Robert F. McGowan
Directed by Robert F. McGowan The Best of The Little Rascals in 3D 1931 - 1938
With the Gang aching to hit the gridiron, team captain Spankys got to play Little Papa and mind the baby, while Pete is framed by Wheezers hateful stepbrother, Sherwood, and sent to the pound in Dogs Is Dogs. Sherwoods dog kills a chicken, so he blames Pete, but Wheezer and his sister Dorothy have the last laugh; then Spanky and the Gang try to impress the daughter of Mr. Jones, the new truant officer, by Sprucin Up.
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 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.
A group of people find themselves trapped in a creepy mansion, complete with secret passageways, a mad doctor and a murderous gorilla.
Teenager Betty Elliott has decided to take over the business and social affairs of her father Doc Elliott. She thinks her father should marry the widowed mother, Julie Harper, of her boyfriend Chris Harper. Doc has been a real friend and father to Chris, who, under his guidance, has learned to take care of all the sick animals in town, but lack of money keeps the widow from sending Chris on to finish high school and medical training is out of the question. Wealthy Grandpa Harper sends his attorney Baker to tell Mrs. Harper that all of Jimmy's dreams could be realized if the widow, whom the grandfather dislikes, would give up custody of her son. The lawyer also begins to court Julie and this throws a kink in Betty's plans to see her father and the widow get married. Written by Les Adams
Sons of The Legion is a film about a group of young men looking to start a squadron in their Legion Post. However, because the boy's father wrongfully received a dishonorable discharge after World War I, his father cannot join the Legion and in turn his son cannot join the squadron [wikipedia]
When the caddies at the local golf course go on strike, the gang steps in to earn some money.
A story of the boys who are sent to military school in order to get them out of the way of their too-busy-to-bother parents or guardians. Lonely young Philip Stewart (George Ernest)writes himself letters his father, Mark Stewart (Lester Matthews, should be writing. When his hoax is discovered Philip attempts suicide.
Spanky's parents take their reluctant boy to get his portrait taken by a prissy photographer.
The gang goes to a circus sideshow to visit Dickie and Spanky's uncle, mistakenly believing he is "The Wild Man from Borneo."
When Cap's back pension finally comes in, he treats the gang to a day at an amusement park.
Spanky's parents are trying unsuccessfully to get Spanky to spend a peaceful first night in his own room.
Dickie throws a birthday party to try to raise money to buy his mother a birthday present.
Tired of going to school, Breezy comes up with a plan to get himself expelled.
Spanky, Buckwheat, Porky and all of the Little Rascals at their hilarious best! All films in this fantastic collection have been fully-restored and are presented here in beautiful COLOR! 1. Fly My Kite, 2. A Lad an' a Lamp, 3. Kid From Borneo, 4. Hi Neighbor, 5. Hide and Shriek
Farina plans a going-away party for Stymie as authorities prepare to place him in an orphanage.
Wheezer and Dorothy are forced to live with her evil stepmother and her brat son.
Miss Crabtree, the teacher Jackie has a crush on, rents a room at Jackie's house.
The Gang plays hooky from school so they can listen to the tall tales of a friendly sea captain.
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.
An actress is rehearsing a death scene in her apartment, but her neighbors all think it's the real thing.
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.
This is a really strange, but thought provoking film. Here, beloved Mary literally lets Harry Spear kick her behind, spend her money on him, and forces her to push his kiddie car, all so that she could get the occasional joy of watching Harry "Wiggle His Ears." Armchair Freudians and double-entendre fans will quickly get the "joke" here. He quickly dumps Mary for pintsized blonde bombshell Jean Darling. What happens? You'll see.
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.
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.
Crazy House is a 1928 Our Gang short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 76th Our Gang short that was released. It was the final appearance of Jackie Condon, who was with the gang since the pilot episode of Our Gang in 1922.
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.
Farina's mother is very ill and the mortgage is due. He tries to take over her laundry business, but the kids just wreck the clothes. Joe takes pity and devises a scheme to make money: the gang builds their own oil well.
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.
The kids decide to put on a circus at the local hotel. Seeing various pets and other domestic animals dressed up like circus animals was very cute--particularly the dachshund dressed as a seal! However, the animals all get loose and terrorize the hotel guests--including a drunk played by Oliver Hardy.
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.
