The biggest star of Hal Roach’s Silent Era was undoubtedly Allen “Farina” Hoskins. However, some of the film title cards remain listed as “Our Gang”, so go figure.
Curse of the original little rascals cast series#
Allegedly, to avoid copyright issues, the series was renamed “The Little Rascals” and released to early television across America, where new generations of children (myself included) would come to love them. In the 1950s, MGM created a package of 80 shorts for television, and replaced many title cards from when Hal Roach Studios had owned the films. Later, when the kids would do celebrity tours, they would be billed as “Hal Roach’s Rascals”.
All 221 films are of “Our Gang”, and early title cards read “Hal Roach Studios present Our Gang”. On a side note, the rumor that the franchise was purchased by Bill Cosby to ensure that those films wouldn’t be shown is false.Īnd finally, one of the biggest confusions of the series is, in fact, its name. Of the 221 films produced, you cannot today purchase (through traditional outlets) all of the films, with about 40 of them being held from broadcast or sale for racial insensitivity. None of those things were regularly found in America in the 1920s. He developed the series with a hope of the Gang’s kids all being best friends, classmates, and yes, equals. Hal Roach was considered, at the time, a radical guy for his open views on ethnic, sexual, and racial equality. As a different era in film, some things were done or said that we can’t imagine today, however, had the big studios had their way, there would have been no African-American, Italian, or Irish kids cast, which was commonplace at the time. Speaking of cultural impact, let’s address the elephant in the room. While the similarities are obvious, comparing their cultural impact, popularity, or importance is laughable. The Gang is often compared to their contemporaries of the time, such as the Baby Burlesks series which introduced Shirley Temple, the Buster Brown shorts, who sold Pete the Pump to Hal Roach, and of course, the Mickey McGuire films, famous for their star, Mickey Rooney. By this point, the stars of the series were as popular as any Hollywood feature film actor. Fan interest steadily climbed over the first few years and peaked in mid 1930s, during what I call “The Spanky Crescendo”. The success was obvious, but not staggering at first. These first generations of the Rascals were silent films from 1922-29 and featured the above-named players and also included early stars Allen “Farina” Hoskins, Mary Kornman, Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins, Joe Cobb, and Jean Darling. By all accounts, it was, nothing special, but garnered enough interest that Roach commissioned more films featuring the “Our Gang” kids. The reason for my speculation is that no one is sure, as sadly, there are known prints or copies of this landmark silent film. The cast, the original Rascals, was apparently Ernie “Sunshine Sammy” Morrison, Jackie Condon, Peggy Cartwright, Monty O’Grady, and possible also featured Winston Doty and Dinah the Mule.
Its title was simply “Our Gang”, and its story centered on a gang of misfit kids trying to stop a heartless businessman bankrupting the nice old widow and her corner store. After months of hard work finding the actors, and scavenging for money, the first short subject film by the “Hal Roach Rascals” was released November 5, 1922.
Many of these early Roach films are still highly sought after, but he is most famous for the series he started in 1922.Įven in the 1920s, getting funding for short subject films was not easy, being considered high risk and low reward financially, but Roach believed in his idea. He also started the careers of Fay Wray, Jean Harlow, and Frank Capra along the way. During the first 10 years of the studio, he found and developed legendary film stars Harold Lloyd, Charley Chase, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and even Will Rogers. His skill as a filmmaker was quickly apparent, and his eye for unknown talent was even better.
That may up for dispute, but the fact is that these timeless short subjects, a staple of the airwaves in my formative years, are barely shown on television today.Įarly film pioneer Hal Roach opened his Los Angeles studios in 1914. And then, some of the series’ biggest stars suffered a series of tragedies so bizarre that an “Our Gang Curse” was long thought to plague them. A few of these child stars had successful careers afterwards, but most fell into obscurity. Over a period of 2 decades, The Our Gang Comedies assembled a legion of America’s most talented children, and laid hundreds of short films to print.