Allen 'Farina' Hoskins
Join all you favorites--Spanky, Buckwheat, Alfalfa, Darla, Butch, Froggy and more--in a jam-packed special covering more than twenty years and 200 episodes of Hal Roach's inimitable brand of childhood magic. This fascinating video offers insight into the Gang's personal lives, as rare footage follows each member's career through the joys and misfortunes that went along with being one of America's most beloved kids. See how the series began in 1922 and changed after the first all-talking release in 1929, why Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney never made the Gang, a fifteenth anniversary reunion, and clips from their only feature.
The Little Rascals answer the call as volunteer firemen in "Hook and Ladder" with Dickie as "Chief", then get snubbed after saying "Hi Neighbor" to the new kid on the block, so they build their own fantastic fire engine. In the silent "Sundown Ltd.", the Gang learns the danger of playing in the railroad yards as thy duke it out with Toughy, their rival for Mary's affections, and manage to run their hand-made train right off of the tracks.
Stymie, Spanky and the Gang have to save Pete from the dog catcher's gas chamber in "The Pooch", while Spanky and Alfalfa headline the school pageant with a pair of midgets mistaken for children on "Arbor Day". In the 1923 silent "Derby Day", the Gang is selling hot dogs and lemonade outside the racetrack when Mickie hits upon an idea of holding their own race--between a mule, a horse, a cow, a doh, a goat and a bicycle.
The gang's all here - Our Gang, that is, with Spanky, Alfalfa, Jackie, Farina, Scotty, Buckwheat, Chubby, Stymie, Wheezer, Dickie, Tommy, Mary, Pete and more in uncut versions of some of their funniest episodes. A magic lamp turns two adults into new arrivals at the Happy Home Orphanage in "Shrimps for a Day," while the Rascals show a thief how to "Fly My Kite" when he tries to send their beloved Grandma to the poor farm. The Gang is snubbed after saying "Hi Neighbor" to the new kid on the block, and Spanky has "Beginners Luck" during his debut on amateur night, before they mistake a hungry "Kid from Borneo" for Uncle George.
The Gang goes on a camping trip as "Bear Shooters" in which Chubby greases Wheezer with Limburger, then puts on a floor show in a barn to try to sell a reluctant Froggy some lemonade in "Waldo's Last Stand". The silent "Dogs of War!" depicts the great battle of Kelly's tomato patch waged by "Stonewall" Jackie and "Private" Farina, then the Gang tries to get wok in the movies, driving director Harold Lloyd to distraction.
Nick and Nora Charles investigate when Nora's cousin reports her disreputable husband is missing, and find themselves in a mystery involving the shady owners of a popular nightclub, a singer and her dark brother, the cousin's forsaken true love, and Nora's bombastic and controlling aunt.
It's the early nineteenth century Washington. Young adult Margaret O'Neal, Peggy to most that know her, is the daughter of Major William O'Neal, who is the innkeeper of the establishment where most out-of-town politicians and military men stay when they're in Washington. Peggy is pretty and politically aware. She is courted by several of those politicians and military men who all want to marry her, except for the one with who she is truly in love.
Members of a teenage gang are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the callous Thompson. Soon Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner, arrives and takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. Thompson needs a quick way to discredit him.
Champion boxer Jimmy Dolan has cultivated a wholesome image for himself, but he's a boozer and womanizer behind the scenes. Intoxicated at a party, he punches a reporter who threatens to expose his hypocrisy, and accidentally kills him. Dolan panics and skips town, winding up on a farm that serves as a home for disabled children run by kindhearted Peggy. As the cynical Dolan falls for Peggy, he begins to change his ways.
Two men bear the name Joe Holt. One is a shipping clerk, the other a champion Canadian swimmer. When a socialite gets them confused, thinking the clerk is the inventor of an unsinkable swim suit, she enters him in a 20 mile swim race.
Farina plans a going-away party for Stymie as authorities prepare to place him in an orphanage.
Miss Crabtree, the teacher Jackie has a crush on, rents a room at Jackie's house.
The kids' adopted grandma decides to sell her store, but can't decide whom to sell it to. The kids try to help her out.
A greedy man tries to get rid of his mother by putting her in an old folks home until he discovers she has a fortune in stock certificates.
Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to raise funds for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanatorium.)
Jackie throws his schoolbook out the window in disgust, but then climbs outside to retrieve it. Finding himself locked out, he tries various means of getting back inside without his parents finding out. When his parents mistake his noises for a burglar, a local policeman is called, but he seems incompetent to catch either the phony burglar or the real one who has shown up in the meantime
The kids mistake Miss Crabtree's brother for a potential boyfriend, and plot to discourage him.
The gang is participating in a program sponsored by the Golden Age Dramatic League. They present their own fractured version of Quo Vadis. Things go from bad to worse when the neighborhood tough kids disrupt the show. The pie fight is given a new twist by use of some slow motion sequences.
