Grandpa wins in the lotteries. He wasn't suppose to win though, for his ticket is a fake. Police officers and journalists try to find out who the man behind the scheme is. And so does grandpa's grandchild... This is a typical 30's movie. It is a crime, mystery and comedy in one. And there are even attractive songs in this movie. As the whole thing lasts about one hour, the pace is high, even by today's standards. Drawbacks are the incredibility of Darro being a news paperboy and the fights, which are so obviously fake, that even a blind horse would see that. Still, this is a fine mystery from the 30's, which can still be enjoyed today.
9 Reviews
Poor Frankie!!!!
kidboots3 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Poor Frankie Darro - typecasting and his height kept him playing newsboys and kid brothers long after he should have graduated to adult roles.
In this film he plays Michael,a newsboy, whose grandfather has been sold a winning lottery ticket (it's fake!!!). When the men that sold him the ticket try to force him to give it up he has a heart attack and dies. Joe (Kane Richmond) wants to solve the mystery of the fake ticket.
Phyllis Fraser was a cousin of Ginger Rogers, who urged her to try to make a go of it in movies. She did resemble Ginger Rogers in looks but not in popularity as she never made it big. She plays Gloria, Michael's sister, who gets a job as a singer in the club that is behind the lottery swindle. There is a shadowy "Mr Big" that will not take you long to work out who it is. There is also a lot of padding in this film - several songs are sung and the film doesn't even run for an hour!!!
Joe romances Myra. Betty Burgess isn't listed in the IMDb cast but she plays the second female lead. She is very sultry looking but obviously didn't make much of an impression. I looked her up and found she only made 3 films - one of them "Coronado" is a musical, I think. She deserved to make more films. She plays Myra, a girl Joe has helped out of a jam a year ago but she is now working for Franco (Harry Worth).
Michael overhears Franco talking about his grandfather and realises that the person he thought was his friend is responsible for his grandfather's death. Joe, Michael and Gloria are then held hostage but through some fancy footwork manage to save the day.
Frankie Darro demonstrates some acrobatic dexterity as he back flips and front flips during some "showing off". It sure looked like him and reading that his parents were circus performers - it probably was him!!!!!
In this film he plays Michael,a newsboy, whose grandfather has been sold a winning lottery ticket (it's fake!!!). When the men that sold him the ticket try to force him to give it up he has a heart attack and dies. Joe (Kane Richmond) wants to solve the mystery of the fake ticket.
Phyllis Fraser was a cousin of Ginger Rogers, who urged her to try to make a go of it in movies. She did resemble Ginger Rogers in looks but not in popularity as she never made it big. She plays Gloria, Michael's sister, who gets a job as a singer in the club that is behind the lottery swindle. There is a shadowy "Mr Big" that will not take you long to work out who it is. There is also a lot of padding in this film - several songs are sung and the film doesn't even run for an hour!!!
Joe romances Myra. Betty Burgess isn't listed in the IMDb cast but she plays the second female lead. She is very sultry looking but obviously didn't make much of an impression. I looked her up and found she only made 3 films - one of them "Coronado" is a musical, I think. She deserved to make more films. She plays Myra, a girl Joe has helped out of a jam a year ago but she is now working for Franco (Harry Worth).
Michael overhears Franco talking about his grandfather and realises that the person he thought was his friend is responsible for his grandfather's death. Joe, Michael and Gloria are then held hostage but through some fancy footwork manage to save the day.
Frankie Darro demonstrates some acrobatic dexterity as he back flips and front flips during some "showing off". It sure looked like him and reading that his parents were circus performers - it probably was him!!!!!
Brisk, efficient, likable
dinky-413 August 2009
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.
Irish Sweepstakes Scam
wes-connors15 May 2011
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
**** Tough to Handle (5/24/37) Roy Luby ~ Frankie Darro, Kane Richmond, Harry Worth, Phyllis Fraser
Despite a few weaknesses in the ending, a dandy B-movie
planktonrules21 August 2018
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.
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.
