Frankie Darro Movies
The son of circus performers, the diminutive Frankie Darro began appearing in films as a juvenile player in 1924; he co-starred with western star Tom Tyler in several silent oaters at FBO in the mid-1920s, and was cast in leading roles in Little Mickey Grogan (1927) and The Circus Kid (1928). During the 1930s, Darro showed up in innumerable bit and supporting roles, often playing juvenile delinquents; he carried over this particular characterization into his voiceover stint as Lampwick in the 1940 animated Disney feature Pinocchio. He was given star billing at such minor-league studios as Ambassador and Monogram, co-starring with black comedian Mantan Moreland at the latter studio in an enjoyable series of action programmers, often cast as a jockey because of his stature. In the late 1940s, Darro was a frequent stunt double for such pint-sized actors as Leo Gorcey. Frankie Darro was compelled to accept bit roles into the 1960s; he was also featured in several Red Skelton Shows of the period, often dressed as an old woman for a peculiar comic effect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1932
Three on a Match covers approximately 13 years in the lives of girlhood chums Mary Keaton (Joan Blondell), Ruth Wescott (Bette Davis) and Vivian Deverse (Ann Dvorak). Having graduated from grammar school together in 1919, the girls stage a reunion ten years later. Hard-boiled Mary is now a chorus girl, level-headed Ruth has a steady job as a secretary, and vixenish Vivian is on the verge of capriciously deserting her wealthy husband Robert Kirkwood (Warren William) and their baby in favor of sexy mob-boss Mike (Lyle Talbot). Several more years pass, during which Mary marries Henry, Ruth is hired as governess for Henry, and Vivian's son and a drug-addicted Vivian become fatally enmeshed in a kidnapping plot involving her own child. In his second Warner Bros. film, tenth-billed Humphrey Bogart essays his first sneering-gangster role. Three on a Match was remade (and considerably laundered) in 1938 as Broadway Musketeers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Blondell, Warren William, (more)
- 1932
The bucolic tearjerker Way Back Home is a spin-off of the popular radio series Seth Parker, with Phillips H. Lord, creator-star of the radio original, repeating his role as backwoods philosopher Parker. The plot centers on the romantic tribulations of Mary Lucy (Bette Davis, who received the munificent sum of $300 per week for her performance!), and David Clark (Frank Albertson), who are being kept apart by their feuding parents. Armed with a surfeit of advice -- and, on occasion, a shotgun -- Seth Parker helps the lovers overcome a nasty local scandal during their journey to the altar. Deftly woven into the screenplay are such rural pastimes as taffy-pulling, community "sings," and barn dances. It's hard to believe that Phillips Lord, so convincing as the kindly Parker, was the same man responsible for the blood-and-thunder radio serial I Love a Mystery. In England, where the radio program was an unknown commodity, Way Back Home was retitled Old Greatheart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mrs. Phillips Lord, Effie L. Palmer, (more)
- 1931
This western serial features the famous trained German Shepherd Rin-Tin-Tin. Rinty gets involved in an Indian uprising caused by a mysterious criminal known as the "Wolf Man" and a father and son who are under attack by outlaws trying to steal their gold mine. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1931
In the space of 74 minutes, Helen Hayes goes from naïve French country lass to elderly harridan in Sin of Madelon Claudet. Is it any wonder that she won an Academy Award? (She truly deserved this Oscar; the jury is still out concerning her cutesy supporting turn in 1969's Airport, which also copped her the gold statuette). Betrayed by artist Neil Hamilton, Hayes moves on to jewel thief Lewis Stone, who commits suicide to avoid arrest, leaving Hayes to her fate. After ten years in jail for her complicity in Stone's crimes, Hayes turns to the only profession open to her. She walks the streets to raise enough money to support her illegitimate son, who grows up to be Robert Young and who has no idea that Hayes is his mother. Thanks to his mother's anonymous financial support, Young is able to attend medical school, eventually becoming a wealthy doctor. Even allowing for the illogical nature of the plotline and the lachrymose dialogue, the heartrending final scenes of Sin of Madelon Claudet can still raise a lump in the throat after 65 years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Hayes, Neil Hamilton, (more)
- 1931
Filmed at Newhall, CA, with exteriors shot at Universal City, Mascot Pictures' The Vanishing Legion became the little company's signature serial. Producer Nat Levine had managed to sign veteran cowboy star Harry Carey, blonde starlet Edwina Booth, and Olive Fuller Golden, Carey's wife, all of whom had recently just barely survived the travails of filming MGM's Trader Horn (1930) under extremely difficult conditions in what was then termed Darkest Africa. Now they were employed in a typical serial story of young Jimmy Williams (Frankie Darro) and his wild stallion (the famously intemperate Rex, King of the Wild Horses), both searching for the mysterious gang that framed Jimmy's father (Edward Hearn) in a murder scheme. The two get assistance from leathery old Happy Hardigan (Carey), who has discovered a plot by the lawless Vanishing Legion to sabotage Caroline Hall's (Booth) ancestral oil company. Behind the shenanigans is a master criminal, heard but never seen and known only as "The Voice." The identity of the villain is revealed only in the 12th and final chapter, "The Hoofs of Horror." Said identity, which of course shall not be revealed here either, was that of a venerable, old character actor who usually played kindly fathers. Of course, Mascot engaged in a bit of skullduggery themselves by having Boris Karloff as a "voice double." Also released in a re-edited feature version, The Vanishing Legion has become synonymous with Mascot Pictures and is the title of a groundbreaking biography of the little studio by Jon Tuska. Sadly, the serial proved the final film for silent screen cowboy Dick Hatton, who was killed in a car accident later in the year. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1931
More of a follow-up than a sequel to 1931's popular Svengali, this drama centers on the attempts of a club-footed and insanely bitter dance instructor to cling to his protege. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, (more)
William Wellman's landmark gangster movie traces the rise and fall of prohibition-era mobster Tom Powers. We are first shown various episodes of Tom's childhood with the corrupting influences of the beer hall, pool parlor, and false friends like minor-league fence Putty Nose. As young adults, Tom (James Cagney) and his pal, Matt Doyle (Edward Woods), are hired by ruthless but innately decent bootlegger Paddy Ryan (Robert Emmett O'Connor). The boys quickly rise to the top of the heap, with all the accoutrements of success: custom-tailored tuxedoes, fancy cars, and gorgeous girls. All the while, Tom's loving (and somewhat addlepated) mother (Beryl Mercer) is kept in the dark, believing Tommy to be a good boy, a façade easily seen through by his older brother Mike (Donald Cook). Tommy's degeneration from brash kid to vicious lowlife is brought home in a famous scene in which he smashes a grapefruit in the face of his latest mistress (Mae Clarke). Some dated elements aside, The Public Enemy is as powerful as when it was first released, and it is far superior to the like-vintage Little Caesar. James Cagney is so dynamic in his first starring role that he practically bursts off the screen; he makes the audience pull for a character with no redeeming qualities. The film is blessed with a superior supporting cast: Joan Blondell is somewhat wasted as Matt's girl, Mamie; Jean Harlow is better served as Tom's main squeeze, Gwen (though some of her line readings are a bit awkward); and Murray Kinnell is slime personified as the deceitful Putty Nose, who "gets his" in unforgettable fashion. Despite a tacked-on opening disclaimer, most of the characters in The Public Enemy are based on actual people, a fact not lost on audiences of the period. Current prints are struck from the 1949 reissue, which was shortened from 92 to 83 minutes (among the deletions was the character of real-life hoodlum Bugs Moran). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Edward Woods, (more)
- 1930
Though it eventually collapsed under the weight of mounting debts, the small firm of Sono Art-World Wide managed to turn out several worthwhile films in the first two years of the talkies. The company's first 1930 release was Blaze o' Glory, adapted from a story by Thomas Boyd. Broadway star Eddie Dowling (who later staged and appeared in the first production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie) heads the cast as vaudeville entertainer Eddie Williams. Just before being shipped off to WWI, Eddie weds his sweetheart Helen (Betty Compson), serenading his lady love with one of the film's four songs. By the time the film is two-thirds over, war-hero Eddie is on trial for murder, raising the fascinating issue of whether or not the killing of a wartime enemy really is murder. The fact that all of Eddie's army buddies were entertainers like himself is excuse enough for a variety of specialty acts, including one little ditty (Welcome Home) sung in English, Italian and Yiddish. The hits keep on coming, even during Eddie's trial, with heroine Helen offering her defense in song! As bizarre as this film must have seemed to American audiences, it must have been positively incomprehensible when refilmed for Spanish-speaking filmgoers as Sombras de Gloria. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dowling, Betty Compson, (more)
- 1929
Rejected as husband material by a snobbish rancher (Ethlyne Clair), cowboy Tom O'Brien (Tom Tyler) nevertheless comes to the girl's rescue when she is besieged by villainous brothers Bill and Bull Driscoll (Lew Meehan and Harry Woods). The ranch, it appears, is situated on a rich marble deposit that the brothers covet for themselves. Tyler, of course, proves himself worthy of the girl's trust by apprehending the brothers, doing so after a well-mounted climactic chase. A latecomer in the silent Western sweepstakes, Chicago-born Tyler made a strapping hero, and FBO guaranteed his success by surrounding him with genre specialists such as writer Oliver Drake, titler Helen Gregg, and cinematographer Nick Musuraca. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1929
In this drama, a singer finds himself stuck with his best friend's newly orphaned son. Now he must juggle both parenthood and his growing career. Fortunately he falls in love with an inkeeper's daughter whom he discovers is the boy's aunt on his mother's side. Songs include: "Little Pal," "Rainbow Man" (Dowling, James Hanley), "Sleepy Valley" (Andrew B. Sterling, Hanley). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Dowling, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1929
Flint-eyed Tom Tyler is on the Trail of Horse Thieves in this FBO western. Once again, Tyler is aided an abetted by his diminutive, self-reliant chum, Frankie Darro. This time, the perils facing Big Tom and Little Frankie include a dark and forbidding cave and an unguarded pit of quicksand. Sharon Lynn, whose glory days as a musical-comedy leading lady were still ahead of her, plays the heroine. Manning the camera for Trail of Horse Thieves was Nick Musuraca, who stayed with FBO through its metamorphosis into RKO, and was still at the studio in the 1960s when the joint was known as Desilu. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Sharon Lynn, (more)
- 1929
New York-born Tom Tyler, one of the late silent era's more realistic screen cowboys., exposes a counterfeit ring run by his ranch foreman (Albert J. Smith) in this average oater that also includes a thrilling transfer from horse to automobile. Tyler was good-looking and stalwart, and although his western stardom never reached the heights of, say, a John Wayne or even a Gene Autry (Tyler was certainly more acceptable than Autry!), Tom Tyler continued to star in above-average oaters in the sound era until a crippling bone disease forced his retirement.
. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1928
The prolific Adele Buffington supplied the story for this above-average Tom Tyler silent western. Buffington didn't open any new doors with her story of two disparate people inheriting a ranch, but the strapping Tyler was one of the better actors in westerns at the time, and little Frankie Darro made a pleasant sidekick. Tyler and Florence Allen, an Eastern snob, are the protagonists who inherit the ranch. They don't get along at first -- she invites her retinue of Eastern society friends, none of whom he can tolerate -- but they nevertheless join forces when it appears that the previous owner was murdered. Among the suspects in the murder case are crooked ranch foreman Al Ferguson, the sheriff (Bob Fleming), and wealthy playboy Arthur Thalasso. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Allen, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1928
For some reason, this potentially very interesting silent Western from FBO remains the most obscure of the poverty row studios' Tom Tyler series. Living alone on their mountain, Lucille (Jane Reid) and her kid brother Buddy (Frankie Darro) suddenly receive threatening letters and are even visited by a ghostly apparition or two. With no one to turn to, little Buddy writes his favorite cowboy star, Tom Tyler, who immediately leaves the safe confines of FBO to come and investigate. Once on the mountain, Tom quickly discovers that a gang of thieves are attempting to drive Lucille and Buddy off their property in order to get their grubby hands on a hidden treasure. Tom heroically catches the outlaws and promises to bring the two kids with him to Hollywood. Also released as Terror, this Tyler Western should not be confused with the Warner Bros mystery melodrama The Terror, released that same year. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1928
The chemistry between cowboy hero Tom Tyler and juvenile sidekick Frankie Darro saved this otherwise commonplace FBO Western from the doldrums. Veteran villain Harry Woods is, of all things, a Russian megalomaniac who keeps a group of miners as slaves in a hidden valley. The appearance of our two heroes ruins things slightly for the good Ivan Petrovitch. Director Robert DeLacy was the father of yet another child actor, PhilippeDe Lacy, who had played little Michael in Peter Pan (1924). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1928
In this one of his many well-made but routine FBO Westerns, Tom Tyler played a federal agent impersonating "The Raven" (Harry Woods), a dying outlaw, in order to infiltrate a notorious gang. Allowing the local parson (Charles Thurston) to conduct services at a tavern, Tyler incurs the wrath of crime lords Harry O'Connor and Bill Nestel, who frame him in a holdup. The lawman, however, gets out of the jam with the assistance of pretty Jane Reid and her plucky kid brother (Frankie Darro). Tyler and Darro made a fine team and were paired many times by the studio, whose Westerns always appealed mainly to the young at heart. When the Law Rides was written by future director Oliver Drake. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1928
Duke Carlton (Tom Tyler), a former ranch-hand-turned-touring-company-actor, finds himself stranded when his manager takes off with the payroll. He manages to obtain a job at the O'Brien ranch and quickly falls for the rancher's pretty daughter Patsy (Duane Thomspon). Patsy's former suitor (James Pierce), does not take kindly to his presence, however, and neither does visiting actress Vera Van Schwank (Marjorie Zier), who falsely claims to be Carlton's wife! Who the phantom of the title is remains a mystery, however. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Charles P. McHugh, (more)
- 1928
FBO's handsome New York-born cowboy Tom Tyler plays a pacifist lawman who only uses his fists and a dangerous-looking whip to battle the bad guys in this pleasant western. Along the way, Tyler's sheriff goes undercover as a bandit to infiltrate the gang that framed pretty heroine Duane Thompson's father Tom Lingham in a murder. As always, the forbidding Tyler is helped immeasurably by the presence of boy actor Frankie Darro and a clever pooch, Beans. Playing Darro's dying father is one Vester Pegg, a veteran supporting player who had been the second actor to portray that endurable sagebrush hero, the Cisco Kid. The vehicle was Border Terror (1919). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler
- 1928