The Rascals have a boxing arena that could pack them in if they could find fighters who would actually mix it up. Harry and Farina notice a rivalry between two very large young kids, Joe and Chubby, that would fill the bill if only the two heavyweights would put aside their gentle natures. Farina gets an idea: tell each of the lads that the other will take a dive in the second round. So the fight begins and the stands are filled; but will the combatants actually throw a punch? Ernie has one more trick up his sleeve to get the fists flying and the crowd on its feet. Sweet science indeed.
The gang are all orphans, hoping to be adopted by nice families where "spinach is not on the menu". Wheezer, the youngest child, gets adopted by a wealthy couple, while his older sister Mary Ann does not. The gang all comes to visit Wheezer in his new home, setting off an alarm that causes the police and the fire department to come over. At that time, Wheezer's new mother and father decide to adopt Mary Ann as well. The couple's friends all each adopt a child as well; even Farina is adopted by the maid at Wheezer's new home.
Little Mother is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Little Mother was the 87th Our Gang short to be released. A silent film, it followed Our Gang's first sound film, Small Talk, on the release schedule.
The gang goes digging for treasure in an old house against Kennedy the Cop's wishes.
With Wheezer's new baby brother getting all the attention, he tries to send the baby back.
This film revolves around Election Day, a day on which Jay R. and Joe are fighting to get votes. They warn the kids that they'll be socked in the jaw if they don't vote for them, but the kids are just trying to go about their business, namely Farina. His mother wants him to deliver laundry to her clients, but he can't go anywhere without being harassed by the gang. To escape them, he dons several costumes including that as an older woman, a dancer, and a scarecrow.
Joe Cobb is suffering through a toothache as well as having to babysit his little brother Rupert who won't stop crying. Every effort to calm Rupert is undone by an immediate commotion to wake him up. Joe rocks him to sleep, but then the neighbor starts playing his bass fiddle. Joe then rocks the cradle so hard it falls apart, and he trips and stumbles moving Rupert to the baby carriage, which subsequently rolls down hill through traffic with Rupert and a neighbor's monkey enjoying the ride.
The gang is playing around the railroad station, and Joe and Chubby's father, an engineer, lectures against the kids playing in such a dangerous area. True to his word, after Joe and Chubby's father leaves, a crazy man starts a train with most of the kids on it, save for Farina who is nearly run over several times. Once Farina manages to climb aboard himself, the kids attempt to stop the runaway locomotive, but have no luck until the engine crashes into a grocery truck. As it turns out, however, the entire incident is revealed to be a dream Farina had as Joe and Chubby's father lectured the kids about rail-yard safety.
Farina, Joe, and friends use dogs to power their "roadsters," but following a lesson from the head of the Be Kind to Animals Society, they make it their cause to rescue animals from bad treatment. Joe even manages to find patience for a nagging flea that persists in biting him. Meanwhile, Wheezer, who has been tormenting animals with his games, dreams that the animals have turned the tables on him.
Fast Freight is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film. It was the 85th Our Gang short that was released. The gang takes a tramp's train ride and end up taking shelter in a haunter house.
Mary Ann Jackson and Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins are the children of a widowed inventor who are forced to endure the cruelties of their stepmother (Lyle Tayo) and stepsister. The kids get even by rigging a few clever contraptions of their own. In the end the father sells a patent worth millions. Before that, the Our Gang kids bring out out the old "alum" gag, along with several other tried-and-true comedy bits.
As a joke, several members of the gang convince Farina, who is "brave but superstitious", that he's caused the demise of a young acquaintance and must therefore lay the body (actually still very alive) to rest in the old burying ground, under the watchful eye of "the graveyard witch". The joke backfires spectacularly on the pranksters.
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.
Jay and Wheezer are left alone on a rainy afternoon when Mom goes out to run errands. But when their friends drop by and trash the place, the boys must struggle to clean up before Mom returns.
This story revolves around an old man who feels alone in the world aside from the gang who keeps him company and his old horse. He runs a horse and buggy business, but he has new competition: an auto taxi. The gang helps him to maintain his job by sabotaging the other man's.
Wheezer gets excited watching his dog Pansy attack and rip apart the chickens and furniture in the back yard. His mother is upset, and his father takes his rifle to shoot the dog. Meanwhile, Joe Cobb has taught Pansy to play dead, and after the deed is done, he hides the dog at Farina's house.
Joe Cobb is a wealthy child who longs for a baby brother. His nursemaid takes him to the other side where he meets some kids his age (the rest of Our Gang) where Joe offers three dollars for a baby. Farina finds a fellow African-American neighbor woman who lets him mind her infant which he then paints white and sells to Joe. The rest of the gang has set an assembly-line system that washes, dries, rocks, and feeds male and female babies.
