Zeus

Dinky (1935)

• Directors
  • Howard Bretherton
  • D. Ross Lederman
• Writers
  • Harry Sauber(screenplay)
  • John Fante(story)
  • Frank Fenton(story)
• Stars
  • Jackie Cooper
  • Mary Astor
  • Roger Pryor

  Cast in the title role Dinky is Jackie Cooper, who wasn't all that dinky by 1935. Mary Astor co-stars as Mrs. Daniels, Dinky's mother, who has been framed on a fraud charge and sent to prison. By bundling her son off to military school, Mrs. Daniels is able to keep her shame a secret from Dinky. Upon learning the truth, our young hero voluntarily pulls out of the school and takes up residence in an orphanage. But now it's his turn to hide the truth from his mother, by pretending via correspondence that he's still a cadet in good standing. This surfeit of self-sacrifice comes to a merciful end when Mrs. Daniels is proven innocent. Featured in the cast as bullying cadet Jackie Shaw is Richard Quine, who like Jackie Cooper grew up to become a busy TV and movie director.