Tough to Handle

Frankie Darro's grandfather has won the lottery, or so he thinks. He has the winning number, but a mob boss has been using the lottery to make money off of fake numbers. They have to get that ticket away from Grandpa at all costs. Enter Frankie Darro, who they didn't plan on and who is too "tough to handle." Being a b-movie that's been all but forgotten, you wouldn't expect much. (In the 30s and 40s, movie studios made B-movies, short films made on a low budget with little attention to big production values and were made at a break-neck pace, to make a profit from little investment and to keep their roster of employees (including actors) working hard for probably little pay; therefore they were called 'B'-movies, in comparison to those pictures getting the grade A treatment.) But this "sleeper" comes off very well, considering some very good unknown actors adept at what they're doing and a script that not only moves swiftly, but is actually very well written. The characters' interactions and how the film develops into each complication makes this film one of the best of the unknown b-movies. Granted, the fights are done in double speed, almost as if they're doing athletics, rather than real fighting. But, if you get a chance to see this and discover who Frankie Darro was, you'll be pleasantly entertained for an hour.

Burr Caruth has a $16,000 ticket in the sweepstakes..... but it's a forgery. His grandchildren, Frankie Darro and Phyllis Fraser, try to investigate, along with newspaperman Kane Richmond, but the tral leads to amiable nightclub owner Harry Worth, who even buys the ticket from them at a discount.

It's a cheaply but competently made little crime drama, the first non-western directed by Earl Luby, whose expertise as an editor keeps things moving along at a good clip. It's based on a story by Peter Kyne, with typically good camerawork by Jack Greenhalgh. Despite some nice twists at the end, the script reveals who's what erly on, which dampens the fun. Even given that and a clearly short treasury, it's a decent way to spend an hour.

Miss Fraser didn't have much of a movie career, despite some nice singing here, good looks, a decent performance and the connection of Ginger Rogers as a cousin. She quit the movies after ten years to marry Bennett Cerf, and lived to be 90, dying in 2006.

New York City paperboy Frankie Darro (as Michael "Mike" Sanford) is pleased when he learns grandpa Burr Caruth has purchased a winning sweepstakes ticket. But, don't expect the old gentleman to collect any winnings. The tickets are part of a scam run by slimy nightclub owner Harry Worth (as Tony Franco), for a shadowy crime boss. Handsome reporter Kane Richmond (as Joe MacIntyre) steps up his investigation after a tragic death; he suspects Mr. Worth, but Mr. Darro wants to believe Worth is innocent. Things get very dangerous for Darro and blonde singing sister Phyllis Cerf (as Gloria), who dates Mr. Richmond. Fighting and jumping across the screen, Darro is more agile than the production.

**** Tough to Handle (5/24/37) Roy Luby ~ Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, Harry Worth, Phyllis Fraser

During the late 30s and early 40s, Frankie Darro was a most unusual sort of leading man. He was tiny by most standards...jockey-sized even. And yet, in so many of his films he played an honest but tough guy who was good with his fists. There really isn't anyone like him today. In "Tough to Handle" he stars with Kane Richmond, a man known mostly for starring in serials like "Spy Smasher" and other B-movies...and "Tough to Handle" is clearly a B, running at just short of an hour like most of these pictures.

The story begins with an old man realizing he's just won the Irish Sweepstakes. However, what he doesn't know is that the ticket he bought was a forgery...and the real winner already has claimed her purse. The problem is that when he tries to redeem it, he'll learn the truth...and so the gang that sold it to him go to him to get that ticket. In the process, the man is killed and the guys don't find the ticket. That's because his grandson (Darro) is holding the ticket for safekeeping.

A nice guy reporter (Richmond) thinks that the old man didn't die of a heart attack or old age but thinks the gang killed him. However, the old man's grandson and granddaughter can't believe that nice Mr. Franco is behind all this and try as he might, the reporter cannot convince them. Only time will tell...and by then it might be too late, as Franco is more than willing to use muscle or murder to make all this just go away. But the big boss is angry....and wants Franco to just pay off the grandkids and be done with it. What's next?

This film has a decent plot and a few nice story elements, such as the fake drunk. It also, unfortunately, has an ending that is just a bit too clever to be believable...but it's still not enough to ruin the picture. Worth seeing if you get a chance.

Yes, it has the budgetary restrictions of the typical B-movie, and its ambitions are unapologetically limited, but this also has the strengths of a good B-movie. It's efficient, compact, and clearly designed to please. What's more, it's acted with surprising skill and conviction, especially by Harry Worth as the nightclub-owner whose sinister plottings are well hidden behind a suave and rather appealing exterior. Supporting-actor Oscar nominations have been won by performances not quite equal to this one. Frankie Darro makes a likable and energetic lead, (though a better haircut would help), and Kane Richmond -- destined to become a memorable "Spy Smasher" in the Saturday-matinée serials -- is appropriately stalwart and handsome, though perhaps a bit stiff. In fact, one problem with this movie is its division of its hero-role between these two quite different but equally appealing actors. True, the fights seem hokey and are utterly unconvincing but the song numbers are just good enough to keep you from running to the kitchen for a quick snack.