Tired Business Men is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 60th Our Gang short subject released.
Chicken Feed is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 66th Our Gang short subject released. The kids go to a magic show and decides to try a little magic of their own.
Farina Hoskins discovers a stray dog. Joe Cobb suggests that he and Farina take the dog to the gang's dog show. In the middle of the show, the dogcatchers crack down on picking up all unlicensed strays to control a hydrophobia epidemic; the injection to control the disease costs five dollars.
While the world watches the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the Rascals gather at the flats for their own games. Whether it's the shot put, the hurdles, the pole vault, or the high jump, not much goes right. There's a deep mud hole that catches several of the kids, and someone out there keeps giving them the razzberry. It's young Wheezer hiding out of sight with his dog Punch, but the kids think it's another boy, so every time they hear the Bronx cheer, they chase the innocent lad and give him a thumping.
Habitually mistreated at the deceptively named Happyland Home Orphanage, the Our Gang kids find a loyal and kindhearted friend in the form of a black grownup named Uncle Tom. Alas, Tom's own children -- including real-life siblings Allen "Farina" Hoskins and Jannie "Mango" Hoskins -- are carted off to Happyland by the cold-hearted county officials. Farina, Mango, and the other kids escape the cruel orphanage in the dead of night, while Uncle Tom, preparing for their return, "borrows" food, clothes, and furnishings from various merchants.
In this Our Gang film, James Finlayson plays the gang's schoolteacher who takes the kids to Europe after winning a local contest. He takes them on a tour of Naples, Pompeii, Rome, the Vatican, Venice, London, and finally Paris, where problems arise on top of the Eiffel Tower.
Ten Years Old is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 58th Our Gang short subject released. It was remade as Birthday Blues in 1932. Nobody comes to Joe's birthday party so he goes to the rich kid's party with his own special cake.
The kids from Our Gang have to attend a wedding, and they bring along their flea collection--which gets loose.
On Christmas Eve, the Gang copes with hardships, helps capture a gang of thieves, and learns that Santa Claus really exists for those who wish fervently enough.
An abused chimpanzee escapes from a zoo. On the run, he meets Farina, running away from home and his battling parents. The two become friends and inspire the rest of the gang to put on a show to make money from neighborhood kids. But the chimp has his own idea and runs off creating havoc all over town until chased down by the local cops.
A young man visiting Hollywood on family business gets into trouble when he sees a bank robbery in progress, and thinks it is a movie scene.
Farina and Joe fib to the gang that they've beaten up the neighborhood bully. Later, they hear he's been murdered and think they'll get the blame.
The Rascals take their homemade boat on a search for treasure and crash a movie set.
Adults have the Pike and Coney Island amusement parks, so the rascals put up their own rides in a large vacant lot. Mickey's got big plans for expansion when surveyors show up to begin work on a factory. The gang travels by donkey cart to the office of Henry Mills, President of Pan American Export Company, to protest. Henry, in his 60s, is still a boy at heart: he has his chauffeur stop the car so he can join a sandlot game. He bails on a meeting with his board of directors, going with the kids to the factory site where he stops the workers and helps our gang add more rides. The directors follow him, and they get put to work. Will they ever have their meeting?
The boys are showing off their dogs to each other when little rich girl Mary Kornman rides by in her pony-drawn cart. When the pony shies and runs away, Mickey comes to the rescue with his dog. In gratitude, Mary invites all the boys and their dogs to her party, much to the chagrin of her wealthy mother.
Shootin' Injuns is a 1925 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 38th Our Gang short subject released.
The gang creates their own railroad after being chased from a local railyard, and competes with toughie.
This Our Gang short has the group playing pirates and building a ship to sail in. Once the ship hits water it sinks but they end up on another boat when the dog unties the rope and the kids head off to sea where they must be rescued by the Navy.
The kids pretend to be hunting a variety of animals when they're invited to a farm where they try to capture real game. This gets boring after a while so they decide to try and track a bear. Soon the bear is stalking them!
A young boy, determined to make money enough to buy his mother a birthday present, finds a variety of odd jobs and finally starts up a makeshift circus.
In this short the kids are managing their own barber shop, with harrowing results. No one gets hurt, but most of the customers wind up bald or close to it: one kid even gets a prematurely fashionable Mohawk! Scenes involving close calls with sharp scissors might make some viewers wince, while the manicurist uses a device that looks like a wire-cutter.
Mickey and Jackie feud over Mary, so Sammy schedules a championship bout between the two rivals.
The gang wages war using old vegetables as munitions. Later, they ruin a movie in progress when they double-expose the film.
The gang forms a fire department; they end up thwarting a bootlegger, but not before their pet animals get drunk on his moonshine.
Mrs. Pennington Van Renssalaer, a publicity-minded society matron, sponsors a children's outing, much to her and her chauffeur's eventual regret.
