''Fly My Kite'' is a 1931 ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Robert F. McGowan Robert Francis McGowan (July 11, 1882 – January 27, 1955) was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the ''Our Gang'' short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933. Career Before moving to Los Angeles, ...

. It was the 107th ''Our Gang'' short that was released.

Plot

Grandma, who recently sold her grocery store, is enjoying retirement with her beloved "grandchildren". She's actually a widow who outlived her only daughter, who was married but childless. Grandma lives in her son-in-law's house and he's in charge of her money, which he has mostly spent. Meanwhile, she is having fun with the Gang—she's not any ''one'' child's grandma but ''everyone's'' grandma. Her son-in-law, however, wants to remarry and he and his intended both want Grandma out of the house so they can move in. He tells her to get her stuff and get out. He also tells her that she is broke and that he used up all the money from the store sale mere months ago. He says that she is old and that he cannot wait till she dies of old age because that could take forever. He even says he's arranged to have her sent to the Poor Farm. Grandma confronts her son-in-law and the Gang attacks him up on the spot. He manages to escape the children's rampages and then tells Grandma to leave immediately. He finds a letter informing her that she has savings bonds and to communicate with the bank right away. He goes to the bank and discovers they are indeed worth $100,000 dollars (by today's standards about $5 million). As Grandma is packing, she finds the bonds that she still thinks have no worth. Chubby is flying a kite with Dickie and the kite does not stay up. Grandma tells him the tail needs more weight and uses the bonds to get the kite to fly. Grandma's son-in-law returns to the house, purposely breaks her glasses (she thinks it is accidental) and pretends to read a letter that her bonds are worthless. She tells him that the bonds are on the tail of Chubby's kite. He runs outside and tries to take the kite away from Chubby. Grandma then reads the letter (magnified through a

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have ...

bowl) and learns the truth. She sends the Gang out to help Chubby keep her son-in-law from getting the kite. The Gang runs out and beats Grandma's son-in-law to a pulp (Including dragging him over a board studded with nails). They bust his watch (tit-for-tat for him breaking Grandma's glasses). They saw a telephone pole he is climbing to get the kite away from him. He falls in a large puddle and Mary Ann gets the bonds and hands them to Grandma after she got a police officer to arrest Dan for kicking her out of the house and trespassing onto her property.

Cast

The Gang

* Matthew Beard as Stymie *

Norman Chaney Norman Myers Chaney (October 18, 1914 – May 29, 1936) was an American child actor, notable for appearing in 19 ''Our Gang'' comedies as "Chubby" from 1929 to 1931. Early life and career Chaney was born on October 18, 1914 (though Richard ...

as Chubby * Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy *

Allen Hoskins Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

as Farina *

Bobby Hutchins Robert E. Hutchins (March 29, 1925 – May 17, 1945) was an American child actor who was a regular in the '' Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1927 to 1933. A native of Tacoma, Washington, he was given the nickname of Wheezer after running a ...

as Wheezer *

Mary Ann Jackson Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923 – December 17, 2003) was an American child actress who appeared in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1928 to 1931. She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. Career Mary Ann Jackson's f ...

as Mary Ann *

Shirley Jean Rickert Shirley Jean Rickert (March 25, 1926 – February 6, 2009) was an American child actress who was briefly the "blonde girl" for the ''Our Gang'' series in 1931, during the Hal Roach early talkie period. Career At 18 months of age, Rickert w ...

as Shirley *

George Ernest George Ernest (born George Ruud Hjorth; November 20, 1921 – June 25, 2009) was an American actor and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) combat photographer/cameraman during World War II. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1930 a ...

as Georgie * Dickie Jackson as Dickie * Charles "Chic" Sales Jr. as Our Gang member * Jackie Williams as Our Gang member *

Pete the Pup Pete the Pup (original, 1924 – June 1930; second Pete, September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946) was a character in Hal Roach's '' Our Gang'' comedies (later known as ''The Little Rascals'') during the 1930s, otherwise known as "Pete, the dog w ...

as himself

Additional cast

Mae Busch Mae Busch (born Annie May Busch; 18 June 1891 – 20 April 1946) was an Australian-born actress who worked in both silent and sound films in early Hollywood. In the latter part of her career she appeared in many Laurel and Hardy comedies, freque ...

as Dan's new wife *

Margaret Mann Margaret Mann (4 April 1868, in Aberdeen, Scotland – 4 February 1941, in Los Angeles, California), was a Scottish-American actress. Biography Margaret Mann starred in a number of major silent films such as ''Black Beauty'' in 1921 and playe ...

as Margaret 'Grandma' Mann * Jim Mason as Dan, the son-in-law * Broderick O'Farrell as Bond agent

References

External links