Robert Blake
Filmmaker and longtime fan Stephen Kessler's portrait of the award-winning 1970s singer-songwriter-actor, who disappeared for much of the 1980s and '90s, but still performs today.
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgangers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
An in-depth look at artist/filmmaker David Lynch's movies, paintings, drawings, photographs, and various other works of art. Features interview footage and commentary by family members, friends, fans, and people he's worked with, as well as behind-the-scenes antics of some of his most critically praised efforts.
When a vengeful New York transit cop decides to steal a trainload of subway fares, his foster brother—a fellow cop—tries to protect him.
The pious John List regularly goes to church and is respected by his neighbours. But one day the police finds his wife Helen and their three children slayed in their house - obviously by John, who left two letters for the police and his priest and disappeared. Chief Richland is disgusted by the murder and starts an intensive investigation. In flashbacks we learn about the history of the disaster.
In this pilot to the short-lived "Hell Town," Robert Blake plays a scrappy, ex-convict-turned-ghetto priest in an impoverished inner-city parish.
Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story is a TV movie produced by Sylvester Stallone
Blood Feud is a 1983 television miniseries surrounding around the conflict between Jimmy Hoffa and Robert F. Kennedy in a 11-year span from 1957 until Kennedy's assassination in 1968. The 210-minute film was directed by Mike Newell and written by Robert Boris. It stars Robert Blake as Hoffa and Cotter Smith as Kennedy with Danny Aiello and Brian Dennehy in supporting roles as union associates of Hoffa's. The television film was distributed by Operation Prime Time, a syndicated block of television programming offered to mostly American independent stations. Blake was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance as Hoffa.
The eleventh AFI Life Achievement award is given to John Huston.
Private eye Joe Dancer finds himself framed for manslaughter while trying to uncover a Hollywood scandal that could ruin a studio and destroy a top star's career.
A boozy drifter (Robert Blake) tries to get to know the widow (Barbara Harris) he married while on a bender in this off-the-wall comedy directed by Hal Ashby.
Joe Dancer a hard-boiled private eye teams up with a chimpanzee and the trainer against an electronics genisus of questionable repute to steal back a priceless vase looted from a family collection during WWII.
George and Lenny travel through the Depression-era west working at odd jobs, hoping to make enough money to buy their own farm. George must always watch over his intellectually disabled friend, and keep him out of danger, both to himself and to others. After they take a new job at a ranch, Lenny gets into far more trouble than George can talk his way out of, leaving George to decide whether to help him, or leave him to his fate.
Joe Dancer a private detective is given a big money case by Tiffany Farinpour,whose family include powerful politicians. Tiffany needs Joe to find her younger brother David who has left the family under a cloud.
Madie is a neurotic, wealthy woman who escapes from a New York state mental hospital where her unwholesome husband had her committed to avoid the trial of a expensive divorce. Madie hitches a ride back to California with a certain Charles Callahan, a debt-ridden truck driver. Madie and Charles eventually fall in love while evading an assortment of bad guys including a pair of thugs hired by Madie's husband to prevent her from returning to California, and a repo man sent to reclaim Charles' truck
A Western-genre narrative, loosely woven from old clips from B-Western features.
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.
A short Arizona motorcycle cop gets his wish and is promoted to Homicide following the mysterious murder of a hermit. He is forced to confront his illusions about himself and those around him in order to solve the case, eventually returning to solitude in the desert.
Based on true events that happened in Banning,California, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, tells the story of one of the last Western manhunts, in 1909. Willie Boy, a Native American, kills his girlfriend's father in self defense, and the two go on the run, pursued by a search posse led by Sheriff Christopher Cooper.
After a botched robbery results in the brutal murder of a rural family, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity.
A railroad official, Owen Legate comes to Dodson, Mississippi to shut down much of the town's railway (town's main income). Owen unexpectedly finds love with Dodson's flirt and main attraction, Alva Starr. Alva and Owen then try to escape Alva's mother's (Hazel) clutches and the town's revenge.
From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is given the all-star treatment in this epic retelling. Major aspects of Christ's life are touched upon, including the execution of all the newborn males in Egypt by King Herod; Christ's baptism by John the Baptist; and the betrayal by Judas after the Last Supper that eventually leads to Christ's crucifixion and miraculous return.
The Richard Boone Show is a short-lived, award-winning anthology television series. It aired on NBC during the 1963-64 season.
Four American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Grant.
Korean War, April 1953. Lieutenant Clemons, leader of the King company of the United States Infantry, is ordered to recapture Pork Chop Hill, occupied by a powerful Chinese Army force, while, just seventy miles away, at nearby the village of Panmunjom, a tense cease-fire conference is celebrated.
The story of the infamous Purple Gang - a ring of bootleggers, hijackers and killers in 1920's Detroit.
A crime boss tries to cause a riot and prison break while behind bars.
Archival footage combined with new footage re-creates the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It is also a love story between a devout communist woman and the liberal son of a prominent professor. Because of their political differences, the two can never be together.
Courageous newspaper editor Manuel Acosta Mesa tries to take on the mob in Tijuana through his newspaper, reporting on the violence, prostitution and drug sales in the border town.
A juvenile delinquent (James Darren) puts his gang behind a New York waterfront union racketeer (Michael Granger).
A rancher (Charlton Heston), his shady bride (Anne Baxter) and his one-armed brother (Tom Tryon) fight amid carpetbaggers in Texas.
"Trouble on the Trail" is two episodes of the "Wild Bill Hickok" television series edited together and released as a feature film by Allied Artists.
Antar is sent by Suleiman, head of the Ottoman Empire, to Bagdad to prevent Hammam, Pasha of Bagdad, from purchasing the services of local leader Mustapha to unite the hill tribes and overthrow the emperor. The intrigue mounts as Antar falls in love with dancer Selima, who tries to avenge her father's death against Hammam's right-hand-man Kasseim, whose wife Rosanna has fallen in love with Antar!
An outlaw murders several Apaches and flees to a stagecoach way station with the tribe in hot pursuit. A stagecoach and its passengers have just pulled into the station, as has the stationmaster's father, a former bandit named Peso, and they all find themselves besieged by the Apaches, who want them to turn over the killer to them or they'll take the station and kill everybody. The problem is that the people in the station aren't sure just who among therm is the actual killer.
In the time of the crusades, a Saxon youth is forced to run away from England. He goes with his loyal retainer who brings along a British long bow. The two go all the way to China where they become involved in intrigues in the court of Kubla Kahn.
Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin, both down on their luck in Tampico, Mexico in 1925, meet up with a grizzled prospector named Howard and decide to join with him in search of gold in the wilds of central Mexico. Through enormous difficulties, they eventually succeed in finding gold, but bandits, the elements, and most especially greed threaten to turn their success into disaster.
The ranch of Red Ryder (Allan Lane) and his aunt, The Duchess (Martha Wentworth), is being used as the training site for "Gentleman Jim" Corbett (George Turner) for his upcoming fight in Carson City, Nevada for the heavyweight championship against Bob Fitzsimmons (John Dehner). Molly McVey (Peggy Stewart), the daughter of a U.S. Senator, crusading against prize-fighting in Nevada, complicates matters soemwhat when she conceives the bright idea of having Corbett kidnapped, thus causing the cancellation of the fight. The two men (George Chesebro and George Lloyd) she hires to do the kidnapping also add to the complications by kidnapping Ryder instead of Corbett. Meanwhile, a gang of crooks, led by McKean (Roy Barcroft), descend on the town intent on looting the town and also making off with the fight proceeds.
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.
Red Ryder battles an unscrupulous fur thief named Hunter for the right to trap beaver and otter on the land of Chief Running Fox.
Red Ryder convinces homesteaders to settle in Paradise Valley. Business men in nearby Central City want control of the valley and water supply and propose to build a dam for half interest in the land. They use Red to generate interest in the dam but when the dam is completed, they rig the stockholder's meeting so Central City will get the water.
Tom Lambert arrives and Long John Case gets him into trouble. To protect his wife and son he refuses to talk and is sent to prison. Long John then gets Lambert's son into his outlaw gang but Lambert is told the boy's problems are caused by Red Ryder. So Lambert breaks prison planning to kill Red. [Written by Maurice Van Auken]
A rancher tries to convince an Indian tribe to relocate so their land can be used to provide water for Kansas City.
