''Washee Ironee'' 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

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 o ...

directed by James Parrott. It was the 131st ''Our Gang'' short (43rd talking episode) that was released.

Plot

On the day that he is scheduled to perform a violin solo at a swank bridge luncheon held by his social-climbing mother, rich kid Waldo opts instead to play football with the gang. With Waldo's help, the kids win the game, but his expensive clothes are covered with mud. Spanky declares that he and his pals are perfectly capable of washing Wally's duds on their own—and the result is a slapstick smorgasbord, culminating in a typically outsized Hal Roach traffic jam.

Notes

*''Washee Ironee'' was directed by James Parrott, who directed many

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo ...

shorts. *It was Wally Albright's last episode. Wally left the gang on his own and to the dismay of Hal Roach, to return to normal life. He had served for a short time but got many lead roles, including one on this episode. *It was also Billie Thomas' third episode but not yet as Buckwheat. (Buckwheat was originally a female character, portrayed by Carlena Beard and Willie Mae Taylor, who would morph into a boy by mid 1935.) Billie would appear in every succeeding Our Gang Hal Roach episode with the exception of ''

Feed 'em and Weep ''Feed 'em and Weep'' is a 1938 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 166th ''Our Gang'' short (167th episode, 78th talking short, and 79th talking episode) that was released. Plot It is Mr. Hood's birthday, and ...

'' in 1938. He also would appear in all 52 MGM Our Gang episodes until the series ended in 1944. *This is also

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 ...

's last episode for his first tenure with ''Our Gang''. Bond returned two and a half years later as a recurring bully named Butch. *When Spanky attempts to speak to the Asian Boy, he says "Ou-yay ash-way othes-clay" which is one of the first filmed uses of

Pig Latin Pig Latin is a language game or argot in which words in English are altered, usually by adding a fabricated suffix or by moving the onset or initial consonant or consonant cluster of a word to the end of the word and adding a vocalic syl ...

. *This was edited by about five minutes on the syndicated ''Little Rascals'' television package beginning in 1971 due to stereotyping of African Americans and Asians. Only a few parts of the scenes were inserted back into the film when it aired on AMC. *Also the film had no background music except for opening and closing titles but according to the book, ''Little Rascals the Life & Times of Our Gang'', this was an oversight and Gus Meins meant to employ musical scoring on this episode which did not have as much dialogue as other films of the time.

Cast

The Gang

* Wally Albright as Waldo/ Wally * Matthew Beard as Stymie * Scotty Beckett as Scotty *

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 * Alvin Buckelew as Alvin * Leonard Kibrick as Leonard * Jerry Tucker as Jerry *

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 wi ...

as Himself

Additional cast

* Jackie Lynn Taylor as Jane * Harry Lowe Jr. as Kid from Laundromat * Tommy McFarland as Game spectator * Billie Thomas as Game spectator * Jackie White as Little girl * John Collum as Football player *

Dickie Jones Richard Percy Jones (February 25, 1927 – July 7, 2014), known as Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer who achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer ...

as Football player * Hal Law Jr. as Football player * Joe Levine as Football player *

Gene Reynolds Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal (April 4, 1923 – February 3, 2020) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series ''M*A*S*H''. Early life Reynolds was born on April 4, 1923, ...

as Football player * Billy Lee Wolfstone as Football player * Sam Adams as Butler * Ernie Alexander as Pedestrian *

Gertrude Astor Gertrude Astor (born Gertrude Irene Eyster; November 9, 1887 – November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone in a woman's band. Early years Gertrude Irene Eyster was born in Lake ...

as Maid of Olympia *

Symona Boniface Symona Ferner Boniface (March 5, 1894 – September 2, 1950) was an American film actress, most frequently seen in bit parts in comedy shorts, mostly at Columbia Pictures, particularly those of ''The Three Stooges''. She appeared in 120 fil ...

as Maid of Olympia * Lester Dorr as Pedestrian * Billy Gilbert as Sneeze dub (voice) * Julia Griffith as Maid of Olympia * James C. Morton as Policeman * James Parrott as Man walking by laundry * Tiny Sandford as Policeman directing traffic *

Ellinor Vanderveer Ellinor Vanderveer (August 5, 1886 – May 27, 1976), was an American actress who usually played dowagers, high class society matrons or party guests. She appeared in 111 films between 1924 and 1953, including several Laurel and Hardy com ...

as Waldo's mother * Joe the Monkey as Monkey * Tony Kales as Unconfirmed

References

External links

* {{James Parrott 1934 films American black-and-white films 1934 comedy films Films directed by James Parrott Hal Roach Studios short films Our Gang films 1934 short films 1930s American films