Frank McDonald

Directing

Frank McDonald

Born — Died

1899-11-09 — 1980-03-08

Place of birth

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

40 titles

A former railroad worker, Frank McDonald came to Hollywood after a career on the stage as an actor/producer/director. At first hired as a dialogue director, McDonald turned out some scripts and in the mid-'30s began directing. Working for almost every studio in Hollywood at one time or another, he did a lot of work for Republic, grinding out Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, and at the Pine/Thomas "B" unit at Paramount, churning out westerns, action dramas and war pictures. Not entirely comfortable as a director -Evelyn Keyes once said, "I've never seen anyone as terrified of directing as Frank McDonald" - he nevertheless turned out more than 100 pictures in his career.

Known for

Yellow Fin poster
5.2

WWII veteran Mike Donovan decides to sell his fishing boat after suffering a a series of accidents, the worst of which sends his father, Captain John Donovan, to the hospital suffering from amnesia. His decision is opposed by hie sweetheart, Nina Torres, and his loyal crew, but supported by his father's nurse, Jean Elliott, who also has romantic designs on Mike.

Yellow Fin

1951

Yukon Gold poster
5.0

In this Yukon adventure, a gold mining community is rocked by a murder. A Mountie investigates and encounters a female gambler. Action ensues, but justice prevails.

Yukon Gold

1952

Treasure of Ruby Hills poster
5.0

Ranchers battle one another over water rights. Western.

Treasure of Ruby Hills

1955

Her Husband's Secretary poster
6.0

A businessman buys trouble when he hires his wife"s best friend as his secretary.

Her Husband's Secretary

1937

Shepherd of the Ozarks poster
6.0

Aluminum magnate James J. Maloney, Sr. meets with government officials to discuss the war effort and the need to end price-fixing. After the meeting, Maloney receives word that his son Jimmy, a playboy turned Army flight instructor, is lost with his navigator, Scully, somewhere in the Ozarks. While Maloney rushes to find his son, Jimmy and Scully crash land in the small town of Weaverville, where the mayor and his wife, Abner and Elviry Weaver, are trying to impress upon the citizens that they are better off in the mountains than in the big city

Shepherd of the Ozarks

1942

O, My Darling Clementine poster
8.0

"Dapper Dan" Franklin and his small troupe of actors become stranded in the small town of Harmony, Tennessee. The town is shackled by Blue Laws imposed upon it by a City Council under the influence of their domineering wives. Harry Cheshire is under the thumb of his sister Abigail Uppington. One look at "Pappy's" daughter Clementine, and Dan decides to stay in Harmony...Blue Laws or no.

O, My Darling Clementine

1943

Behind the camera

Yellow Fin poster
5.2

WWII veteran Mike Donovan decides to sell his fishing boat after suffering a a series of accidents, the worst of which sends his father, Captain John Donovan, to the hospital suffering from amnesia. His decision is opposed by hie sweetheart, Nina Torres, and his loyal crew, but supported by his father's nurse, Jean Elliott, who also has romantic designs on Mike.

Yellow Fin

1951

Yukon Gold poster
5.0

In this Yukon adventure, a gold mining community is rocked by a murder. A Mountie investigates and encounters a female gambler. Action ensues, but justice prevails.

Yukon Gold

1952

Treasure of Ruby Hills poster
5.0

Ranchers battle one another over water rights. Western.

Treasure of Ruby Hills

1955

Her Husband's Secretary poster
6.0

A businessman buys trouble when he hires his wife"s best friend as his secretary.

Her Husband's Secretary

1937

Shepherd of the Ozarks poster
6.0

Aluminum magnate James J. Maloney, Sr. meets with government officials to discuss the war effort and the need to end price-fixing. After the meeting, Maloney receives word that his son Jimmy, a playboy turned Army flight instructor, is lost with his navigator, Scully, somewhere in the Ozarks. While Maloney rushes to find his son, Jimmy and Scully crash land in the small town of Weaverville, where the mayor and his wife, Abner and Elviry Weaver, are trying to impress upon the citizens that they are better off in the mountains than in the big city

Shepherd of the Ozarks

1942

O, My Darling Clementine poster
8.0

"Dapper Dan" Franklin and his small troupe of actors become stranded in the small town of Harmony, Tennessee. The town is shackled by Blue Laws imposed upon it by a City Council under the influence of their domineering wives. Harry Cheshire is under the thumb of his sister Abigail Uppington. One look at "Pappy's" daughter Clementine, and Dan decides to stay in Harmony...Blue Laws or no.

