|
Helping Grandma
''Helping Grandma'' is a 1931 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 103rd ''Our Gang'' short to be released. Plot An elderly woman, Mrs. Margaret Mack, owns a small grocery store, and the gang helps her to run it by waiting on customers, delivering groceries and keeping her company. They call her Grandma, although she is not any one kid's grandmother. She loves the gang, and the gang loves her. A chain store company wants to buy her store for more than market value, while a swindler also wants to buy it for next to nothing. The gang thinks both parties want to practically steal the store from her. The swindler stops in and tries talking Grandma into selling her store immediately for $1,500. She balks at the low price, then goes downtown to run some errands, leaving the gang in charge. Among her instructions is to tell anyone who calls on the telephone to call back later. Chain store officials stop by, and Jackie, Farina and Chubby try deterri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert F
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, renown, godlike" and '' berht'' "bright, light, shining"). It is the second most frequently used given name of ancient Germanic origin.Reaney & Wilson, 1997. ''Dictionary of English Surnames''. Oxford University Press. It is also in use as a surname. Another commonly used form of the name is Rupert. After becoming widely used in Continental Europe, the name entered England in its Old French form ''Robert'', where an Old English cognate form (''Hrēodbēorht'', ''Hrodberht'', ''Hrēodbēorð'', ''Hrœdbœrð'', ''Hrœdberð'', ''Hrōðberχtŕ'') had existed before the Norman Conquest. The feminine version is Roberta. The Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish form is Roberto. Robert is also a common name in many Germanic languages, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Ann Jackson
Mary Ann Jackson (January 14, 1923 – December 17, 2003) was an American child actress who appeared in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1928 to 1931. She was born and died in Los Angeles, California. Career Mary Ann Jackson's film career began under the shadow of her actor relatives, mother Charlotte Jackson (1891–1992) and older sister, "Peaches" Jackson (1913–2002). Peaches had a fairly prolific stint as a child actress, working with such stars as Rudolph Valentino and D.W. Griffith in full-length features. Jackson made her film debut in a 1925 Ruth Taylor short, ''Dangerous Curves Behind''. Her first big break came in the short-subject series ''The Smith Family''. These 20-minute Mack Sennett comedies co-starred Raymond McKee and Ruth Hiatt as a young married couple, and Mary Ann Jackson as their wide-eyed daughter Bubbles. The premise of each short had Smith experiencing some new enterprise (''Smith's New Home'', ''Smith's Candy Shop''), or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Black-and-white Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1931 Comedy Films
Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. * January 25 – Mohandas Gandhi is again released from imprisonment in India. * January 27 – Pierre Laval forms a government in France. * January 30 – Charlie Chaplin comedy drama film ''City Lights'' receives its public premiere at the Los Angeles Theater with Albert Einstein as guest of honor. Contrary to the current trend in cinema, it is a silent film, but with a score by Chaplin. Critically and commercially successful from the start, it will place consistently in lists of films considered the best of all time. February * February 4 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gives a speech calling for rapid industrialization, arguing that only strong indus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1931 Films
The following is an overview of 1931 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1931 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 5: RKO acquires the producing and distribution arm of Pathé for $4.6 million. * March 14: '' Alam Ara'', the first Indian-made sound film, premieres at the Majestic Cinema in Bombay. * June 20: Monogram Pictures releases its first film, ''Ships of Hate''. * July 7: Anti-competitive practices disclosed about certain distributors and producers in Canada. * November 17: E. R. Tinker elected president of Fox Films replacing Harley L. Clarke. * December 14: RKO refinancing plan approved. Best money stars '' Variety'' reported the following as the biggest male stars in the U.S. in alphabetical order although grouped George Arliss and Ronald Colman together as having equal ranking. The following were the biggest women ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Our Gang Filmography
__NOTOC__ The following is a complete list of the 220 ''Our Gang'' short films produced by Hal Roach Studios and/or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1922 and 1944, numbered by order of release along with production order. ---- 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1926 - 1927 - 1928 - 1929 - 1930 - #1931, 1931 #1932, 1932 - #1933, 1933 - #1934, 1934 - #1935, 1935 - #1936, 1936 - #1937, 1937 - #1938, 1938 - #1939, 1939 - #1940, 1940 - #1941, 1941 - #1942, 1942 - #1943, 1943 - #1944, 1944 ---- The Roach/Pathé silents (1922–1928) These two-reel silent ''Our Gang'' shorts were produced by Hal Roach Studios and distributed to theaters by Pathé. The Roach/MGM silents (1927–1929) These silent ''Our Gang'' shorts were produced by Hal Roach Studios and distributed to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. All films are two reels (20 minutes) long, except ''Spook Spoofing'', which is three reels (30 minutes) long. Shorts marked with an asterisk (*) were originally released with a synchronized mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 programs from the 1930s through the 1990s. The concept began as a 1950s to 1980s programming block on Chicago's WFBT-CA in 2003, growing until becoming a national network in 2010. Since 2010, the network has spun off seven sister networks: MeTV+, the action/adventure-oriented Heroes & Icons, the comedy-oriented Catchy Comedy, the film-centered Movies! (joint venture with Fox Television Stations), the drama-oriented Start TV (joint venture with CBS News and Stations), the history/documentary network Story Television, and the classic cartoon-centric MeTV Toons (in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery). MeTV is carried on digital subchannels of affiliated television stations in most markets; however, some MeTV-affiliated stations carry th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Movie Classics
AMC (an abbreviation of the channel's original name, American Movie Classics) is an American basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. Launched in late 1984, the channel aired classic films prior to the 1970s, similar to Turner Classic Movies, the channel's former rival, until 2002, when AMC retired the American Movie Classics name as a result of a major shift in its programming, and today airs original shows that are mainly dramas and documentaries, while airing theatrically released films, and acquired television programming. As of December 2024, AMC was available in approximately 60 million U.S. pay-TV households. This marks a decline from 65.1 million households in December 2023 and 94.8 million in July 2015, reflecting the broader trend of cord-cutting and the shift toward streaming platforms. History 1984–2002: Focus on classic films American Movie Classics, as AMC was originally known, debuted on October 1, 1984, as a premium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Mann
Margaret Mann (4 April 1868 – 4 February 1941, in Los Angeles, California), was a Scottish-American actress. Early years Mann was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, one of 10 children in her family. The family moved to South Africa when she was 12 years old. She worked at a variety of jobs, including being a dressmaker. Her first involvement with acting came when she was 50 years old, portraying Martha Washington in a pageant. Career Mann worked as an extra in films for 10 years, primarily at Universal and Triangle studios. She starred in a number of major silent films such as '' Black Beauty'' in 1921 and played the lead role in John Ford's 1928 drama '' Four Sons'', one of John Wayne's first films. She often played kind-hearted or suffering motherly roles. With the advent of sound films her roles got notably smaller and she was often uncredited. She portrayed the kindly grandmother Mrs. Mack in two ''Our Gang'' comedies in 1931. She also played bit parts in movies like ''Fran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dell Henderson
George Adelbert "Dell" Henderson (July 5, 1877 – December 2, 1956) was a Canadian-American actor, film director, 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 of St. Thomas, Ontario, St. Thomas, Dell Henderson started his acting career on the stage, but appeared in his first movie ''Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court'' in 1908. Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer D. W. Griffith since 1909 and appeared in numerous early Griffith shorts in Hollywood. Henderson also acted on a less prolific basis in the movies of producer Mack Sennett at Keystone Studios. In addition to acting, Henderson directed nearly 200 silent films between 1911 and 1928. Most of those films are forgotten or lost, but he also directed movies with silent stars like Harry Carey (actor), Harry Carey and Roscoe Arbuckle. Henderson also worked as a writer on numerous screenplays. After reti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Gillespie (actor)
William Gillespie (24 January 1894 – 23 June 1938) was a Scottish actor. Biography Gillespie started in Hollywood films from the silent era. He played in about 180 films between 1915 and 1939, although his appearances were often uncredited. Gillespie frequently appeared in Hal Roach comedies from 1917, usually as stuffy official or manager. He supported such "slapstick comedians" as Charlie Chaplin, Charley Chase, Our Gang, and Laurel and Hardy, but was most prolific supporting Harold Lloyd in 60 films. Selected filmography * ''The Cure'' (1917) * '' Easy Street'' (1917) * '' The Immigrant'' (1917) * '' The Big Idea'' (1917) * '' Look Pleasant, Please'' (1918) * '' Here Come the Girls'' (1918) * '' Swing Your Partners'' (1918) * '' Take a Chance'' (1918) (uncredited) * '' Bumping into Broadway'' (1919) * '' An Eastern Westerner'' (1920) (uncredited) * '' High and Dizzy'' (1920) (uncredited) * '' Get Out and Get Under'' (1920) (uncredited) * '' Number, Please?'' (1920) (unc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Apfel
Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927. Biography Apfel was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After a number of years in commerce, he decided to adopt the stage as a profession.Carolyn Lowrey (1920) ''The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen'', Moffat, Yard and Company, New York He secured his first professional engagement in 1900, in his hometown. He rose rapidly and soon held a position as director and producer, and was at the time noted as being the youngest stage director in America. He spent 11 years on the stage on Broadway, then joined the Edison Manufacturing Company. Apfel first directed for Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911–12, where he made the innovative short film ''The Passer-By'' (1912). He also did some experimental work at Edison's laboratory in Orange, on the Edison Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
