Small Talk

Production Notes[]

Length: Three Reel
Producer: Robert F. McGowan
Director: Robert F. McGowan
Photography: Art Lloyd and F. E. Hershey
Editor: Richard Currier
Titles: None
Writer: Robert F. McGowan and H. M. Walker (dialogue)
Released: May 18, 1929
Studio: M-G-M

Main Cast[]

Supporting Cast[]

Charles McMurphy as Police Officer
Edith Fortier as Domestic
Helen Jerome Eddy as Helen Eddy, Wheezer's Adopted Mother
Lyle Tayo as Mrs. Brown
Pat Harmon as Police Officer

The Short[]

Plot: Wheezer and his sister, Mary Ann are living at an orphanage waiting to be adopted. Wheezer eventually gets adopted, but not with Mary Ann who gets left behind. At his new home, Wheezer gets a lot of brand-new expensive toys, but he misses his friends. They help Mary Ann break into the house so she can see Wheezer, and then enter themselves while his new mother throws a dinner party. The gang plays in the huge house, and Jean plays with a knob that sets off the police and fire alarms, bringing the police and fire departments to the house to capture the Rascals prowling around. Wheezer's new mom now decides to adopt Mary Ann herself and to convince her friends to adopt their orphan friends.
Quotes:
Notes/Trivia:

This was the first official "talkie" in the Our Gang series.
H. M. Walker, who previously wrote the humorous title cards for a majority of silent comedies produced by Hal Roach, now writes the dialogue for the Our Gang series, and other Roach series. He would remain in this role until his retirement in 1932.
Edith Fortier was Allen Hoskins's aunt and guard at Hal Roach Studios.
According to press material, Jean Darling was required to have her hair combed down into pigtails in order to make her look more like an orphan.
Other publicity states that it was during the production of this film that the kids were first encouraged to address each other by their on-screen nicknames while off-camera. This prevented a waste of film if the kids were to accidentally refer to each other by their actual names.
The Culver City police and fire departments were both involved in this film. Therefore, the extras at the end of the film could have possibly been real policemen and firemen.
Playing with a knob that calls in the police and fire departments were also done in High Society.
This short was shot around the same time Laurel and Hardy made their first talkie, Unaccustomed As We Are. At this point, the Hal Roach Studios only had one set of sound equipment. Because the Our Gang kids could only work until 5 p.m., most of Unaccustomed As We Are was shot at night.
This film was originally a part of the Little Rascals television package. Often times when shown on TV, this film was edited for time and for sound quality. Because of its poor sound quality, this film was eventually removed from the TV package in the early 1980s and hasn't been shown on TV since.
Mary Ann is referred to as "Mary" throughout this short.
Deleted scene: The Rascals are sitting on a curb outside of the mansion gate. They attempt to get through the gate, only to be chased away by the police officer (Pat Harmon). This explains why Harmon mentions later in the film that "these kids have been prowling around here all day."

Sequence[]

Previous Short: Saturday's Lesson
Next Short: Railroadin'