Movies by Frank McDonald
As a director:
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Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994)
Cast: Hugh O'Brian, Bruce Boxleitner, Paul Brinegar …
Directed by: Paul Landres, Frank McDonald
Many years after the legendary showdown at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brian) returns to Tombstone, Ariz., where he recounts his frontier exploits to young cowboys and lawmen --…
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Mara of the Wilderness (1965)
Cast: Adam West, Eve Brent Ashe, Roberto Contreras …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Adam West stars in this slice of 1960s nostalgia as an altruistic Alaskan park ranger who stumbles upon a beautiful but feral young girl (Lori Saunders) who spent most of her life being…
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Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963)
Cast: Audie Murphy, Ben Cooper, Colleen Miller …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
In 1875 Colorado, a gang of outlaws breaks a convicted killer out of jail and forces him to commit a series of robberies until the bounty on his head goes up. Then he's killed and the…
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Treasure of Ruby Hills (1955)
Cast: Zachary Scott, Carole Mathews, Barton MacLane …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Ross Haney's (Zachary Scott) plans to settle down peacefully on the piece of land he's just purchased are thrown for a loop when he's thrust into an epic feud with a pair of…
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Gene Autry: Texans Never Cry (1951)
Cast: Gene Autry, Mary Castle, Russell Hayden …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
When Texas Ranger Gene Autry -- America's favorite singing cowboy -- saves a family on the brink of being evicted from their homestead, he discovers the existence of a scheme to…
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Gene Autry Collection: The Big Sombrero (1949)
Cast: Smiley Burnette, Gene Autry, Elena Verdugo …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
America's favorite crooning cowpoke takes his adventures to a Mexican village in a rare color installment of the Gene Autry Western series. Hired as foreman of the Big Sombrero ranch by…
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Mr. Reckless (1948)
Cast: William Eythe, Barbara Britton, Walter Catlett …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Crushed to discover that the love of his life is engaged to another man, an oil well digger (William Eythe) will do anything to win her back, including trying to impress her by performing…
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Twilight on the Rio Grande (1947)
Cast: Adele Mara, Bob Steele, Gene Autry …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Saddle up with your favorite singing cowboy as Gene Autry (Gene Autry) and his pal Pokie (Sterling Holloway) travel to Mexico to solve the murder of their partner Dusty Morgan (Bob Steele).…
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Gene Autry Collection: Sioux City Sue (1946)
Cast: Gene Autry, Lynne Roberts, Sterling Holloway …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Gene travels to Hollywood to earn enough money to get his ranch out of financial difficulty. On his return, however, his enemies try to ruin him when they discover he's been masquerading…
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My Pal Trigger (1946)
Cast: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
When horse trader Roy Rogers suggests mating his mare with the stallion Golden Sovereign, owner Gabby Kendrick (George "Gabby" Hayes) refuses. A rival breeder (Jack Holt) then tries to rustle…
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Song of Arizona (1946)
Cast: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
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…
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Under Nevada Skies (1946)
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Rodeo star Roy Rogers arrives in town with his horse, Trigger, and learns there's been a murder. Offering to assist acting sheriff Gabby Whittaker (George "Gabby" Hayes), Rogers also…
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Rainbow over Texas (1946)
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
When singing cowboy Roy Rogers rides into his Texas hometown during a scheduled stop on his tour, he enters a Pony Express race to impress a pretty girl (Dale Evans) ... but local hooligans…
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Along the Navajo Trail (1945)
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Based on a novel by William Colt MacDonald, this Western follows the travails of a United States marshall (Roy Rogers) who's got his hands full trying to track a missing government…
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Sunset in El Dorado (1945)
Cast: Roy Rogers, Trigger, George "Gabby" Hayes …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Lucille Wiley (Dale Evans) tires of her tedious existence and decides to visit the deserted town where her grandmother was a famous dancehall queen. Once there, Lucille daydreams about what…
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Treasure of Fear (1945)
Cast: Barton MacLane, Ann Savage
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Jack Haley (The Wizard of Oz's Tin Man) stars as hapless reporter Larry Elliot, who's sent to cover a local wine festival. When a man on the bus he's riding is murdered, Larry…
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Tell It to a Star (1945)
