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(Courtesy of Calvin Castine)
On the left is a vending machine card showing Tom Tyler and a very young Frankie Darro (with his last name spelled "Darrow") from one of their FBO silents.



Above - a 1926 tradepaper ad for Tyler and Frankie Darro in their silent westerns for Film Booking Office (FBO).



(From Old Corral collection)

Above is a duotone lobby card from the Harry Carey serial THE DEVIL HORSE (Mascot, 1932) with Frankie portraying "the wild boy", an orphan raised in the wild who befriends a herd of horses.

Darro's six cliffhangers for Nat Levine and Mascot were:
THE LIGHTNING WARRIOR (1931)
THE VANISHING LEGION (1931)
THE DEVIL HORSE (1932)
THE WOLF DOG (1933)
BURN 'EM UP BARNES (1934)
THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935)




Above is a crop/enlargement from THE DEVIL HORSE lobby card above. Frankie is being assaulted by J. Paul Jones, who plays the helper to brains heavy Noah Beery, Sr. Coming to Darro's aid is prolific performer Jack Mower who portrays "Adams", the leader of the vigilantes.



(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Betsy King Ross and Frankie Darro (in their "Junior Thunder Riders" capes and "bucket" helmets) come to the aid of injured Gene Autry in this lobby card from Chapter 1 of THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (Mascot, 1935).



(Courtesy of Val Warren)

Above - left to right are Wheeler Oakman (as "Argo", the High Priest), Jay Wilsey/Buffalo Bill Jr. (as a Muranian guard), Frankie Darro, Betsy King Ross, and Roger Williams (Muranian guard) in a still from THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (Mascot, 1935).



Several folks have asked if Leroy Mason ever portrayed a good guy. The answer is yes ... a few times. Circa 1935-1937, producer Maurice Conn was churning out mountie and western adventures starring Ken Maynard's brother Kermit Maynard. During that same period, Conn also produced a series starring youngster Frankie Darro. Assisting Frankie in the initial films was Le Roy Mason (billed as Roy Mason). In the later films, Kane Richmond replaced Mason as Darro's adult helper. Mason had worked with Frankie about ten years earlier in Tom Tyler's FBO silent oaters. Above is the pressbook cover for MEN OF ACTION (Conn, 1935) starring Darro and Roy Mason.



Right is a pressbook ad from the Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland film UP IN THE AIR (Monogram, 1940).

This was one of Frankie's ten starring films for Monogram which were released from 1938 - 1941.

(From Old Corral collection)



(Courtesy of Pat LaRosa)

Left to right in this lobby card from the Darro starrer THE GANGS ALL HERE (Monogram, 1941) are Robert Homans, Mantan Moreland, Darro, Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones.

Notice the height of Darro and Moreland compared to the others. Frankie and Jackie Moran worked in the post World War II "Teen Agers" series at Monogram which starred one time Tommy Dorsey singer Freddy Stewart.


FRANKIE DARRO LINKS


  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Frankie Darro: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0201660/

If you'd like more details on Darro, check out Linda Kay's website which includes a lengthy biography along with a bunch of images: http://www.frankiedarro.com/

There's a profile of Darro at Daniel Neyer's "The Files of Jerry Blake" website: https://filesofjerryblake.com/serial-sidekicks/frankie-darro/

You can download several public domain films starring Darro from the Internet Archive. The archive has TOUGH TO HANDLE (Conn, 1937; with Kane Richmond), IRISH LUCK (Monogram, 1939; with Mantan Moreland), CHASING TROUBLE (Monogram, 1940; with Mantan Moreland), and LET'S GO COLLEGIATE (Monogram, 1941; with Mantan Moreland and an early role for Gale Storm of MY LITTLE MARGIE fame). Go to: http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=frankie%20darro%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies

Find A Grave website notes that Darro was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6274585/frankie-darro

YouTube has many clips from Darro's silents and sound films at: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=%22frankie+darro%22&aq=f
Of the bunch, here's a few that you may recall:
The Darro death scene in THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK serial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFM22DlfX28
Another Darro death - in this one, he's the lookout tower guard in the Clark Gable ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLO9sT7wLpY


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