There is a scene in the movie "The Story of Temple Drake" where the chilling Trigger snarls (after a run in with the white knight attorney Stephen Benbow), "he thinks he's some kind of Frank Merriwell"!! Frank Merriwell was the epitome of all the derring do heroes who flourished in books and comics during the 1920s. He made his first appearance in 1896 in books and stories by Gilbert Patten, who used the pseudonym Burt L. Standish. He said he named his boy for everything he wanted in a hero - truth (Frank), a happy disposition (Merri) and a healthy physique (well). In 1928 a comic strip began and in 1934 a radio serial ran for a few months. A big complaint about the movie serial (as one reviewer has pointed out) is that it did not stick to the original time frame because by the 1930s the name Frank Merriwell was considered an anachronism and completely out of touch with the grim reality of the depression.
Donald Briggs was chosen for the role because he played the lead in the radio serial but even though he did have a reasonable career in radio he was a washout in movies. Unlike the leading lady, Jean Rogers, who soon went on to bigger and better things in her next serial "Flash Gordon".
The big college game is on but their star hitter, Frank Merriwell, is nowhere to be seen - he is busy driving like the wind to take a sick puppy to the vet. That's just the kind of guy he is!!! Of course he gets to the game just in time to save the school but soon gets a telegram that sends him hastening to his sick mother's side. It seems his mother owns a ring that could uncover the mystery of his father's disappearance and when Frank takes it up to town to have it valued odd things start to happen to him. The baddies have infiltrated the college and because of Frank being the insufferable "goody goody" that he is the school is full of boys who are more than willing to fall in with plans to teach him a lesson.
As the chapters progress Frank and his chums find themselves in all sorts of strife - knocked out of a burning boat, falling over a cliff edge, wrestling an escaped lion as well as the obligatory rescue of the heroine from an overturned canoe!! The fascinating thing about this serial (I found) is that Frank's chums (with the exception of John "Dusty" King) are made up of the children of old time actors. Carla Laemlle was niece of the head of Universal and was pretty good in her role as Jean's best friend. There was also Wallace Reid Jnr, Edward Arnold Jnr, House Peters Jnr etc and because they went by their own names (Wally, Eddie, House etc) it is easy to pick who they are. The "master villain" is a poor excuse for a bad guy - his disguise is just a blind fold over one eye. He wouldn't have fooled any kid in the audience provided there were any left in the cinema by the time the last episode screened.
Donald Briggs was chosen for the role because he played the lead in the radio serial but even though he did have a reasonable career in radio he was a washout in movies. Unlike the leading lady, Jean Rogers, who soon went on to bigger and better things in her next serial "Flash Gordon".
The big college game is on but their star hitter, Frank Merriwell, is nowhere to be seen - he is busy driving like the wind to take a sick puppy to the vet. That's just the kind of guy he is!!! Of course he gets to the game just in time to save the school but soon gets a telegram that sends him hastening to his sick mother's side. It seems his mother owns a ring that could uncover the mystery of his father's disappearance and when Frank takes it up to town to have it valued odd things start to happen to him. The baddies have infiltrated the college and because of Frank being the insufferable "goody goody" that he is the school is full of boys who are more than willing to fall in with plans to teach him a lesson.
As the chapters progress Frank and his chums find themselves in all sorts of strife - knocked out of a burning boat, falling over a cliff edge, wrestling an escaped lion as well as the obligatory rescue of the heroine from an overturned canoe!! The fascinating thing about this serial (I found) is that Frank's chums (with the exception of John "Dusty" King) are made up of the children of old time actors. Carla Laemlle was niece of the head of Universal and was pretty good in her role as Jean's best friend. There was also Wallace Reid Jnr, Edward Arnold Jnr, House Peters Jnr etc and because they went by their own names (Wally, Eddie, House etc) it is easy to pick who they are. The "master villain" is a poor excuse for a bad guy - his disguise is just a blind fold over one eye. He wouldn't have fooled any kid in the audience provided there were any left in the cinema by the time the last episode screened.