''Radio Bugs'' is a 1944 ''
Our Gang''
short 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
Cyril Endfield. It was the 218th ''Our Gang'' short released.
Plot
Froggy and his parents enjoy a
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program '' The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
performance over the radio. Learning from his father that comedians make a lot of money, Froggy decides that he and the gang should become radio comedians. They buy a joke book from a local used bookstore, and crash the lobby of a local dentists' office looking for a sponsor. The gang's horrible jokes and worse singing cause the waiting dental patients pain and distress, leading to their being thrown off the premises.
Returning to the bookstore to look for another joke book, one of the bookstore patrons, a ham actor, convinces the kids to go into
Shakespearean
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
drama instead of comedy. Donning appropriate costumes, the gang attempts to audition their "sad and tragic" Shakespearean radio act for another potential sponsor, a funeral home, but the triplet owners of the company fall over themselves laughing at the gang's dramatic acting.
On their way home, the crestfallen kids happen upon the host of the ''Cantfall Cake Hour''radio show, who is interviewing passersby on the street. Amused by the children's costumes, he decides to ask the kids his interview question for the day: "what do you think is the crying need of radio today?" The gang's reply: "a sponsor!"
Cast
The Gang
*
Janet Burston as Janet
*
Bobby Blake as Mickey
*
Billy Laughlin
William Robert Laughlin (July 5, 1932 – August 31, 1948) was an American child actor. He is best known for playing the character Froggy in the ''Our Gang'' short films in 1940–44, its final years of production.
Early life
Laughlin was ...
as Froggy
*
Billie Thomas
Billie may refer to:
People
* Billie Allen (1925-2015), American actress
* Billie Bird (1908-2002), American actress and comedian
* Billie Burke (1884-1970), American actress
* Billie Joe Armstrong (born 1972), American singer and guitarist for ...
as Buckwheat
Additional cast
*
Erville Anderson as U. Grimble
*
Morris Ankrum
Morris Ankrum (born Morris Nussbaum; August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor.
Early life
Born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in ...
as Pain-Killer Kilroy, the dentist
*
Chester Clute
Chester Lamont Clute (February 18, 1891 – April 2, 1956) was an American actor familiar in scores of Hollywood films from his debut in 1930. Diminutive, bald-pated with a bristling moustache, he appeared in mostly unbilled roles, consis ...
as Dental patient
*
Fern Emmett
Fern Emmett (March 22, 1896 – September 3, 1946) was an American film actress. She appeared in 212 films between 1930 and 1946. Emmett's film debut came with Universal in a two-reel production in 1914.
Personal life
Emmett was married to ...
as Dental patient
*Tiny Hanlon as Cantfall Cake Hour Radio Host
*
Brandon Hurst as Shakespearean actor
*
Jack Lipson
Jack "Tiny" Lipson (January 17, 1901 – November 28, 1947) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 85 films between 1927 and 1948.
Career
Lipson played character parts, and was usually uncredited. Due to his rotund, towering figure, Lip ...
as Dental patient
*
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program '' The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
as himself (radio voice over)
*Walter Soderling as O. Grimble
*Pete Sosso as Mr. Jasper, bookshop owner
*
Joe Yule
Ninnian Joseph Yule (30 April 1892 – 30 March 1950) was a Scottish-American burlesque and vaudeville actor who later appeared in many films as a character actor. He starred alongside Renie Riano in the '' Jiggs and Maggie'' film series. Yule ...
as Dental patient
*
Bobby Burns
Robert Paul Burns (September 1, 1878 – January 16, 1966) was an American film actor and director. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1908 and 1952 as well as directing 13 films between 1915 and 1916. Burns was born in Philadelphi ...
as Crowd extra
*
Charles K. French
Charles K. French (born Charles Ekrauss French or Charles E. Krauss; January 17, 1860 – August 2, 1952) was an American film actor, screenwriter and director who appeared in more than 240 films between 1909 and 1945.
Biography
French was ...
as Town banker (scenes deleted)
Production notes
''Radio Bugs'' was the third-to-last ''Our Gang'' shorts produced. It marks the directorial debut
Cyril Endfield. The three Endfield-directed shorts — ''Radio Bugs'', ''
Dancing Romeo'' and ''
Tale of a Dog
''Tale of a Dog'' is a 1944 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Cyril Endfield. It was the 219th ''Our Gang'' short to be released, and the penultimate film in the series. ''Tale of a Dog'' was sold to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer not a ...
'' — were all shot in late 1943, and released within two weeks of each other in April 1944. As with several other ''Our Gang'' films of this period, ''Radio Bugs'' lost money upon its original theatrical release. According to financial data prepared by MGM in 1956, ''Radio Bugs'' cost $22,121 to produce, but lost $4,759 at the box office.
The real
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program '' The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
provides the voiceover for the radio show Froggy's family enjoys during the first scenes of the film. One of the bit players in this short is
Mickey Rooney's father
Joe Yule
Ninnian Joseph Yule (30 April 1892 – 30 March 1950) was a Scottish-American burlesque and vaudeville actor who later appeared in many films as a character actor. He starred alongside Renie Riano in the '' Jiggs and Maggie'' film series. Yule ...
, who portrays one of the pained dental patients.
See also
*
''Our Gang'' filmography
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 0037204
1944 films
American black-and-white films
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films
1944 comedy films
Films directed by Cy Endfield
Our Gang films
1940s American films