Billy Franey Movies

Retired frontier postal inspector Dan Clark (George O'Brien) is summoned back to active duty when the stagecoach line owned by heroine Crinnie (Virginia Vale) is targetted by outlaws. The perpetrator of this outrage is Crinnie's own uncle (Carl Stockdale), in cahoots with her principal rival Dude Elliot (Roy Barcroft). Travelling incognito, Clark takes a job as stagecoach driver in hopes of bringing the criminals out in the open. Stage to Chino represented the directorial debut of Edward Killy, one of the most prolific members of RKO Radio's assistant-director staff. At the time of its release, much was made of the fact that the film featured several former silent-film luminaries in the supporting cast, including Elmo "Tarzan" Lincoln, Billy Franey and Bruce Mitchell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The last of RKO's Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicles, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is also the least typical. At their best playing carefree characters in gossamer-thin musical comedy plotlines, Fred and Ginger seem slightly ill at ease cast as the real-life dancing team of Vernon and Irene Castle. The stripped-to-essentials storyline boils down to novice dancer Irene (Rogers) convincing vaudeville comic Vernon (Astaire) to give up slapstick in favor of "classy" ballroom dancing. With the help of agent Edna May Oliver, the Castles hit their peak of fame and fortune in the immediate pre-World War I years. When Vernon is called to arms, Irene stays behind in the US, making patriotic movie serials to aid the war effort. Vernon is killed in a training accident, leaving a tearful Irene to carry on alone. To soften the shock of Astaire's on-screen death (it still packs a jolt when seen today), RKO inserted a closing "dream" dancing sequence, with a spectral Vernon and Irene waltzing off into the heavens. The film's production was hampered by the on-set presence of the real Irene Castle, whose insistence upon accuracy at all costs drove everyone to distraction--especially Ginger Rogers, who felt as though she was being treated like a marionette rather than an actress. In one respect, Mrs. Castle had good reason to be so autocratic. Walter, the "severest critic servant" character played by Walter Brennan, was in reality a black man. RKO was nervous about depicting a strong, equal-footing friendship between the white Castles and their black retainer, so a Caucasian actor was hired for the role. Mrs. Castle was understandably incensed by this alteration, and for the rest of her days chastised RKO for its cowardice. As it turned out, it probably wouldn't have mattered if Walter had been black, white, Chicano or Siamese; The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle was a financial bust, losing $50,000 at the box office. Perhaps as a result, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would not team up again for another ten years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The rivalry between two deep-sea diver is chronicled in this adventure. The trouble begins when a young woman inherits one of the diver's boats and promptly hires his rival to help out. At first they swear to stay away from her, but they cannot and many arguments ensue culminating in a fistfight aboard a roller coaster in an amusement park. During the scuffle, one of the men falls and lands in the ocean. He quickly swims away and is presumed dead causing the other man to be arrested for murder. Later a ship filled with gold founders, and the surviving salvager and his new partner must retrieve it with the agreement that they will split the take. Unfortunately, the new partner is avaricious and during the dive attempts to kill the other. Fortunately, the embattled salvager is saved by his ex-partner who was recently released from jail. They defeat their foe, but end up in the hospital where they continue arguing until the woman comes in and announces that she is engaged to the ship's captain. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a young couple are forced to marry after they are accidentally locked in a store overnight. Unfortunately for the young groom, his overbearing mother is unhappy with the match and keeps trying to get them divorced. She even follows them on their honeymoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this western, John Wayne plays a bronc buster who flees to Mexico after he is falsely accused of rigging a stagecoach race. Living as an outlaw, he joins a gang and finds that the son of his old rodeo boss has been roped into joining them. While trying to save the youth from a life of crime, The heroic Wayne also manages to save a silver mine and find true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A vengeful cowpoke rides out for revenge against the cattle rustlers who killed his pa in this western. Along the way, he finds and adopts a cuddly little baby. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This entry in RKO's Tom Keene series was one of several early sound Westerns to cross over into the haunted house comedy-thriller genre. Keene played Jerry Long, the long-lost heir to the ghost town of Boom City. A crooked judge, Drake (Mitchell Harris). has discovered oil in an abandoned mine and, unaware of Jerry's true identity, hires him to impersonate himself, so to speak. Jerry's task is to persuade his fellow heir, Jane Worth (Merna Kennedy), to sell out to Drake and his henchman Gordon (Ted Adams). Arriving at Boom City, the prospective heirs are put through the standard Hollywood haunted house melodramatics such as sliding panels, clutching hands and trap doors, all rather cumbersomely directed by former film editor Fred Allen (no relation to the radio raconteur). Keene, who tracks down the villains disguised in a black cape, was his personable self and Miss Kennedy (Chaplin's leading lady in The Circus, 1928) made a brisk heroine. But the best performances were given by a supporting cast that included Harry Semels as the obligatory mysterious butler, Kate Campbell) as a pompous matron and Harry Bowen as an easily frightened travelling salesman. George "Gabby" Hayes, sans the trademark beard, appeared unbilled as a hotel proprietor. Ghost Valley was partially filmed at the ghost town of Hornitas, California. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

