
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
5.2WWII 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
5.0In 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
5.0Ranchers battle one another over water rights. Western.
Treasure of Ruby Hills
1955
6.0A businessman buys trouble when he hires his wife"s best friend as his secretary.
Her Husband's Secretary
1937
6.0Aluminum 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
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
5.2WWII 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
5.0In 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
5.0Ranchers battle one another over water rights. Western.
Treasure of Ruby Hills
1955
6.0A businessman buys trouble when he hires his wife"s best friend as his secretary.
Her Husband's Secretary
1937
6.0Aluminum 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
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
4.0The 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
5.0Joe 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
8.0Dan 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
7.5U.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
5.4An island pearl merchant and his new wife make room for a mysterious shipwrecked man.
Isle of Fury
1936
7.0The 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
7.5The 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
9.0Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
1952
10.0In 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
5.9Comanche 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
7.0A newspaper man uses a mobster's tips to get the scoop on gangster activities.
The Big Tip Off
1955
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
6.6Combining 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
5.0An 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
NRA 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
7.0Two episodes of "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.
Border City Rustlers
1953
4.6Roy 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
7.0A Texas Ranger tries to bring down counterfeiters selling fake lottery tickets.
Texans Never Cry
1951
8.0Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.
The Matchmaking Marshal
1955
5.3An insurance salesman, Albert Tuttle, is hired as a body guard for a millionaire.
One Body Too Many
1944
5.6Sandwiched 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
5.7The 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
8.0Another 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
3.1Gene and Pokie are on vacation in Mexico when they learn that their buddy Dusty has been bumped off.
Twilight on the Rio Grande
1947
7.5Sergeant Ken Strange, of the Canadian Mounted Police, and his dog, King, are on the trial of the murderer.
Death Goes North
1939
6.3A henpecked husband tries to help his daughter marry the man she loves and his wife loathes.
Love Begins at Twenty
1936
5.6A wise-cracking private detective's honeymoon is interrupted by a kidnapping case.
No Hands on the Clock
1941
8.0Two episodes of the TV series "Wild Bill Hickok" edited together and released as a feature.
The Tilted Tenderfoot
1955
7.5The 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
4.7A meek reporter happens upon a murder, an escaped gangster and a stolen jade chess set.
Scared Stiff
1945
5.0A 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
5.3In this North Woods adventure, the Mounties investigate a series of payroll robberies and discover that it is an inside job.
Yukon Manhunt
1951
5.7Fate 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
5.8A 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