O, My Darling Clementine

1943

Treachery Rides the Range poster
4.0

The Indians need the Buffalo to survive and the Government has promised to keep the herds free from hunters. But Carter, of Carter and Barton, just signed a big contract for furs and Buffalo meat so they want the herds. The only way they can get them is to rile the Indians up enough to go on the warpath and break the treaty. After the trouble starts, the Indians get the Colonel's daughter and hold her prisoner. Written by Tony Fontana

Treachery Rides the Range

1936

Ringside poster
5.0

Joe O'Hara finds out he has a damaged optic nerve just before a boxing match for the title. He needs the money badly, so he doesn't delay the fight. The opponent discovers Joe's weakness and pounds on his eyes, causing him to go blind.

Ringside

1949

Village Barn Dance poster
8.0

Dan Martin, an unemployed college graduate, drifts into the town of Lyndale, only to learn that the town and everything in it are dominated by Minerva Withers, a tight-fisted, old skinflint whose welcome does not extend to tramps.

Village Barn Dance

1940

Along the Navajo Trail poster
7.5

U.S. Deputy Marshal Roy investigates the disappearance of a government agent who has come to Dale's father's Ladder A Ranch. The bad guys want the land the ranch sits on because they know an oil pipeline is planned through this location.

Along the Navajo Trail

1945

Isle of Fury poster
5.4

An island pearl merchant and his new wife make room for a mysterious shipwrecked man.

Isle of Fury

1936

Son of Belle Starr poster
7.0

The son of the notorious female bandit Belle Starr wants to live an honest life, but finds himself getting drawn into his mother's old profession.

Son of Belle Starr

1953

Snow Dog poster
7.5

The third installment in low-budget producer Lindsley Parson's "Chinook" series, Snow Dog was ostensibly based on pulp writer James Oliver Curwood's 1915 short-story "The Tentacles of the North," which was also the working title. Kirby Grant again played Rod McDonald of the Canadian Royal Mounted, and once again the vehicle was stolen by his canine sidekick, the white malamute Chinook. This time, Rod and Chinook are tracking a mysterious white wolf, thought to have killed several of the local traders.

Snow Dog

1950

The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon poster
9.0

Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.

The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon

1952

The Traitor Within poster
10.0

In this drama, a truck driver begins wooing a young woman who still lives with her father who constantly brags how he, not the town mayor, was responsible for catching a regiment of Germans during WW I. Unfortunately, no one in town takes him seriously. Later the daughter meets a German immigrant who confirms her father's claim. She then convinces her boy friend to use this information to blackmail the mayor into giving him a new truck and some extra amenities lest he tell the truth.

The Traitor Within

1942

Gunfight at Comanche Creek poster
5.9

Comanche Creek, Colorado, 1875: Prisoner Jack Mason is broken out of jail by a gang of strangers. They use him in a robbery, then when the dead-or-alive reward is high enough, they shoot him and collect. The National Detective Agency, now knowing the gang's methods, arranges to have agent Bob Gifford jailed in Comanche Creek for train robbery. The gang takes the bait (not before Gifford catches the eye of lovely saloon-keeper Abbie). But how will the bait get off the hook?

Gunfight at Comanche Creek

1963

The Big Tip Off poster
7.0

A newspaper man uses a mobster's tips to get the scoop on gangster activities.

The Big Tip Off

1955

No artwork available
8.0

An advertising man has to come with "the perfect woman" for an ad campaign. He puts together a picture of a woman from a composite of several photos, to get an idea of the kind of woman he should look for. His boss sees it, thinks that it is an actual woman, and orders him to find her and use her in the campaign.

When a Girl's Beautiful

1947

Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone poster
6.6

Combining colorized footage from the television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) with new scenes shot in Tombstone, Arizona, this film shows the return of the legendary former Marshal Wyatt Earp to his old stomping grounds. He visits old friends, teaches bad guys some manners and reveals secrets about his early life.

Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone

1994

Mara of the Wilderness poster
5.0

An altruistic park ranger stumbles upon a beautiful but feral young girl who spent most of her life being raised by a pack of white wolves. But his plans to tame her wild ways are cut short when an enterprising trapper hears about her story and sets out to sell her as a freak to a traveling side show.

