Where was Frankie Darro when Tom Tyler filmed “The Cherokee Kid”? Starring in “Little Mickey Grogan”!

Some Tom Tyler fans knowledgable about his silent film career have heard that “The Cherokee Kid” (1927) was his first one minus his regular co-star, Frankie Darro. It seems like the producers at FBO wanted to give Tom a chance at making a movie without his faithful pal and sidekick, and brought in a substitute by the name of Jimmy Van Horn. Since “The Cherokee Kid” is presently on lost film status, it is impossible to judge if Jimmy was able to follow Frankie Darro. It is safe to say that Tom probably worked well with Jimmy as he did with Frankie, since Tom was a big kid himself. It was not long before audiences wrote in to FBO and complained about Tom's missing partner, so the producers decided to pair up Frankie with his big buddy once again for the duration of Tom's contract with FBO, “The Pride of Pawnee” being the last one in 1929.

So where was Frankie Darro when “The Cherokee Kid” was being filmed?

Making “Little Mickey Grogan” on location with Lassie Lou Ahern and Jobyna Ralston! Most importantly, this silent film was also Frankie's first starring role. Interestingly enough, as in a number of Tom Tyler's silent film story lines, Frankie portrays a waif in “Little Mickey Grogan” and successfully brings an architect and a girl who takes him under her wing – and they end up adopting him. On the positive side, “Little Mickey Grogan” is one FBO film that survived in Europe in a private collection and has been restored. Hopefully a film print of “The Cherokee Kid” will show up one day. But the happiest news is, right after Frankie Darro finished filming “Little Mickey Grogan”, he was happily reunited with Tom Tyler for “The Desert Pirate.” Now that is what I call a happy ending.

Both of these film reviews appeared in Motion Picture News, March 3, 1928.