Robert A. McGowan Movies

The Our Gang kids volunteer to assist a ragtag vaudeville troupe in a performance of their traveling show, but despite their well-meaning efforts, the kids not only wreck the performance, but also release a collection of pesky insects upon the unsuspecting audience. Beyond the standard "theatrical" gags, including the familiar but sure-fire bit in which tiny Allen "Farina" Hoskins exposes a fraudulent Strong Man, the film's best bits are reserved for the lengthy opening sequence, in which the Gang operates its own incredible double-decker "tour bus." Incidentally, two of the adult vaudeville patrons in the climactic scene are played by the fathers of Our Gang stars Joe Cobb and Mickey Daniels. The silent, two-reel Back Stage was originally released on June 3, 1923. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lonely rich boy Joe Cobb wants a baby brother more than anything, but his parents are too busy and self-involved to discuss the matter. Sensing that Joe needs a few friends his own age, the family nursemaid (Anita Garvin) takes him to visit the Our Gang kids, whose latest money-making venture is an elaborate baby-minding -- and baby-washing -- operation. Upon learning that Joe is willing to pay good money for a kid brother, the crafty Allen "Farina" Hoskins "borrows" a black infant and paints it white -- a deception that literally comes out in the wash. When the black child's mother arrives, her anger makes it clear to the kids that they'd better get going while the going is good. Despite all indications to the contrary, the story ends happily -- or at least satisfactorily. Originally released in June of 1927, the silent, two-reel Our Gang comedy Baby Brother still delivers plenty of laughs, even though several of the infants are clearly uncomfortable and unhappy during the baby-washing sequence. Fringe benefits include a brief cameo by Oliver Hardy as the nursemaid's roguish boyfriend and the first Our Gang appearance by Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

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

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

In this "lost" Our Gang two-reeler, the kids tried their hand at inventing, with the expected hilarious results. One of the best "miracle" devices was an automatic dressing machine, designed for little kids like Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins who have difficulty clothing themselves. Also worth mentioning was a submarine-like automobile (powered by Pete the Pup), which figured prominently in the slapstick climax. First released on March 10, 1928, "Edison, Marconi & Co." is one of the handful of silent Hal Roach/MGM "Our Gang" comedies that apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Aasen, the seven-foot-plus "giant" who previously costarred with Harold Lloyd in the 1923 comedy classic Why Worry, figured prominently in the proceedings of the 1928 "Our Gang" two-reeler Growing Pains. Inasmuch as the film apparently no longer exists, we must rely upon contemporary reviews to piece together the plotline. Evidently, the story revolved around 5-year-old Mary Ann Jackson, making her second appearance in the series. Having received a pummelling from the other kids as a result of her constant pranks, Mary Ann insisted that her little brother, played by Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins, defend her honor. Through a series of mixups, Mary Ann became convinced that pint-sized Wheezer had metamorphosed into a giant (played, of course, by the aforementioned Aasen), who obligingly meted out punishment to the rest of the Gang. Growing Pains was originally released on September 22, 1928. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Our Gang kids hold an election, with Joe Cobb running against Jay R. Smith, and vice versa (the boys' campaign slogans are along the lines of "Vote for Joe or Get a Punch in the Nose.") For unexplained reasons, both candidates try to prevent Allen "Farina" Hoskins and Farina's kid sister Pleurisy from leaving their farmyard until the votes are counted. Meanwhile, a real-life election explodes into violence when the "Pool Room Party" tries to steal the ballots. Inevitably, the kids and the adults cross paths -- with disastrous results for the bundle of laundry that Farina and Pleurisy have been ordered to deliver. Among the adult actors are well-known African American performers Louise Beavers and Clarence Muse. The film's best gag, involving a "reverse" cloud of dust, was repeated seven years later in the Laurel and Hardy feature Way Out West. Election Day was first released on January 12, 1929. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Unlike most low-budget B-Westerns, several of Hoot Gibson's vehicles from Diversion Pictures were based on a literary source, in this case a pulp fiction novel by Colonel George B. Rodney. Helmed by former Our Gang director Robert McGowan, Frontier Justice presented Gibson as Brent Halston, a carefree cowboy whose father (Joseph W. Girard), a cattle rancher, has been committed to an insane asylum by a certain Dr. Close (Lloyd Ingraham). But as Brent discovers, the good doctor is operating as an agent for unscrupulous sheep owner Gilbert Ware (Dick Cramer), a megalomaniac who wants to drive the cattle ranchers off their lands. When Brent tries to interfere, Ware's even more unscrupulous partner John Wilton (Roger Williams) has him framed in the killing of a sheep farmer (Silver Tip Baker). About to be lynched by the vengeful sheep owners, Brent makes his escape, taking Ware hostage. Naturally, everything is neatly settled in the end when Wilton is exposed as the real murderer. Photographed by the veteran Paul Ivano, who had functioned as cinematographer on such silents as The Four Men of the Apocalypse (1921) and the notorious but handsomely mounted Queen Kelly) (1929), Frontier Justice was certainly better-looking than most inexpensive genre films, a fact that boded well for the remainder of Gibson's six Westerns for Diversion Pictures. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

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

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

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