Errors in Leonard Maltin Book

[WalkerRoker]

I,ve own the book by Leonard Maltin for a couple years now, and read it every detail, but I can't help but wonder if he's watching the same shorts I am.

For example, he credits Mary kornman in "young sherlocks" and "Fire Fighters" though she's in neither short (the blond girl in "firefighters" is *not* Mary). then in "seeing the world" he misidentifies Mary as Jean Darling, even though jean neverappeared in that short either. Mary's last appearance was in "Tired Business men", but you'd never it since Leo fails to credit her in that one as well.
But he doesn't make these goofs with just Mary. He points out the appearance of Wheezer in "Big Brother" but obviously misses the brief shot of him in the preceding short "Chicken Feed" (and trust me, you don't need freeze-frame to notice him, just don't turn your head).
Maltin has done a wonderful job organizing this series and i'm thankful for that, but I wonder If maltin viewed some of these shorts in a sleep-deprived state, now I question some of the other info that I have not been able to confirm myself. Even the Simpsons episode guide didn't have errors like this.

WalkerRoker

[zootmoney]

Interesting- I have the 1979 version of the book. In that version, he did not list Mary as being in Fire Fighters. He also listed The Fourth Alarm as her last short.

[zootmoney]

I just watched Tired Business Men and Seeing The World. Mary Kornman is not in either one. I am not sure who that girl was, but the facial features are different than Mary's. Notice that there are no close-up shots of her.

[follies38girl]

HELLO THERE, LITTLE RASCALS AFICIANADOS: IT'S LAURA JUNE KENNY HERE, SAYING YES, THERE ARE MISTAKES AND OMISSIONS IN THE MALTIN-BANN BOOK. WHEN I MET RICHARD BANN AT THE LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL LAST OCTOBER, HE ADMITTED SUCH BECAUSE I WAS APOLOGIZING FOR MISSPELLING HIS NAME IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY AT THE END OF MY BOOK. LOOKING UP "OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1938," MY ONE AND ONLY "BIG MOMENT" IN MOVIES, BECAUSE OF MY ADORING SIGH AT THE CONCLUSION OF ALFALFA'S CROONING, I SEE GLORIA HURST MENTIONED AS IN THE CAST, BUT THERE IS NO MENTION OF ME! SO, YES, NAMES ARE LEFT OUT AND PROBABLY MIXED-UP IN THOSE CAST LISTS MALTIN AND BANN RESEARCHED. GLORIA WAS THE LITTLE BLONDIE AT THE OTHER END OF THE ROW OF US HULA-CLAD GIRLS, LISTENING TO ALFALFA. PROBABLY THE STUDIO DIDN'T KEEP VERY ACCURATE RECORDS TO BEGIN WITH. LAURA JUNE KENNY

[mtw12055]

Aug 5, 2008 15:36:39 GMT -5 jrsl1988 said:

I notice that he had John Collum (Uh-Huh) credited in many shorts, when in fact I only seen him in 5.

Actually, that is not an error. John Collum was an extra in those other films. Check out theluckycorner.com/ and you'll see what I mean.
P.S. I always thought Richard W. Bann was the one behind the cast listings. For that matter, I wonder if he and or Leonard Maltin have seen theluckycorner.com

[ymymeatemup]

Just for the record, there is a slight chance that it isn't actually John Collum who plays "Uh Huh." On the DVD for "The Devil's Brother" (a Laurel & Hardy feature for those unfamiliar), Maltin & Bann provide commentary. At one point, three of the peripheral Our Gang kids come into the scene, and Bann identifies Collum as 'Red' Jackson. However, the material I've been looking at recently at USC corroborates John Collum as the kid. The cutting continuity for one of the shorts ("Fish Hooky," I think) introduces him as "Johnny (Uh Huh)," and some of the production sheets for the one-reel era mention John Collum or John Keith (his middle name). There was also a studio employee involved with the series named Joe Collum, who was presumably John's dad. I'm wondering if perhaps Bann thought he was looking at Dickie Jackson, though I have no idea if he was ever nicknamed 'Red.'

[bigshotjones]

One thing that is technically not an error, but still not completely accurate is that an impostor "Spanky McFarland" appeared in the 1975 film "Moonrunners," which would later becom the TV series "Dukes of Hazzard." It's actually singer Spanky McFarlane of the group "Spanky and Our Gang," and whose name is misspelled in the credits as "Spanky McFarlan." The book doesn't actually say it's an impostor Spanky, but does imply it by listing that factoid in a section on impostors.

I've sent in snippets of her scene to various sites listing (the 'real') Spanky McFarland as appearing, and ain't nobody corrected them. I did correct it on IMDB and Wiki, but a ton of places still have the bad credit.