''Free Eats'' is a 1932 ''

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

Ray McCarey Raymond Benedict McCarey (September 6, 1904 – December 1, 1948) was an American film director, brother of director Leo McCarey. Biography McCarey began working at Hal Roach Studios, where he did work on short films with Our Gang and L ...

. It was the 112th (24th talking Our Gang episode) ''Our Gang'' short that was released.

Plot

The gang along with other poor children in the town are given a party with games and great food to eat. In addition, each child would be given a food basket to bring home to their parents. It's given by a wealthy woman whose husband is running for office. Meanwhile a couple of criminals have set up two midgets to come to the party as babies. They would steal expensive jewelry and planned on robbing a safe filled with money. Stymie caught the "fidgets" in the safe. After an altercation with Stymie, the rest of the gang come to Stymie's rescue as the midgets pull a gun. An alarm goes off and the police come to arrest the midgets. Episode concludes with the police sergeant spitting tobacco into a nearby waste can, from which the missing midget then rises, telling the "flatfoot" to call his shots.

Cast

The Gang

Sherwood Bailey Sherwood Bailey (August 6, 1923 – August 6, 1987) was an American child actor and civil engineer. His parents were nonprofessionals. He is most noted for appearing as Spud, the red-headed, freckle-faced bad boy and enemy of the gang in the '' ...

as Spud * Matthew Beard as Stymie * Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy *

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 *

Kendall McComas Kendall McComas (October 29, 1916 – October 15, 1981) was an American child actor. Career Born in Holton, Kansas, McComas first appeared in the '' Mickey McGuire'' short subjects series as a member of Mickey McGuire's gang and stayed throug ...

as Breezy Brisbane *

George McFarland George McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for starring as a child as Spanky in the ''Our Gang'' series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Our Gang'' shorts were later syndicated ...

as Spanky *

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

Donald Haines Donald Haines (May 9, 1919 – February 20, 1943) was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1930 to 1933. He appeared in ''Our Gang'' during the early sound days along with Nor ...

as Kid getting cake in face at party *

Eddie Baker Eddie Baker (born Edward King; November 17, 1897 – February 4, 1968) was an American film actor. He supported Laurel and Hardy in several of their films, but is best remembered for his (uncredited) role as a boxing referee in Charlie Chaplin's ...

as Detective's assistant *

Harry Bernard Harry Bernard (January 13, 1878 – November 4, 1940) was an American actor and comedian best remembered for his appearance in numerous comedy films by Mack Sennett and Hal Roach. Harry Bernard appeared in over 150 films between 1915 and 1940, ...

as Officer Flaherty *

Lillian Elliott Lillian Elliott (24 April 1874 – 15 January 1959) was a stage and film actress, appearing in 60 films between 1915 and 1943. She was born in Canada and died in Hollywood, California. She was married to actor James Corrigan, and their elde ...

as Mrs. Clark *

Estelle Etterre Estelle Etterre (sometimes billed as Belle Hare; July 26, 1899 – March 7, 1996) was an American actress. She appeared in many early 1930s Hal Roach films, such as the Laurel and Hardy short films '' County Hospital'', '' The Chimp'' (both 193 ...

as Estelle, a lawn-party guest *

Paul Fix Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career be ...

as Elvira, 'wife' of the head of the family of thieves *

Otto Fries Otto Hugo Fries (October 28, 1887 – September 15, 1938) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1920 and 1938. Biography Fries was born in St. Louis, Missouri and died in 1938 in Los Angeles, California at ...

as Detective *

Billy Gilbert William Gilbert Barron (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971), known professionally as Billy Gilbert, was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects a ...

as Head of the family of thieves *

Dell Henderson George Delbert "Dell" Henderson (July 5, 1877 – December 2, 1956) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film. Biography Born in the Southwestern Ontario city ...

as Mr. Moran * Tiny Lawrence as Waldemar, midget * Major Mite as Elmer, smaller midget *

May Wallace May Wallace (August 23, 1877 – December 11, 1938) was an American film actress. Biography Wallace was born in 1877 in Russiaville, Indiana. As a film actress, she often played supporting roles for producer Hal Roach in his Laurel and ...

as Friend of Mrs. Clark

Notes

''Free Eats'' marked the debut appearance of George "Spanky" McFarland. He and his brother Tommy auditioned for ''Our Gang'' in the Spring of 1931, with Spanky passing a screen test easily. Tommy also appeared in many ''Our Gang'' film in bit roles.

References

External links

* 1932 films 1932 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Ray McCarey Hal Roach Studios short films Our Gang films 1932 short films 1930s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub