Frank Whitson Movies

Swing High Swing Low is a new coat of paint on the old stage play Burlesque, first filmed in 1929 as The Dance of Life. Ex-serviceman Skid Johnson (Fred MacMurray) rises to the uppermost rungs of show business as a bandleader. As his fame swells, so does his head, and he becomes impossibly arrogant, forgetting the friends who helped him get to the top -- not to mention his ever-faithful sweetheart, band vocalist Maggie King (Carole Lombard). Consuming great quantities of booze, Skid hits the skids, ending up a skid-row derelict (there seems to be a pattern here). The ultimate humiliation comes when he isn't even allowed to return to the Army because his insides are shot. In the film's calculatedly teary finale, Skid is rescued emotionally and professionally by Maggie, now a big star in her own right. As indicated by the synopsis, the film is banal and old-hat, but the stars are terrific, especially Carole Lombard, who sings in several scenes (and not all that badly!) Swing High, Swing Low was remade in 1948 as When My Baby Smiles at Me. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Who better to play Somebody's Mother than perennial movie matriarch Mary Carr. As often happened in Carr's films, the poor, downtrodden female protagonist is ignored by one and all, even when she performs a final noble gesture to assure the happiness of her children. This time, the actress is cast as "Matches Mary," whose profession is implicit in her name. Suffering stoically throughout the film, Matches Mary makes certain that no ill will befall the romantic leads (Rex Lease and Kathryn McGuire). It surely goes without saying that the male lead is Mary's long-lost son, whose success she enjoys vicariously at the end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Australian star Rex "Snowy" Baker stars in this military melodrama. This was the first of a series of four films Baker made for producer Phil Goldstone, and they were offered on a States' Rights basis. Irene Falliday (Gertrude McConnell) is the daughter of the British governor (William Bainbridge) who rules over an Indian province. She finds Yasmini (Lois Scott) wearing the shawl she believes she has lost and asks Tommy Farrell (Phil Burke) to get it back. Farrell is in love with Irene, but Yasmini loves him, and when he finally gets the shawl from her, the circumstances shame her in the eyes of her father Shere Ali, Sirdar of the Afghans (Frank Whitson), and his subjects. In revenge, Shere Ali kidnaps Irene. But Irene has a longtime secret admirer -- Major Bruce Wainright (Baker) -- and he comes to her aid. With the help of his horse -- the "white panther" of the title -- he braves a number of adventures to come to her rescue. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Producer Philip Golstone took a minor western actor named Carl Ullman, changed his name into the more commercially sound William Fairbanks and launched him in a series of very low-budget oaters that was a credit to no one. In Her Man, Fairbanks plays a cowboy rescuing a debutante (Margaret Landis) from a kidnapper. Despite that heroic gesture, the girl's father still does not approve of a cowboy as a potential son-in-law, until, that is, Fairbanks reveals that he is a member of the social register himself. Not even rural moviegoers, Goldstone's primary target, went for this one. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Raymond McKee stars as a young man suspected of being a revenue officer in moonshine country in this forgettable film. He falls in love with the daughter (Helen Ferguson) of a notorious moonshiner and fights his foes with fists and guns to escape a trap set by the hateful hillbillies. Earl Metcalf, Wilfred Lucas, Helen Lynch, Frank Whitson, and Ralph Yearly co-star in this unremarkable effort. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

aka Hell's River Just about every actor has to work his way up from supporting roles and this even includes Rin-Tin-Tin. Known only as Rin Tin in 1922, he made a stunning debut in this drama of the Northwest, based on the James Oliver Curwood novel, The God of Her People. Pretty Maballa (Eva Novak) lives at a small French-Canadian trading post with her father. While her sweetheart Pierre, a Mountie (Irving Cummings, who also directed), is off capturing bad guys she finds herself at the mercy of Gaspard, an evil character also known as the Wolf (no, not Rin-Tin-Tin, but Wallace Beery in high villain mode). Gaspard knows that Maballa's father is wanted for a murder (which, of course, he did not commit) and threatens to have him arrested unless she marries him. Maballa has no choice, and is betrothed to Gaspard by the time Pierre returns to the post (here is where Rin-Tin-Tin appears, as the pilot dog of Pierre's team). Maballa cannot explain the situation to her Mountie boyfriend, but a priest finally tells all. Gaspard tries to take Maballa away, but Pierre follows and a fight to the death ensues. Just when things look bad for Pierre, his faithful pilot dog leaps on Gaspard and sends him flying over the cliff. Pierre and Maballa are finally reunited and Rin-Tin-Tin takes his place in movie history alongside another dog star of the silent era, Strongheart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

One Day originated as the sequel to Elinor Glyn's steamy best-seller Three Weeks (itself filmed in 1915 and 1922). The action takes place some twenty years after the original novel, as Opal (Jeanne Iver), daughter of the man who "ruined" the Queen of Veseria and stole her throne, falls in love with deposed Veserian king Paul (Victor Sutherland). Alas, Opal is promised in marriage to a decadent but very wealthy nobleman. Hoping to escape this fate, she heads to France, where she is reunited with Paul during a driving rainstorm. Forced to take shelter in a hunting lodge, the two enjoy a hot-and-heavy romantic rendezvous right out of Mayerling. Fortunately for all concerns, her evil father is toppled from the Veserian throne, paving the way for a royal wedding between Opal and Paul. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

We meet Helen (Dorothy Phillips) in the middle of creating the past that will haunt her for the rest of the film -- she and her lover, Ralph Kelton (Jack Mulhall), are caught in a rainstorm and they are forced to check into a hotel as husband and wife, since there is only one room available. Kelton is struck by lightning and killed, and the truth behind Helen's night at the hotel is known only by a local doctor, Edmund Stafford (Lon Chaney, in an early villainous role). Years later, Helen is married to Oliver Urmy (Frank Whitson) and they have a daughter, Aline (Vola Smith), who falls in love with Billy Cupps (Jay Belasco), supposedly the son of Helen's old nurse, Jenny (Evelyn Selbie). But Billy is really Helen's illegitimate son, handed over to Jenny to be raised, so the match is questionable at best. A worse potential match is suggested when Dr. Stafford reappears in Helen's life. He's now an alcoholic and a drug addict and offers to keep Helen's dark secret if she arranges a marriage between himself and Aline. Aline, however, won't have anything to do with the old, decrepit hop head and elopes with Billy. Luckily, it turns out that Billy is not Helen's son after all -- her boy died during his infancy and was replaced by another child -- so the newlyweds aren't brother and sister after all. Meanwhile, Dr. Stafford is fatally injured in a car wreck, and Helen's shady past is finally given a rest. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Written by Irish-born scenario writer Mary Murillo, Gold and the Woman was merely another Theda Bara "Vamp" melodrama about a woman whose insatiable lust destroys every man in her path. This time she is Juliet De Cordova, a "half-breed" taking revenge on the descendants of a Spanish Conquisdator. The film used flashbacks spanning several centuries, but Bara remained Bara throughout. According to surviving stills (the film itself, sadly, appears to be lost), Theda looked downright frumpy whilst "vamping" leading man Harry Hilliard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide