Frankie Darro Movies

When she is deserted by her husband, the Stranger (Anna Q. Nilsson) leaves her baby on a doorstep with half a dollar bill pinned to his chest, and a note saying that one day she will return for the child with the other half as identification. The baby is found by Captain McTeague (William T. Carleton) and his one-legged chef, Noodles (Raymond Hatton). The two men awkwardly but lovingly raise the child (who, as a boy, is played by Frank Darro). When one of the captain's mates, Martin Webber (George MacQuarrie), makes fun of little Bill, McTeague fires him. It turns out that Webber is the boy's father, so he kidnaps him in retaliation and uses the law to keep him. Ultimately Webber is killed in a fight and the Stranger returns for the boy. She and McTeague wind up raising him together. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

This routine auto adventure finds Jack Grant (William Fairbanks) agreeing to drive in the big race in order to save his brother Carl (Philo McCullough) from being charged with embezzlement. He wins the race and the heart of the auto-builder's daughter Grace Danton (Eva Novak). Stock footage of an actual car race is effectively inserted, with famous racing driver Ralph De Palma making a cameo appearance as the champion. Edwin Booth Tilton, Frankie Darro, Wilfred Lucas, and Lydia Knott co-star in this film reminiscent of some of the racing pictures of Wallace Reid. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Colleen Moore may have been The Perfect Flapper, but as an actress she longed to spread her creative wings. She insisted on portraying the lead character in this adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel -- a 19th century girl doomed to a life of drudgery, who ages over 30 years throughout the course of the film. While So Big made a credible show at the box office (and Moore received accolades for her performance) it didn't compare to the block-busting sales of her flapper comedies. Selina Peake (Moore) lives a privileged existence until the death of her father (Sam DeGrasse). The girl is shocked to discover that he was killed in a gambling den, and she is left without a dime. She goes to work as a school teacher in a Dutch colony at High Prairie and marries Purvis DeJong (John Bowers), a farmer who is none too bright. The one light of her life is a son, Dirk. After Purvis' death, Selina is forced to sell vegetables door to door. She is finally given aid by the father of an old school chum and after much hard work she manages to make the farm turn a profit, which enables her to send Dirk (Ben Lyon) to school. He becomes an architect and has a romance with Dallas O'Meara (Phyllis Haver), an artist. But Pauline Storm (Rosemary Theby), a married woman who has helped him, convinces him to run off with her. Selina discovers the plan and begs the illicit pair to reconsider. Pauline's husband (Henry Herbert) walks in and threatens to name Dirk as corespondent in a divorce suit. Selina talks him out of it and Dirk returns to Dallas. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Director Victor Sjöström gave MGM this well-crafted adaptation of Alphonse Daudet's novel, Kings in Exile. The King of Illyris (Lewis Stone) weds the princess from a neighboring mythical kingdom, making her his Queen (Alice Terry). She is disgusted to discover that he has a mistress, Sephora (Helena D'Algy), and turns to Prince Alexei (John Bowers) for friendship. A revolution flares up in the little nation, and the King is willing to abdicate, but the Queen wants the crown for the sake of their son. The royals escape to Paris, and the King finally begins to grow on the distrustful Queen. In spite of his behavior, the King admits that he has always loved her. It turns out that Sephora is in league with the revolutionists, and this puts the King's life in danger. He decides to abdicate in favor of his son, and the Queen resolves to stick by his side. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Leon Kent (Walter McGrail) is a ne'er-do-well who throws wild parties. His wife eventually tires of him. She finds sympathy with Ross Brewster, a banker (David Torrence), which angers Kent. After an argument, Kent walks out with the couple's little boy. A couple of decades later, Brewster's daughter, Judy (Patsy Ruth Miller), comes home with her sweetheart, Elliot Owen (Antonio Moreno). Brewster senses that Owen is no good, and lets Judy know it. Judy reveals that she has already married him. Owen then confesses that he is the son of Mrs. Kent, which gives Brewster the opportunity to assert that he's just like his father. Owen is already in trouble and facing a jail term, and Brewster tells him that the only way to make good is to commit suicide. When Owen finds out that Judy is pregnant, he feels unworthy enough to actually leap off a cliff. The jump doesn't kill him, however, and after he heals, he proves his worth. Brewster finally welcomes him as his son-in-law. This unrealistic drama was based on the Saturday Evening Post story by May Edington. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

The little FBO studio always liked to cast child actors in their westerns, assuming that kids liked watching other kids have more fun than they could ever hope for themselves. The theory was shaky at best, but the studio certainly hit pay-dirt adding little Frankie Darro to their Tom Tyler westerns. The pair worked well together, and Darro served to humanize the almost impossibly handsome Tyler. The charming team was the only selling point of The Cowboy Musketeer, a mediocre outing about a cowboy saving his female employer from a villainous foreman. The story (ostensibly an original from the pen of screenwriter Buckleigh Fritz Oxford) had been told many times before and would be dusted off again and again in the future. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This low-budgeter was adapted from A Wise Son, a novel by Charles Sherman. Bryant Washburn plays wealthy wastrel Hal Whitney, who during a "slumming" party decides to adopt shabby old derelict Tim Payne (Alec B. Francis). Hal drunkenly invites Tim on a yachting excursion, only to forget all about the old man when he sobers up. Eventually, however, Hal takes a quick look at his parasitical society chums and realizes that Tim is the only true friend he has. Billed first, Estelle Taylor is given the unenviable task of playing one of the least sympathetic heroines in film history. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hearts and Spangles stars Wanda Hawley, formerly the "baby vamp" of the pre-1920s, as a gorgeous circus bareback rider. College boy Steve Carris (Robert Gordon) falls in love with circus equestrienne Peg Palmer (Wanda Hawley), but his wealthy parents disapprove. So, Steve chucks wealth and prestige and joins the circus, where he becomes "King of the Clowns" (and never mind that he couldn't raise a chuckle to save his life). The hero eventually rescues Peg from evil ringmaster Rex Barclay (George Cheseboro), who is so mean that he uses a whip on the poor girl whenever her performance isn't up to par. Diminutive Frankie Darro, a real-life child acrobat, steals the show. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Memory Lane is a vehicle for stars-in-the-making Eleanor Boardman and William Haines, both winners of an extensive MGM talent search. Boardman plays Mary, in love with poor-but-honest working stiff Joe Field (William Haines). But when Joe leaves town to seek his future in the Big City, Mary decides to marry Jimmy Holt (Conrad Nagel), son of the town's richest man. Upon his return, the heartbroken Joe kidnaps Mary, certain that she's still in love with him, but realizes he's acting like an idiot and sets her free. Knowing now that Mary genuinely adores her husband, Joe leaves town for good -- but not before making absolutely certain that the girl will forever despise his memory, thereby sacrificing his own happiness for the sake of hers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The popular screen team of cowboy hero Tom Tyler and diminutive child athlete Frankie Darro was back in Out of the West. As much a baseball picture as a Western, the story is motivated by the rivalry between two neighboring ranchers, John O'Connor (Alfred Hewston) and Jim Rollins (L.J. O'Connor). Their mutual animosity spills over onto the baseball field, with O'Connor's star player and top cowhand, Tom Hanley (Tom Tyler), proving a formidable foe for Rollins' team. Another of O'Connor's players, Bide Goodrich (Ethan Laidlaw), has been bribed to throw the next game, and when Tom finds out about it, he and O'Connor's daughter Bernice (Bernice Welch) are kidnapped by Rollins' minions and hidden in a cave. Rescued by his young pal Frankie (Darro), Tom shows up in time to win the game. A major-league scout, who happens to catch Tom in action, offers him a contract, but our hero would rather stay on the ranch with the beautiful Bernice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "carnival girl" of the title is played by Marion Mack, most fondly remembered as Buster Keaton's bird-brained lady love in The General. A fine comedienne in her own right, Mack plays it straight as a tightrope walker in love with navy lieutenant Allan Forrest. Villainous strong man George Siegmann, seething with jealousy, does his best to do in Forrest by setting fire to the lieutenant's ship. Diminuitve Frankie Darro, an accomplished acrobat, co-stars as Marion's limber kid brother. Carnival Girl was directed by Cecil B. DeMille's #1 assistant, Cullen "Hezi" Tate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Poverty-row studio Film Booking Office (the later RKO) had a winning combination in the strapping Tom Tyler and freckle-faced boy actor Frankie Darro (later Darrow), whose pleasant westerns were favorites with the small fry. This time around, a movie company arrives at Tyler's ranch. Tyler's naive girlfriend (Doris Hill) is quickly under the spell of the movie company's lecherous leading man (favorite western villain James Mason), and the cowboy retaliates by flirting with movie femme fatale Helen Lynch. Only fair entertainment as westerns go, Tom and His Pals offered the audience a rare insight into the woolly world of low-budget filmmaking. The "pals" of the title were the aforementioned Darro plus two clever canines. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Tom Tyler (billed as "Tom Taylor" in several newspaper reviews) was the star of the modestly-budgeted western The Flying "U" Ranch. Tyler plays a detective for a cattlemen's association, showing up incognito as a ranch hand to solve a series of puzzling thefts. In this guise he falls in love with heroine Nora Lane, who in turn is coveted by a rival rancher. Sure enough, the rival is the head of the rustlers, but Tyler will have a tough time proving it. Helping our hero vanquish his foe is his wiry juvenile sidekick Frankie Darro, a welcome fixture in the Tyler westerns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide