March 1, 2010 - We're back once again with a few more updates for this month! We have some exciting news about the release of one of Frankie's silent movies, Kiki, on DVD, which you can find as a News Flash on our Home Page. And while you're there, be sure to check out our Photo of the Month as well! And we have a really striking print ad for the movie The Mayor of Hell which we've added to our all-new Articles page, with many thanks to Claudia for sending it to us! And we know we've been somewhat lax about adding new video clips to our YouTube Channel, and you're probably tired of hearing us say we'll do better . . . but we will try to do better!
February 1, 2010 - Hello, Frankie fans! This month we're bringing you a few more updates, including a really neat article from 1925 showing Frankie with boxing champ Jack Dempsey, and you'll find that on this Articles page. We also have a brand new Photo of the Month on the Home Page. And we know we've been somewhat lax about putting up new clips on our YouTube Channel but we will try to better this month! If there's a particular Frankie movie or clip you'd like to see on the Channel, be sure to drop us an e-mail and let us know! We love hearing from you anyway!
January 1, 2010 - Greetings, fellow Junior Thunder Riders! Can it possibly be 2010 already? Where has the past year gone? We are really hoping to start devoting more time to Frankie's website again, and so we're beginning the New Year with some updates, including a brand new Photo of the Month on the Home Page. We also have Jim's guess as to the possible identity of the photo of Frankie and the man struggling in the bathtub on our Junior G-Man page. And the wonderful Claudia has sent us some wonderful articles and ads from old newspapers which we will be sharing in our Articles section. Thanks so much to everyone for your continued support of this page! We know you love Frankie and we'll do our best to keep bringing you more information about him!
December 1, 2009 - While we are on a working vacation this month, the updates are sadly sparse, but we are bringing you a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page as well as some new photos from the film Little Men taken from the pictorial Big Little Book of the film which you can find on this Photo Page. And we will continue to add new Frankie videos to our YouTube Channel as we can! Thanks again to everyone for another wonderful year! Wishing you all the best this holiday season!
November 1, 2009 - A few more updates for this month, Junior Thunder Riders! We have a brand new and rare personal Photo of the Month on the Home Page which shows Frankie with his father's family. We have also added a photo to our Articles section showing Frankie in the 1929 film Rainbow Man. And we continue to add video clips to our YouTube Channel, most recently segments of the film Wanted by the Police. We love hearing from Frankie's fans, so if you have something interesting to share or just want to reminisce about Frankie, feel free to drop us an e-mail any time!
October 1, 2009 - We're happy to bring you a few new updates this month, including a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page. We also have a new mysterious photo for you to try to help identify on our Junior G-Man page, this time it's an interesting early publicity still showing Frankie with a cotton candy beard! And be sure to look further down the page for Wade Ballard's explanation for the photo of Frankie as a poor crippled child which he was good enough to solve for us! And finally we've been adding new clips to our YouTube Channel, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single one!
September 1, 2009 - We're still running behind schedule with other commitments, but we do have a few updates for you this month. First, we have a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page. And then we need our willing sleuths to help us identify an old photo of Frankie which we've posted on our Junior G-Man page. More Angel love can be found on the Angel's Alley. And we haven't updated the YouTube Channel in a while but plan to add more clips in the near future, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything!
August 1, 2009 - This month we were very excited to learn that the long-lost Frankie film, On the Spot, had not only been found but in great condition . . . AND available to purchase on DVD from R&B Enterprises! It's always a thrill when more of Frankie's work is uncovered, and this rare Monogram Picture with Mantan Moreland is a lot of fun! You can read more about this on our Home Page (as well as viewing our Photo of the Month.) You can also view a clip from On the Spot on our YouTube Channel. The only other update we have this month is a new picture of Angel which we've added to Angel's Alley. Again we hope to be able to devote more time to the site later this year, and we appreciate your patience!
July 1, 2009 - It looks like we won't be able to devote much time to the website in the coming months, but we will continue to update each month with at least a few new items. This time we're bringing you a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page, a small article about Frankie appearing in the silent movie Little Mickey Grogan in our Articles section, and a new picture of adorable Angel in Angel's Alley. Even our updates to our YouTube Channel have fallen a bit behind, but we will continue to add new clips as we can!
June 1, 2009 - We know you must be getting tired of apologies and the same small updates every month, but at this time real life keeps interfering. But this month we are bringing you a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page, an old article about Frankie appearing in the film Blaze of Glory in our Articles section, and a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. And as always we will add video clips from Frankie's movie and television appearances to our YouTube Channel as we can. We hope this finds you doing well and we wish you a wonderful summer!
May 1, 2009 - We appreciate your continued patience throughout the months as real life keeps us from doing what we love, which is bringing you more information about Frankie Darro! But this month we do have some updates for you, including a brand new mystery for you to try to solve on the Junior G-Man page. See if you can help us identify the source of the photo we've posted this month which shows a man trying to give a very unwilling Frankie a bath! We also have a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page, as well as a new picture of Angel for Angel's Alley. And finally, do keep checking in to our YouTube Channel as we continue to bring you new videos of Frankie as we can. The easiest way to keep up with the videos we post is to subscribe, so we encourage those of you with YouTube accounts to do so so you won't miss a single minute of Frankie!
April 1, 2009 - This month we're back with minimal updates, so again I apologize. But we do have some exciting news! Wild Boys of the Road is finally available on DVD as part of the latest TCM Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume three to be precise. You can find out more about it on our Home Page, and while you're there, be sure to look at our Photo of the Month which shows Frankie while working on Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant. We also have a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. And we continue to add videos to our YouTube Channel as we can! Thanks to everyone for your continued support of this site and a big hello to the new fans finding us thanks to Turner Classic Movies' recent screening of Wild Boys of the Road!
March 1, 2009 - Once again our updates are sparse this month. Real life just keeps intervening and I do apologize. But I have added a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page and a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. And I do try to put up new Frankie clips in our YouTube Channel as I can. And I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating . . . if you haven't yet read John Gloske's book about Frankie, do pick up a copy! It's a really fascinating read! Thank you for your continued support of this website and hopefully I'll be able to devote more time to it in the near future!
February 1, 2009 - I'm going to apologize up front for the small amount of updates this month. I have a special event on one of my other websites that needs my attention right now. But I do have a few new things for you to enjoy, including a really special Photo of the Month on the Home Page of young Frankie fishing! You'll also find a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. And we continue to add videos to our YouTube Channel, usually about once a week. In the meantime, if you haven't yet picked up John Gloske's book about Frankie, we encourage you to do so! We'll be back again next month, Junior Thunder Riders!
January 1, 2009 - Happy New Year, everyone! We're very pleased to bring you more updates at the start of this new year. Of the most interest has to be our exclusive Q&A with Frankie biographer John Gloske, who gave us some interesting insight into his work on the book. You will also find an interesting Article we've posted about Frankie in the Navy. Our Photo of the Month on the Home Page features a very young Frankie in what is very likely his earliest film role. Jim seems to have solved the mystery of one of our photos on our Junior G-Man page, so take a look and see what you think! Many thanks to Connie B for sending us links to some websites hosting some of Frankie's public domain talkies, which are located as links on our Talkies page. And finally we have a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. We'll be back next month with more updates! In the meantime, pick up a copy of John's book if you haven't already!
December 4, 2008 - This month we're bringing you some cheer with some brand new updates to the site. First we've added a page for the film Kiki, outlining Frankie's role in the silent movie. We also have a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page, a rare portrait of Frankie in full makeup for his stunt work on Darby O'Gill and the Little People. There's an article about an appearance Frankie made on Hal Roach's The Children's House on our Articles page. And a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. As always, keep checking for new Frankie-related videos on our YouTube Channel. We usually try to add at least one a week. And if you haven't picked up John Gloske's book about Frankie yet, treat yourself for the holidays and purchase it at Lulu.com! You won't be disappointed! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and don't forget to think of Frankie on December 22nd, which would have been Frankie's 91st birthday!
