Frankie Darro Movies

Although the Thunder Riders sever his rope, Gene Autry manages to grab hold of a tree limb, climb to safety and return to Radio Ranch in time to join Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) for a hearty rendition of Burnette's "I'm Oscar; I'm Pete". The Ranch performers then reenact a stage robbery for the listening audience but nasty Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) has tampered with Gene's rifle and the crooner's partner, Baxter, is killed. Accused by Beetson of murder, Gene manages to escape but is followed from the air by the sheriff. Queen Tika of Murania (Dorothy Christy) watches everything on her surface television and orders the Thunder Riders to capture Autry and shoot down the plane carrying the sheriff and stowaways Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Seconds before his automobile crashes over a cliff, Gene Autry is saved by Frankie (Frankie Darro), Betsy (Betsy Ross King) and the Junior Thunder Riders. Still wanted for the murder of his Radio Ranch partner, Gene is forced to broadcast from Frankie's secret laboratory in the barn. Meanwhile, down below in Murania Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) is troubled by the rebellious Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), who is eager to blow up Radio Ranch once and for all. Finishing his broadcast with a rendition of "Uncle Henry", Gene manages to escape before Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and his men break down the door to the laboratory but spilled gunpowder creates an explosion in the getaway tunnel. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the opening chapter of the Mascot serial The Phantom Empire, a stagecoach is held up for its content -- musical instruments. One of the "outlaws," a bashful young man, removes a fake mustache to address his radio audience: "Yes folks, it's Gene Autry making another raid on your time with his 'Radio Riders,' broadcasting from Radio Ranch." After a rendition of Smiley Burnette's "Uncle Noah's Ark", the airwaves are given over to teenagers Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy Baxter (Betsy Ross King), who relay the story of how they founded the "Thunder Riders' Club" for kids. Out riding in the desert one day, Frankie and Betsy spotted a group of strangely garbed horsemen who seemingly disappeared without a trace. Using old buckets as headgear, the kids' reenact the encounter and invite boys and girls to form their own groups and come visit a real radio show being produced. Unbeknownst to Gene and his radio performers, however, there is radium in them thar hills, and not only that; the ranch may also be situated on top of a secret treasure trove, the underground world of Murania, a "Scientific City" inhabited 100,000 years ago by people fleeing an ice age glacier. Professors Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and Cooper (Edward Peil, Sr.) are after both the radium and the treasure and the former make a couple of unsuccessful attempts at Autry's life. The villains trace the radium to a place known as The Garden of Life, a development that greatly endangers the lives of the Muranian people 25,000 feet below. Their ruler, Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), decrees the entrance to the Garden of Life be destroyed for good and the capture of Gene Autry, less the area be overrun by radio fans. Alerted to danger by the sound of the Thunder Riders, Frankie and Betsy discover a lost Gene in the desert. "Say, we have a broadcast at 2 o'clock," the rustic crooner exclaims. "If we miss it, we'll lose our contract!" Climbing down from the Garden of Life plateau, Gene, Frankie and Betsy can only watch as their rope is torn asunder by the Riders. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Despite the deadly radium beam, Frankie Baxter (Frankie Darro) manages to pull the lever that opens the surface entrance to Murania, allowing Gene Autry and sidekicks Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) entry to the underground empire. Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) finally learns of Count Argo's treachery from Gene but the warning comes too late: Argo (Wheeler Oakman) is about to assume control over the entire palace and most of the empire. Knocked unconscious in the ensuing mayhem, Gene lands on a moving conveyor belt and is in grave danger of being incinerated by one of the Muranian worker robots. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This racetrack drama centers upon a horse breeder with a strong aversion to orphans. Howard Chamberlain, himself an orphan, firmly believes that foundlings are bad luck and he allows none, neither man nor beast, upon his spread. One day, adorable Little Gimpy begs Howard to let him learn the ropes of racing. The gruff breeder finds the boy endearing and lets him stay. Soon he has come to care deeply for Gimpy. By the time he learns that the lad is an orphan, Howard is too devoted to the boy to toss him out. Eventually the boy becomes a crackerjack jockey and wins the Big Race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Three convicts bust out of prison in this drama. One of the fugitives is an innocent man. Fortunately, his former employer's son believes this and begins working to clear the fellow's name before bounty hunters find him and take him back to prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A tough youth gang