter - *Double Crossbones* (1951), as Henry Morgan - *Pride of Maryland* (1951), as Colonel Harding - *American Guerrilla in the Philippines* (1950), as Gen. Douglas MacArthur - *The Baron of Arizona* (1950), as Judge Adams - *The Kid from Texas* (1950), as General Wallace - *Riders of the Range* (1950), as Sheriff Cole - *Davy Crockett, Indian Scout* (1950), as James Lone Eagle - *The Lone Wolf and His Lady* (1949), as Steve Taylor - *The Doolins of Oklahoma* (1949), as Marshal Heck Thomas - *Canadian Pacific* (1949), as William Van Horne - *Song of India* (1949), as Maharaja - *Bad Men of Tombstone* (1949), as Leadville Sheriff - *Joan of Arc* (1948), as Jacques d'Arc, Joan's Father - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Sheriff - *Relentless* (1948), as Ed Simpson - *I Love Trouble* (1948), as Lt. Quint - *Road to Rio* (1947), as Johnson - *The Fabulous Texan* (1947), as Dr. Sharp (as Robert H. Barrat) - *The Sea of Grass* (1947), as Judge Seth White - *Magnificent Doll* (1946), as Mr. Payne - *Dangerous Millions* (1946), as Hendrick Van Boyden (as Robert H. Barrat) - *The Time of Their Lives* (1946), as Maj. Putnam - *Sunset Pass* (1946), as Rand Curtis - *Just Before Dawn* (1946), as Clyde Travers (as Robert H. Barrat) - *Road to Utopia* (1946), as Sperry - *Strangler of the Swamp* (1946), as Christian Sanders - *San Antonio* (1945), as Colonel Johnson - *Dakota* (1945), as Anson Stowe - *They Were Expendable* (1945), as The General - *Wanderer of the Wasteland* (1945), as Uncle Jim Collinshaw - *The Great John L.* (1945), as Billy Muldoon - *Grissly's Millions* (1945), as Grissly Morgan Palmor - *Enemy of Women* (1944), as Heinrich Walburg - *The Adventures of Mark Twain* (1944), as Horace E. Bixby, Riverboat Captain - *Johnny Come Lately* (1943), as Bill Swain - *Bomber's Moon* (1943), as Ernst - *They Came to Blow Up America* (1943), as Capt. Kranz - *A Stranger in Town* (1943), as Mayor Jim Connison - *American Empire* (1942), as Crowder, Small Rancher - *Fall In* (1942), as Col. Elliott - *The Girl from Alaska* (1942), as Frayne - *Military Training* (1941), as Main Instructor - *Riders of the Purple Sage* (1941), as Judge Frank Dyer - *Parachute Battalion* (1941), as Col. Burke - *They Met in Argentina* (1941), as Don Enrique de los Santos O'Shea - *Go West* (1940), as 'Red' Baxter - *Fugitive from a Prison Camp* (1940), as Chester Russell - *Captain Caution* (1940), as Capt. Dorman - *Northwest Passage* (1940), as Humphrey Towne - *The Man from Dakota* (1940), as Parson Summers - *Laddie* (1940), as Mr. John Stanton - *The Cisco Kid and the Lady* (1939), as Jim Harbison - *Allegheny Uprising* (1939), as Duncan - *Bad Lands* (1939), as Sheriff Bill Cummings - *Conspiracy* (1939), as Tio / Edwards - *Colorado Sunset* (1939), as Dr. Rodney Blair - *Heritage of the Desert* (1939), as Andrew Naab - *Man of Conquest* (1939), as David Crockett - *Union Pacific* (1939), as Duke Ring - *The Return of the Cisco Kid* (1939), as Sheriff McNally - *Breakdowns of 1938* (1938), as Harrington (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Charlie Chan in Honolulu* (1938), as Captain Johnson - *Shadows Over Shanghai* (1938), as Igor Sargoza - *Breaking the Ice* (1938), as William Decker - *Marie Antoinette* (1938), as Citizen-Officer (uncredited) - *The Texans* (1938), as Isaiah Middlebrack - *Forbidden Valley* (1938), as Ramrod Locke - *Penitentiary* (1938), as Prison Yard Capt. Grady - *The Buccaneer* (1938), as Captain Brown - *The