
Farina, Chubby, Jackie, Mary Ann, Miss Crabtree
Production Notes[]
Length: Two Reels
Producer: Hal Roach
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography: Art Lloyd
Editor: Richard Currier
Titles: None
Writer: H. M. Walker
Released: November 22, 1930
Studio: M-G-M
Main Cast[]
- Allen Hoskins
- Donald Haines
- Dorothy DeBorba
- Douglas Greer
- Jackie Cooper (actor)
- Mary Ann Jackson
- Matthew Beard
- Norman Chaney
- Robert Hutchins
- Robert Mallon
- Robert Young
- Thomas MacDonald
Supporting Cast[]
- Barbara Roach
- Beverly Crane - Opening Titles Announcer #1
- Betty Mae Crane- Opening Titles Announcer #2
- Billy Seay
- Creighton Hale - Jack Crabtree
- June Marlowe - Miss Crabtree
- Lyle Tayo - Lady at the lake
- Mildred Kornman
The Short[]
Plot: Jackie is cicrculating a "partition" to keep school open during the summer so that Miss Crabtree can't find a husband to take her away from them. When a gentleman comes round the schoolhouse in her absence, the gang gets suspicious and start telling tales to keep him from taking her away from them. What they don't know is that Jack is really their teacher's brother, and he plays along. They steal his clothes when he goes for a swim in the lake to keep him from returning. Meanwhile, the smaller kids, Wheezer, Echo and Stymie, have been stealing the desserts of the older kids, and Bonedust gives his classmates the answers for their questions from a book called, "The Minstrel And Blackface Joke Book." It turns out to be a very hectic lesson with all sorts of wrong answers and with Miss Crabtree getting more angry and angry, and the gang unaware of what they're doing wrong. Once things are explained, she asks if anyone has seen her guest, hesitating to mention he's her brother. Jackie, Chubby and Farina confess through tears what they did and why they did it. Miss Crabtree ends up flustered and embarrassed and runs out of the school house to discover her brother returning in a dress, the only thing he could find to cover up. The little kids, meanwhile, appear wearing his clothes, having taken them from where they saw the older boys hiding them.
Quotes:
- "Believe me, married life is sure tough!" - Farina
- "Ain't you guys gonna sign this partition?" - Jackie
Notes/Trivia:
- The children's comedic answers were part of writer H.M. Walker's former vaudeville routine. See also: History Lesson.
- This was one of the few shorts to be introduced with Beverly and Betty Mae Crane reading the opening credits.
- Beginning in 1971, King World had Miss Crabtree's line, "I'm going to punish the next child severely that gives me a foolish answer," who turns out to be Farina, removed from television prints of this film. King World also removed the closeup of Bonedust's joke book. See: Television Edits.
- In the last shot, Pete is replaced by a stand-in. This is made obvious by the fact that the two dogs have the trademark circles around different eyes.
- Blooper: At the beginning of the short when the gang is talking about watermelons. the camera noticeably shakes as if the cameraman briefly stumbles.
- Goof: Miss Crabtree acted as if she never met Wheezer, Hercules and Dorothy despite meeting them in the previous episode.
Sequence[]
- Previous Short: Teacher's Pet
- Next Short: Helping Grandma