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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 8, 2013 16:20:11 GMT -5
Alfalfa, passing a dirty handkerchief to Mickey Gubitosi so that he can dry his eyes: "and just remember Mickey that these are the best years of your life. It's all down hill after this, for both of us."
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 21, 2013 7:44:36 GMT -5
Hal Roach: And I'd like to see credits at the end of each Our Gang movie. Those kids are talented professionals who do a great job for this studio and they deserve to have their names up there for people to see.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 22, 2013 10:49:16 GMT -5
Mary Ann: Got any money? Harry: Why yes, Mary. Will you wiggle your ears for me? Mary Ann: A woman can't be wigglin' all the time!
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 23, 2013 17:03:02 GMT -5
Hal Roach: We tried to get Shirley Temple to join the Gang but she turned us down flat.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 24, 2013 8:06:41 GMT -5
Hal Roach: What happened to Scooter Lowry? Not much, he reverted to his real name and went to work for a rival studio. He was quite successful as I remember and headed a sort of Our Gang type series called Mickey Mc-something or other.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 27, 2013 18:11:45 GMT -5
Hal Roach: It's a god darn depression, people don't want to see scruffy little pauper kids playing in the gutter, they want escapism, glitter, glamor. I'm thinking Ziegfeld follies for kids, tap dancing, big musical numbers, the sort of thing that MGM would never do.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 28, 2013 9:18:09 GMT -5
MGM executive: There's a war on, people are suffering. As a country we've just scraped through a depression, the dust bowl and prohibition. People don't want to see some idealized mid-American fluff with white picket fences and too rich kiddies putting on unrealistic shows with eighty piece orchestras and troops of dancers. People want realism, gritty realism and I want the Our Gang movies to cater to this need. Let's have pauper kids from struggling families. I don't want any designer clothes I want scruffy, patched and well worn clothes, battered bowler hats, that sort of thing. Let's have pathos and hard hitting drama but plenty of belly laughs too. I want people to leave the cinema feeling that our Little Rascals are ordinary kids who suffer and don't have things too easy but I want them to have a sense of hope too, that in the end things will turn out all right, then they'll come back for more. I want our MGM contribution to be remembered as the high point of the Our Gang series and I predict that it will be.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 28, 2013 21:46:01 GMT -5
Pete: Wheezer, just leave me alone. Let me live my own life. What do I look like to you, a dog? Am I some canine here to amuse you?
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 29, 2013 9:18:11 GMT -5
Sidney Kibrick TV interview reminiscing about Our Gang: Oh yes, of course I remember Alfalfa very well. How could I ever forget him? He was a real character on the set, everybody adored him. He was really great with the younger kids, helped them with their lines and stuff. He was a like a big brother to Bobby Blake back when the kid was still called Mickey Gubitosi. The boy idolized him, followed him around everywhere. Carl was always bringing in candy and chocolate bars for the kid. The production staff adored Alfalfa too, you see unlike the rest of us klutzes he always got his lines right straight away and they shot most of his scenes in one take. He was a real favorite with the camera men, he was always asking them questions and showing an interest in what they did. The rest of us kids would be mucking around, you know being typical kids but Carl, he'd be sitting there learning about exposure times and film speeds, all sorts of technical stuff. He really took it all on board too, I can remember one time that he fixed a camera that had got jammed up. They were on the verge of cancelling filming for the day until Alfalfa whipped out his little traveling toolkit, that he always carried around with him, and he had that camera stripped and put back together as good as new in less time than it takes to say MGM. Then there was the time that his quick thinking saved the set from burning down. For real, he peed on a small fire than had been ignited by over heating studio lights and stopped a real disaster they reckoned. The local fire department gave him a medal for it, we all laughed at the time, it had 'Wee Fireman Alfalfa' engraved on it. Yeah Carl was a real hero that day but he was a real stand up good guy every other day too.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 29, 2013 9:45:38 GMT -5
Spanky: No I won't do it! Georgie dunn wanna hit bugs with nasty hammer. Georgie likes bugs. Georgie wanna be an entomologist when Georgie grows up. Go away nasty man or Georgie will hit you with hammer.
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Post by RJH on Jul 31, 2013 0:24:26 GMT -5
Hal Roach: I would never cast midgets as babies; it's insensitive, demeaning, and not all that funny. It's so unoriginal I would never think of such a casting - and certainly not more than once. And the same goes for dressing boys in girls' clothes.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 31, 2013 0:40:44 GMT -5
Mickey G: Fellas, my parents are fighting over hash again! I'm getting a Chinese brother! Now I ain't got no dad.
Any of the kids: Who cares?
Spanky: Uncle Sam needs our help.
Any of the kids: Who cares?
Janet: My parents don't love me anymore...
Any of the kids: Who cares?
Spanky: Do you think we should get those professional kids to do the show?
Any of the kids: Who cares?
MGM Executive: We lost so much money on that last short.
Any of the kids: Who cares? (actually, by that point, I'm sure none of the Gang did care)
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jul 31, 2013 17:06:38 GMT -5
Spanky: Why are you crying Mickey? Alfalfa: Is it because you don't have a dad? Buckwheat: Is it cos you's is havin' hash again for dinner? Porky (shrugs): Me too, what he said Darla: Does your icky wicky tummy hurt? Butch: Did someone hit you? Harold Switzer: Is it because you heard somewhere that the universe is expanding and you fear that one day in the far distant future all matter will be dissipated throughout the vast emptiness of space leaving every single atom light years away from its nearest neighbor? Uh-huh: Uh? Mickey (nodding): All of the above and I have a Chinese brother too. Attachments:
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Aug 1, 2013 7:48:23 GMT -5
MGM executive: The appeal of the Our Gang series is that it connects with the ordinary viewing public. The Little Rascals represent all those kids who buy cinema tickets to watch them, that's the secret of Our Gang's success. I want us to stick to Hal Roach's winning formula. The Little Rascals should continue to act like ordinary kids and do the same things that ordinary kids do, right? So let's have more Shakespeare, more tap dancing routines and let's have more episodes where our Little Rascals are on the radio, just like ordinary kids. Politics is really popular among school children so I hear, so lets have Our Gang standing in elections. I want to see those Little Rascals printing their own newspapers, running detective agencies and organizing citizen based awareness schemes that promote the war effort, safety while crossing roads and not telling lies, you know all those thing that normal everyday kids do when they aren't busy organizing boxing matches, wrestling matches and parading through the streets in aid of good old Uncle Sam.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Aug 5, 2013 15:09:37 GMT -5
Bill Cosby: When I was a little kid I was once in an Our Gang movie, just as an extra you understand. I never got to say anything but I did get to meet Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Spanky and all the rest. It was the high point of my entire childhood and let me tell you Hal Roach was years ahead of his time, that studio was more racially integrated than the Cosby Show.
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