Frank Coghlan, Jr. Movies

One of the most popular baseball films ever made, Slide, Kelly, Slide also solidified the stardom of MGM leading man William Haines. In his usual brash, cocky manner, Haines is cast as Jim Kelly, a self-styled baseball whiz who talks himself into a job with the New York Yankees. Though his boundless braggadocio is backed up by his talent on the baseball field, Kelly soon alienates himself from the rest of his teammates, who can't stand his arrogant behavior. Veteran Yankee catcher Tom Munson (Harry Carey) -- also the father of Kelly's sweetheart Mary (Sally O'Neil) -- tries to set the young upstart straight, but Kelly isn't interested. Upset because he feels the team isn't on his side, Kelly gets drunk on the eve of an important game in Chicago. Mary doesn't want him to get fired, so she hides him in her hotel room. When Tom shows up he tries to talk some sense into Kelly, but the hot-headed young player unleashes his invective on Tom, calling the aging player an old has-been in full earshot of the entire team. This shameful display thoroughly disillusions Yankee batboy Mickey (Junior Coghlan) who, up to that moment, worshipped Kelly.

After quitting the team, Kelly makes himself scarce during the deciding World Series game. When the team runs out of pitchers, little Mickey decides to seek out Kelly and beg him to return -- only to be struck down by a truck. Realizing that Mickey will recover only if he redeems himself, Kelly returns to the Yankee roster and scores the winning run without resorting to his usual show-off tactics. As the recovered Mickey is wheeled into Yankee Stadium, Kelly reverts to his old boastful self, but by now, everyone -- including Mary -- realizes that our hero is truly a reformed man. Filmed on location at the Yankee's spring training camp in Florida and at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field (one of the best minor-league stadiums in America), Slide, Kelly, Slide boasts cameo appearances from such real-life baseball luminaries as Mike Donlin, Irish Meusel, Bob Meusel, Tony "Poosh-em-Up" Lazzeri, and umpire John "Beans" Reardon. As a bonus, football-star-turned-actor Johnny Mack Brown makes his film debut in a one-scene bit part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those who believe that It Happened One Night was the first film to tap the comic potential of "auto courts" (later known as motels) are referred to the 1927 film Rubber Tires. It all begins when the Stack family sells all its worldly possessions, invests in a car, and heads to California. Every possible disaster befalls them, from flat tires to busted radiators, but the family is always rescued by Bill James (Harrison Ford), the erstwhile sweetheart of Mary Ellen Stack (Bessie Love). Upon arriving in the Golden State, Pa Stack (Erwin Connelly) finds that a promised job has fallen through, but fortunately the manufacturer of their car gives the family a huge cash reward for proving the durability of the auto. Rubber Tires was filmed on locations ranging from Monterey Bay to the coast of Carmel; according to co-star Frank "Junior" Coghlan, one scene was filmed in the tiny chili stand owned by future "restaurateur-to-the-stars" Dave Chasen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Long before Richard Harding Davis' "Gallegher" stories were serialized for television by Walt Disney, popular silent-screen juvenile actor Frank Coghlan Jr. played the title role in Let 'Er Go Gallegher. A street urchin who aspires to be a detective, Gallegher (Coghlan) gets more than he bargained for when he witnesses a murder. Though he doesn't see the killer's face, he knows that the culprit had only four fingers on one hand. Gallegher passes on this information to hotshot newspaper reporter Callahan (Harrison Ford), who rises to journalistic fame when the boy's scoop hits the headlines. Unfortunately, Callahan's newspaper runs a picture of Gallegher, billing the boy as the sole witness to the crime. In due time, the young scamp is kidnapped by the murderer, Four Fingered Dan (Ivan Lebedeff). Just as Dan is about to remove Gallegher's head from his body, the boy is rescued by Callahan and virtually the entire New York police force. Outside of the "Boy's Own Paper" plotline, the real selling angle of Let 'Er Go Gallegher was an extended sequence in which the 12-year-old hero mans the controls of a car, only to find himself wedged between two speeding fire engines! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Screenland magazine summed up the William Haines vehicle The Girl Said No thusly: "The star plays another of his cut-up roles that make the critics gnash their teeth and the audience chortle." Had this review been printed in the 1990s, the character played by Haines might have been labelled a demented stalker; in 1930, however, he was merely whimsically over-enthusiastic. The star plays go-getting bond salesman Tom Ward, who can't take no for an answer when his sweetie Mary Howe (Leila Hyams) throws him over in favor of a collar-ad wimp named McAndrews (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) Tom continues to hound Mary at home and at her job, and when all other tactics fail, he kidnaps her from her own wedding, merrily driving off with the outraged heroine bound and gagged in the back seat! Almost as "funny" as this denouement is the scene in which Tom poses as a doctor and gets his "patient" roaring drunk. Only the antics of Marie Dressler (as a reclusive Hetty Green-style financier) and Polly Moran save this so-called comedy from being an utter disaster. The dialogue in The Girl Said No was written by Charles MacArthur, who hopefully didn't use Bill Haines's caveman tactics while courting his own bride, actress Helen Hayes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1923, Booth Tarkington's nostalgic novel Penrod and Sam made its first talking-picture appearance in 1931 (both versions were directed by William Beaudine). The title roles are essayed by two of the most talented and ubiquitous juvenile performers of the 1930s, Leon Janney and Junior Coughlan. As the organizers of a "secret" boys club, Penrod and Sam exclude the local "sissies" from membership, only to be forced to allow the obnoxious Rodney Bitts (Nestor Aber) to join when Rodney's father buys the land where the club is based. Beyond the expected "Our Gang"-style antics and pranks, there is a moment of almost unbearable pathos when Penrod is told that his beloved dog has been run over by a car. Burying the pooch near his clubhouse, Penrod is shooed off the property by Rodney's father, whereupon Penrod's dad purchases the land himself -- a turn of events that delights Penrod and Sam, but does not bode well for poor Rodney! Penrod and Sam was remade in 1937 as a vehicle for twin child stars Billy and Bobby Mauch. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of a 1919 silent film based on the stage farce by Roi Cooper Megrue and Walter C. Hackett, the light romantic comedy It Pays to Advertise stars comedienne Carol Lombard in one of her early Paramount talkies. Rodney Martin (Norman Foster) is the son of wealthy soap manufacturer Cyrus Martin (Eugene Pallette). Rodney has to make it on his own, so he starts up a rival soap company with the slogan "Thirteen - Unlucky for Dirt." After he hires advertising manager Ambrose Peale (Richard "Skeets" Gallagher) and loyal secretary Mary Grayson (Carole Lombard), his company takes off and his supply can't keep up with the demand. Dad Cyrus buys him out and he falls in love with trusty secretary Mary. Silent film star Louise Brooks appears in a small role. Paramount also made a French language version of this film with different actors called Criez-Le Sur Les Toits. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

