A Lad an' a Lamp
Encyclopedia
A Lad an' a Lamp is a 1932 Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...

short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...

 comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 directed by Robert F. McGowan
Robert F. McGowan
Robert Francis McGowan was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.-Career:...

. It was the 119th (32nd talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.

Plot

Fascinated by the story of Aladdin
Aladdin
Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....

 and his magic lamp, the gang gather together with several gasoline and kerosene lamps and lanterns and a few electric lamps hoping that by rubbing them vigorously, a genie will appear. Thanks to a series of coincidences—not least of which involves a friendly stage magician—the kids become convinced that they have succeeded in emulating Aladdin. But their excitement turns to dismay when Stymie believes spanky has transformed his kid brother Cotton into a monkey.

Cast

  • Matthew Beard - Stymie
  • George McFarland
    George McFarland
    George Robert Phillips "Spanky" McFarland was an American actor most famous for his appearances as a child in the Our Gang series of short-subject comedies of the 1930s and 1940s...

     - Spanky
  • Bobbie Beard
    Bobbie Beard
    Bobbie Beard was an American child actor, best known for portraying "Cotton" in several Our Gang short films from 1932 to 1934. He was a native of Los Angeles, California...

     - Cotton
  • Dickie Moore - Dickie
  • Dorothy DeBorba
    Dorothy DeBorba
    Dorothy Adelle DeBorba was an American former child actress who was a regular in the Our Gang series of short subjects as the leading lady from 1930 to 1933.-Early life:...

     - Dorothy
  • Bobby Hutchins - Wheezer
  • Dickie Jackson - gang member
  • John Collum
    John Collum
    John K. Collum was an American child actor of the 1930s.-Career:Born in Illinois, Collum was the son of Hal Roach's casting director, Joseph Collum, and appeared in twenty-six of Roach's Our Gang comedies from 1932 to 1938...

     - Uh-huh
  • Donald Haines
    Donald Haines
    Donald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...

     - Toughie
  • Georgie Billings - gang member
  • Bobby DeWar - gang member
  • Henry Hanna - gang member
  • Pete the Pup
    Pete the Pup
    Pete the Pup was a Pit Bull character in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies during the 1920s and 1930s...

     - Himself
  • Jiggs the Chimpanzee - The chimpanzee
  • Harry Bernard
    Harry Bernard
    Harry Bernard was a movie comedian who worked for Mack Sennett and with Laurel & Hardy, usually typecast as a policeman.Bernard was born in San Francisco, California, and died in Hollywood.-Selected filmography:...

     - Officer / Store proprietor
  • Harry Bowen - Audience member
  • Dick Gilbert
    Dick Gilbert
    Dick Gilbert , was an American actor mainly associated with the Hal Roach Studios,where he appeared in numerous Our Gang and Laurel and Hardy comedies...

     - Officer / Dick, construction worker
  • Jack Hill
    Jack Hill (actor)
    Jack Hill was an American actor, who appeared in scores of Laurel & Hardy comedies.-Filmography:* A Quiet Street * Stage Fright * Dogs of War * Back Stage...

     - Audience member / Officer
  • Florence Hoskins - Cook's girlfriend
  • Efe Jackson - Pedestrian
  • Jim Mason
    Jim Mason (actor)
    Jim Mason was an American actor. He appeared in 173 films between 1914 and 1952.He was born in Paris and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:* Nan of Music Mountain...

     - Audience member
  • James C. Morton
    James C. Morton
    James C. Morton was an American character actor. He appeared in 187 films between 1922 and 1943.-Career:...

     - Officer
  • Lillian Rich
    Lillian Rich
    Lillian Rich was an English actress of the silent era. She appeared in 66 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in Herne Hill, London and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.-Selected filmography:...

     - Introductory narrator
  • Philip Sleeman - The Magician
  • Charley Young
    Charley Young
    Charles Lee Young is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at North Carolina State University and was drafted in the first round of the 1974 NFL Draft....

     - Fruit vendor

Cast notes

Bobby Hutchins returns to the fold after missing Hook and Ladder
Hook and Ladder (1932 film)
Hook and Ladder is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 116th Our Gang short that was released.-Synopsis:...

, Free Wheeling
Free Wheeling
Free Wheeling is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 117th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

, and Birthday Blues
Birthday Blues
Birthday Blues is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 118th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

.

Critique

Despite a sequence in which Spanky enjoys a free meal at a lunch counter, courtesy of a trained monkey, A Lad an' a Lamp suffers from an unusual dose of racist humor that seems inappropriate when viewed in the 21st century. For this reason, A Lad an' a Lamp has been withdrawn from the "Little Rascals" television package. It is currently available in its entirety on VHS and DVD.
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