The definitive book on the history, behind-the-scenes info. and episode guide listing for “The Little Rascals”. If you grew up with the Rascals or “Our Gang”, this is a must-own book! Highly recommended!
TITLE: The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang
BY: Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann
PUBLISHER: Crown Trade Paperbacks
PAGE COUNT: 298
RELEASED: 1977/1992
When originally published in 1977 as Our Gang, this book sold more than 52,000 copies. This new edition, with an extensive amount of fresh material, will prove irresistible to all fans of the most popular TV series of all time.
The definitive book on the history, behind-the-scenes info. and episode guide listing for “The Little Rascals”. If you grew up with the Rascals or “Our Gang”, this is a must-own book! Highly recommended!
As a child, a series that was very dear to me as a child and even now as an adult was “The Little Rascals”. The series that was created by popular Hollywood director/producer Hal Roach and was originally known as “Hal Roach’s Rascals” (in the fifties the name of the series was changed to “Little Rascals”) and known as “Our Gang” when the series was sold to MGM in 1938.
My first introduction to this book was in the late ’80s when I wanted to know how some of the talent had fared after being part of the popular shorts in the 1920’s and ’30s and I can remember that some of them unfortunately had died under some tragic circumstance or have gotten involved with drugs or died penniless. The book was recently updated via a new and enlarged version in 1992 courtesy of film critic/film historian/writer Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann and to this day, the book continues to be the definitive source for any fan of the Little Rascals.
But for many of us, our memories of Mickey, Jackie, Stymie, Chubby, Farina, Joe, Mary, Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat, Porky, Waldo, Froggy and other children were during those good times when these kids brightened our days with their comedic performance were of those good times we watched them on television and for others, the big screen where they were originally shown.
And now, many are discovering (or re-discovering) them through DVD’s, the Internet or via public domain.
Unfortunately as of August 2010, many fans are still awaiting a release of the earlier silent episodes as many dozens of them have yet to appear on DVD (and were never released on VHS or LD). But there are solid collections now available and for some, many have wondered what ever happened to those children but also what took place behind-the-scenes of those episodes. And if you loved the episodes, more than likely you wanted to find out what happened to the children playing those well-known roles and also have made you wanting to look for these episodes not on your collection.
And this is where “The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang” is an excellent resource.
The book goes into the early history of the formation of “Hal Roach’s Rascals” and what took place behind-the-scene on the development of the series. And then we are given an episode guide starting with the first episode “Our Gang” from 1922 up to episode 221, “Tale of a Dog” from 1944.
Maltin and Bann do a wonderful job in providing us the staff credits but also an episode synopsis and behind-the-scenes information on the making of the episodes and interviews with some of the cast members and also touching upon a few controversies of certain episodes and also episodes that may have struck a chord with viewers today.
For example, although the Little Rascals were instrumental on having Caucasian and Black actors and actresses working together, and even in class together while most schools in America were segregated at the time, Hal Roach cared for these children and made sure these children were taken care of financially while they were part of the show.
For episode 154 titled “Three Smart Boys”, there was a scene when Buckwheat had white paintings painted on him ala measles. When Spanky McFarland asked Billie “Buckwheat” Thomas if he felt that was demeaning to him, Thomas answered, “They have to do something, so white measles was white measles. Moneywise, it felt pretty good. It was a job and it was a nice living.”
Also, included in the book are original shooting scripts. For example, in the summer for episode 162 titled “Our Gang Follies of 1938”, the original script is shown for a scene and the script shows how every little mannerism is detailed on the script and the kids followed that script rather closely.
Another example of how informative the book is when going through each episode is for episode 122 titled “The Kid from Borneo” and the actor playing the tribal man from Borneo is John L. Johnson and also going into detail about Johnson’s life as a boxer and fighting against Jack Dempsey and breaking several of his ribs. Each episode is loaded with information about the characters, the talent and more. So, as a resource guide book for episode listings, “The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang” is magnificent.
But along with the episode guide, it’s the personal history of each of the major players of “The Little Rascals” and this is where the book becomes very interesting but also sad as some of these talents had tragic endings to their life. Most notably, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer. It was one thing to learn how he was actually quite difficult and mischievous on the set but to learn how at the age of 31, Switzer was shot and killed after a dispute in trying to get his $50 owed to him by his former hunting business partner but also finding out that it was justifiable homicide as Switzer was holding a knife to his business partner.
Another tragic ending was for actor Scotty Beckett, known to be the other young child that was paired with a young Spanky. Scotty had a drug addiction and dealt with arrests and failed businesses and at a young age of 38, Beckett checked into a nursing home after being beaten and died two days later.
Of course, not all Rascals lives were tragic like Switzer’s as some lived very good lives and it was good to see that throughout the decades, fans have shown their love to these characters and the show.
Overall, “The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang” is hands down the best resource and episode guide book on “The Little Rascals” series and the characters out there. The 1992 version features much more detail than the earlier version I read before and you can find it online for an affordable price. Also, a lot of photos and stills are included in this book. It’s an entertaining and informative book that never gets boring nor tedious. I absolutely love this book!
If you are a big fan of The Little Rascals, this is the definitive book to own. Highly recommended!