Though conceived and executed as a silent film, The Circus Kid was outfitted with a sound prolog and music and sound-effects track so it could pass muster as a talkie. Pint-sized Frankie Darro, no mean acrobat in real life, stars as a preteen circus performer. Darro becomes an unwilling sidelines observer of a romantic triangle involving equestrienne Helene Costello, lion-tamer Joe E. Brown (in a rare dramatic performance) and circus newcomer Sam Nelson. The climax finds Brown being mauled to death by his own lions (a sequence that sparked Brown's first real-life heart attack-though not because of the lions, who were relatively benign). One critic summed up The Circus Kid with a terse "You can sleep through it." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Costello, Joe E. Brown, (more)
- 1927
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
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1927
Strapping Tom Tyler starred as a rancher coming to the aid of some European refugees in this unusual silent western from grind-house company FBO. His nation of Roxenburg having fallen to usurpers, young kid Alexis (the utterly American Frankie Darro) hightails it to Arizona where he hides out at the Potter ranch. Jealous neighbor Cynthia Storme (female wrestler Ruby Blaine), infatuated with the king's protector Tom Potter (Tyler), betrays the young king because of Potter's friendship with lovely Janet Holbrooke (Dorothy Dunbar). It all ends well, naturally, with the villains (including the avaricious Cynthia) getting their comeuppance. Hollywood westerns flirted several times with Ruritanian themes likes this, most notably in My Pal the King (1932) starring Tom Mix and Mickey Rooney. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Dorothy Dunbar, (more)
- 1927
Thoroughly geared for the small fry, this pleasant silent western starred the strapping Tom Tyler, freckled boy actor Frankie Darro, and Tyler's faithful dog, Beans. The three pals (with Darro's sister Elsie Tarron in tow) are searching for the villain, known only as the "Black Rider," who murdered Tyler's father (Bert Hadley). Since sneering Harry Woods appears in the cast, Cyclone of the Range is not too taxing a prairie "whodunit." The film's director, Robert DeLacy, was the father of Philippe DeLacy, a boy actor too decorative for the rough-and-tumble world of series westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Tyler, Elsie Tarron, (more)
- 1927
Pint-sized juvenile actor Frankie Darro essays the title role in FBO's Little Mickey Grogan. Though officially the leading character, Mickey Grogan is essentially a sidelines performer, showing up from time to time to help the "adult" hero and heroine. The main plot concerns an architect who, when he begins losing his eyesight, worries that he is on the verge of losing his girl as well. The fact that the heroine is spending time with a burly prizefighter would seem to confirm this. But Little Mickey Grogan saves the day with a little pluck and luck and a lot of input from the screenwriters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Darro, Jobyna Ralston, (more)
- 1927
Although Virginia Valli is given top billing in this drama about World War I, Orville Caldwell has the biggest role, and the performance of nine-year-old Frankie Darro eclipses them both. Caldwell plays Brant Dennison, a roustabout inhabitant of the Kentucky hills. Although he is a hard drinker who has little use for education, he allows his kid brother, Tad (Darro), to go to school. Margaret Dix, the schoolteacher (Valli), has a positive influence on both of them. When the United States enters the Great War, Brant turns yellow when he sees how badly Jeb Marks (Frank McGlynn Jr.) has been shot up. He tries to avoid enlisting, but Tad has been taught patriotism by Margaret, and he helps rout out his reluctant older brother. Brant distinguishes himself overseas and returns a hero. The whole town waits anxiously for him to come home, but he steps off the train disgustingly intoxicated and proceeds to return to his drinking buddies. Only through Tad does Brant decide to straighten up and change his ways. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Valli, Frankie Darro, (more)
- 1927
Prizefighter Danny Martin (Danny O'Shea) wants to marry pretty Charlotte Hamilton (Mary Brian), but her wealthy father John (John Steppling) refuses to consider such a match. Things begin to go badly for Danny in the boxing ring, forcing him to hang up his gloves and assume the management of a health farm. When the out-of-shape John Hamilton shows up at the farm for a bit of therapeutic exercise, Charlotte arranges for her father to sign an agreement to keep up his therapy for a period of 60 days. While Hamilton huffs and puffs away in the gymnasium, Charlotte and Danny run off to get married. By the time Hamilton finds out he's been hoodwinked, he's in such excellent health that he immediately gives the marriage his unqualified blessing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Brian, Danny O'Shea, (more)
