''Hi'-Neighbor!'' is a 1934 ''
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
Gus Meins
Gus Meins (March 6, 1893 – August 1, 1940), born Gustave Peter Ludwig Luley, was an American film director. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany.
Career
Meins started out in the 'teens as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Evening Herald before ...
. Produced by
Hal Roach
Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
and released to theaters by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
, it was the 126th ''Our Gang'' short to be released and Meins' first series entry as director.
Plot
While sailing their toy tugboat in a puddle outside their house, Wally and Spanky notice a moving van with a riding toy
fire engine
A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an i ...
passing through the neighborhood. They quickly round up the rest of the gang and follow the moving van to its destination. The owner of the fire truck, a snobbish rich kid named Jerry, comes out to find a dozen strange children playing with his fire engine and shoos them all away, refusing to trade any sorts of collateral (pocket knives, gratitude) for even so little as a ride. Enter Wally's girlfriend Jane, to whom Jerry, however, is quick to offer a ride. Wally tries to dissuade Jane from riding with Jerry by telling her that the gang has a fire engine of its own, big enough for all the gang's members to ride in. Jane accepts Wally's invitation to ride in his (currently non-existent) fire engine after she returns from her ride with Jerry.
Wally, Stymie, and the gang quickly begin building a makeshift fire engine of their own; "borrowing" wheels, hoses, plywood, and other raw materials from around the neighborhood. As the older kids work on the fire engine, little Spanky and Scotty find themselves forced out of the proceedings, and sit on the sidelines giving commentary among themselves on the gang's progress. Unbeknownst to the gang, Jerry sneaks over to the gang's barn with Jane in tow, hoping to prove that the gang does not have a fire engine. He quickly flees in embarrassment, however, when a drill from the other side of the barn door strips him of his pants.
The unwieldy results of their labor fail to impress Jane, whom Jerry successfully coaxes into another ride with him. Undaunted, the gang follows them, and Jerry challenges them to a race to the bottom of a long, steep hill. Not long after the start of the race, the gang's fire engine loses its brake (a 2x4 nailed between the wheels), and Jerry fears that the gang might very well run him over. Halfway down the hill, Jerry bails out of his fire engine into a lawn, leaving Jane alone to crash in the next lot over; in retaliation for being abandoned, Jane activates a water sprinkler that drenches Jerry. While the gang cheers in victory, their fire engine suddenly veers onto the sidewalk, where they knock over several pedestrians and ride straight through a hedge, which tears their clothes and causes them to emerge from the other side in their underwear (except for Spanky, who proceeds to take his clothes off).
Cast
The Gang
*
Wally Albright
Wally Albright (born Walton Algernon Albright Jr.; September 3, 1925 - August 7, 1999) was an American actor, water sportsman, and businessman. As a child actor, he was best known for his role in the ''Our Gang'' film series.
Career
The son of ...
as Wally
*
Matthew Beard as Stymie
*
Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the ''Our Gang'' shorts and later costarred on ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger''.
Early life and career
Born in Oakland, Califo ...
as Scotty
*
Tommy Bond
Thomas Ross Bond (September 16, 1926 – September 24, 2005) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He was best known for his work as a child actor for two nonconsecutive periods on ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies (fir ...
as Tommy
*
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
* Marvin Strin as Bubbles
* Tommy Bupp as Our Gang member
* Donald Proffitt 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
*
Jackie Lynn Taylor
Jacqueline Devon Taylor Fries (June 29, 1925 – May 5, 2014), professionally known as Jackie Lynn Taylor, was an American child actress.
Biography
Jacqueline Devon Taylor was born in Compton, California, and appeared in five ''Our Gang'' shor ...
as Jane
*
Jerry Tucker as Jerry, the rich kid
* Jean Aulbach as Donald's little sister
*
Bobbie Beard
Bobbie Beard (August 2, 1930 – October 16, 1999) was an American child actor, best known for portraying "Cotton" in several ''Our Gang'' short films from 1932 to 1934. He was a native of Los Angeles, California. His older brother was Matthew ...
as Cotton
*
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 Moonshiner filling crock
*
Charlie Hall as Window-washer
*
Tiny Sandford
Stanley J. "Tiny" Sandford (February 26, 1894October 29, 1961) was an American actor who is best remembered for his roles in Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin films. His tall, burly physique usually led him to be cast as a comic heavy, and o ...
as First mover
*
Tiny Ward
Roscoe Samuel "Tiny" Ward (January 2, 1893 – September 12, 1956) was an American actor. He occasionally was billed as Jack "Tiny" Ward. Due to his appearance in several "classics" he is a fairly well-known face in film history.
In the 192 ...
as Jack, second mover
* Tony Kales as Undetermined role
Production notes
''Hi-Neighbor!'' was the first ''Our Gang'' film produced after the series' four-month hiatus, necessitated by
George "Spanky" McFarland's unavailability. While on loan to
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
to appear in ''
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
''Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen'' is a 1934 pre-Code American comedy-drama film, starring Dorothea Wieck, Alice Brady, and Baby LeRoy, written by Adela Rogers St. Johns and Jane Storm from a novel and story by Rupert Hughes, and directed by Alexa ...
'' (1934), McFarland caught
whooping cough
Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...
, but his parents allowed him to work while sick.
As a result, McFarland gave the disease to his juvenile co-star
Baby LeRoy
Ronald Le Roy Overacker (May 12, 1932 – July 28, 2001), better known by his stage name Baby LeRoy, was an American child actor who appeared in films in the 1930s. When he was 16 months old, he became the youngest person ever put under term ...
, forcing a shutdown in production. As punishment to McFarland's parents, the Los Angeles Board of Education suspended George McFarland's work permit for ninety days, resulting in a four-month gap between the production of ''
Wild Poses
''Wild Poses'' is short subject in the '' Our Gang'' (''The Little Rascals'') series.
It was produced and directed by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach Studios and first released on October 28, 1933 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the 125th ''Our Ga ...
'' in August 1933 and ''Hi'-Neighbor!'' in January 1934.
[Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. p. 119. .]
Between ''Wild Poses'' and ''Hi'-Neighbor'', several changes were made to the ''Our Gang'' company. Producer-director
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, ...
, who had been with the series from its beginnings in 1921, was worn out from the strain of working with child actors and left Hal Roach Studios to direct features at Paramount. He was replaced by
Gus Meins
Gus Meins (March 6, 1893 – August 1, 1940), born Gustave Peter Ludwig Luley, was an American film director. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany.
Career
Meins started out in the 'teens as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Evening Herald before ...
, a veteran director who had worked on another series of shorts starring children, the ''
Buster Brown
Buster Brown is a comic-strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with his dog Tige, became well known to the United States of America ...
'' films, during the silent era. Meins' approach would be different from McGowan's, as his films adhered closer to a prepared script with less room for improvisation or unrelated gags.
[Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. p. 140-141.]
Also joining ''Our Gang'' at this time were several new child actors, in particular
Wally Albright
Wally Albright (born Walton Algernon Albright Jr.; September 3, 1925 - August 7, 1999) was an American actor, water sportsman, and businessman. As a child actor, he was best known for his role in the ''Our Gang'' film series.
Career
The son of ...
,
Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the ''Our Gang'' shorts and later costarred on ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger''.
Early life and career
Born in Oakland, Califo ...
, and
Jackie Lynn Taylor
Jacqueline Devon Taylor Fries (June 29, 1925 – May 5, 2014), professionally known as Jackie Lynn Taylor, was an American child actress.
Biography
Jacqueline Devon Taylor was born in Compton, California, and appeared in five ''Our Gang'' shor ...
. Albright, already a veteran actor at age eight, had appeared briefly in the ''Our Gang'' short ''
Choo-Choo!
''Choo-Choo!'' is a 1932 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 114th (26th talking episode) ''Our Gang'' short that was released. It is a remake of the 1923 ''Our Gang'' film '' A Pleasant Journey''.
Plot
Exch ...
'' in 1932.
[Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. p. 121.] He would appear in four more ''Our Gang'' shorts as the kids' leader in 1934. Four-year-old Beckett made his film debut in ''Hi'-Neighbor!'', and was cast as Spanky's sidekick, a role he would continue in until mid-1935. Taylor appeared in five ''Our Gang'' shorts in 1934;
Jane Withers
Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for ...
was originally cast in her role for ''Hi'-Neighbor!'' before Withers backed out to appear in the feature ''
Bright Eyes'' with
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...
.
See also
*
''Our Gang'' filmography
References
External links
*
{{Our Gang
1934 films
American black-and-white films
1934 comedy films
Films directed by Gus Meins
Hal Roach Studios short films
Our Gang films
1934 short films
1930s American films