Frank Merrill Movies

"An All-Star Cast" (well, that's what the credits say) helps bring a confusing tale of shenanigans in the jungle to the screen in this low-budget adventure saga, which has become a cult favorite. Steve Collins (Ray "Crash" Corrigan") is an explorer who stumbles injured and exhausted into Morgan's Trading Post, an oasis of civilization in the African jungle, and tells a strange tale of what he's seen over the past few days. Collins encountered Bradford, a fellow explorer who had run afoul of angry natives and was being held captive when they discovered a beautiful woman and her son, who were left stranded years ago by a death in their touring party. The young boy has developed an ability to communicate telepathically with the beasts of the jungle, and through them may be able to lead Bradford to the location of a long-lost treasure. Meanwhile, everyone lives in fear of the White Gorilla, an albino ape who has been shunned by the other creatures of the jungle and now regards every living thing as his enemy, in particularly an especially savage black gorilla. The majority of the jungle footage in The White Gorilla was taken from a silent serial, Perils Of The Jungle, which was shot in 1927; this helps to explain why Collins narrates the action, why many of the characters never actually meet on screen, and why the action frequently and abruptly speeds up or slows down. Ray "Crash" Corrigan donned an ape suit to play the White Gorilla, as well as portraying Collins. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In the opener of Universal's 15-chapter serial Tarzan the Tiger, Tarzan, aka Lord Greystoke (Frank Merrill), returns to Africa with his bride, Lady Jane (Natalie Kingston), hoping to locate the famous Jewels of Opar and thus save the Greystoke estate in England. At their plantation, the noble couple is entertaining seemingly friendly scientist Albert Werper (Al Ferguson) who, unbeknownst to the Greystokes, is in reality a greedy soldier of fortune. To Werper, Tarzan explains how he, years ago, rescued Lady Jane from La (Mme. Kithnou), the jealous Queen of Opar. "Have you no pity for me -- a woman like yourself," a tied-up Jane had pleaded, but to no avail. Happily, Tarzan had arrived with not a second to spare to rescue Jane from certain death. Now, and despite Jane's misgivings, the Englishman is planning to return to Opar. Werper, meanwhile, conspires with Tarzan's enemy, slave trader Achmet Zek (Sheldon Lewis), to sell Lady Jane to the highest bidder. The following night, while Tarzan is fighting the ferocious lion Numa, Zek and his band of Nomads kidnap a prostrate Jane. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

The Little Wild Girl is hoydenish French-Canadian lass Marie Celeste (Lila Lee). Assuming that her sweetheart Jules (Cullen Landis) and her father Duncan (Arthur Hotaling) have died in a fire, Marie wanders aimlessly around in the woods, where she is discovered by Broadway impresarios McBride (Frank Merrill) and Hampton (Bud Shaw). Enchanted by her beauty, the two men take Marie to New York, where she becomes a popular musical comedy star. Her innocent involvement in a nasty murder scandal ruins Marie's career, but she finds happiness at last with her boyfriend Jules, who didn't die after all. Boris Karloff is seen in a secondary "heavy" role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Champion athlete Frank Merrill stars in the tongue-in-cheek actioner Unknown Dangers. Merrill plays a theatrical reviewer who pans a stage melodrama, insisting that such things could never happen in real life. A group of theater managers decide to get their revenge by staging a phony kidnapping and luring the reviewer into the "crook's" lair. Merrill overhears these plans and allows himself to fall into the trap set for him, determined to have the last laugh. But as it turns out, he wanders into a den of genuine kidnappers who, of course, he assumes to be actors. Unaware of the real danger that he's in, Merrill makes short work of the crooks and rescues their female victim, leading to a zany Keystone-like climactic chase. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two popular genres converged in this enjoyable silent Western: the boxing melodrama and the sagebrush romance. Frank Merrill starred as a former boxer visiting his family's Western ranch. When a crooked politician (Dick Sutherland) attempts to discredit Merrill's uncle (Milburn Morante), the onetime pugilist gets a chance to strut his stuff once again. Produced by a minor firm called Hercules Productions and distributed by poverty row entrepreneur Bud Barsky, Battling Mason played the hinterlands only. Hercules' only star, the muscular Frank Merrill, is best remembered for portraying Tarzan twice, in the serials Tarzan the Mighty (1918) and Tarzan the Tiger (1919). The former stunt-man had earlier played an Arab in The Adventures of Tarzan (1921). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Produced by the low-budget Weiss brothers, Leonard and Louis, The Adventures of Tarzan was the first of no less than five jungle serials to be produced in the span of only ten months and by far the most popular. Starring burly Elmo Lincoln, and 16-year-old Louise Lorraine as Jane, the 15-chapter cliffhanger was based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Return of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Returning to his beloved jungle kingdom, Tarzan spurns the love of Queen la of Opal (Lillian Worth), who in revenge attempts to sabotage the jungle king's efforts to defeat a treasure-hunting Bolshevik, Rokoff (Frank Whitson), and his own cousin, William Clayton (Percy Pembroke), a pretender to the title of Lord Greystoke. The early chapters of The Adventures of Tarzan came in for some criticism from bluenoses and Lincoln's manly chest was quickly covered up. Unbeknownst to the majority of moviegoers, Elmo was doubled by 1918 gymnastic champion Frank Merrill, whose athletic skills did much to ensure success. Merrill would eventually play Lord Greystoke in two Universal serials: Tarzan the Mighty (1928) and Tarzan the Tiger (1929), the last mentioned a partial remake of The Adventures of Tarzan featuring the exotic Kithnou as the evil jungle queen. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi