General Spanky
Encyclopedia
General Spanky is a 1936 American comedy film produced by Hal Roach
. A spin-off of Roach's popular Our Gang
short subjects, the film stars George "Spanky" McFarland, Phillips Holmes
, Rosina Lawrence
, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas
, it was originally released to theatres on December 11, 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM).
This film, a Civil War
period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move Our Gang into features, as the double feature
and block booking were slowly smothering his short subjects production. The film was a box office disappointment, and, after another year of shorts production, Roach ended up selling the Our Gang unit to MGM in May 1938.
When Roach bought the rights to the back catalog of Our Gang films he had produced from MGM in 1949, he did not buy back the rights to General Spanky. As a result, the film was part of the MGM catalog acquired by in 1986 by Turner Entertainment
, who holds the rights today as a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
General Spanky was released on VHS
and laserdisc
in the early 1990s. As of 2011, it has not been made available in DVD
or Blu-ray Disc
format.
).
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
. A spin-off of Roach's popular 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 subjects, the film stars George "Spanky" McFarland, Phillips Holmes
Phillips Holmes
Phillips Holmes was an American film actor who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1938. His credits included Grumpy, An American Tragedy, Broken Lullaby, Dinner at Eight, and Great Expectations....
, Rosina Lawrence
Rosina Lawrence
Rosina Lawrence was a Canadian-born American actress, singer, and dancer. She was a native of Ottawa, Ontario.-Career:...
, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, and Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas was an American film director, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. He was a native of New York City.-Hal Roach and Our Gang:...
, it was originally released to theatres on December 11, 1936 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
(MGM).
This film, a Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move Our Gang into features, as the double feature
Double feature
The double feature, also known as a double bill, was a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatre managers would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.The double feature, also known as...
and block booking were slowly smothering his short subjects production. The film was a box office disappointment, and, after another year of shorts production, Roach ended up selling the Our Gang unit to MGM in May 1938.
When Roach bought the rights to the back catalog of Our Gang films he had produced from MGM in 1949, he did not buy back the rights to General Spanky. As a result, the film was part of the MGM catalog acquired by in 1986 by Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
, who holds the rights today as a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
General Spanky was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in the early 1990s. As of 2011, it has not been made available in DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
or Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
format.
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 - Phillips HolmesPhillips HolmesPhillips Holmes was an American film actor who appeared in 44 films between 1928 and 1938. His credits included Grumpy, An American Tragedy, Broken Lullaby, Dinner at Eight, and Great Expectations....
- Marshall 'Marsh' Valient - Ralph MorganRalph MorganRalph Morgan was a Hollywood film, stage and character actor, and the older brother of Frank Morgan .-Early life:...
- Yankee General - Irving PichelIrving PichelIrving Pichel was an American actor and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
- Capt. Simmons The Gambler - Rosina LawrenceRosina LawrenceRosina Lawrence was a Canadian-born American actress, singer, and dancer. She was a native of Ottawa, Ontario.-Career:...
- Louella Blanchard - Billie Thomas - Buckwheat
- Carl SwitzerCarl SwitzerCarl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer was an American child actor, professional dog breeder and hunting guide, most notable for appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as Alfalfa, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters.-Early life and family:Switzer was born in Paris,...
- Alfalfa - Hobart BosworthHobart BosworthHobart Bosworth was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer.-Early life:Born Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth, he was a direct descendant of Miles Standish and John and Priscilla Alden on his father's side and of New York's Van Zandt family, the first Dutch settlers to land in the New...
- 2nd Lieutenant - Robert MiddlemassRobert MiddlemassRobert Middlemass was an American character actor with over 100 film appearances...
- Overseer - James Burtis - Boat Captain
- Louise BeaversLouise BeaversLouise Beavers was an African-American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films from the 1920s to the 1930s, most often in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Beavers was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American...
- Mammy Cornella - Willie BestWillie BestWilliam "Willie" Best sometimes known as Sleep n' Eat was an American television and film actor....
- Henry the lazy slave - Jerry TuckerJerry TuckerJerry Tucker is a former American child actor, most notable for appearing as the "rich kid" in the Our Gang short subjects series semi-regularly from 1931 to 1938....
- Our Gang member - Harold SwitzerHarold SwitzerHarold Frederick Switzer was an American child actor, most notable for appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as an extra...
- Our Gang member - Flaette Roberts - Flaette
- Rex Downing - Our Gang member
- Dickie DeNuet - Our Gang member
- John CollumJohn CollumJohn 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...
- Our Gang member - Von The Dog - Von
- Buddy RooseveltBuddy RooseveltBuddy Roosevelt was an American film actor and stunt performer from Hollywood's early silent film years through the 1950s.-Biography:...
- 1st Lieutenant - Walter Gregory - Captain Haden
- Jack Daugherty - General's Aid
- Henry Hall - Slavemaster
- Hooper AtchleyHooper AtchleyHooper Atchley was an American film actor. He appeared in 214 films between 1929 and 1944.Born in Ebenezer, Tennessee, Atchley is best known for his appearance as the inconsiderate father in the Our Gang film Birthday Blues.Atchley committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun in 1943 in...
- Slavemaster - Karl Hackett - First mate
- Frank LaRule - Slavemaster
- 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:...
- Man on the boat - Ernie Alexander - Boat passenger
- Jack HillJack 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...
- Bit role - Ham Kinsley - Bit role
- Jack Cooper (not Jackie CooperJackie CooperJackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
) - Bit role - Slim Whittaker - Bit role
Awards
The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound (Elmer A. RaguseElmer A. Raguse
Elmer A. Raguse was an American sound engineer mostly associated with the Hal Roach Studios. He was nominated for eight Academy Awards in the categories Best Sound Recording and Best Effects.-Selected filmography:Best Sound...
).