''Divot Diggers'' is a 1936 ''

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, who also pr ...

'' short

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Robert F. McGowan Robert Francis McGowan (July 11, 1882 – January 27, 1955) was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the ''Our Gang'' short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933. Career Before moving to Los Angeles, ...

; It was the 142nd ''Our Gang'' short to be released.

Plot

The action takes place at an expansive California golf course, where the gang merrily play their own ragtag version of golf with makeshift clubs. When the course's regular caddies quit ''

en masse Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Eng ...

'', the desperate caddy master hires the gang members as replacements. The kids—and their gibberish-spouting pet chimpanzee—proceed to drive an adult foursome crazy, then put the finishing touch on an imperfect day by accidentally commandeering a lawn-mowing tractor.

Cast

The Gang

Darla Hood Darla Jean Hood (November 8, 1931 – June 13, 1979) was an American child actress, best known as the female lead in the ''Our Gang'' series from 1935 to 1941. As an adult, she performed as a singer in nightclubs and on television. ''Our ...

as Darla * Eugene Lee as Porky *

George McFarland George Robert Philips McFarland (October 2, 1928 – June 30, 1993) was an American actor most famous for starring as a child as Spanky in Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s. The ''Our Gang'' short ...

as Spanky *

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 tel ...

as Alfalfa *

Billie Thomas Billie may refer to: People *Billie (given name), the given name Other * ''Billie'' (1965 film), a 1965 film starring Patty Duke * ''Billie'' (2019 film), a documentary about Billie Holiday * ''Billie'' (musical), 1928 Broadway musical by ...

as Buckwheat * Patsy May as Baby Patsy *

Harold Switzer Harold Frederick Switzer (January 16, 1925 – April 14, 1967) was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series as an extra. He was the older brother of gang member Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Ear ...

as Harold *

Pete The Pup Pete the Pup (September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946), also called the Mississippi Man Mauler, was an American dog actor known to portray "Pete, the dog with the ring around his eye" in Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' comedies series (later known as '' ...

as himself * Jiggs The Chimpanzee as Chimpanzee

Additional cast

Leonard Kibrick Leonard Kibrick (September 6, 1924 – January 4, 1993) was an American child actor. Career Kibrick was most notable for appearing in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1934 to 1936, usually portraying the villain. Kibrick first appear ...

as Caddy *

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's ''Mickey Mouse'' short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Di ...

as Bill, golfer *

Tom Dugan Thomas or Tom Dugan may refer to: * Thomas Buchanan Dugan (1858–1940), United States Army brigadier general *Tom Dugan (actor, born 1889) (1889–1955), Irish-born American film and television actor *Tom Dugan (actor, born 1961) Tom Dugan (bo ...

as Aggravated golfer * Jack Hatfield as Mr. Hatfield, the caddy master * Thomas Pogue as Mr. Jackson, golfer * David Thursby as John, golfer *

Russ Powell Russ Powell (September 16, 1875 – November 28, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in 186 films between 1915 and 1943. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * ''The Fas ...

as Chimpanzee (voice) * Hubert Diltz as Tractor driver * Jack Hill as Golfer *

Matty Roubert Matthew "Matty" Roubert (January 22, 1907 – May 17, 1973) was an American actor, who started out as a child actor working in silent films. As an adult, he mainly worked in B movie western films. Roubert made his film debut at the age of two in ...

as Caddy

Notes

*After several years away from the ''Our Gang'' series, longtime mentor

briefly resumed his directorial activities. *''Divot Diggers'' featured several new Leroy Shield musical compositions, including "Hot and Dry", "Standing on the Corner", "Beyond the Rainbow" and "Up in Room 4". *

's final short was ''Divot Diggers'' save for '' The Lucky Corner'', which was shot in 1935.

References

External links

* 1936 films 1936 comedy films 1936 short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Robert F. McGowan American golf films Hal Roach Studios short films Our Gang films 1930s American films Films scored by Marvin Hatley Films scored by Leroy Shield 1930s English-language films {{short-comedy-film-stub