Cast: Ruth Terry, Robert Livingston, Alan Mowbray …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Carol (Ruth Terry), the cigarette girl at a swank Palm Springs hotel, dreams of singing in the establishment's nightclub. She gets a chance when her well-to-do uncle, "Colonel" Morgan…
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One Body Too Many (1944)
Cast: Lyle Talbot, Blanche Yurka, Bela Lugosi …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
In this campy B-movie horror, Jack Haley stars as Albert Tuttle, an unassuming insurance salesman who finds himself in the midst of a murder mystery when he pays a house call to a recently…
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Gambler's Choice (1944)
Cast: Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, Russell Hayden …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
After getting into trouble together as kids in turn-of-the-century New York City, Mike McGlennon (Russell Hayden), Vi Parker (Nancy Kelly) and Ross Hadley (Chester Morris) take drastically…
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Lights of Old Santa Fe (1944)
Cast: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Tom Keene …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Gabby (George Hayes) must turn around the failing Brooks Rodeo soon or its owner, Marjorie (Dale Evans), will sell the business to a shady competitor (Tom Keene). With help from new headliner…
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Submarine Alert (1943)
Cast: Wendy Barrie, Richard Arlen, Nils Asther …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
When FBI radio engineer Lee Deerhold (Richard Arlen) is fired from his job, he's unaware that his termination is part of a larger plot by the feds to have him unwittingly infiltrate a…
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Alaska Highway (1943)
Cast: Richard Arlen, William Henry, Jean Parker …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
When they are assigned to help the army build a critical highway to Alaska in the early days of World War II, brothers Woody (Richard Arlen) and Steve Ormsby (William Henry) help the military…
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Under Fiesta Stars (1941)
Cast: Gene Autry, Ivan Miller, Smiley Burnette …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
A man dies and leaves one half of his ranch and mine to Gene Autry, who wants to keep the operations going, and the other half to greedy Easterner Barbara Erwin (Carol Hughes), who just wants…
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Arkansas Judge (1941)
Cast: Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, June Weaver …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
The Weavers, favorites of the Grand Ole Opry, star in this earnest drama from Republic Studios about scrubwoman Mary Shoemaker (Spring Byington), who is accused of theft. Judge Abner Weaver…
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Gene Autry Collection: Gaucho Serenade (1940)
Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Singing cowboy Gene Autry, crooning the classic "A Song at Sunset" in this fully restored version of the 1940 Western, takes on a band of renegades who've helped send a young father to…
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Carson City Kid / Lights of Old Santa Fe (1940)
Cast: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Bob Steele …
Directed by: Joseph Kane, Frank McDonald
In Carson City Kid, everyone's favorite cowpoke, Roy Rogers, plays an outlaw out to avenge the murder of his brother. The Kid (Rogers) learns that the suspected killer runs a gambling…
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Gene Autry Collection: Rancho Grande (1940)
Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Singing cowpoke Gene Autry is the foreman of a heavily mortgaged ranch that may be razed to make way for a dam. When the owner dies and leaves the Rancho Grande to his three flighty…
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Gene Autry Collection: Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride (1940)
Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
In this diverting Western, cowpoke Gene Autry inherits the Belmont Meat Packing Co. -- and the associated management headaches. When a rival company owned by socialite Ann Randolph (June…
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Carolina Moon (1940)
Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, June Storey …
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Warbling cowpoke Gene Autry rides high again, this time in the Carolinas, where he helps the lovely Caroline Stanhope (June Storey) and her hard-pressed but honest father (Eddy Waller) save…
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Roy Rogers Collection: My Pal Trigger / In Old Caliente (1939)
Cast: Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Dale Evans …
Directed by: Frank McDonald, Joseph Kane
My Pal Trigger (Rogers's favorite among all his films) tells the story of how Roy came to own his most famous companion -- the gentle horse Trigger. In Old Caliente, Roy's a trusted…
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The Gladiator / Wide Open Faces (1938)
Cast: Leo Carrillo, Steffi Duna, Stanley Fields …
Directed by: Frank McDonald, Kurt Neumann
In this duo of classic comedies from the 1930s, funnyman Joe E. Brown shows off his unique slapstick style -- and gets in way over his head in some sticky situations -- as an overeager…
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Bells of Rosarita / Springtime in the Rockies (1937)
Cast: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes …
Directed by: Frank McDonald, Joseph Kane
Be it crooning or gunslinging, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry could do it all. In Bells of Rosarita, Roy Rogers saddles up with his real-life partner, Dale Evans, in the story of a circus owner…