Red Ryder returns to Sioux City, Wyoming, at the close of the Spanish-American War, settling down at the ranch of his aunt, The Duchess, with his pals Little Beaver and "Blizzard". But Red soon discovers that the country is over-run by rustlers.
Two brothers settle a wilderness, one builds the largest cattle ranch in the state while the other creates a game preserve to protect the wild life. Trouble lies ahead.....
The Duchess, the aunt of Red Ryder, comes to town to protect her property. Crawford, a town big-shot behind an outlaw gang, tries to prevent her from reaching her destination, but the attack is thwarted by Red. The latter is made town marshal, and when he gets too close to the truth and is making it too hot for the Crawford faction, Crawford has his henchman Luke kidnap Red's Indian friend Little Beaver.
Dashing Johnny Barrett has a secret identity: Spanish Jack, the masked bandit. Always one step ahead of the law, Barrett effortlessly balances his double life--robbing by night, romancing by day and always with a smile. But when the woman he loves begins to suspect him and the young man he befriends is arrested for being him, it's time for Johnny to rethink his priorities.
Red Ryder and his comical sidekick take on a new batch of bad-guys in this western, the 16th in the Red Ryder series. This time the heroic duo try to save a female rancher from a greedy financier who wants her land so he can exploit the enormous oil fields lying under it.
California Gold Rush is set in 1849. Ryder heads to Sutter's Mill, where he must contend with claim-jumping and treachery.
Redwood Valley residents raise $50,000 for blasting a mountain tunnel to bring a new railroad there. Town leader Bidwell engineers a plot to steal the money and to blame it on the Reno Kid (Bob Steele) who has recently broken out of prison in order to clear himself of false charges that sent him there and caused him to lose his ranch. The badly-wounded sheriff turns his badge over to Red Ryder. Reno visits his wife, Molly and their ailing son Johnny, and Red, also wounded, is brought there by Little Beaver. There, Red begins to believe Reno's story about being innocent. Written by Les Adams
Newcomer Monte Hale is tying to just get a job in western films when he meet young Danny McCoy and his sister Gloria. Danny is trying to get his horse, "Pardner" into films. Monte sings a song and "Pardner" does some tricks and a casting director notices. Monte gets a singing-cowboy role and the horse gets a bit, but there is an accidental explosion, engineered by western star Rod Mason, who is jealous of Monte, and the horse is badly scared and blows his lines.
Lambert has the stagecoach wrecked killing the Commissioner so his phony replacement can alter Coonskin's land survey. When Red Ryder exposes the survey hoax, Lambert has his stooge Sheriff put Red in jail.
In this western, Red Ryder rounds up a gang of horse thieves who have been stealing cavalry horses.
Red Ryder tries to warn a duchess that her newfound beau has a history of murdering his wives.
An interesting entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" B-Western series, this film is not about hardy settlers braving the Colorado winters, as the title would suggest. Instead it's a sort of Reform School Western about a couple of wayward Chicago boys (Billy Cummings and Freddie Chapman) taken in by Ryder's indomitable aunt, "The Duchess" (Alice Fleming.) The boys escaped their very own "Fagin," Bull Reagan (Roy Barcroft), and were given a second chance on the lady's Western ranch. Unfortunately, Reagan returns to do a bit of cattle rustling, once again luring the boys into becoming his accomplices.
In this western, Red Ryder tries to be a good example for a young man who idolizes his father, an outlaw. The boy wants to follow in his father's footsteps when the hero intervenes.
Substituting for Allan Lane, who'd been called away to active military service, Bill Elliot stars in the Republic "Red Ryder" western Marshal of Laredo. This time, Red comes to the aid of a frontier lawyer, who is suspected of being an outlaw
With a war on and most men being drafted, Howard Oil Supply Company has no salesmen left. So daughter Jean hits the road and does not make one sale. She finally gets one tentative sale with the Black Hills Oil Co., but Earl wants dinner with her. With the shortage of housing due to the war, Jean needs a military husband to get a place to stay in Clayfield, which is next to Camp Clay. She gets Lt. Mallory to act as her husband just to register. Then things go wrong as his commanding officer is there and believes them to be married. It gets worse as Don's mother shows up and then Jean's father.