Mara of the Wilderness

1965

Timber Country Trouble poster
NR

A short feature western comprising two episodes of the "Wild Bill Hickok" TV series, the episodes being "Lumber Camp Story" (4/21/1952) and "Boy And The Bandit" (5/5/1952).

Timber Country Trouble

1955

Border City Rustlers poster
7.0

Two episodes of "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.

Border City Rustlers

1953

Song of Arizona poster
4.6

Roy Rogers rides to the rescue when a bank robber's orphaned son (Tommy Cook), who is living at a ranch for homeless boys run by Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes), attracts the attention his father's rowdy gang, who want to claim the boy's inheritance for themselves

Song of Arizona

1946

Texans Never Cry poster
7.0

A Texas Ranger tries to bring down counterfeiters selling fake lottery tickets.

Texans Never Cry

1951

The Matchmaking Marshal poster
8.0

Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.

The Matchmaking Marshal

1955

One Body Too Many poster
5.3

An insurance salesman, Albert Tuttle, is hired as a body guard for a millionaire.

One Body Too Many

1944

Lights of Old Santa Fe poster
5.6

Sandwiched in between the numerous musical numbers, the Gabby Whittaker and Madden rodeo's are competing for bookings. When Gabby gets a date in Albuquerque, Madden has his man destroy his equipment. Roy finds a broken rawhide rope at the scene and uses it to bring Madden to justice.

Lights of Old Santa Fe

1944

Sunset in El Dorado poster
5.7

The story involves a rather odd flashback by Dale who is visiting El Dorado, home of her grandmother. She dreams about her grandmother's adventures including a romance with a cowboy who looks very much like Roy. Roy, of course, also exists in the present for Dale.

Sunset in El Dorado

1945

Marshals in Disguise poster
8.0

Another of the series of "movies" created by stitching two episodes of the "Wild Bill Hickok" TV series together, U. S. Marshal Wild Bill Hickok and his deputy Jingles P. Jones are working to solve the mystery of a number of gold robberies from a stage line and expose the plot of a bank manager to buy the bank with funds stolen from it. Wrapping that one up tightly in less than thirty minutes, they move on up the road to round up another gang that has been holding up Wells Fargo offices, with Jingles posing as a medicine show magician.

Marshals in Disguise

1954

Twilight on the Rio Grande poster
3.1

Gene and Pokie are on vacation in Mexico when they learn that their buddy Dusty has been bumped off.

Twilight on the Rio Grande

1947

Death Goes North poster
7.5

Sergeant Ken Strange, of the Canadian Mounted Police, and his dog, King, are on the trial of the murderer.

Death Goes North

1939

Love Begins at Twenty poster
6.3

A henpecked husband tries to help his daughter marry the man she loves and his wife loathes.

Love Begins at Twenty

1936

No Hands on the Clock poster
5.6

A wise-cracking private detective's honeymoon is interrupted by a kidnapping case.

No Hands on the Clock

1941

The Tilted Tenderfoot poster
8.0

Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.

The Tilted Tenderfoot

1955

The Big Noise poster
7.5

The Big Noise is retired textile manufacturer Julius Trent (Guy Kibbee). Seeking a new outlet for his entrepreneurial energies, Trent buys a half interest in a thriving dry-cleaning establishment. This gets him mixed up with a gang of protection racketeers, who promise dire consequences if Trent doesn't dance to their tune.

The Big Noise

1936

Scared Stiff poster
4.7

A meek reporter happens upon a murder, an escaped gangster and a stolen jade chess set.

Scared Stiff

1945

Murder by an Aristocrat poster
5.0

A wealthy family is blackmailed. Murder results. And a nurse at the scene of the crime is determined to figure out who-done-it.

Murder by an Aristocrat

1936

Yukon Manhunt poster
5.3

In this North Woods adventure, the Mounties investigate a series of payroll robberies and discover that it is an inside job.

Yukon Manhunt

1951

Boulder Dam poster
5.7

Fate brings a job at Boulder Dam and romance with a saloon singer into the life of a young man on the run.

Boulder Dam

1936

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan poster
5.8

A young doctor is determined to expose the killer when a surgeon is found stabbed to death in a hospital elevator.

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan

1936