Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in the golden age of Hollywood, generally referred to collectively as Poverty Row. Lacking the financial resources to deliver the lavish sets, production values, and star power of the larger studios, Monogram sought to attract its audiences with the promise of action and adventure.
Frankie Darro was an American actor and later in his career a stuntman. He began his career as a child actor in silent films, progressed to lead roles and co-starring roles in adventure, western, dramatic, and comedy films, and later became a character actor and voice-over artist. He is perhaps best known for his role as Lampwick, the unlucky boy who turns into a donkey in Walt Disney's second animated feature, Pinocchio (1940). In early credits, his last name was spelled Darrow.
The Phantom Empire is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross. This 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the Western, musical and science-fiction genres. The first episode is 30 minutes, the rest about 20 minutes. The serial film is about a singing cowboy who stumbles upon an ancient subterranean civilization living beneath his own ranch that becomes corrupted by unscrupulous greedy speculators from the surface. In 1940, a 70-minute feature film edited from the serial was released under the titles Radio Ranch or Men with Steel Faces. This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy. It is considered to be the first science-fiction Western.
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their first film together.
The Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 biographical film of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife Claire Merritt Hodgson. Critics faulted the film's heavy-handedness and direction, and it is said by many to be one of the worst films ever made.
LeRoy Franklin Mason was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903.
Marcia Mae Jones was an American film and television actress whose prolific career spanned 57 years.
Nat Levine, was an American film producer. He produced 105 films between 1921 and 1946. Born in New York City, he entered the film industry as an accountant for Metro Pictures and became personal secretary to Metro head Marcus Loew.
Mike is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film directed by Marshall Neilan. The film is a modest production, featuring Sally O'Neil and William Haines.
Let's Go Collegiate is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and produced by Monogram Pictures. It was released as Farewell to Fame in the United Kingdom.
Memory Lane is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by John M. Stahl and starring Eleanor Boardman, Conrad Nagel, and William Haines.
Wild to Go is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro and Eugenia Gilbert.
The Cowboy Musketeer is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Frankie Darro, and David Dunbar. In the film, a cowboy helps a woman find the hidden gold mine she has inherited from her father before others can get their hands on it.
The Flying U Ranch is a 1927 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Nora Lane and Bert Hadley.
The Wyoming Wildcat is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Billie Bennett, and Frankie Darro.
Let's Go, Gallagher is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Barbara Starr, and Olin Francis.
Born to Battle is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Jean Arthur and Frankie Darro. Tyler also starred in the 1935 film of the same name, but that western film has a different plot and is unrelated to the 1926 film.
The Masquerade Bandit is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Dorothy Dunbar and Ethan Laidlaw.
Tom and His Pals is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Robert De Lacey and starring Tom Tyler, Doris Hill and Frankie Darro. It was released in Britain under the alternative title of Movie Struck.
Born to Fight is a 1936 American drama film directed by Charles Hutchison from a screenplay by Stephen Norris, based on the short story, "To Him Who Dares" by Peter B. Kyne. The film stars Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, and Jack LaRue.
