''Skippy'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

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 ...

based on the popular

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

and novel '' Skippy'' by Percy Crosby. The screenplay was by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. A four-time Academy Award winner, he is best known for his witty and literate dialogue and his preference for voice-over ...

Don Marquis Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters A ...

, Norman Z. McLeod, and Sam Mintz. The film stars

Jackie Cooper John Cooper Jr. (September 15, 1922 – May 3, 2011) was an American actor and director. He began his career performing in film as a child, and successfully transitioned to adult roles and directing in both film and television. At age nine, h ...

in the title role, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green and

Jackie Searl John E. Searl (July 7, 1921 – April 29, 1991) was an American actor. He portrayed bratty kids in several films, and often had only small roles, such as "Robin Figg" in 1934's '' Strictly Dynamite''. Early years His name is sometimes written ...

. Director

Norman Taurog Norman Rae Taurog (February 23, 1899 – April 7, 1981) was an American film director and screenwriter. From 1920 to 1968, Taurog directed 180 films. At the age of 32, he received the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Skippy (film), Skippy' ...

won the

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

(at age 32, he remained the youngest winner in this category until

Damien Chazelle Damien Sayre Chazelle (; born January 19, 1985) is an American filmmaker. He directed the psychological drama ''Whiplash (2014 film), Whiplash'' (2014), the musical romance ''La La Land'' (2016), the biographical drama ''First Man (film), First ...

won for the 2016 film ''La La Land''). The film also did well enough to inspire a sequel called '' Sooky'' (1931). ''Skippy'' was released on April 5, 1931, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. For his performance, Cooper, at the age of nine, became the youngest person to earn 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 ...

nomination for

Best Actor in a Leading Role The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading ro ...

. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Plot

Skippy (

) is the feisty son of the strict Dr. Herbert Skinner (

Willard Robertson Willard Robertson (January 1, 1886 – April 5, 1948) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films from 1924 to 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California. Biography Robertson first worked ...

) and his wife Ellen (

Enid Bennett Enid Eulalie Bennett (15 July 1893 – 14 May 1969) was an Australian silent film actress, mostly active in American film. Early life Bennett was born on 15 July 1893 in York, Western Australia, the daughter of Nellie Mary Louise (''née'' Wa ...

) who live in Morrisville, Indiana. Skinner forbids Skippy to play in the pauperized Shantytown, because of its filth and criminal surroundings. Regardless, Skippy and his friend Sidney (

) visit Shantytown, where Skippy meets a new boy named Sooky ( Robert Coogan,

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film ''The Kid (1921 film), The Kid'' (1921) made him one o ...

's little brother). He saves Sooky from the bully Harley Nubbins (

Donald Haines Donald Haines (May 9, 1919 – February 20, 1943) was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the '' Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1930 to 1933. He appeared in '' Our Gang'' during the early sound days along with ...

), and Skippy and Sooky become friends. One day, Harley accidentally breaks his father's windshield with Skippy's yo-yo. Harley, whose father is brutish and aggressive, blames the damage on Skippy and Sooky. Mr. Nubbins ( Jack Rube Clifford), who works as a dogcatcher, takes Sooky's dog and demands the two boys pay for the damages if they want their dog back. Skippy and Sooky gather three dollars by breaking Skippy's savings bank, but Mr. Nubbins accepts it only for his windshield. He gives them three days to obtain another three dollars for a dog license, and he threatens to kill their dog if they don't get him the money. Sooky and Skippy spend the next two days selling bottles, lemonade and wood, and staging a performance to earn money, but Skippy's father doesn't want to lend them the remaining thirty cents. Mr. Nubbins kills the dog and Skippy blames his father. The next morning, Skippy gets a new bicycle from his father but trades it to his friend, Eloise ( Mitzi Green), for her new dog. He then takes the dog to Sooky. Dr. Skinner has a change of heart and buys Sooky a licensed dog, finds his mother a job, and refrains from ordering Shantytown destroyed, instead offering assistance to its citizens. For the first time, Dr. Skinner plays with Skippy in Shantytown. There they accidentally break Mr. Nubbins' new windshield. Dr. Skinner wins a fight against Mr. Nubbins and shows he is a good father.

Cast

as Skippy Skinner * Robert Coogan as Sooky Wayne * Mitzi Green as Eloise *

as Sidney *

as Dr. Herbert Skinner *

as Mrs. Ellen Skinner *

as Harley Nubbins * Jack Rube Clifford as Mr. Nubbins, Dog-Catcher *

Helen Jerome Eddy Helen Jerome Eddy (February 25, 1897 – January 27, 1990) was a movie actress from New York City. She was noted as a character actress who played genteel heroines in films such as '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1917). Early years Eddy was bor ...

as Mrs. Wayne *

Guy Oliver George Guy Oliver (September 25, 1878 – September 1, 1932) was an American actor. He appeared in at least 189 silent film era motion pictures and 32 talkies in character roles between 1911 and 1931. His obituary gives him credit for at least ...

as Dad Burkey

Production

In the scene where the dog dies, director Norman Taurog needed to get his nephew, Jackie Cooper, to cry, so he told young Jackie he was going to kill his own dog by dragging the dog off set (with the assistance of Cooper's grandmother) and then having a security guard "shoot" the dog. Cooper did the scene, but despite finding the dog was not harmed, he was still hysterical for hours afterward to the point of needing a sedative.

Reception

''Skippy'' received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 86%, based on 7 reviews.

References

External links

* * * * {{Norman Taurog 1931 films 1931 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films about children Films based on American comics Films based on comic strips Films directed by Norman Taurog Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Live-action films based on comics Paramount Pictures films 1930s American films English-language comedy-drama films