Robert A. McGowan Movies
- 1941
Another MGM Our Gang comedy that has next to nothing to do with Our Gang, the one-reel Helping Hands gets under way when Spanky McFarland receives a letter from his recently drafted older brother. Inspired by the letter's patriotic sentiments, Spanky and the gang organize a "home guard," prepared to do battle should the Nazis invade California. This attracts the attention of Army Major Sanford (Sam Flint), who informs the kids that they would be of even greater service to Uncle Sam by looking out for fire hazards, collecting scrap metal and paper, and encouraging their parents to buy war stamps and bonds. The humor level of this film can be gauged by the final gag, in which a group of diapered babies march down the street under the banner "Infantry." Helping Hands was originally released on September 27, 1941. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Mickey Gubitosi, (more)
- 1940
An unofficial reworking of such silent Our Gang comedies as Tire Troubleand Boys Will Be Joys, as well as the 1936 two-reeler Second Childhood, the one-reel talkie Kiddie Kure is a tour de force for that marvelous character actor Thurston Hall. While playing baseball near the home of wealthy hypochondriac Mr. Morton (Hall), the Our Gang kids inadvertently break one of Morton's windows. This mishap coincides with a plan hatched by Morton's wife (Josephine Whitell) to get her husband's mind off his imaginary illnesses by adopting some children. Hoping to prove that he'd be an unsuitable parent, Morton pretends that he's crazy, the better to scare away the gang and to dissuade Mrs. Morton from her adoption scheme. Instead, the kids prove to Morton that he doesn't need all his pills and poultices, thereby giving the old man a new lease on life and a better appreciation of children. Originally released on November 23, 1940, Kiddie Kure marked the final Our Gang appearance of series stalwart Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1942
Just as they did in the 1941 Our Gang comedy Ye Olde Minstrels, the gang prevails upon old-time minstrel impresario Walter Wills to help them stage a fund-raising musical show. Highlights include the ensemble number "When Grandma Wore a Bustle", the barbershop-quartet set piece "Songs of Long Ago", and the grand finale "Dances Old and New". Alas, the kids are unable to post the profits because gang member Mickey (Robert Blake) has allowed most of the audience to enter for free, but good old Walter Wills comes to the rescue once again. This one-reel entry was originally released on January 24, 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Mickey Gubitosi, (more)
- 1938
Filmed on MGM's standing Dr. Kildare sets, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Men in Fright gets under way as Gang members Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Spanky McFarland, Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas, Eugene "Porky" Lee, and Leonard Landy pay a visit to their hospitalized friend Darla Hood. Thanks to a convenient plot device, Alfalfa is mistaken for a tonsillectomy patient and subjected to laughing gas. Once this complication has been straightened out, the kids burrow through a picnic basket full of such delicacies as pickles, ice cream, and hot dogs, with the expected results (conveyed via a clever bit of animation). Men in Fright was originally released on October 15, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1942
Just when it seemed that the MGM Our Gang series was going to continue wallowing in mediocrity, along came the one-reel gem Mighty Lak a Goat. In this consistently funny outing, the Gang members try to clean off their clothes after being splattered with mud. The "miracle" cleaning solution devised by Billy "Froggy" Laughlin works beautifully, but with one major drawback: The stuff stinks to high heaven! Oblivious to their putrid pungency, the kids manage to empty out a bus, a classroom, and a movie theater (even the actors on the screen can't stand the smell) before they sniff out the reason for their sudden unpopularity. Watch for Ava Gardner in a tiny role as a movie-house cashier. The last truly worthwhile Our Gang comedy, Mighty Lak a Goat was originally released on October 10, 1942. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Bobby Blake, (more)
- 1926
Our Gang member Allen "Farina" Hoskins decides to run away from home on the same day that an oversized, trained chimpanzee mischievously escapes its captors. Befriending the monkey, Farina invites his new pal to join the rest of the gang. The kids decide to capitalize on the simian's talents by staging their own tent show. Alas, the chimp manages to down a bottle of bootleg booze, then goes on a drunken rampage, terrorizing everyone in town. When the cops arrive, the big ape commandeers their patrol wagon, and what happens next could only happen in an Our Gang comedy. Making up in energy what it lacks in coherence, Monkey Business was originally released on March 21, 1926. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farina Hoskins, Mickey Daniels, (more)
- 1928
The "Our Gang" kids befriend elderly Chief Cummings, a former fire chief who runs a ramshackle taxi service with the help of his faithful firehorse Duke. When the Chief is threatened with the loss of his business -- and his horse -- the Gang comes to the rescue, using business tactics that would earn them a stiff prison sentence were they adults! A running gag has little Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins taking such dismissive instructions as "Go sit on an egg!" and "Go jump in the lake!" all too literally. A thrilling climactic chase caps the otherwise standard "Our Gang" comedy Old Gray Hoss, which made its first theatrical appearance on October 22, 1928. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, (more)
- 1927
Originally released on September 11, 1927, the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy Olympic Games was undoubtedly inspired by the upcoming 1928 Olympiad in Amsterdam. This time around, the gang members are the athletes, and their back yards are the playing fields. While the older kids compete in the standard events -- with the usual array of makeshift javelins, shot puts, and the like -- spectator Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins greets their efforts with his trademarked Bronx cheer. All vestiges of sportsmanship and fair play are cast to the winds as the games degenerate into a garbage-throwing melee. Plotless and almost humorless, Olympic Games fails to live up to the promise of its title. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Farina Hoskins, Joe Cobb, (more)
- 1928
Our Gang member Joe Cobb has to do some quick thinking when his playful but undeniably destructive pet dog Pansy is slated to be shot by Joe's frustrated dad. Training Pansy to play dead, Joe does his job so well that the pooch is hired as a "stunt dog" by a local movie studio. As expected, Joe and the rest of the Our Gang kids tag along when Pansy makes his debut before the cameras, culminating in an outsized pie fight on the set of a slapstick comedy. By the time Playin' Hookey was released by Pathe on January 1, 1928, producer Hal Roach was releasing his newest Our Gang comedies through his new distributor MGM. Long available only in a fragmentary version, a complete print of this film was discovered in a French vault in the 1980s.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, (more)
- 1938
Hoping to get even for all the practical jokes perpetrated by neighborhood troublemaker Tommy "Butch" Bond, the Our Gang kids plan to sabotage Butch's birthday party. The weapon of choice is a firecracker, which is substituted for one of the birthday candles. Unfortunately, the kids in general and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer in particular are unable to escape from the party before the big (and tasty) explosion. Essentially a single-joke effort, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Practical Jokers was originally released on December 17, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1928
Left in charge of his younger siblings Wheezer and Jean, "Our Gang" kid Jay R. Smith is stuck in the house due to a torrential rainstorm. Though he tries to keep apace of the mischievous youngster, Jay is unable to prevent the kids from drawing chalk pictures on the new wallpaper. With the help of fellow Gang members Joe Cobb, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, and Harry Spear, Jay tries to cover up the damage before his mother gets home from shopping. Unfortunately, the kid's well-meaning attempts and wallpapering only succeed in making a bad situation worse! Best gags: The opening byplay with stolen sausages (a routine repeated in the 1932 talkie Birthday Blues, and the climactic "creeping" ceiling. A mechanical but entertaining silent "Our Gang" entry, "Rainy Days" was originally released on February 11, 1928. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, Jay R. Smith, (more)
- 1942
Future film star Stephen McNally (here billed as Horace McNally) appears in this Our Gang one-reeler as Bill Patterson, ace director at Mammoth Studios. On the say-so of studio casting director J.D. Broderick (Bryon Shores), Patterson agrees to give a screen test to the Our Gang kids' talented dog Rover. Alas, the petulant pooch does not take direction well, nor does he respond positively when the cameraman announces that he's "ready to shoot." Originally released on August 22, 1942, Rover's Big Chance could charitably be described as a one-joke film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Bobby Blake, (more)
- 1928