leader learns the true meaning of courage in this moving and thoughtful drama. He is the leader of a troop of boys involved in an elaborate game of "capture the flag." He is idolized by a sickly boy on the block who begs to be allowed to join the leader's group. Eventually the older boy gives in and "enlists" the weakling as a private. Though he treats the young lad with contempt, the boy is so enamored of his hero that he doesn't notice. Eventually the gang's rivals, the "Red Shirts" steal their flag. To prove himself, the sickly boy risks his life and frail health. The allegorical, anti-war story is based on Hungarian playwright Molnar's autobiographical novel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Showmen's Productions, a miniscule poverty-row firm, issued its one-and-only release The Big Race in 1934. Heading the cast is Boots Mallory, a lively blonde starlet who later retired to marry James Cagney's producer brother William Cagney. Most of the heavy dramatics are carried not by Mallory but by John Darrow and Phillips Smalley, father-and-son horse trainers who have a serious falling-out just before the big handicap race. Darrow and Smalley are reconciled when both discover that they've been betrayed by a third party. The Big Race really takes off in the action sequences, courtesy of onetime Harold Lloyd director Fred Newmeyer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A serialized remake of a popular 1919 film, the 12-chapter Burn 'Em Up Barnes was simultaneously released as a 74-minute feature version. Jack Mulhall plays stalwart racing-car champion Burn 'Em Up Barnes, while top-billed Frankie Darro portrays his adopted son Bobbie. The two heroes take on crooked promoter Drummond (Jason Robards), who intends to cheat heroine Marjorie Temple (Lola Lane) out of her family's valuable oil deposits. Despite the many roadblocks thrown in his path by the scheming Drummond, Barnes emerges triumphant, while Bobbie achieves personal success as a top newsreel cameraman. The feature-length adaptation of Burn 'Em Up Barnes manages to accommodate all the thrills and spills of the serial version, without any sense of strain or abruptness. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

At first concentrating exclusively on westerns and serials, up-and-coming Mascot Pictures began branching out in the early 1930s with such lavish star vehicles as Laughing at Life. Victor McLaglen is in his element as a devil-may-care globetrotting adventurer named McHale. After risking his neck in WWI, the restless McHale heads to Mexico for more action. Before the film is half over, our hero is overseeing a South American revolution, and in this capacity comes face-to-face with his long-estranged son -- who, like his dad, is a thrillseeker travelling under an assumed name. The star-studded cast includes William "Stage" Boyd, Regis Toomey, Frankie Darro, Henry B. Walthall, Noah Beery Jr., J. Farrell McDonald and Lois Wilson -- many appearing in one scene each, indicating that the ever-economical Mascot studios hired these talented thespians by the day rather than the week. Also showing up uncredited is ace stuntman Yakima Canutt, doubling for Victor McLaglen in the more strenuous action scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marie Dressler plays the title character, tugboat captain Annie Brennan, in this 1933 Hollywood box office hit. Her husband Terry (Wallace Beery) is a lazy, bragging drunk. Robert Young plays their son Alec, who has big ambitions and winds up as captain of a fancy ocean liner. The ocean liner's owner is Red Severn (Willard Robertson), whose daughter Pat (Maureen O'Sullivan) is the object of Alec's longings. Young tries to get his mother to leave his father and join him on the ocean liner, but she refuses out of love for her husband and her tugboat. Terry crashes the tugboat while drunk one night, and it is sold at an auction, then repaired and converted into a garbage boat. Sequels were made in later years, with Marjorie Rambeau and later Jane Darwell in the title role, and it was made into a TV series in the 1950s. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Filmed on-location at Lone Pine, CA, and thus looking a lot better than the average cheapie Western, Cheyenne Cyclone was the second of eight sagebrush thrillers produced by Willis Kent and starring former Paramount cowboy Lane Chandler and his horse Raven. Chandler and Connie Lamont played travelling stock company actors who find themselves stranded in a Western town. A former cowpuncher, Chandler obtains a job at the failing Lost River Ranch and helps the owner and his granddaughter (Marie Quillan) fight off a gang of cattle rustlers. Lamont switches sides and becomes the mistress of one of the rustlers, but Chandler manages to bring the entire gang to justice in the final reel. Chandler, who always considered producer Willis Kent "a prince," never quite made it as a B-Western star. Increasingly gaunt-looking, he made the switch to villainy with ease and enjoyed a career that lasted well into the television era. Cheyenne Cyclone was later reissued under the rather more appropriate title Rustler's Ranch. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This adventure film consists of a 12-part serial that has been spliced together. The story basically follows the travails of a hero pursing his brother's killer, a horse thief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide