''Little Sinner'' is a 1935 ''

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 ...

. It was the 139th ''Our Gang'' short to be released, and the first appearance of two-year old Porky.

Plot

Anxious to go fishing, Spanky skips out of Sunday school, despite the admonitions of his pals Alfalfa, Mildred, Sidney, and Marianne that "Something's going to happen to you." Actually, everything happens to Spanky and his kid brother (Eugene "Porky" Lee) in the course of the morning. Chased out of a private estate by cantankerous caretaker, the two boys wander into a dark, mysterious woods just as an

eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

occurs and at the same time a large group of black worshippers are holding a mass baptism ceremony. Some view the baptism and background singing of the Negro spiritual "I Am Leaning on The Lord", which contains the words: "Why don't you come out of the wilderness" as a racist stereotype. However, as Spanky, Porky and Buckwheat are scared out of the woods, a wilderness, it could merely be a play on the song's words for their situation. Inevitably, the kids scare the worshippers, and vice versa, culminating in a hectic chase.

Note

*''Little Sinner'' was withdrawn from the "Little Rascals" TV package in 1971 due to its racial content. It was reinstated in 1979 with severely edited prints that exclude the eclipse and the baptism. Professor Lisa Yaszek said of the racist depiction, "Apparently somehow these black Americans don't know what an eclipse is, so they have that very stereotypical reaction of confusion and fear, which causes chaos for the boys... the way it plays out is so stereotypical and really horrible." The original version was reinstated for the 2001 to 2003 showings on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

and the 2016 showings on

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

. *This episode marks the first appearance of

Eugene Gordon Lee Eugene Gordon Lee (October 25, 1933 – October 16, 2005) was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' (''Little Rascals'') comedies as Porky from 1935 to 1939. During his tenure in ''Our Gang'', Porky originated t ...

as Porky.

Cast

The Gang

* Eugene Lee as Porky *

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 * Billie Thomas as Buckwheat *

Carl Switzer Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

as Alfalfa * Jerry Tucker as Jerry *

Rex Downing Rex Haddon Downing (April 21, 1925 – November 18, 2020) was an American actor as a child and youth. Early years Downing attended Hollywood High School. Career Rex Downing started his film career in several Our Gang comedies, but his roles t ...

as Our Gang member *

Sidney Kibrick Sidney Henry Kibrick (born July 2, 1928) is an American former child actor, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects film series, over a ten-year period from 1933 and 1943. Kibrick was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on ...

as Our Gang member * Donald Proffitt as Our Gang member * Jackie Banning as Mary Ann (unconfirmed)

Additional cast

* Ray Turner as Man at Baptism/Man losing tent * Clarence Wilson - Property owner * Barbara Goodrich as Church extra * Joan Lott as Church extra * Philip Marley Rock as Church extra *

John Collum John K. Collum (June 29, 1926 — August 28, 1962) was an American child actor. He appeared in many ''Our Gang'' films of the 1930s as the character Uh-Huh. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Collum was the son of Hal Roach's casting director, ...

as Undetermined role *

Mildred Kornman Mildred Gene Kornman (July 10, 1925 – August 19, 2022), also billed as Ricki VanDusen, was an American actress, model, businesswoman, and photographer. At the time of her death, she was one of the last living actresses of the silent era. L ...

as Undetermined role * Dickie De Nuet as Undetermined role * The Etude Chorus as Singers at Baptism

References

External links

* 1935 films 1935 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Gus Meins Hal Roach Studios short films Our Gang films 1935 short films 1930s American films {{short-comedy-film-stub