Decent enough time filler ain't too tough to handle.
mark.waltz16 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
In spite of obvious plot holes that threatened to create bumps in the road of this crime drama with moments of comedy and song, this is a pretty good be great poverty row programmer. Frankie Darro was an extremely likeable juvenile actor who never seem to age past Lee teenager rolls, and he did indeed have an internally boyish look about him that went beyond his short stature. Here, he's a street corner news boy and the grandson of the likeable Burr Caruth who discovers that he has a lottery ticket with a winning number. However, because he purchased the ticket through illegal means, it is a phony, and in order to get the ticket back, he is murdered. It's up to Darro, his sister Phyllis Fraser and her reporter boyfriend Kane Richmond to find out who killed gramps and why. At only an hour, this flies by with just a few slow moments, and Betty Burgess is a great femme fatale. It's like dozens of other B movies of the same time, having no real surprises and an ending that seems so convenient in the way it turns out.
Not Tough To Take
boblipton26 April 2021
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.
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.
"You're in it up to your neck, same as the rest of them".
classicsoncall27 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This is the third film I've come across with Frankie Darro and Kane Richmond together at the top of the credits, the other two being "Born to Fight" (1936) and "The Devil Diamond" (1937). I've always liked Darro with his faux Cagney look, and Richmond makes for a handsome leading man, though his stiffness as an actor didn't get him too far.
This one's a fairly brisk flick with an interesting hook that was written in a fairly clever manner given the era. The comedy relief character, a hissing drunk (Johnstone White) that shows up every so often, turns out to be the invisible crime boss calling the shots in a counterfeit Irish Sweepstakes scam. Top 40 Club owner Tony Franco (Harry Worth), gets his marching orders from Whitney off screen, and then parcels out tough guy assignments to his henchmen Jake (Stanley Price) and Spike (Jack Ingram). These two bozos are about as inept as they come, blowing one attempt after another trying to recover a phony sweepstakes ticket.
Phylliis Cerf portrays Gloria, the sister of Darro's character Mike Sanford, and gets some worthy screen time with a fairly well done song number at the Top 40. However the gal that will really get your attention is Franco's moll Myra, played by Betty Burgess. I don't know what it was, but that sultry look (maybe that's what it was) had me glued to her character whenever she appeared.
With a generally decent story going, I had to groan when it came time to wrap things up at the finale. The good guys and bad guys traded off gaining the upper hand and it just looked very weak, and then our boy Whitney guns down Franco. It was quite convenient that the cops arrived at that very minute to arrest the rest of the villains. If real life worked like that we'd have some very boring films made today.
You know, I felt bad for Grandpa Sanford (Burr Caruth), being roughed up by Spike like that and just dropping dead for no apparent reason. But if you kept an eye on him at the opening of the picture, he never paid for the newspaper he got from grandson Mike!
This one's a fairly brisk flick with an interesting hook that was written in a fairly clever manner given the era. The comedy relief character, a hissing drunk (Johnstone White) that shows up every so often, turns out to be the invisible crime boss calling the shots in a counterfeit Irish Sweepstakes scam. Top 40 Club owner Tony Franco (Harry Worth), gets his marching orders from Whitney off screen, and then parcels out tough guy assignments to his henchmen Jake (Stanley Price) and Spike (Jack Ingram). These two bozos are about as inept as they come, blowing one attempt after another trying to recover a phony sweepstakes ticket.
Phylliis Cerf portrays Gloria, the sister of Darro's character Mike Sanford, and gets some worthy screen time with a fairly well done song number at the Top 40. However the gal that will really get your attention is Franco's moll Myra, played by Betty Burgess. I don't know what it was, but that sultry look (maybe that's what it was) had me glued to her character whenever she appeared.
With a generally decent story going, I had to groan when it came time to wrap things up at the finale. The good guys and bad guys traded off gaining the upper hand and it just looked very weak, and then our boy Whitney guns down Franco. It was quite convenient that the cops arrived at that very minute to arrest the rest of the villains. If real life worked like that we'd have some very boring films made today.
You know, I felt bad for Grandpa Sanford (Burr Caruth), being roughed up by Spike like that and just dropping dead for no apparent reason. But if you kept an eye on him at the opening of the picture, he never paid for the newspaper he got from grandson Mike!
Meet Frankie Darro in This Swift B-Picture
JLRMovieReviews28 May 2009
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.
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