November 1, 2008 - This is an exciting time for Frankie's fans, because after much anticipation John Gloske's full-length biography of Frankie, Tough Kid: The Life and Films of Frankie Darro, is available for sale! It is available for sale from Lulu.com in both a downloadable version and soft cover. We highly recommend this book for all of Frankie's fans, and John would like everyone to know that the proceeds will go to purchase a commemorative plaque for Frankie at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood. We also have our regular updates this month, which includes a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page. We've added the movie outline for the film Way Back Home as well. We've added a larger version of a mysterious photo of Frankie with a young girl to our Junior G-Man page to see if anyone can help identify it or the girl. And you'll find a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. And we continue to add clips from some of Frankie's films to our YouTube Channel, so be sure to check there every week for a new video!
October 1, 2008 - We're pleased to bring you another batch of new material this month, including a brand new Photo of the Month which you'll find on the Home Page. We also have added a page for the film Tough to Handle with several photos and a complete synopsis of the movie. We've added some new photos of Frankie on tour with the USO to our Photo Gallery page. And we've added an all-new Articles page and have posted an article about Frankie when he was working at the Try Later bar. As always there's a new photo of Angel in Angel's Alley. And we continue to post clips from Frankie's movies on our YouTube Channel, so don't miss the latest postings there! We'll see you again next month!
September 2, 2008 - Welcome back, devoted fans of Frankie! This month we've added some new materials, including a page for the film Black Gold which includes several photos. We've added a new Photo of the Month to the Home Page, as well as a new mystery photo to our Be a Junior G-Man page. You'll find a new article about Frankie's casting in Living it Up in our Articles section. And a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. And as always, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you won't miss any of the Frankie-related clips we post each week! We'll be back again next month with more updates for you!
August 1, 2008 - Hi again, Junior Thunder Riders! This month we have something new for you . . . the chance for you to become a Junior G-Man! All you have to do is visit our new Be a Junior G-Man section and let use your sleuthing powers to help us track down information about stills and photos we have from Frankie movies we can't identify! Anyone can become a Junior G-Man, so if you have any friends who are scholars when it comes to film history, let me know we need their help, too! As for our regular updates, we have now added a page for the 1934 film Little Men. You'll find a new photo of the month on the Home Page and a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. Plus we continue to update our YouTube Channel about once a week, so keep checking in for new video clips throughout the month!
July 2, 2008 - Hello, everyone! I'm going to apologize up front for the lack of updates this month . . . health issues and other problems have prevented me from outlining a movie this time around, but I have added several new photos to the Photo Pages One, Two and Three, and you'll find a new article about Frankie receiving the keys to Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande on our third Articles page, plus the souvenir program for his appearance at the Rose Garden Ballroom which the article was promoting. We have a new Photo of the Week on the Home Page, and there's also a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. And don't forget to visit our YouTube Channel for new Frankie clips all month long! Next month I hope to be back with a new movie outline and lots more information, so be sure to check back with us in August!
June 1, 2008 - Welcome back, dear friends! This month we have some really interesting and fun updates for you, not the least of which is the introduction of a new section entitled Memories of Frankie. In this section, we share stories we have heard from family and friends of Frankie, giving us some insight as to what he was like as a person. I think you'll find the stories on this page very interesting, and our thanks to everyone who has shared their stories with us! We will keep adding stories as we can. We have added the outine for one of Frankie's earliest films, The Signal Tower, with a complete synopsis and some interesting photos. There are a couple of new photos on the first page of the Photo Gallery, a new Photo of the Month on the Home Page, and a new picture of Angel in Angel's Alley. We'll be back next month with even more updates!