A trumpet player in a radio orchestra (Jack Benny) falls asleep during a commercial and dreams he's the angel Athanael. The beautiful angel Elizabeth (Alexis Smith) delivers Athanael to the head of heaven's orchestra, where he's told to return to earth and blow his trumpet at midnight, thus marking the end of the world. When he fails his assignment, he becomes a fallen angel, and though he's given a second chance, his fellow fallen angels conspire to keep him from completing his mission.
In this western, Red Ryder leads a wagon train of homesteaders into a ghost town and discovers that it has become an outlaw's hideout.
"Iron Mike" Haines (Tom Chatterton), a crooked sheriff, and "Hands" Weber (Roy Barcroft), the town blacksmith, are in cahoots and have been robbing stages, silver mines, etc., and framing innocent ranchers and cowhands with their deeds. They set out to rob the stage and frame Red Ryder (Bill Elliott as Wild Bill Elliott) for it, but the plan backfires and the sheriff is killed. The sheriff's son, Tommy (Jack McClendon), arrives home from college and is given his dad's job, not knowing he was a crook, and swears to get the man who killed him. Weber tells Tommy that Red killed his dad and Tommy sets out to get Red.
In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sandy, knowing that the railroad is to be extended into Dakota, plans to use their $20,000 nest egg to buy land options to sell to the railroad at a profit. On the stage trip to Ft. Abercrombie, their fellow passengers are Jim Bender and Bigtree Collins, who practically own the town of Fargo and Devlin is aware that they are prepared to protect the little empire... trying to drive out the farmers by burning their property, destroying their wheat, and blaming the devastation on the Indians. Continuing their journey north on the river aboard the "River Bird', Sandy and John meet Captain Bounce, an irascible old seafarer. Two of Bendender's henchmen, Slagin and Carp, board the boat and relieve John of his $20,000 at gunpoint. Captain Bounce, chasing the robber's dinghy..
When Bigshot Jones gives his unnamed dog to the All-For-One Club, Buckwheat quickly named the canine, "Smallpox"---inadvertently causing a city wide panic.
During World War II Stan and Ollie find themselves as improbable bodyguards to an eccentric inventor and his strategically important new bomb.
One of two towns will be selected to be the County Seat and Editor Palmer has a gang working to make sure his town is chosen. Investigating the lawlessness, Red Ryder poses as an outlaw to get into the gang hoping to find out who the boss is. But Palmer knows Red and exposes his true identity when he arrives and Red and Gabby then find themselves prisoners of the gang. [Written by Maurice Van Auken]
A geologist has found oil on the neighboring ranches and teams up with Ace who has his gang create a reign of terror to get the ranchers to sell out. But to get rid of Red Ryder, Ace sends for the San Antonio Kid. Arriving, the Kid has a freak accident and Red comes along to save his life. When the Kid later meets with Ace he learns that Red is the man he has been paid to kill. Written by Maurice Van Auken
In this western, brave Red Ryder and his sidekick save a murdered judge's son from going to jail by proving that someone else killed his father.
A idealistic shipyard worker interests a beautiful Hollywood star in staging a musical tribute to the war industry, but they disagree on some important issues.
This "Red Ryder" entry stars Gordon "Wild Bill" Elliot as Ryder. The heroine (Linda Stirling) is having troubles with the freight company that she owns. Time and again, her coaches are beset by hooded thieves. With Red Ryder on the job, the robbers haven't got a chance, but they put up a fight anyway.
Bill Elliot is back as Red Ryder in Cheyenne Wildcat. Also back are Ryder's perennial cohorts Little Beaver (Bobby Blake, later Robert Blake of Baretta fame) and the Duchess (Alice Fleming). When not pummeling the bad guys, Ryder is the reluctant apex of a love triangle.
Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest story for his paper. But when his interview prompts Alpha to run away from the institute and ask him to show her some magic, Mike gets more responsibility than he bargained for. Especially since another story of his, one involving gangsters, has also come home to roost.
