J. Frank GlendonFilmography

King of the Pecos

Synopsis: John Wayne stars in this Western as a law student seeking revenge on the ruthless land baron who killed his parents; after he is thwarted in the courts, he chooses to explore frontier justice instead. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 01 - The Singing Cowboy

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: In the opening chapter of the Mascot serial The Phantom Empire, a stagecoach is held up for its content -- musical instruments. One of the "outlaws," a bashful young man, removes a fake mustache to address his radio audience: "Yes folks, it's Gene Autry making another raid on your time with his Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 06 - Disaster from the Skies

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Saved from electrocution by the sudden appearance of a trap door operated by the traitorous Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), Gene Autry overhears the Muranian conspirators plan to destroy the universe by means of several hideous weapons invented by Rab (Warner P. Richmond). After subduing both Rab and Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 07 - From Death to Life

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: On Queen Tika's orders, a lifeless Gene Autry) is brought to Murania's Radium Reviving Room, the queen (Dorothy Christy) hoping that the crooner may disclose the identity of the traitor among her officers. But before the reconstituted Autry can spill the beans, Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman) destroys Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 04 - Phantom Broadcast

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Seconds before his automobile crashes over a cliff, Gene Autry is saved by Frankie (Frankie Darro), Betsy (Betsy Ross King) and the Junior Thunder Riders. Still wanted for the murder of his Radio Ranch partner, Gene is forced to broadcast from Frankie's secret laboratory in the barn. Meanwhile Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 05 - Beneath the Earth

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Gene Autry, {$Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King) all escape the tunnel explosion courtesy of the Junior Thunder Riders, who manage to unlock the secret exit. Planning to broadcast from a shack in the desert, the fugitive Autry is surprised by a Muranian lieutenant (George Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 02 - The Thunder Riders

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Although the Thunder Riders sever his rope, Gene Autry manages to grab hold of a tree limb, climb to safety and return to Radio Ranch in time to join Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) for a hearty rendition of Burnette's "I'm Oscar; I'm Pete". The Ranch performers then reenact a Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 03 - The Lightning Chamber

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Both Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King) manage to parachute to safety. Meanwhile, 25,000 feet below the surface, in Murania, Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) sentences the captain of the Thunder Riders (Ray Bernard, later known as Ray "Crash" Corrigan) to death in The Lightning Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 11 - A Queen in Chains

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Gene Autry is saved in the nick of time by Frankie Frankie Darro, who smartly pulls him off the conveyor belt. Murania is now under the evil regency of the former chancellor, Argo (Wheeler Oakman), and Gene's attempt to rescue the dethroned Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) causes him once again to be Read More

The Phantom Empire [Serial]

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: In his first starring role, Gene Autry must perform daily on Radio Ranch or forfeit his contract. Meanwhile, local kids Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy Baxter (Betsy Ross King) establish a group of Junior Thunder Riders to emulate a mysterious band of horsemen that seems to vanish into thin air. Read More

Circle of Death

Actors: Montie Montana, Tove Lindan, Yakima Canutt, J. Frank Glendon

Synopsis: Having allowed his name to be listed as "producer" of Gun Smoke, a low-budget Western actually produced by Willis Kent, rodeo star Montie Montana starred in this inexpensive oater, but without the phony producer credit. Originally intended for football star Reb Russell, Circle of Death featured Montana Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 09 - Prisoners of the Ray

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Both Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King) survive the airplane crash no worse for wear but are quickly picked up by the Muranian Thunder Riders. Brought before Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), the kids ridicule Murania in general and the queen in particular and are condemned to spend Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 12 - The End of Murania

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: In the final chapter of The Phantom Empire, Gene Autry is saved by Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore), who manage to drag him away from Murania's feared disintegrating atom-smashing machine. In the control room, Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) can only watch as a bumbling Lord Argo Read More

The Phantom Empire: Chapter 10 - The Rebellion

Actors: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Jack Carlyle, Dorothy Christy, Frankie Darro

Synopsis: Despite the deadly radium beam, Frankie Baxter (Frankie Darro) manages to pull the lever that opens the surface entrance to Murania, allowing Gene Autry and sidekicks Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) entry to the underground empire. Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) finally learns of Read More

Strange People

Actors: John Darrow, Gloria Shea, Hale Hamilton, Wilfred Lucas, J. Frank Glendon

Sucker Money

Actors: Mischa Auer, Al Bridge, Mona Lisa, Phyllis Barrington, J. Frank Glendon, Ralph Lewis, Earl McCarthy, Kit Guard, Fletcher Norton

Synopsis: Mischa Auer's fake Swami Yomurda of Sinister Hands returned in Sucker Money, a crime drama set among newspaper reporters. Assigned to investigate the psychic rackets, cub reporter Jimmy Reeves (Earl McCarthy) goes undercover and is hired by the Swami to impersonate the clients' dead relatives. The Read More

I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang

Actors: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Helen Vinson, Noel Francis, Preston S. Foster, Edward McNamara

Synopsis: Warner Bros.' hard-hitting chain-gang movie was a faithful adaptation of the similarly titled autobiography of Robert Elliot Burns. Paul Muni plays World War I veteran James Allen, whose plans of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Flat broke, Allen is Read More

Border Romance

Actors: Armida, Don Terry, Wesley Barry

Synopsis: A well-staged battle between two wild horses became the centerpiece in this early musical Western starring diminutive Mexican actress Armida. She plays the owner of a hacienda who takes in a fugitive (Don Terry) from the Mexican authorities. Terry, of course, is completely innocent in the charge Read More

Upstage

Actors: Norma Shearer, Oscar Shaw, Tenen Holtz, Gwen Lee, Dorothy Phillips

Synopsis: Upstage stars Norma Shearer as Dolly Haven, an aspiring actress. Applying for a secretarial post at a theatrical agency, Dolly makes the acquaintance of vaudevillian Johnny Storm (Oscar Shaw), who has shown up at the office looking for a partner. Before long, the team of Storm and Haven is Read More

Private Affairs

Actors: Robert Agnew, Mildred Harris, David Butler, Arthur Hoyt

Synopsis: This comedy-drama is mostly a collection of different stories, all intertwined, with a cast that consists of solid second-string actors and no stars. When Howard Bomar (Willis Marks), the postmaster of a small town, suddenly dies, a packet of five-year-old letters is found. These are sent out and Read More

Tricks

Actors: J. Frank Glendon

Synopsis: This silent Western, starring Dutch-born trick rider Marilyn Mills, is remembered solely for an unbilled appearance by a very young Gary Cooper. Cooper, still working under his real Christian name of Frank, was apparently a discovery of Mills and her husband, Gower Gulch producer-distributor J. Charles Davis Read More

More to Be Pitied Than Scorned

Actors: J. Frank Glendon, Rosemary Theby, Philo McCullough, Gordon Griffith, Alice Lake

Synopsis: Those who see the title to this picture and think it must be based on a hoary old melodrama are absolutely correct. The play, popular circa 1900, was written by Charles E. Blaney. Even though melodramas were making a little comeback in the early 1920s, this one really had no place in the flapper Read More

Hush

Actors: Clara Kimball Young, J. Frank Glendon, Kathlyn Williams, Jack Pratt, Bertram Grassby

Synopsis: Clara Kimball Young (as directed by her then-husband, Harry Garson) suffers for her past indiscretions in this drama. Although Vera Stanford (Young) truly loves her husband, Jack (J. Frank Glendon), she's still haunted by a liaison from long ago -- at a masquerade party, she succumbed to a moment Read More