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The Little Rascals - Another Roach favourite by Ciarán Hanna |
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Apart from the Dance of the Cuckoo, the 'Good Old Days' was one of the most familiar signature tunes from any production from the Hal Roach Studios. The tune, however, is better known as the 'Our Gang Waltz' and can be clearly heard as a punning background theme in the schoolroom scene of Pardon Us. It is very rare to stumble across a Charley Chase comedy or indeed any Roach comedy aside from Laurel and Hardy these days, so it is a great delight to have the opportunity to view the Our Gang comedies on terrestrial television. The series began in 1922 , and along with Harold Lloyd's comedies, became an important output for Roach, before Laurel and Hardy. The 'Our Gang' series made a star of one George 'Spanky' Mc Farland, and like Larry Simms aka Baby Dumpling from the 'Blondie' series, we witness Spanky growing up from a toddler into a dominant child, eventually leading the group, aided and abetted by Alfalfa. Incidentally the love of Alfalfa in the series, was Darla Hood, who played the young Arlene in the 'Bohemian Girl'. Before the onset of Spanky, the main character, around 1930, was one Jackie Cooper, and the series was set around an old country schoolhouse with Miss Crabtree as the teacher. She was played by June Marlowe , who would later play the warden's daughter in Pardon Us. Rosina Lawrence, the heroine in Way Out West, later joined the schoolroom as 'Miss Lawrence' and starred in 8 episodes of series . She acted in the Oscar-winning 'Bored of Education' which won best subject in the one-reel category at the 1937 Oscar ceremony in the Biltmore Hotel, Hollywood. The background music is the familiar stock tunes we know so well for the Laurel and Hardy pictures, which were manufactured and recycled for other roach outputs. What is interesting about the features during the middle thirties is the positive portrayal of Afro-Caribbean children in the series, as they are seen playing an integral part of the group and shaking hands with fellow white members of the Gang. From Stymie in the early thirties to the wondrous Buckweed when Spanky led the group, 'coloured' children played as much a part in the episodes as the leads themselves. This seems a unique and almost daring step for a Hollywood studio during the dark and unpleasant period in America's relationship with its non-white citizens. Laurel and Hardy had a cameo appearance in 'Wild Poses' (1933) and there is a still with the boys on the set of 'Tit for Tat' with Ollie holding a young Spanky in his arms. In 1938, MGM bought the series including the title from Roach, who then had to release re-issues under the new name of 'Little Rascals' . Finally 'Our Gang' finished in 1944, with the final chapter closing with Spanky's death around 1995. Luckily, the series is shown as 'Little Rascals' on TG4 every weekdays at 1330 in colourised versions, which actually enhance the features and add a new sparkle to the comedies, and it really is a pleasure to view them for the first time in my lifetime on television. 1 Glenn Mitchell, 'The L&H Encyclopedia', p 197 2 ibid p.174 3 ibid p. 160 4 Bergen, Malcolm, Fuller, 'Academy Awards Winners', p56 5 ibid, p.197 |