Small-town soda-jerk Peggy Evans quits her dead-end job and moves to New York where she invents a new identity.
Froggy hatches a plan to get Mickey, Buckwheat, and himself sent home from school early so they can go fishing. When the plan backfires, the boys decide to play hooky the next day. At the fishing hole, there are plenty of lunkers just waiting for the bait, but the boys have some comic trouble. After Buckwheat finds a new way to catch fish, an old man gives them a life lesson. Will they keep fishing or change their ways?
The Gang tries to solve a murder mystery contest in a department store window. However they soon get caught up in a real caper when they stumble upon two crooks robbing the store. Mickey, Froggy and Buckwheat are all kidnapped so it's up to Janet to convince the cops of what's going on.
Mickey and Froggy are candidates running to be president of the Gang's club. When the vote continues to end in a tie, the club winds up split. Buckwheat then reminds everyone of the lessons learned from Abraham Lincoln when America was once divided.
Our Gang member Janet Burston believes that her family is neglecting her, so she decides to run away from home. The other gang members try to help Janet get adopted (or "adapted") by a more agreeable family, choosing a kindly elderly couple (Sarah Padden and Harry C. Bradley) for the honor.
The kids are frustrated about the hardships they must face because of the war. So, the Our Gang kids put on a show to help them learn from Benjamin Franklin about being responsible citizens.
Van Heflin stars as the head of a city crime lab who tries to solve the murder of the town mayor by scientifically analyzing evidence.
Two-fisted newsreel photographer Johnny Williams is stationed in Burma and China in the early stage of WW II. Captured by the Japanese, he escapes from a concentration camp with the aid of beautiful, enigmatic 'China Girl' Miss Young. The two arduously make their way back to friendly lines so that Johnny can deliver the vital military information he's managed to glean from his captors.
The Our Gang kids are running their own newspaper and are determined to get the big scoop by learning the identity of the leader of a gang of bullies.
Since Froggy was born on Leap Year Day, he's upset that he only gets a birthday party once every four years. So, the gang decide to have a surprise party for him.
Andy is about to head off to college but he's got a few things to take care of before leaving. For starters, he must try and sell his junk car for $20 to pay for a bill and he must convince his father not to go with him to college. Worst of all is that Polly wants to make up but her best friend decides to give Andy a test.
The gang prevails upon old-time minstrel impresario Walter Wills to help them stage a fund-raising musical show.
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.
Spanky and the gang discover a demonstration of a "human-like" robot named Volto and are inspired to create a robot themselves to do their chores for them. Slicker Walburn convinces them they will need "invisible rays" to bring it to life which he just happens to have to sell to them. As they rush off to get their money, Slicker gets Boxcar Smith to wear the robot's outer body so when he "brings" the robot to life, it will be Boxcar bringing it to life. The gang unsuspectedly gets their robot to mow the lawn at Froggy's house, but with a signal from Slicker, Boxcar runs amok and mows down everything in his path. Froggy gets to explain what happened to his parents who bust up the fraud and get the miscreants to work with the gang to clean up the mess.
Mickey's mom is about to give birth, but he gets worried when he reads that every fourth child born is Chinese. Spanky and the gang then visit a Chinese friend and learn that kids are kids, no matter where they are from.
The Our Gang kids worry that Darla's new stepmother will be an evil stepmother like of fairy tale fame.
On Mickey's birthday, Miss Pipps, the school teacher, serves cake and ice cream during school hours. Sour old Mr. Pratt, head of the school board, stumbles on the festivities and has Miss Pipps fired. The Our Gang conspire to save her job by inviting all the parents to a special meeting. There the gang stage a melodrama, with Mr. Pratt portrayed as Simon Legree. The parents react by demoting Mr. Pratt to janitor. They appoint kindly Mr. Swanson, the current janitor, to head the school board. And of course they reinstate Miss Pipps as school teacher. Sometime later, in an act of forgiveness, Miss Pipps and the gang hold a birthday party for Pratt who is then humbled by the experience.
