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Post by littlerascal4891 on Sept 13, 2009 16:09:36 GMT -5
Are their any kids from "Our Gang" who weren't on the series too long, and you would have liked to see them in more shorts?
For me, it is Wally Albright. He wasn't in very many "Our Gang" films. I thought he was really likable and a good actor. I also would have liked to see Dickie Moore in some more shorts. I think that he only appeared in 8 "Our Gang" films. And then there's Dorothy DeBorba... I think she was in quite a few shorts, but I don't remember her ever having a lot of screen time, at least not enough to consider her a "leading lady," like Darla and Mary Kornman. But I think Dorothy is adorable and would have liked to see her have some more lines.
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Post by hoosierjoe on Sept 13, 2009 17:54:37 GMT -5
I agree with all of those. Dickie and Wally evidently made a lot of appearances in other films. I don't know why Dorothy wasn't more prominent other than McGowan had other kids he featured instead.
I'll tell you one I really liked and he was always a secondary character and that is Sherwood Bailey. I always liked his prissy boy portrayal.
Breezy Brisbane was another one who wasn't around long and when he was featured he always did a good job.
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Post by shellackophile on Sept 13, 2009 21:02:41 GMT -5
I don't know why Dorothy wasn't more prominent other than McGowan had other kids he featured instead. Such as Spanky, Spanky, Spanky! Seriously, though, it's regrettable Dorothy never got a leading role. OTOH I can't really imagine her as a "leading lady" like Darla; she's a little too tomboyish for that. (So was Mary Ann, for that matter.) Dorothy was with "Our Gang" for three years and 24 shorts, and we have some really treasurable moments with her. Some of my faves: fighting with Sherwood when he pulls her hair on "Choo Choo" (man, she could give as good as she got!), sticking up for Stymie on "The Pooch," and playing dressup on the "taxi" in "Free Wheeling" ("Does that raddio work?")
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Post by shellackophile on Sept 13, 2009 21:24:57 GMT -5
Actually answeing the original question this time I would have liked to see more of Marianne Edwards (Beginner's Luck, Sprucin' Up). She was a cutie! Definitely "leading lady" material.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Sept 13, 2009 21:26:20 GMT -5
Now that you mention it, shellackophile, it is kind of difficult trying to imagine Dorothy playing a Darla-type role. Dorothy was "one of the boys" while Darla (and Mary and a few others) was more girly. I can't really see Dorothy someone's romantic interest like some of the other "Our Gang" girls.
I've only seen one Breezy episode: "Hook and Ladder," and he only had a supporting role. I'm a pretty big "Our Gang" fan, and I know quite a bit about the series and cast members, but there are MANY "Our Gang" films that I've never seen. But I've heard that Breezy did a good job being the gang's leader. I'm not sure who Sherwood is... sounds familar.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Sept 13, 2009 21:30:44 GMT -5
Oh yes, Marianne Edwards was very cute! It makes me wonder... do you think they decided to replace her with Darla? She appeared in some pre-Darla episodes, and then all of a sudden she was gone and we got Darla. I thought Marianne was really cute with Spanky. They would've made a good "couple."
Does anyone know if Marianne Edwards is still alive?
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Post by wheeepwooow on Sept 13, 2009 22:51:27 GMT -5
I would have been interested in seeing at least one more season of Dickie Moore. The dynamic shifted pretty significantly when he left, but I felt "Mush and Milk" was the zenith of the Dickie/Stymie/Spanky triad that could have been the nucleus for the next season.
Similarly, another season with the Spanky/Alfalfa/Scotty triad would have made things interesting (a la "Sprucin' Up", "The Lucky Corner" and "Little Papa"). But Scotty left after "Our Gang Follies Of 1936" and it was not to be.
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Post by shellackophile on Sept 13, 2009 22:51:56 GMT -5
Oh yes, Marianne Edwards was very cute! It makes me wonder... do you think they decided to replace her with Darla? She appeared in some pre-Darla episodes, and then all of a sudden she was gone and we got Darla. I thought Marianne was really cute with Spanky. They would've made a good "couple." Does anyone know if Marianne Edwards is still alive? According to IMDB, yes, she is still with us. She'll be 79 in December. I would buy the Darla-replacing-Marianne theory if it weren't for the fact that Marianne's last appearance was three episodes before Darla's first - and by all accounts, Darla was discovered in mid-production and hastily written in (in "Our Gang Follies of 1936")
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Post by shellackophile on Sept 13, 2009 23:03:22 GMT -5
I've only seen one Breezy episode: "Hook and Ladder," and he only had a supporting role. I'm a pretty big "Our Gang" fan, and I know quite a bit about the series and cast members, but there are MANY "Our Gang" films that I've never seen. But I've heard that Breezy did a good job being the gang's leader. I'm not sure who Sherwood is... sounds familar. Breezy's most prominent outing was "Readin' and Writin'" which I think was also the last to feature Miss Crabtree. Sherwood's was probably "Dogs Is Dogs" where he plays mean, pampered stepbrother to Wheezer and Dorothy. Both are pre-Spanky, post-Jackie Cooper episodes.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Sept 14, 2009 0:19:15 GMT -5
I would buy the Darla-replacing-Marianne theory if it weren't for the fact that Marianne's last appearance was three episodes before Darla's first - and by all accounts, Darla was discovered in mid-production and hastily written in (in "Our Gang Follies of 1936") Marianne was among the extras in "The Pinch Singer," so she was still around. The fact that she's merely an extra, though, shows how expendable she had become within a very short time. It's also notable that Roach and Meins had tried other girls during the time Marianne was present. Cecilia Murray gets to be the main girl in "Anniversary Trouble," while another girl plays 'Mary Ann' in "Little Sinner," in a role that may have been intended for Edwards.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Sept 14, 2009 17:21:05 GMT -5
It sort of seemed like Marianne may have been headed in the same direction Darla eventually went: The little girl who sang and danced, and who boys had crushes on. Well, I don't know if Marianne ever sang and danced (maybe in "The Pinch Singer?" I don't remember), but I can see her in that kind of role. That's why I thought that maybe they decided to just use Darla instead.
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Post by booklover on Sept 15, 2009 8:55:04 GMT -5
The obvious (at least to me) Jackie Cooper! Also Wally Albright Dickie Moore Leonard Landy...Him and Junior could have developed into a fine team, if they had continued with the series. In Landy's last few MGM shorts there didn't seem to be a reason for him being there. You wonder if MGM just had him there because his contract was about to expire and they had to fulfill it. Darryl Hickman...Could have continued as a good adversary for the gang, as he demonstrated in "Going to Press".
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 17, 2013 11:14:41 GMT -5
Harold Switzer, he made a good start in Beginners Luck and was then basically relegated to the background, such a pity as he seemed talented. I'd also have liked to have seen Sherwood Bailey and Uh-Huh get a little more prominence. Oh and perhaps more controversially I reckon they should have stuck with Harry Spear and not bothered replacing him with with Jackie Cooper.
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Post by RJH on Jun 18, 2013 22:37:24 GMT -5
I wish there had been more shorts made when Stymie was around. For some reason far fewer films were made in the 1930-1935 era than in the surrounding years. Then there would also be more with Dorothy. Dickie, Wally, and Scotty are excellent choices, and I'll add Scooter. I wish Porky had stayed on longer; I think the MGM period would have been better the Buckwheat-Porky duo still opearting, and Porky was two years younger. And going way back, it would have been interesting to see more of Peggy Cartwright, and Pat from the first film "Our Gang," where it looked like he would become a regular gang member.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jun 19, 2013 10:12:46 GMT -5
I wish there had been more shorts made when Stymie was around. For some reason far fewer films were made in the 1930-1935 era than in the surrounding years. Then there would also be more with Dorothy. Dickie, Wally, and Scotty are excellent choices, and I'll add Scooter. I wish Porky had stayed on longer; I think the MGM period would have been better the Buckwheat-Porky duo still opearting, and Porky was two years younger. And going way back, it would have been interesting to see more of Peggy Cartwright, and Pat from the first film "Our Gang," where it looked like he would become a regular gang member. I agree with those choices. I wonder if Roach's deal with Metro had to do with there being fewer shorts per season. Interestingly, a number of the kids left the series before their contracts were actually set to expire. Both Dickie Moore's and Bouncy Wertz's contracts were set to expire in 1937. Can you imagine them in the Spanky/Alfalfa era? It is pretty obvious Roach wanted both of them to be stars. Dickie was getting paid more than the other kids, while press material indicates that Bouncy was being groomed to be the next Joe Cobb. Dorothy wasn't supposed to leave until around '34 or '35. Shirley's contract ended in '35 or '36. Jean and Harry were supposed to leave around '31 or '32. In addition to Scooter, I would have liked to have seen more of Bonedust. He was a good comic actor. I understand that Porky was getting big pretty fast, but if MGM could keep adolescent Spanky and Alfalfa on board, surely a giant Porky couldn't have been too much to handle. I always wondered why Peggy's stay was so short-lived. It seemed like Roach wanted her to be the series' leading lady. Now that I think about it, a lot of the short-term leading ladies left the series pretty quickly. The other two Peggys (Ahern and Eames) were apparently only temporary leading ladies. Same goes for Jackie Lynn Taylor. Jacquelyn Dufton (the British girl) was strangely only in two shorts. Press material from around 1935 indicates that Marianne Edwards was supposed to be the series' new leading lady. Darla's addition to the series undoubtedly ended that. I always wondered if Roach though the kids from the first film were too professional for the gang.
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