Opening Shot. Top of hill: Spanky, Dorothy, David Holt, Tommy Bond, Uh-Huh, Dickie Jackson, Dickie Moore, Wheezer, Stymie. Bottom of hill: Dickie Hutchins (possibly), Tommy McFarland, Cotton.
Production Notes[]
Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach and Robert F. McGowan
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography: Art Lloyd
Editor: Jack Ogilvie
Titles:
Writer: Hal Roach
Released: March 11, 1933
Studio: M-G-M
Main Cast[]
- Bobbie Beard
- Dorothy DeBorba
- George McFarland
- John Collum
- Matthew Beard
- Richard Jackson
- Richard Moore
- Robert Hutchins
- Tommy McFarland
- Tommy Bond
Supporting Cast[]
- Billy Gilbert - Radio Announcer and Radio Actor
- David Holt
- Dick Gilbert - Police Officer
- Dickie Hutchins
- Duke Sexton
- Estelle Ettere - Radio Actress and Phone Company Operator
- Harry Bernard - Police Officer
- Madelin McGowan - Phone Company Operator (unconfirmed}
- Murlin Powers
- Ruth Hiatt - Telephone Operator
The Short[]
Plot: It's Saturday morning, and the gang would rather be swimming than watching their little brothers and sisters so the gang leaves the toddlers in the care of Spanky, who is just barely older than them. Spanky really thinks he can pull off this job even as he is constantly pulled every which way at once. The only thing truly different between him and his young wards is the gift of speech. The toddlers somehow realize that there is no real adult in charge and run loose, leaving the house a shambles. One tot persists in scaling the staircase until Spanky glues him down to the bottom landing. A girl topples from a chair in the kitchen just as Spanky rushes in, and while he's distracted, one of the youngsters leaves the phone off the hook where the phone operator can hear "The Thirteenth Murder" radio play. Thinking she's hearing a murder happening, she calls the police to head to the house. By time the older siblings return, the police have arrived and they all realize Spanky's only successful way of corralling the brats is to hold them all hostage in cages or secured to the floors and furniture!
Quotes:
- "Remarkable!" - One of the toddlers
Notes/Trivia:
- The opening gag is borrowed from Cradle Robbers.
- Two of the infants are Tommy McFarland and Bobbie Beard, George McFarland's and Matthew Beard's real-life brothers. Possibly a third infant is Dickie Hutchins, Robert Hutchins' little brother.
Sequence[]
- Previous Short: Fish Hooky
- Next Short: The Kid From Borneo