May 1, 2008 - Welcome back, fellow Junior Thunder Riders! We're pleased to bring you more interesting and fun information about Frankie this month. We are often making changes and additions to the site between updates, and we'd like to note some of these now. First, we continue to received more information and corrections for our Filmography in all sections, so be sure to check the Silents, Talkies and Guest Appearances occasionally for updated info. Thanks to Wade, we've even added some links under the Notes heading where you can watch some of Frankie's movies and television appearances online for FREE, so be sure to check for those links! As we mentioned on the front page under The Mayor of Hell DVD story, John Gloske has been writing a biography of Frankie Darro which we hope will be published soon. John has even put up a website to promote the book, titled, Tough Kid: The Life and Films of Frankie Darro, so drop by and let him know we sent you! We've now added a detailed information page for the movie Wanted By the Police. There's a new clipping about The Signal Tower in our Articles section. We've added a few new photos to the Boy Enthusiasm section of our Photo Galleries. And we continue to update our YouTube Channel on a fairly regular basis, so don't miss a single clip! And we've added yet another photo of adorable little Angel to Angel's Alley. See you again next month!
April 1, 2008 - It's taken me a while to work out a good time of the month for updates, and I've finally settled for the obvious choice, the first of every month! So from now on I'll do my best to have new stuff for you to enjoy each month. The past several weeks I have spent re-organizing and cataloguing my collection, so the updates should be even easier to handle. Because of all this work I don't have a lot of updates this time, but there are some new things you will want to see. First, I have been working to make sure the Biography and Filmography, the Silents, Talkies and Guest Appearances, are correct and up to date. Every time I think I have it all figured out, I see an omission or mistake, or there is some question about a release date or other information. Thankfully, many of you are on your toes and so I appreciate ANY and ALL feedback about the listings! If you see something that's listed that's wrong or something that's not listed we should know about, don't hesitate to contact me! I pride myself on accuracy, so please feel free to contribute your knowledge! I don't pretend to know it all . . . heck, I don't pretend to know much of anything! So many fans have contributed to this site in one way another, so this is YOUR website! Do participate . . . I love hearing from you! And speaking of participating, I am introducing a new feature this month, and that's our Guest Book! Feel free to post your memories of Frankie or let us know how you discovered him or why you're drawn to his movies. This is a beta version of a new embedded Guest Book from Bravenet, so if you encounter any bugs, do let me know and I'll pass it along to them. You've probably already seen the Home Page, but if not I'll point out we have a new Photo of the Month, plus news about an appearance by Noel Neill at the Hollywood Collector's Show later this month in Burbank. I have made several additions to our YouTube Channel and will continue to do so regularly. I normally post at least one new video a week, and there's so much more to add, so keep checking there for new clips! I've also added a new clipping to our Articles page. And there's a new section to our Photo Galleries, The Later Years, which you can view on the bottom of this Gallery Page. I have not added any new movie overviews, but hope to make that a regular update feature in the coming months! And finally, there are a couple more photos of Darlene's darling cat, Angel, to enjoy in Angel's Alley! See you again next month!
February 8, 2008 - December 22, 2008 would have been Frankie Darro's 90th birthday. Even 32 years after his death (and 84 years after his first confirmed film appearance) Frankie continues to impress and delight films fans, young and old. We're very pleased to finally be launching a new website for Frankie, one that we will be able to add to and expand more easily, sharing even more information about this talented actor and fascinating man with everyone. Some time ago I had the pleasure of hearing from Frankie's only direct descendent, Darlene Darro. Darlene has been so helpful in providing me with new information and photos for the site, and I was anxious to re-design and re-launch Frankie's site. Finally, I have the time to devote to maintaining this new website which will be regularly updated at least once a month! For fans who have been with us a while, you'll find not only a new look for the site (no banner ads!) but some new additions as well. We will now feature a Photo of the Month which will be a new photo of Frankie for you to enjoy. This can be found on our Home Page. We have completely updated Frankie's Biography with more accurate information, especially about his married life. We've also updated the Filmography with charts we hope will make it all easier to read and more accurate information. You may have noticed that in the Talkies section the movie Three Kids and a Queen has a link which leads to more information about the film. It is my hope to add more film overviews with each coming update. The Photo Pages have also been overhauled with some new photos added. The most exciting new addition to the site is the YouTube Channel where we will feature clips of Frankie's movies, television appearances and other rarities! You'll find that the Articles section has some new additions. And the Links page has also been completely updated so the links are all working correctly. And I've added Angel's Alley which is a fun page that speaks for itself. I hope you'll really enjoy the new site! Check in with us each month for new photos, information and everything Frankie!