Bad Man of Brimstone* (1937), as Hank Summers - *Love Is on the Air* (1937), as J.D. Harrington - *The Life of Emile Zola* (1937), as Major Walsin-Esterhazy — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-life-of-emile-zola.md) - *Souls at Sea* (1937), as The Reverend (uncredited) - *Confession* (1937), as Prosecuting Attorney - *Draegerman Courage* (1937), as Martin Crane - *Mountain Justice* (1937), as Jeff Harkins - *Black Legion* (1937), as Brown (uncredited) - *God's Country and the Woman* (1937), as Jefferson Russett - *The Charge of the Light Brigade* (1936), as Count Igor Volonoff - *Trailin' West* (1936), as Abraham Lincoln - *Mary of Scotland* (1936), as Morton - *The Last of the Mohicans* (1936), as Chingachgook - *Sons o' Guns* (1936), as Pierre - *I Married a Doctor* (1936), as Nels Valborg - *The Trail of the Lonesome Pine* (1936), as Buck Falin - *The Country Doctor* (1936), as MacKenzie - *Exclusive Story* (1936), as Werther - *Captain Blood* (1935), as Wolverstone — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/captain-blood.md) - *Moonlight on the Prairie* (1935), as Buck Cantrell - *Dr. Socrates* (1935), as Dr. Ginder - *Dressed to Thrill* (1935), as Gaston Dupont - *Special Agent* (1935), as Chief of Internal Revenue Service - *The Murder Man* (1935), as Robins - *Stranded* (1935), as Stanislaus Janauschek - *Village Tale* (1935), as Drury Stevenson - *The Florentine Dagger* (1935), as Inspector Von Brinkner - *While the Patient Slept* (1935), as Adolphe Federie - *Devil Dogs of the Air* (1935), as Commandant - *Bordertown* (1935), as Padre - *I Am a Thief* (1934), as Baron Otto Von Kampf - *The St. Louis Kid* (1934), as Farmer Benson - *The Firebird* (1934), as Halasz · the Apartment House Manager - *I Sell Anything* (1934), as McPherson - *Big Hearted Herbert* (1934), as Jim - *The Dragon Murder Case* (1934), as Rudolph Stamm - *Housewife* (1934), as Sam Blake - *Friends of Mr. Sweeney* (1934), as Alexis Romanoff - *Here Comes the Navy* (1934), as Commander Denny — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-the-navy.md) - *Midnight Alibi* (1934), as Angie - *Return of the Terror* (1934), as Pudge Walker - *Fog Over Frisco* (1934), as Thorne - *Upperworld* (1934), as Police Commissioner Clark - *A Very Honorable Guy* (1934), as Dr. Snitzer - *Wonder Bar* (1934), as Hugo Von Ferring - *Gambling Lady* (1934), as Mike Lee - *Dark Hazard* (1934), as Tex Willis - *Massacre* (1934), as Dawson - *Hi, Nellie!* (1934), as Beau Brownell - *From Headquarters* (1933), as Anderzian - *The Kennel Murder Case* (1933), as Archer Coe - *Wild Boys of the Road* (1933), as Judge R.H. White - *I Loved a Woman* (1933), as Phineas D. Lane aka Charles Lane - *Captured!* (1933), as The Commandant - *The Devil's in Love* (1933), as Maj. Bertram - *Secret of the Blue Room* (1933), as Paul, Butler - *Baby Face* (1933), as Nick Powers - *The Mayor of Hell* (1933), as Fred Smith - *Heroes for Sale* (1933), as Max Brinker - *The Life of Jimmy Dolan* (1933), as Sheriff - *The Silk Express* (1933), as Mr. Calhoun, Attorney - *Ann Carver's Profession* (1933), as Andrew Simmons (uncredited) - *Lilly Turner* (1933), as Fritz 'Heinie' - *Picture Snatcher* (1933), as Grover · Graphic News Owner - *King of the Jungle* (1933), as Joe Nolan - *Honor Among Lovers* (1931), as Detective (uncredited) - *Whispering Shadows* (1921), as Hugh Brook - *The Wonder Man* (1920), as Alan Gardner --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/robert-barrat