A former railroad worker, Frank McDonald came to Hollywood after a career on the stage as an actor/producer/director. At first hired as a dialogue director, McDonald turned out some scripts and in the mid-'30s began directing. Working for almost every studio in Hollywood at one time or another, he did a lot of work for Republic, grinding out Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, and at the Pine/Thomas "B" unit at Paramount, churning out westerns, action dramas and war pictures. Not entirely comfortable as a director -Evelyn Keyes once said, "I've never seen anyone as terrified of directing as Frank McDonald" - he nevertheless turned out more than 100 pictures in his career.
Full Filmography
Directing
Broadway Hostess
(1935)
Director
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan
(1936)
Director
Isle of Fury
(1936)
Director
Treachery Rides the Range
(1936)
Director
Boulder Dam
(1936)
Director
Murder by an Aristocrat
(1936)
Director
The Big Noise
(1936)
Director
Love Begins at Twenty
(1936)
Director
The Song of a Nation
(1936)
Director
Smart Blonde
(1937)
Director
Dance Charlie Dance
(1937)
Director
Fly Away Baby
(1937)
Director
The Adventurous Blonde
(1937)
Director
Midnight Court
(1937)
Director
Her Husband's Secretary
(1937)
Director
Over the Wall
(1938)
Director
Blondes at Work
(1938)
Director
Flirting with Fate
(1938)
Director
Freshman Year
(1938)
Director
Reckless Living
(1938)
Director
Jeepers Creepers
(1939)
Director
They Asked For It
(1939)
Director
Death Goes North
(1939)
Director
First Offenders
(1939)
Director
Grand Ole Opry
(1940)
Director
Rancho Grande
(1940)
Director
Carolina Moon
(1940)
Director
Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride
(1940)
Director
Village Barn Dance
(1940)
Director
Barnyard Follies
(1940)
Director
In Old Missouri
(1940)
Director
Gaucho Serenade
(1940)
Director
No Hands on the Clock
(1941)
Director
Arkansas Judge
(1941)
Director
Country Fair
(1941)
Director
Under Fiesta Stars
(1941)
Director
Flying Blind
(1941)
Director
Tuxedo Junction
(1941)
Director
Wildcat
(1942)
Director
The Traitor Within
(1942)
Director
Shepherd of the Ozarks
(1942)
Director
Wrecking Crew
(1942)
Director
The Old Homestead
(1942)
Director
Submarine Alert
(1943)
Director
Hoosier Holiday
(1943)
Director
Alaska Highway
(1943)
Director
O, My Darling Clementine
(1943)
Director
Swing Your Partner
(1943)
Director
High Explosive
(1943)
Director
Mountain Rhythm
(1943)
Director
One Body Too Many
(1944)
Director
Lights of Old Santa Fe
(1944)
Director
Gambler's Choice
(1944)
Director
Timber Queen
(1944)
Director
Sing, Neighbor, Sing
(1944)
Director
Take It Big
(1944)
Director
Scared Stiff
(1945)
Director
Tell It to a Star
(1945)
Director
The Chicago Kid
(1945)
Director
Along the Navajo Trail
(1945)
Director
Bells of Rosarita
(1945)
Director
Man from Oklahoma
(1945)
Director
Sunset in El Dorado
(1945)
Director
My Pal Trigger
(1946)
Director
Under Nevada Skies
(1946)
Director
Rainbow Over Texas
(1946)
Director
Song of Arizona
(1946)
Director
Sioux City Sue
(1946)
Director
Twilight on the Rio Grande
(1947)
Director
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
(1947)
Director
Linda, Be Good
(1947)
Director
Hit Parade of 1947
(1947)
Director
When a Girl's Beautiful
(1947)
Director
13 Lead Soldiers
(1948)
Director
Mr. Reckless
(1948)
Director
French Leave
(1948)
Director
Gun Smugglers
(1948)
Director
The Big Sombrero
(1949)
Director
Apache Chief
(1949)
Director
Ringside
(1949)
Director
Sierra Passage
(1950)
Director
Call of the Klondike
(1950)
Director
Snow Dog
(1950)
Director
Texans Never Cry
(1951)
Director
Northwest Territory
(1951)
Director
Yukon Manhunt
(1951)
Director
Father Takes the Air
(1951)
Director
Yellow Fin
(1951)
Director
The Yellow Haired Kid
(1952)
Director
Yukon Gold
(1952)
Director
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
(1952)
Director
Sea Tiger
(1952)
Director
Six Gun Decision
(1953)
Director
Secret of Outlaw Flats
(1953)
Director
Border City Rustlers
(1953)
Director
Son of Belle Starr
(1953)
Director
Two Gun Marshal
(1953)
Director
Thunder Pass
(1954)
Director
Trouble on the Trail
(1954)
Director
The Two Gun Teacher
(1954)
Director
Marshals in Disguise
(1954)
Director
Outlaw's Son
(1954)
Director
The Big Tip Off
(1955)
Director
Treasure of Ruby Hills
(1955)
Director
Timber Country Trouble
(1955)
Director
Phantom Trails
(1955)
Director
The Matchmaking Marshal
(1955)
Director
The Tilted Tenderfoot
(1955)
Director
Le Imprese di una Spada Leggendaria
(1958)
Director
The Purple Gang
(1959)
Director
Mantelli e spade insanguinate
(1959)
Director
Raymie
(1960)
Director
The Underwater City
(1962)
Director
Gunfight at Comanche Creek
(1963)
Director
Mara of the Wilderness
(1965)
Director
Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone
(1994)
Director
Writing
Crew