A Grand Hotel derivation set in a major metropolitan train terminal, Union Depot features most of the reliable Warner Bros. stock company. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. stars as a slick thief; Joan Blondell costars as a stranded chorus girl; Alan Hale Sr. is featured as a phony baron absconding with company funds; and Frank McHugh does his drunk act. Other arrivals and departures include Guy Kibbee, David Landau, and George Rosener (as a sexual deviate stalking Ms. Blondell!) The huge depot set built for this film may seem like an unnecessary expenditure, but the set would come in handy for future, less costly Warners endeavors. The British title for Union Depot was Gentleman for a Day, reflecting the crooked Fairbanks' good-guy turnaround at the end of the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed at Kernville, CA, and the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, this serial version of James Fenimore Cooper's immortal tale starred an aging Harry Carey as the guide Hawkeye, with the even more elderly Hobart Bosworth as Chingachgook (here called the Sagamore). Juvenile actor Frank Coghlan Jr. played Uncas -- thus safely eliminating the miscegenation factor of the original story. Edwina Booth, who had starred opposite Carey in MGM's Trader Horn (1930), dyed her hair brunette to play Cora Munro while serial regular Lucile Browne appeared as blonde Alice Munro. Gaunt comedy actor Nelson McDowell was cast as the music teacher David Gamut, a role he had played in Maurice Tourneur's 1920 silent version of The Last of the Mohicans. With action taking over from character development and verisimilitude, this 12-chapter serial is by many regarded as the finest of Mascot Pictures' many chapterplays. The Last of the Mohicans was also released in a feature version under the title The Return of the Mohicans. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this drama, Joe Tomasso, a slightly corrupt gambler, goes completely straight after he catches an orphan hanging around the racing stables and decides to take the lad under his wing. He then helps the kid become a jockey. Later the boys real mother appears and begs her son not to race; she also falls in love with Joe. Later Joe decides to help the mother reunite with her boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a social worker employed by Traveler's Aid finally is able to show her love to a construction foreman responsible for building the Golden Gate Bridge. She has loved him for nine years and is delighted that they can finally be together. Unfortunately, both of them are so busy that it is difficult to be together. Fortunately, they do eventually connect. The film contains actual footage of the construction of the great San Francisco Bridge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Happiness C.O.D was one of the last productions from flagging Chesterfield. Perennial supporting player Maude Eburne assumes the leading role as Aunt Addie, philosophical matriarch of a large, rambunctious brood. Dipping deep into her own pockets, Addie must constantly bail out her less-practical brother Thomas Sheridan (Donald Cook), whose construction business is constantly overextended at the bank because of his selfish, spendthrift children. Eventually deserted by his ungrateful offspring, Sheridan faces eviction and bankruptcy. But Aunt Addie, fed up with seeing her brother stepped upon, rallies the whole family together in the nick of time. Cast as Sheridan's youngest son Larry was Frank Coghlan Jr., a prominent juvenile actor since the silent era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

En route from Honolulu to Los Angeles by steamship, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) is pressed into action when a fellow passenger is killed. The dead man was a prominent horse breeder, whose favorite stallion has been entered in the Santa Anita handicap. At first glance, it appears as though the victim has been kicked to death by his own horse, but further investigation reveals the complicity of a crooked gambling ring. The excitement of the "photo finish" climax is amplified when Charlie and Number One Son Lee (Keye Luke) are kidnapped by the gamblers -- and the murderer still hasn't been revealed! The best line in Charlie Chan at the Race Track occurs at the end, when Lee excitedly bursts into a room with a vital clue that Charlie has already revealed, whereupon Mr. Chan murmurs: "Please -- save clue for next case." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide