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The Little Ranger
''The Little Ranger'' is a 1938 ''Our Gang'' short comedy film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 169th short in the ''Our Gang'' series, and the first produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who purchased the rights to the series from creator Hal Roach. Plot Snubbed by his girlfriend Darla, Alfalfa accepts the invitation of tomboyish Muggsy to attend the local picture show. While watching the adventures of his favorite cowboy star, Alfalfa dreams that he himself is a Wild West sheriff, with his pals Buckwheat and Porky as deputies. Naturally, Darla also figures prominently in Alfalfa's dream, as does his archrival Butch. What happens next determines Alfalfa's destiny when he wakes up from his dream. Cast The Gang * Carl Switzer as Alfalfa * Darla Hood as Darla * Eugene Lee as Porky * Billie Thomas as Buckwheat * Shirley Coates as Muggsy Additional cast * Tommy Bond as Butch * Sidney Kibrick as Woim * Darwood Kaye as Waldo * Grace Bohanon as Girl in theatre Members of Butch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas Brickner (December 15, 1907 – September 29, 1993) was an American film director and actor, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. Early life Brickner was born in New York City. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in some films directed by Maurice Costello. He also worked at MGM as a book-keeper. Career Hal Roach and ''Our Gang'' As a teenager, Douglas got a job at the Hal Roach Studios, working in the office and appearing in bit parts in various Hal Roach films. He made walk-on appearances in at least three ''Our Gang'' shorts: ''Teacher's Pet (1930 film), Teacher's Pet'' (1930), ''Big Ears (film), Big Ears'' (1931) and ''Birthday Blues'' (1932). By 1934, Douglas was assistant to director Gus Meins and served as assistant director on Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's 1934 film ''Babes in Toyland (1934 film), Babes in Toyland'' and on the ''Our Gang'' comedies made between 1934 and mid-19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Kibrick
Sidney Henry Kibrick (born July 2, 1928) is an American former child actor primarily of the 1930s, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang/Little Rascals'' short subjects film series, featuring in more than two dozen, between 1933 and 1939. Biography Early life Kibrick was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on July 2, 1928; his elder brother was actor and fellow ''Our Gang'' cast member Leonard Kibrick, born in 1924. He attended Mount Vernon Junior High and the University of Southern California. ''Our Gang (film shorts)'' Kibrick's family relocated to Los Angeles when he was five and he was discovered at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre with his mother, where the film producer was scouting for children to appear in the "Our Gang" film short subjects, which were created by Hal Roach. Kibrick initially featured in a brief non-dialogue appearance as an extra in the feature film ''Dead End'', and was observed as one of three or so children huddled together during one of the river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film critic on ''Entertainment Tonight'' from 1982 to 2012. He currently teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and hosts the weekly podcast ''Maltin on Movies''. He served two terms as President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and votes for films to be selected for the National Film Registry. He has written books on animation and the history of film. He has also hosted numerous specials and provided commentary for several films. In 2021, he released his memoir, ''Starstruck: My Unlikely Road to Hollywood''. He received the Robert Osborne Award from Turner Classic Movies in 2022. Early life and education Maltin was born in New York City, the son of singer Jacqueline (née Gould; 1923–2012) and Aaron Isaac Maltin (1915–2002 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hide And Shriek
''Hide and Shriek'' is a 1938 ''Our Gang'' short film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 168th ''Our Gang'' entry in the series, and the last to involve series creator Hal Roach. The film is a comedy mystery, about a private detective investigating a case about stolen candy. The detective and his two assistants follow two suspects into an amusement park. The trio are trapped in haunted house attraction, and are scared by the fake ghosts and monsters of the attraction. Plot Opening his own detective agency, Alfalfa dons a deerstalker cap and rechristens himself "X-10, Sooper Sleuth." His first assignment: to find out who stole a box of candy from Darla. Suspecting that Leonard and Junior are the alleged culprits, Alfalfa and his chief (and only) operatives Buckwheat and Porky put a tail on the two youngsters. Unfortunately, the three junior gumshoes are sidetracked to a seaside amusement pier, where they find themselves trapped in a haunted house attraction. Darla even ... [...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] |
Hal Roach Studios
Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and, through its TV production subsidiary, Hal Roach Television Corporation, television production studio. Known as ''The Laugh Factory to the World'', it was founded by producer Hal Roach and business partners Dan Linthicum and I.H. Nance as the Rolin Film Company on July 23, 1914. The studio lot, at 8822 Washington Boulevard in Culver City, California, United States, was built in 1920, at which time Rolin was renamed to ''Hal E. Roach Studios''. The first series in Hal Roach Studios were the ''Willie Work'' comedies, with first short being '' Willie Runs the Park''. History Roach saw significant success in the 1920s with series of short comedy films featuring stars such as Harold Lloyd, Snub Pollard, and the ''Our Gang'' kids. The studio produced both short films and features for distribution through Pathé Exchange until 1927, when it signed a new distribution deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. By the early 1930s, the studio had en ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Sidney
George Sidney (October 4, 1916May 5, 2002) was an American film director and producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. His work includes cult classics '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1963) and '' Viva Las Vegas'' (1964). With an extensive background in acting, stage direction, film editing, and music, Sidney created many of post-war Hollywood's big budget musicals, such as '' Annie Get Your Gun'' (1950), ''Show Boat'' (1951), '' Kiss Me Kate'' (1953), '' Jupiter's Darling'' (1955), and '' Pal Joey'' (1957). He was also a president of the Screen Directors Guild for 16 years. A founding partner of Hanna-Barbera animation studio, Sidney was a proponent of the integration of animation into live action, which is immortalized in the dance scene between actor Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945). An avid art collector, gardener, musician, painter, and photographer, George Sidney was known for his impeccable sense of style and generosity. His clothing, original sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Block-Heads
''Block-Heads'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by John G. Blystone and starring Laurel and Hardy, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It was produced by Hal Roach Studios for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film, a reworking of elements from the Laurel and Hardy shorts ''We Faw Down'' (1928) and ''Unaccustomed As We Are'' (1929), was Roach's final film for MGM. Plot In the trenches of World War I, Oliver (Ollie), Stan, and their fellow soldiers as they prepare for combat. However, Stan is relegated to trench duty while his comrades proceed into battle. Subsequently, the film fast-forwards two decades, revealing Stan's continued vigilance at his post, symbolized by the accumulation of bean cans and the well-worn path of his patrol. His accidental discovery prompts a hero's welcome upon his return home, where he reunites with Ollie, now married to Mrs. Hardy. Upon visiting Stan at the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Soldiers' Home, Ollie discovers him seemingly wheelchair-bound, leading ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. After numerous ownership and structural changes and revamps, United Artists was acquired by media conglomerate Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 for a reported $350 million ($ billion today). On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media and merged them to revive the television production unit of United Artists as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). MGM itself acquired UAMG on December 14, 2015, and folded it into MGM Television, their own television division. MGM briefly revived the United Artists brand as United Artist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Spanky
''General Spanky'' is a 1936 American comedy film produced by Hal Roach. A spin-off of Roach's popular ''Our Gang'' short subjects, the film stars George McFarland, Phillips Holmes, Rosina Lawrence, Billie Thomas and Carl Switzer. Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas, it was originally released to theaters on December 11, 1936, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This film, a Civil War period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move ''Our Gang'' into features, as the double feature and block booking were slowly smothering his short subjects production. The film was a box-office disappointment and, after another year of shorts production, Roach ended up selling the ''Our Gang'' unit to MGM in May 1938. When Roach bought the rights to the back catalog of ''Our Gang'' films he had produced from MGM in 1949, he did not buy back the rights to ''General Spanky''. The film was part of the pre-May 1986 MGM catalog acquired in 1986 by Turner Entertain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topper (film)
''Topper'' is a 1937 American supernatural film, supernatural comedy film starring Constance Bennett and Cary Grant, and featuring Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, and Eugene Pallette in support. Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, it tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. The film was adapted by Eric S. Hatch, Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the 1926 novel by Thorne Smith. It was produced by Hal Roach and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. ''Topper'' was a huge hit with film audiences in the summer of 1937. ''Topper'' was the first black-and-white film to be digitally film colorization, colorized, re-released in 1985 by Hal Roach Studios. Plot George and Marion Kerby are as irresponsible as they are rich. When George wrecks their flashy custom roadster, they wake up from the accident as ghosts. Realizing they are neither in Heaven nor Hell because they have never been responsible enough to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurel And Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, 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 in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "sound film, talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer Marvin Hatley, T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats. Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