Wheezer likes to hit people on the nose, and his folks encourage him to do so. Then the Gang wandering off climbing atop a construction site while the builders have gone to lunch.
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.
The kids from Our Gang have to attend a wedding, and they bring along their flea collection--which gets loose.
The Gang stages their own revisionist version of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in Mickey's barn. But Joe's mother thinks the back yard needs cleaning, and there are several interruptions when they lose a leading character. Mickey plays Simon Legree; Mary as Eva; Joe as Uncle Tom; and Farina essays the role of Topsy.
The kids are playing baseball when a man dressed in Middle-Eastern clothing comes out and tells them to be quiet. They join Mary, Farina, and Scooter in the gang's hide-out while Mary is reading ghost stories. While on the other side of the wall, the Arab-looking man is cheating people out of their money by staging a fake séance using state-of-the-art special effects. The cave entrance for the gang's hide-out collapses, so they light candles and dig into the wall, entering into the house. The "suckers" find out they are being cheated and run to get the cops to book the guys. The guys find out that the kids are in the house, and one dresses up in a ghost costume and chases the kids throughout the house.
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.
Mr. and Mrs. Weedle are desperate to find two babies, for their rich uncle has sent them money for years thinking they have children. Now that he’s coming into town, the couple must find a pair of babies as soon as possible. The Our Gang kids are ready for the job, but a 27-year old midget is also in the running for the job and he doesn’t play fairly.
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.
While on a cross-country train trip, the Our Gang kids drive the rest of the passengers crazy with a never-ending game of cowboys and Indians. During a stopover in the sleepy town of Red Dog, the kids disembark in hopes of savoring a taste of genuine Western life. They get more than they bargained for when a trio of bandits rides into town for a showdown with the local sherff.
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.
Farina, Joe and Mickey are all struck by the love bug. After several problems, they go to the beauty salon, where Pineapple works and proceed to make shambles of it. The police arrive and arrest them, but Grandma comes to their rescue.
The gang play inside a railroad box car which suddenly closes, trapping them inside. The next morning they find themselves in New York City. After seeing some of the sites on foot, they steal a 5th Avenue Bus, and are caught by the police.
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?
A couple makes dolls modeled on neighborhood kids. A gardener at a mansion buys four of them for Mary, the girl of the house. He's her only friend: her parents neglect her for work and card games and her governess is humorless. Mary loves the dolls and dreams of them during her nap. While Mary sleeps, the governess throws the dolls in the dust bin. Mary wakes and goes searching - outside she runs into the very same four kids who were the dolls' models, and she thinks she's still dreaming...
The gang has a taxi, consisting of an old Model T with no engine, pushed by a horse. When the owner takes his horse back, they must rely on motorists to tow them to the top of the hill so they can coast down. Little Farina borrows the car and it runs out of control all over town, causing mayhem everywhere it goes.
Your Own Back Yard is a 1925 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 43rd Our Gang short subject released.
Circus Fever is a 1925 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan.It was the 35th Our Gang short subject released.
The kids in the tenements have no place to play except in streets where traffic is a hazard. Mickey gets the idea of building barricades to give our gang space to play at an intersection, but a beat cop, the nasty "Hard-Boiled" McManus, puts a quick end to that. A sympathetic constable and a detective who has kids of his own give our gang a chance to help law enforcement. The little rascals wear uniforms and keep an eye on things: Joe, for instance, eyes the bananas at Tony's fruit stand. When the now-fired McManus returns and seeks revenge, the junior police force and their adult colleagues are put to the test.
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.
Better Movies is a 1925 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan.[1][2] It was the 44th Our Gang short subject released.
Ask Grandma is a 1925 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 39th Our Gang short subject released.
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.
Fast Company is the sixteenth short in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series created by Hal Roach. Many of the boys here want to go swimming but Mickey has to make a delivery. On the way, he encounters a rich boy waiting at a station for his mom and as they get to talking they trade places since Mickey has never seen the inside of a hotel and the rich kid just wants to play. When the rich kid returns to the gang with the goat-pulling wagon, however, they resolve to go where Mickey is which is where the fun really begins...
Centering around the closing days of the school year, this is a view into the life of a one-room schoolhouse. This type of learning institution has long vanished from the landscape being continued in Amish communities and such. We get kid-centric amusement as various skills of music are performed by youngsters who were probably coaxed by parents to take up the instruments used.
