''Forgotten Babies'' is a 1933 ''

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 Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

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 Robert F. McGowan.

Plot

The children are taking care of their baby brothers and sisters on a Saturday, but would much rather go swimming. They blackmail Spanky into doing the job for them, by threatening to reveal that he broke a neighbor's window. Spanky is left at home alone to mind all the babies. He tells them a long, fractured story about

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

, but one baby slips away unnoticed and climbs the stairs. As Spanky hurries to bring him down with a cushion, the others start causing havoc around the house, such as tossing fish out of their bowl, throwing food from the icebox onto the kitchen floor for Pete the dog to eat, and using a vacuum cleaner to spray flour all over the kitchen. To keep the stair-climbing baby out of trouble, Spanky pours glue on the floor and makes him sit in it. As he tries in vain to rein in the other babies, one of them turns on a radio (broadcasting a murder mystery), dials a telephone, and leaves the receiver in range of the speaker. The operators hear the broadcast and call the police, thinking that an actual murder is taking place. The police reach the house, find the radio, and confront the children when they return from swimming. As the water from an overflowing upstairs bathtub leaks through the ceiling, the children explain that they left Spanky in charge of the babies. They find him in the kitchen, where he has put two of the babies in birdcages; glued a third to the floor; used a chair, spittoons, and flatirons to immobilize a fourth; and barricaded Pete in a breadbox.

Cast

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 * Matthew Beard as Stymie *

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 ...

as Tommy * Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy *

Bobby Hutchins Robert E. Hutchins (March 29, 1925 – May 17, 1945) was an American child actor who was a regular in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1927 to 1933. A native of Tacoma, Washington, he was given the nickname of Wheezer after running aro ...

as Wheezer * Dickie Moore as Dickie *

John Collum John K. Collum (June 29, 1926 — August 28, 1962) was an American child actor. He appeared in many ''Our Gang'' films of the 1930s as the character Uh-Huh. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Collum was the son of Hal Roach's casting director, ...

as Uh-huh * Dickie Jackson as Dickie * David Holt - Our Gang member *

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

Bobbie Beard Bobbie Beard (August 2, 1930 – October 16, 1999) was an American child actor, best known for portraying "Cotton" in several ''Our Gang'' short films from 1932 to 1934. He was a native of Los Angeles, California. His older brother was Matthe ...

as Cotton * Dickie Hutchins as Baby who says "Remarkable" * Tommy McFarland - Baby who breaks a lamp, jumps on the bed and overflows the bath tub * Murlin Powers as Baby * Duke Sexton as Baby * Harry Bernard as Officer *

Estelle Etterre Estelle Etterre (sometimes billed as Belle Hare; July 26, 1899 – March 7, 1996) was an American actress. She appeared in many early 1930s Hal Roach films, such as the Laurel and Hardy short films '' County Hospital'', '' The Chimp'' (both 1932 ...

as Nemo's girl friend in broadcast / Telephone company operator *

Billy Gilbert William Gilbert Barron (September 12, 1894 – September 23, 1971), known professionally as Billy Gilbert, was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his comic sneeze routines. He appeared in over 200 feature films, short subjects a ...

as Radio station NIX announcer / Dr. Nemo, serial character *

Dick Gilbert Dick Gilbert (July 12, 1889 – May 6, 1960), was an American actor mainly associated with the Hal Roach Studios, where he appeared in numerous Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy comedies. He appeared in 52 films between 1922 and 1952 A former ...

as Officer * Madeline McGowan as Telephone company operator

Notes

''Forgotten Babies'' is a partial

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sa ...

of ''

Cradle Robbers ''Cradle Robbers'' is a 1924 short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 26th ''Our Gang'' short subject released. Synopsis The boys cannot go fishing because they have to take care of their baby brothers and sisters. Af ...

''.

References

External links