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The Little Rascals Volume 3

Blu ray – The ClassicFlix Restorations

ClassicFlix

1932, ’33 / 1.37:1 / 210 Min.

Starring George McFarland, Dorothy DeBorba, Dickie Moore

Written by H.W. Walker

Directed by Robert F. McGowan

The third volume in ClassicFlix’s Little Rascals series introduces the show’s most celebrated performer, George McFarland, otherwise known as Spanky. Before landing a contract with Hal Roach, the tiny Texan was already making a giant-size splash in his hometown of Dallas where he appeared on billboards hawking Wonder Bread and underwear. The following year Spanky made the leap from billboards to movie posters in the first of 88 comedies made for the Roach Studio before retiring ten years later at the wizened age of 14—which works out to approximately 137 in Rascal years.

Spanky arrived at the Roach lot just in time, Our Gang favorites like Jackie Cooper, Allen Hoskins (Farina), and Mary Ann Jackson were leaving the troupe for greener...

The Little Rascals Volume 1

Blu ray – The ClassicFlix Restorations

ClassicFlix

1929-30 / 1.37:1 / 3 Hr. 43 Min.

Starring Allen Hoskins, Jackie Cooper, Mary Ann Jackson

Cinematography by Art Lloyd, F. E. Hershey

Directed by Robert F. McGowan, Anthony Mack, James W. Horne

An epic celebration of the American melting pot, E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime ends with a beginning; an immigrant named Tateh escapes the tenements to produce a string of comedies about mischievous slum kids. It’s a fitting, if fanciful, origin story for Hal Roach’s own series of films featuring footloose small fry; visions of ethnic harmony as idealistic as Tateh himself. Roach’s world view was formed during his early adventures as a jack of all trades—mule skinner, iron worker, and miner. And though he ended up as a movie producer he remained a prospector—one day, thanks to some bickering children, he struck gold. The dispute was...

Child star of the Our Gang comedies who went on to perform as an adult in Broadway musicals and radio shows

The popularity of the long-running Our Gang series of comedy shorts (1922-44), created by the producer Hal Roach, which followed the adventures of a group of poor urban children, made unlikely film stars of its young cast. Jean Darling, who has died aged 93, joined Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Jackie Condon, Joe Cobb, Mary Ann Jackson, Bobby “Bonedust” Young, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins, Dinah the Mule and Pete the Pup for the second Our Gang series in 1926, when she was four years old. With her golden locks, she was often at the centre of storylines that involved the boys fighting over her. But Darling, who appeared in around 35 of the 20-minute silent shorts, was a tough cookie who avoided intentional cuteness.

The strength of the series (which was appropriately renamed Little Rascals...

All good wishes for a happy St. Patrick’s Day from me—and two of the cutest Our Gang kids from the early-talkie period, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins and Mary Ann Jackson. The original caption from the 1929-30 season refers to them as “a couple of Micks.” Hard-working publicists at every studio in Hollywood hauled out the shamrocks for poses such as this on an annual basis—no less so at the comedy headquarters of producer (and Our Gang creator) Hal Roach, himself of Irish heritage. (In fact, there is a veteran Irish standup comedian who bears the same name.) My collection seems to be shy of other corny publicity shots to commemorate this March holiday,...

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