MovieChat Forums > Stagecoach (1939) Discussion > attempt to ID uncredited actor

attempt to ID uncredited actor


This line sets it up:"Dallas (Claire Trevor) is implied to be a prostitute, and so is ostracized from (the town of) Tonto (which means "stupid", "foolish" or "daft" in Spanish) by a self-stylized matronly moral majority." I am attempting to ID the actor who wears a badge in the early scene when Dallas and the doctor are being run out of town and onto the stage coach. He may be "Deputy Frank", listed as Franklyn Farnum, but having found pictures of Farnum, that doesn't look like who I mean, so my character ID may be wrong. I don't mean the Marshal who goes on the stage (that's George Bancroft), but the thin man with high-pitched voice who marches behind Dallas and the doctor in front of the moral majority ladies. I have seen him in The Grapes of Wrath, he is in the early scene where he tells the Joads about having seen California, and he's coming back home to starve. Papa Joad asks him if he's one of them Reds, and he swears he's not. He says he's just trying to tell them what it took his wife dead to learn, took his children dead as well, and the Doc said they died from heart failure, but their little bellies were swollen from hunger. I know this is the same actor as the man in Stage Coach, but I don't think it is Franklyn Farnum. Actors like this had long careers in film, sometimes made entirely of uncredited roles.

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Probably Louis Mason who had a long career and appeared in many Ford films although I wouldn't know him. Duke Lee is the Lordsburg sheriff and, I think, went back to SHOOTING STRAIGHT with Ford.

One name I'm surprised to find among the stuntmen is David Sharpe. He's not always identifiable, and I think this may be his only appearance in a Ford film although he is featured in 7 SINNERS and WYOMING OUTLAW with Wayne.

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According to http://www.thelin.net/laurent/cinema/films/tt0031971.html
his name is Franklyn Farnum. You can view his name and photo at that link.
The character he plays is Deputy Frank.
You can view his scene at 6 minutes in at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7HBgErwAB4&feature=related

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Sealord, I have to agree with pj above, Louis Mason seems to be the actor in question. Once you've seen his small heart-rending scene in Grapes of Wrath you will always recognize him in other films, and this morning when I saw him in Stagecoach, I immediately recognized him as the "man in camp" from GOW.

The only other piece of evidence I can offer is that Louis Mason is listed as an (uncredited) cast member in both Stagecoach and Grapes of Wrath; Franklyn Farnum is not listed in GOW. I believe the first link you listed (thelin.net) is simply wrong in this case, although it's an interesting movie site.

Spill.com includes Louis Mason in both films as well (not that I'm vouching for Spill's accuracy). Many of my searches for the uncredited in older films stems from the lack of good photographs. The photo of (the misidentified) Louis Mason in your link is the only photo of this actor I can find online.

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