While playing baseball, Mickey runs into the street to catch a fly ball and is struck by a car. When the gang visit him in the hospital they are appalled to find the ward populated by many other children injured in automobile accidents. The Our Gang kids resolve to do something about the problem, and thus the "1-2-3-Go Safety Society" is born.
This Best Short Subject Academy Award winning film begins in the spring of 1940, just before the Nazi occupation of the Benelux countries, and ends immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It chronicles how the people of "Main Street America", the country's military forces, and its industrial base were completely transformed when the decision was made to gear up for war. Original footage is interspersed with contemporary newsreels and stock footage.
Inspired by his soldier brother, Spanky decides to organize a military unit among his friends, collecting odds and ends for the war effort.
It is a premiere night at the Fox Carthay Circle theater, and the Our Gang show up to observe the festivities. But after the Gang causes a disruption, the police send them scurrying home. Not to worry--the Our Gang stage their own premiere night in the clubhouse barn.
Mickey's parents are constantly quarreling because his mother serves hash every Monday night. The kids decide to put on a radio skit to try to get them to stop fighting.
Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.
Alfalfa and the gang decide to turn to a life of crime, but Spanky tries to trick them with a fake burglary.
Our Gang member Alfalfa comes face to face with his wealthy lookalike Cornelius.
The gang offers to help their pal Waldo 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.
To impress Darla, Alfalfa drinks a concoction of Butch's "dynamite" brew.
Spanky and Alfalfa both try to impress the new girl at school, much to Darla's dismay.
Rich 'Old Man' Bill Morton is a hypochondriac. After bringing new sugar pills to Bill Morton's house, his physician, Doctor Malcolm Scott suggested to Bill Morton's wife that adopting a child might help cure Mister Morton of his delusions. After overhearing their conversation, Bill Morton quickly invited the "Our Gang" members, (as they were at the front come to the door, offering to work and pay for a broken window pane, that had just occurred) to a lunch, in order to sour his wife's thoughts of adopting any children. Then, the unexpected occurs as Alfalfa's two twin little brothers, Tisket and Tasket got to Bill Morton's medications' table, they ate up a majority of them, leading Bill Morton to call his physician, Malcolm Scott back to his house, immediately! When, Doctor Malcolm Scott return to Bill Morton's house, he laughs at what he hears and then tells Bill Morton they are worthless sugar pills, teaching a lesson to Bill Morton he is not sick at all.
The gang is going fishing and wants to get an early start, but they end up causing all sorts of problems for the passengers of a city bus.
An abandoned old show boat is moored in a lazy creek. The Our Gang put the old vessel back to use when they stage a show featuring "Darla's Dancin' Dandies" and a "meller dramer" entitled "Out in the Snow You Go." All is not smooth sailing however, as Butch seeks revenge for having been excluded from the cast.
Alfalfa imagines himself being the star football player on a college team. After a big pep rally he ends up letting the team down when his poor grades cause him to be suspended from play.
The "Our Gang" kids encourage a shy man to take a widow and her son to a picnic.
A carefree playboy with an aversion to marriage falls for a lass he meets in the French Alps.
Our Gang is a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way, as Roach and original director Robert F. McGowan worked to film the unaffected, raw nuances apparent in regular children rather than have them imitate adult acting styles. In addition, Our Gang notably put boys, girls, whites and blacks together as equals, something that "broke new ground," according to film historian Leonard Maltin. That had never been done before in cinema, but has since been repeated after the success of Our Gang. The first production at the Roach studio in 1922 was a series of silent short subjects. When Roach changed distributors from Pathé to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1927, and converted the series to sound in 1929, the series took off. Production continued at the Roach studio until 1938, when the series was sold to MGM, continuing to produce the comedies until 1944. The Our Gang series includes 220 shorts and one feature film, General Spanky, featuring over forty-one child actors. As MGM retained the rights to the Our Gang trademark following their purchase of the production rights, the 80 Roach-produced "talkies" were syndicated for television under the title The Little Rascals beginning in 1955. Both Roach's The Little Rascals package and MGM's Our Gang package have since remained in syndication, with periodic new productions based on the shorts surfacing over the years, including a 1994 Little Rascals feature film released by Universal Pictures.