One of a handful of currently unavailable Hal Roach/MGM "Our Gang" silent films, School Begins was a series of gags built around the unenviable ritual of returning to school during the first week of September. Hoping to get out of their classroom responsibilities, Gang members Joe Cobb and Harry Spear arranged a series of excuses to be sent home, all of which came a-cropper. Fortunately for the boys, the school day ended abruptly and prematurely when Harry's kid brother, played by Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, brought a live fish, and a brace of trained seals, into the little red schoolhouse. School Begins was originally released on November 17, 1928. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Cobb, Farina Hoskins, (more)
- 1942
Upset because, as a leap year baby, he only has a birthday every four years, Our Gang member Billy "Froggy" Laughlin bemoans the fact that he has never had a birthday party. The gang decides to throw a surprise party in Froggy's honor, but to keep him in the dark, they pretend to kick him out of the clubhouse. Vengefully, Froggy sneaks back and sets all sorts of booby-traps for the other gang members. But -- you guessed it -- when the party takes place, it is Froggy who bears the brunt of his pre-set pranks. Originally released on May 30, 1942, the one-reel Our Gang comedy Surprised Parties is but a pale shadow of the series' vintage entries of the '20s and '30s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Mickey Gubitosi, (more)
- 1940
The Our Gang kids unintentionally wreak havoc at the gala Hollywood premiere of the adventure epic Gun Boats. Chased away by the angry authorities, the undaunted kids decide to stage their own movie premiere -- and they even film a movie for the occasion! Alas, the gang's cinematic effort, The Mysteeryus Mystery, isn't quite as entertaining as the efforts by Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas to remove his feet from a block of cement (he was merely trying to leave his footprints, à la Grauman's Chinese Theater). Like many MGM Our Gang one-reelers, this one ends with a song performed by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer -- with the unsolicited assistance of a newly hatched chick. The Big Premiere was originally released on March 9, 1940. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1929
Outside of a cutting continuity and a handful of contemporary reviews, little is known about the plotline of the long-lost "Our Gang" comedy The Holly Terror. From the existing evidence, the story would seem to have centered on the sibling rivalry between two little girls, played by Mary Ann Jackson and Jean Darling. In their very thorough book The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann have reprinted the film's opening titles: "The story of a little girl who was bad on Monday, naughty on Tuesday, and terrible on Wednesday--Thursday, they called out the marines. . . ." Originally released on March 9, 1929, The Holy Terror will undoubtedly be included in the "Little Rascals" VHS and DVD releases, if and when the film is ever rediscovered. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Ann Jackson, Joe Cobb, (more)
- 1938
The Our Gang comedy series moved from Hal Roach Studios to MGM with the one-reel gem The Little Ranger. Snubbed by his girlfriend Darla Hood, Gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer accepts the invitation of tomboyish Shirley "Muggsy" Coates to attend the local picture show. While watching the adventures of his favorite cowboy star, Alfalfa dreams that he himself is a Wild West sheriff, with his pals Billy "Buckwheat" Thomas and Eugene "Porky" Lee as deputies. Naturally, Darla also figures prominently in Alfalfa's dream, as does his archrival Tommy "Butch" Bond. What happens next determines Alfie's destiny when he awakens from his slumbers. A very funny entry, The Little Ranger successfully retained all the elements that had made Our Gang so popular during its Hal Roach days -- something that could not be said for most of the subsequent MGM offerings. The film was originally released on August 6, 1938. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, (more)
- 1940
The "new pupil" in this one-reel Our Gang entry is a pretty young lass named Sally, played by popular child actress Juanita Quigley. Immediately upon Sally's arrival, Our Gang kids Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Spanky McFarland literally fall over each other trying to get her attention, leaving the gang's traditional sweetheart Darla Hood in the lurch. But when it turns out that Sally can't stand either one of the boys, she and Darla cook up a scheme to dampen their romantic aspirations. Originally released on April 27, 1940, The New Pupil is a forced, unfunny comedy that, sadly, was par for the course when the Our Gang series moved from Hal Roach Studios to MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1940
Longtime "Our Gang" director Robert McGowan wielded the megaphone for the laid-back Monogram drama Old Swimming Hole. Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones, whom the studio was hoping to develop into a screen team, star as Chris and Betty, bucolic sweethearts who hope to play matchmaker for Chris' mother (Leatrice Joy) and Betty's father (Charles Brown). Another plotline concerns Chris' hopes of attending medical school, which may not happen due to his family's lack of funds. After taking it easy for several reels, the film wraps up with an exciting climax wherein one of the main characters is rescued from drowning. Old Swimming Hole was based on a story by Dorothy Davenport Reid, widow of silent-screen favorite Wallace Reid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Moran, Marcia Mae Jones, (more)
- 1943
The "three smart guys" in this one-reel MGM Our Gang comedy are Mickey (Robert Blake), Froggy (Billy Laughlin), and Buckwheat (Billie Thomas), who devise a scheme to play hooky from school and go fishing. But upon arriving at the river bank, the kids make the acquaintance of a friendly hobo (Edward Fielding), who advises them that they'll never hook the "fish" of success unless they return to school. Duly chastened, the boys rush off to the schoolhouse just in time for the first bell. Three Smart Guys was originally released on October 23, 1943. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bobby Blake, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, (more)
- 1939
The MGM Our Gang series began its slow but steady decline with the sub-standard one-reel entry Tiny Troubles. On this occasion, the gang is held responsible for the crimes perpetrated by a midget named Light-Fingered Lester (played by prolific dwarf actor Jerry Maren). The notion that the kids would mistake the obviously mature Lester for a tiny baby is as hard to swallow as the rest of the story. Tiny Troubles was originally released on February 18, 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
- 1927
Charlie Oelze, the Hal Roach Studio's special effects and "gadget" maestro, was given co-director credit on the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy Tired Business Men. New kid in town Joe Cobb is initiated into the gang's new "Manhattan Club," a social center dedicated to the relaxation of youngsters tired of performing household chores. Undergoing a painful and humiliating initiation ritual, Joe is able to turn the tables on his tormentors when it is revealed that his dad is a cop. All of this is forgotten when notorious bank robber "Blow 'Em Up" Barnes takes refuge in the gang's clubhouse. Originally released on May 13, 1927, Tired Business Men is a slow, drearily paced comedy which actually plays better in its abbreviated TV version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Hitchcock, Farina Hoskins, (more)
- 1920
For their screen debut, stage stars Mr. and Mrs. Carter DeHaven played Signor Monti and Blanche Hawkins in the bedroom farce that spawned all others, Twin Beds. The 1914 Margaret Mayo/Salisbury Field-penned play adapted well to motion pictures, even without the dialogue. Monti, a famed but henpecked singer, finds his neighbor Blanche worth noticing. This isn't missed by their spouses (Helen Raymond and William Desmond), who insist on moving to keep temptation at bay. Unfortunately both couples move to the same apartment building. One night Monti somehow manages to get out of the house and after a long night of cards and drinking, he comes home and falls into his twin bed. But when he wakes up he realizes it isn't his bed at all, but Mr. Hawkins'! The various hiding places Monti uses while trying to get out of Blanche's boudoir --the clothes hamper, wardrobe closet, etc. -- and into his own home soon became staples in subsequent farces. Twin Beds was remade in 1929 and 1942. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1942
Weighing themselves on a penny machine, the Our Gang kids receive a fortune card predicting that they will receive "unexpected riches." Acting upon this, the kids decide to dig for buried treasure, using a fradulent map provided by one of their wise-guy acquaintances. Though the treasure hunt comes a-cropper, the fortune card's prediction comes true in an unexpected fashion. Originally released on November 28, 1942, the one-reel Unexpected Riches represented Spanky McFarland's final Our Gang appearance, ending an incredible ten-year run with the comedy series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Bobby Blake, (more)
- 1940
The Our Gang kids offer to help their pal Waldo (Darwood Kaye) attract customers to his lemonade stand. Redecorating their clubhouse as a lavish nightclub, the kids stage an elaborate floor show, with Darla Hood as the star vocalist. Unfortunately, their efforts attract only one patron -- a surly, stone-faced little kid with a Popeye-the-Sailor voice (Billy "Froggy" Laughlin, making his first Our Gang appearance). Originally released on October 5, 1940, the one-reel Waldo's Last Stand has since lapsed into the public domain, and as a result is the most easily accessible of the MGM Our Gang films (though certainly not the best of the batch!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Spanky" McFarland, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, (more)