A late entry in First National's series of silent Ken Maynard Westerns, this film starred the athletic Maynard and his magnificent and increasingly popular horse "Tarzan" in a rousing rodeo adventure. Maynard played Cal Roberts, a young rodeo cowboy coming to the aid of a girl jockey (Gladys McConnell), whose father is facing bankruptcy. Cheyenne was scripted by the talented Marion Jackson, who also wrote some of rival Western star Fred Thomson's better vehicles. Warner Bros., who had absorbed First National (and its Burbank studio complex) in late 1928, later used the title Cheyenne for both a 1947 feature and the popular 1955-1963 television series starring Clint Walker. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Blonde Broadway dancer Marie Saxon came to the screen in 1929 courtesy of Columbia Pictures, who starred her opposite popular stage emcee Jack Egan in Broadway Hoofer, a rather leaden musical concoction that played mostly in the hinterlands. Saxon appeared as Broadway dancing star Adele Dorey who, overworked and exhausted, suddenly ups and leaves New York in favor of a country village. But when promoter Bobby Lewis (Egan) of the barnstorming Gay Girlies Burlesque Company arrives in town, he picks an incognito Adele among all the pretty village girls to star in his new show. On a lark, Adele introduces her maid Jane (Louise Fazenda) as her mother and accepts a contract. When Adele's identity is finally revealed, the slumming star apologizes for her deception by offering Bobby a Broadway job. Denouncing Irene for her duplicity at first , Bobby, who has fallen in love, finally agrees to the gig and they are reunited. Filmed back-to-back with the equally pedestrian Broadway Scandals, which also starred Egan, Broadway Hoofer completely wasted the redoubtable Miss Saxon in clumsily staged numbers such as Hawaiian Love Song, a would-be show-stopper featuring rather zoftig-looking chorus girls in grass skirts. Marie took the consequences of this minor disaster and quickly returned to the Great White Way. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In a departure from his usual fare of Richard Talmadge action melodramas, low-budget entrepreneur A. Carlos produced this low-key silent drama of a man seeking vengeance on the villain whose lies sent him to prison on the night of his wedding. The emaciated H.B. Warner, the Christ of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927), and early silent star Anita Stewart played the leading roles under King Baggot's direction. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Joan Forsythe (Molly Malone) arrives in the town of Cache D'Orr, near the Canadian border, to find and claim an inheritance that was left by her late father. Furthermore, in order to find the clue to the fortune in gold, in a hidden mine, she must make contact with a Native American, Black Eagle (Jay J. Bryan). Once in Cache D'Orr, she crosses paths with Wynne Kendall (Maurice B. "Lefty" Flynn), an upper-class ne'er-do-well trying to make good in the eyes of his wealthy uncle, who is newly arrived in the wilderness, his identity a secret, trying to find out why the furs received at the trading post owned by his uncle's company have been dropping for the past couple of years. This puts him on a collision course with Ewart Garth (Joe Bonomo), the brutal and corrupt manager of the trading post. But he and Joan end up with parallel and conflicting interests, as he has posted a bounty for the head of White Fury, the magnificent stallion that leads a herd of wild horses (and recently ran off with Garth's prize brood mare); and White Fury also carries the clue to the location of Joan's legacy. Can the righteous and plucky but genteel Joan and the upright Wynne overcome the brutal Garth, even with the help of Black Eagle, and save the stallion and the herd? Originally released as a serial, The Golden Stallion had enough characters and good enough acting to hold audiences' interest for ten episodes. It was co-authored by future director/producer William A. Berke, whose career lasted another 30 years, and was among the better late silent serial produced by renowned Poverty Row mogul Nat Levine. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Fate is a funny thing: If young physician John Graham (Reginald Denny) had not been stuck in a faulty elevator overnight with stage star Molly O'Day (Marian Nixon), the two might never have met and fall in love. Once the couple is rescued, John and Molly legalize their union at City Hall. At this point, Molly discovers that her contract stipulates a salary decrease in the event of her marriage, so with John's consent she keeps her wedding a secret. Soon after, Molly joins her theatrical troupe on a steamship journey to England. Not wishing to be left behind, and still anxious not to reveal his marital status, John signs on as the ship's doctor. The laughs come pouring in as both Molly and John are afflicted with the "green-eyed monster" thanks to the intervention of several would-be sweethearts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide