Production Notes
Length: Two Reel
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Gus Meins
Photography: Art Lloyd
Editor: Louis McManus
Titles: None
Writer: Unrevealed
Released: March 3, 1934
Studio: M-G-M
Main Cast
- Donald Proffitt
- George McFarland
- Jackie Lynn Taylor
- Jean Aulbach
- Jerry Tucker
- Marvin Trin
- Matthew Beard
- Robert Beard
- Scott Beckett
- Tommy Bond
- Tommy Bupp
- Tony Kales
- Wally Albright Jr.
Supporting Cast
- Charlie Hall - Window Washer
- Ernie Alexander - Pedestrian
- Harry Bernard - Neighbor
- Jack Ward - Moving Man
- Stanley Sandford - Moving Man
The Short
Plot: In this short, Jerry Tucker is a new kid in the neighborhood, but as the kids to meet him and his new toys, on of which is a shiny new toy fire engine, they discover he's a selfish brat with no intention of sharing. As a further indignity, Jerry takes a shine to Jane, Wally's girlfriend. To build himself back up in Jane's eyes, Wally suddenly announces he's got a toy fire engine big enough for the whole gang to ride on at once. Jerry just scoffs at them, and to save their honor, the gang pitches in to build it, taking what they need from around the neighborhood such as ladders and hoses from the neighbors already using them. Although, Spanky and Scotty contribute the most important parts, a steering wheel and the bell, they mostly gets shooed away from the creating. However, the two younger boys have the last laugh as they point out the finished "fire engine" is too big to get out of the barn, necessitating knocking down a wall to get it out to show off to Jerry. While the clunky creation does carry everyone, including Stymie at the back, it's not very impressive to someone like Jerry who has recieved everything from a toy store. He even discourages Jane from riding on it in order to challenge Wally to a race. Jerry leads them down a hill where their unruly creation actually gets too close to him and he crashes his toy fire engine on purpose to keep it from getting damaged, spilling Jane from it in the process and earning her hostility, turning on a sprinkler on him. Meanwhile, Wally and the gang are careening down the hill at incredible speed with failed brakes, mowing over pedestrians on the sidewalk and crashing through a high hedge whose branches tear the clothes from the backs of the gang. Spanky who has survived unscathed inside the metal hood emerges and starts tearing off his clothes to help cover the honor of his buddies.
Quotes:
- "Don't rush me, big boy..." - Spanky to Jerry
- "You don't want to ride in that thing, do you?" - Jerry to Jane
Notes/Trivia:
- Jane was originially going to be played by a child actress named Jane Withers. She was paid for the two weeks work, but just before filming started, she was cast to star in Bright Eyes with Shirley Temple. Her role and name then went to Jackie Lynn Taylor, previously credited in the Our Gang series as "Jacqui Lyn." In later shorts, she went from "Jane" to "Jackie."
- Director Gus Meins also directed the Laurel and Hardy film, Babes In Toyland, which not only featured two now adult former Our Gang stars, Johnny Downs and Jean Darling as Little Boy Blue and Curly Locks, but several of the Rascals, Jackie Lynn Taylor, Scotty Beckett, Jerry Tucker and Marianne Edwards as school children. George McFarland and Matthew Beard, though not cast in the movie, even visited the set.