''General Spanky'' is a 1936 American

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 ...

produced by

Hal Roach Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr. Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter, ...

. A spin-off of Roach's popular ''

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 subjects, the film stars

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 ...

Phillips Holmes Phillips Raymond Holmes (July 22, 1907 – August 12, 1942) was an American actor. For his contributions to the film industry, he was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life, education and career Born in ...

Rosina Lawrence Rosina May Lawrence (December 30, 1912 – June 23, 1997) was a British-Canadian actress and singer. She had a short but memorable career in the 1920s and 1930s in Hollywood before she married in 1939 and retired from entertainment. She is best ...

, 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

(

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

). This film, a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move ''Our Gang'' into features, as the

double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...

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 Entertainment Co., which holds the rights today as a subsidiary of

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

''General Spanky'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in 1991. In 2016, it was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in Region 1 by Warner Bros. via their

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

Plot

Spanky (

), Alfalfa ( Carl Switzer), Buckwheat ( Billie Thomas) and others form an army called "The Royal Protection of Women and Children Regiment Club of the World and Mississippi River". The group sees unexpected action when Union troops approach, engaging in battles more farcical than fierce. Using clowning tactics instead of military tactics, the kids stop the advance . . . and later save an adult friend from the firing squad.

Cast

Principal cast

Spanky 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 Spanfield George 'Spanky' Leonard *

as Marshall "Marsh" Valient *

Ralph Morgan Raphael Kuhner Wuppermann (July 6, 1883 – June 11, 1956), known professionally as Ralph Morgan, was a Hollywood stage and film character actor, and union activist. He was a brother of actor Frank Morgan as well as the father of actress ...

as Yankee General *

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended ...

as Capt. Simmons, The Gambler *

as Louella Blanchard * Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas as Buckwheat * Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer as Alfalfa *

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Bosworth began his career in theater, eventually transitioning to the emerging film industry. Despite a battle with ...

as Col. Blanchard * Robert Middlemass as Overseer * James Burtis as Boat Captain *

Louise Beavers Louise Beavers (March 8, 1900 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress who appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s to 1960. She played a prominent role in advancing the lives of black Am ...

as Cornelia * William Best as Henry, the lazy slave

Additional cast

* Harold Switzer as Harold * Jerry Tucker as Jerry * Flayette Roberts as Flayette—Gang kid in Army * John Collum as Our Gang member * Rex Downing as Our Gang member * Dickie De Nuet as Our Gang member * Ernie Alexander as Friend of Marshall *

Hooper Atchley Lemuel Hooper Atchley (April 30, 1887 – November 17, 1943) was an American film actor. Atchley was the son of Mr. and Mrs. P. S. Atchley. He was a 1908 graduate of the Knoxville, Tennessee, school system. Atchley's first professional ac ...

as Slavemaster *

Harry Bernard Harry Bernard (January 13, 1878 – November 4, 1940) was an American actor and comedian. He is best remembered for his appearance in numerous comedy films by Mack Sennett and Hal Roach.https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0076236/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm ...

as Man on the boat * Jack Daugherty as General's Aid * Walter Gregory as Capt. Haden * Karl Hackett as First mate * Henry Hall as Slavemaster * Ham Kinsey as Man with paint on shoes * Frank LaRue as Slavemaster * Richard R. Neil as Col. Parrish * Buddy Roosevelt as Lt. Johnson * Jeffrey Sayre as Friend of Marshall * Carl Voss as Second Lieutenant * Jack Cooper as Bit role * Alex Finlayson as Bit role *

Jack Hill Jack Hill (born January 28, 1933) is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the exploitation genre. He was an early associate of Francis Ford Coppola and Roger Corman, and worked on many films distributed by American International Pictur ...

as Bit role * Portia Lanning as Bit role * Harry Strang as Bit role * Slim Whittaker as Bit role * Von the Dog as Von

Awards

The film was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

in the category Best Sound Recording ( Elmer A. Raguse).

References

External links

* * * {{Gordon Douglas 1936 films 1936 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Fred C. Newmeyer Films directed by Gordon Douglas Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Our Gang films American Civil War films 1936 directorial debut films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films scored by Marvin Hatley English-language comedy films