Choo-Choo!
Encyclopedia
Choo-Choo! is a 1932 Our Gang
short comedy film
directed by Robert F. McGowan
. It was the 114th (26th talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.
. Pressed into service as the kids' supervisor, effeminate Travelers Aid attendant Mr. Henderson (Del Henderson) suffers torment, especially when he tries to prevent three-year old Spanky from socking the nose of every adult in sight.
Things come to a head when the kids manage to get hold of some fireworks, at the same time accidentally releasing a menagerie of circus animals from the baggage car. At the end of the episode, Mr. Henderson is told he has the wrong children and must bring them back on a train to California
.
Spanky received a special mention in the opening credits of Choo-Choo!, indicating the kind of amazing audience response the infant had won since joining the series.
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 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 114th (26th talking episode) Our Gang short that was released.
Plot
Exchanging clothes with a group of mischievous orphans, the Our gang ends up on a train headed for ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Pressed into service as the kids' supervisor, effeminate Travelers Aid attendant Mr. Henderson (Del Henderson) suffers torment, especially when he tries to prevent three-year old Spanky from socking the nose of every adult in sight.
Things come to a head when the kids manage to get hold of some fireworks, at the same time accidentally releasing a menagerie of circus animals from the baggage car. At the end of the episode, Mr. Henderson is told he has the wrong children and must bring them back on a train to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Cast
- George McFarlandGeorge McFarlandGeorge 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 - Matthew Beard - Stymie
- Dorothy DeBorbaDorothy DeBorbaDorothy 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
- Kendall McComas - Breezy Brisbane
- Sherwood BaileySherwood BaileySherwood Bailey was an American former child actor. His parents were non-professionals. He is most notable for appearing as the red-headed, freckle-faced bad boy and enemy of the gang, Spud in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1931 to 1932.Bailey's most notable appearance was that of the...
- Spud - Harold WertzHarold WertzHarold Wertz was an American actor who played "Bouncy" in three Our Gang films in 1932. He was in the Our Gang films Choo-Choo!, The Pooch and Hook and Ladder. He died on November 21, 1999 of complications of a stroke....
- Bouncy - Donald HainesDonald HainesDonald Haines was an American child actor who had recurring appearances in the Our Gang short subjects series from 1929 to 1933.-Our Gang:...
- Leader of the runaway orphans - Georgie Billings - George, one of the runaway orphans
- Wally AlbrightWally AlbrightWally Albright was an American former child actor.-Career:Albright was born Walton Algernon Albright, Jr. in Burbank, California. He appeared in a number of films during his career, and is notable for appearing in six Our Gang short subjects throughout the early 1930s...
- Runnaway orphan - Patsy Britten - orphan extra
- Pete the PupPete the PupPete the Pup was a Pit Bull character in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies during the 1920s and 1930s...
- Himself - Joe the Monk - Monkey on train
- Eddie BakerEddie Baker (actor)Eddie Baker was an American film actor. He appeared in 177 films between 1917 and 1965. He was born in Davis, West Virginia and died in Hollywood, California from emphysema.-Selected filmography:...
- Officer - Harry BernardHarry BernardHarry 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:...
- Pullman conductor - Baldwin CookeBaldwin CookeBaldwin Cooke, also known as Baldy Cooke , was a comedic American actor. Born in New York, Cooke and his wife, Alice, toured in vaudeville with Stan Laurel, remaining close friends over the years. He appeared in some thirty Laurel and Hardy comedies...
- Extra on train - Estelle Etterre - Dorothy's mother
- Budd Fine - Passenger
- Otto FriesOtto FriesOtto Fries was an American film actor. He appeared in 129 films between 1920 and 1938.-Career:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Fries became a dapper-looking supporting comic with a varied background in medicine shows and vaudeville. He easily transitioned to film in the early 1910s...
- Inebriated novelties salesman - Oliver HardyOliver HardyOliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...
- Inebriated novelties salesman yelling as bear licks his face (voice) - Belle Hare - Dorothy's mother
- Dell HendersonDell HendersonGeorge Delbert Henderson was a Canadian actor, director and writer in films from the early silent days.-Biography:Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer D.W. Griffith and, on a less prolific basis, Mack Sennett...
- Mr. Henderson - Lyle TayoLyle TayoLyle Tayo was an American film actress who appeared in 59 films between 1921 and 1948. Tayo was born in Elmdale, Kansas and died in Hollywood, California. She is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery....
- Secretary - S. D. Wilcox - Pullman conductor
Spanky received a special mention in the opening credits of Choo-Choo!, indicating the kind of amazing audience response the infant had won since joining the series.