The boys cannot go fishing because they have to take care of their baby brothers and sisters. After trying unsuccessfully to sell their babies to some traveling gypsies, Mary shows up and tells them that her little sister just won a prize at the baby show.
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.
Mickey is a poor boy who lives with his Uncle Pat. While they're broke, they're also very happy. Since Pat hasn't legally adopted Mickey, Aunt Kate gains custody and takes him to her mansion.
This Hal Roach comedy short, Tire Trouble, is the twenty-second entry in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. In this one, Mickey drives his own makeshift car with Mary, Joe, and Jackie in tow. Among the unusual gadgets: a boxing glove attached to the outside front that knocks out any passersby! When they stop where Sunshine Sammy and Farina are standing, Sammy gets punched by that glove twice and also gets hit by the front grille that moves! He's making a delivery to a rich man named J. William McAllister. This man believes he's very sick because of what his doctor and wife says but after the gang come in uninvited, they look at him and think otherwise.
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.
At the start we learn that Farina is suffering nightmares each time he eats meat. His mom tells him to stay away from the stuff but he loves it so much he sneaks out of the house and ends up eating several chickens. That night she puts him to bed and sure enough he begins to have nightmares that the other kids are chasing him. Basing a kids comedy around one kid having nightmares and being stalked by other kids might seem rather bizarre but this was 1924 we're talking about.
Mickey Daniels doing an impersonation of Sherlock Holmes and Joe Cobb being Watson as the two try to discover the whereabouts of a young rich kids who has gone missing. While trying to find the kid the gang must also try and avoid a dumb detective also working the case.
This Our Gang short has the group running an athletic club where Joe is put through a couple fights. They also appear to be running a wireless shoe-shining gig where they get customers by splashing paint on their shoes.
The kids gets taken on a Sunday picnic in this early three-reeler and after the first ten minutes, manage to elude the adults in this typically charming effort from Our Gang.
Mickey and Jackie feud over Mary, so Sammy schedules a championship bout between the two rivals.
The gang, after a premature end to their baseball game, find themselves quarantined in an elegant home, which they proceed to destroy.
The gang creates its own makeshift county fair, highlighted by a "movie," which is really a clever stage performance.
Author Fawn Ochletree (Clara Guiol) stages a charity performance of her latest play, a Romanesque epic. The gang and other neighborhood kids are forced into starring in the play, much to the chagrin of the gang. They are completely unable to remember their lines, and struggle with maintaing their composure during the more serious moments of the melodrama. Finally, Jackie sets off a slew of firecrackers as the finale, scaring all involved.
Ernie and Farina anger the police force with their shoeshine scheme. Later, the gang switches places with some runaways about to board a train.
The gang is trying just about anything to pass the time during their summer vacation. As usual, Mickey and Jack are trying to win the affections of Mary. In the interim, the village blacksmith, "Dad" Anderson, receives a lucrative contract to produce a creation of his: a sail-propelled scooter. The gang is lucky enough to get a hold of a few of these scooters, and happily sail down the city streets.
The gang wages war using old vegetables as munitions. Later, they ruin a movie in progress when they double-expose the film.
This one has to be seen to be believed. Apparently the gang has witnessed a Ku Klux Klan meeting. They decide to form their own lodge. They call themselves the Cluck Cluck Clams. There is nothing racist about their lodge, which includes member Sunshine Sammy Morrison. The film ends with a chase. The gang gets tangled up with bank robbers. Sunshine Sammy gets his uncle and his pals to chase the bank robbers with the gang riding along.
The gang operates a donkey-propelled tour bus. Later, a cut-rate vaudeville producer hires them to help out with his show, which they wreck.
The gang mistakenly believes a police patrol is after them for beating up a cop's boy; they wind up encountering the police's real quarry: Red Mike.
The Rascals, feeling unloved at home, decide to become pirates. Meanwhile, a mother, an aunt and a valet join the cops in searching for the runaways.
The Mystic J.J.J.'s challenge Ernie's bravery; he spins a tale of saving a rich young girl from kidnappers and of creating a utopia called Freetown.
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.
A young married couple volunteer to take charge of several orphans after the asylum has burned down. Of course they find their hands full with their troublesome charges.
Whiskey smuggler Dubec, trades liquor to the Indians, takes revenge on the Royal North West Mounted Police pursuing him by killing the wife of post commander Sergeant Delisle and abducting his teen-aged daughter Nonette.
