NFR Project: Hal Roach Presents His Rascals in 'Pups is Pups' (1930)

NFR Project: ‘Pups Is Pups’

Dir: Robert F. McGowan

Scr: Robert F. McGowan, H.M. Walker

Pho: Art Lloyd

Ed: Richard C. Currier

Premiere: August 30, 1930

18:24

The Little Rascals, aka Our Gang, series of comic shorts featuring children (1922-1944) is an acquired taste. Many of us were treated to incessant screenings of it on local television, usually on Saturday mornings. The kooky humor, the unfamiliar expressions, the weird slapstick, and the preternaturally advanced communication skills of these kids was fascinating, and in a way, disturbing. They seem to exist in their own weird, jazz-inflected universe.

You could not do better than the explanatory essay penned by Randy Skretvedt, which you can read here. I can only add my personal observations and explanations to it.

It seems that producer Hal Roach thought of the Little Rascals idea when he got caught up watching a bunch of kids arguing on a street corner. He thought people might be interested in the lives of everyday kids. He was right.

Soon he had begun the long-running series, enlisting producer-director Robert F. McGowan as the chief of the operation. McGowan turned out to have a knack for directing children, Kids aged out of the Gang, and new members were recruited. McGowan worked on the series as long as he could until, burned out, he quit in 1933. Roach kept up the series until 1938, when he sold it to MGM.

The Roach Studios made 88 silent Our Gang comedies, then reeled off 132 sound shorts. This is just the 12^th sound short by the Gang. Unusually, it is set in an industrial landscape instead of in a more affluent, middle-class neighborhood. The Gang is led by Jackie Cooper, soon to become a big child star. The story involves the kids trying to crash and win prizes at a national pet show. Subplots involving wandering puppies and a muddy pothole are included.

Though McGowan and company indulged in some cultural stereotyping, the sries is notable for treating white and Black children are equals. In fact, Ernie Morrison, an original member of the Gang, was the first African-American to sign a long-term film contract in Hollywood history.

Listen closely and you’ll hear the music of Leroy Shield, which became the catchy background for many Roach films, including Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy. The Beau Hunks have made a few albums that recreate those insistently listenable scores.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Revenge of Pancho Villa.