Spud (slightly out of frame), Stymie, Major Mite, Tiny Lawrence, Wheezer and Echo
Production Notes[]
Length: Two Reel
Producer: Robert F. McGowan
Director: Raymond McCarey
Photography: Art Lloyd
Editor: Ruchard Currier
Titles: None
Writer:
Released: February 11, 1932
Studio: M-G-M
Main Cast[]
- Donald Haines
- Dorothy DeBorba
- George McFarland
- Kendall McComas
- Matthew Beard
- Robert Hutchins
- Sherwood Bailey
- Patsy Britten
Supporting Cast[]
- Billy Gilbert - Leader of the Thieves
- Del Henderson - Mr. Moran
- Eddie Baker - Lt. Detective
- Estelle Ettere - Party Guest
- Harry Bernard - Officer Flaherty
- Lillian Elliott - Mrs. Clark
- Lilyan Irene - Part Guest
- May Wallace - Party Guest
- Otto Fries - Detective
- Paul Fix - Elvira
- Major Mite - Elmer
- Tiny Lawrence - Waldemar
The Short[]
Plot: A wealthy Greenpoint debutante decides to throw a party for the children of the neighborhood in order to increase the rating of her husband running for political office. The lawn party proves to be too big to resist for a number of criminals to exploit and burglarize the house. (Their last job was bungled when one of them flicked on the police alarm after confusing it for a light switch). Escaping the detection of a police officer on patrol, they send two diminutive members of the gang to infiltrate the party disguised as babies. The two criminal little people dressed as infants are quickly noticed by Stymie when he overhears them talking, but none of the adults believe his warnings. Wheezer and Echo also learn about the two crooks or "fidgets" heading for the safe and rally the gang to stop them. By now, the gang's hostess and her guests have discovered their missing valuables, and to make things worse, the kids are caught near the opened safe. The chief of detective refuses to believe the gang's story about a couple of "fidgets." At that moment, Stymie sticks a pin into the rear of one of the phony babies, causing it to talk and turn round to punch him before the cops, but not before the police officers present applaud the gang for being heroes and saving the day.
Quotes:
- "Hi, Spanky! So you're goin' to the party to, eh? " - Breezy Brisbane
- " I had a airplane, and it even had wings! " - Spanky
- "Honest, Brisbane, Stymie's right for the first time in his life!" - Wheezer
Notes/Trivia:
- This short marks the first appearance of three-year-old George McFarland as Spanky, quickly written into the script shortly after he was discovered. His mother saved the costume he wore in this short.
- Appearing in drag as the wife, Paul Fix is a veteran of over twenty-five films with John Wayne over forty years, along with numerous television guest roles between 1950 and 1981. His most famous role was as Marshal Micah Torrance, the chief lawman of the town of North Fork as a regular on the 1958–1963 ABC Western The Rifleman.
- Former Rascal Mary Kornman also starred with John Wayne in "Desert Trail (1935).
- Major Mite was billed as "The Smallest Man In The World" with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. His voice on screen was dubbed in by another actor.
- Incredibly, the New York Censors Board requested Hal Roach and M-G-M to cut all images of the two midgets dressed as criminals robbing the safe from the film on account it might prove disturbing to viewers. In their "Our Gang" book, Maltin and Bann call this one of the most ridiculous scenes ever censored from "Our Gang."
- References to this short and Captain Spanky's Show Boat pop up in the 1990s "Cheers" episode, Woody Gets An Election.
Sequence[]
- Previous Short: Readin' And Writin'
- Next Short: Spanky