Surprised Parties is a 1942

1942 in film

The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...

 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 Edward Cahn. It was the 206th 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 (207th episode, 118th talking short, 119th talking episode, and 38th MGM produced episode) that was released.

Plot

Upset because, as a leap year baby (he only has a birthday every four years), Froggy bemoans the fact that he has almost never had a birthday party. The gang decides to throw a surprise party in Froggy's honor, but to keep him in the dark, they pretend to kick him out of the clubhouse. In order to plan a surprise party for Froggy, the gang has to throw him out of the clubhouse. Vengefully, Froggy sneaks back and sets all sorts of booby-traps for the other gang members. But when the party takes place, it is Froggy who bears the brunt of his pre-set pranks.

Note

Surprised Parties was the last short with Edward Cahn as Our Gangs regular director. He would return in 1943 to direct Three Smart Guys

Three Smart Guys

Three Smart Guys is a 1943 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Edward Cahn. It was the 217th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...

. Herbert Glazer takes over directing beginning with Doin' Their Bit

Doin' Their Bit

Doin' Their Bit is a 1942 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Herbert Glazer. This was the first short with Herbert Glazer as Our Gangs regular director...

.

Cast

• Billy Laughlin
  Billy Laughlin
  William Robert "Billy" Laughlin was an American child actor. He is best known for playing the character Froggy in the Our Gang short films in its final stretch, from 1940 to 1944.-Career:...
  
   - Froggy
• 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
• Janet Burston
  Janet Burston
  Janet Burston was an American child actress who was the final leading lady in the Our Gang short subjects series, replacing Darla Hood in 1942.-Career:...
  
   - Janet
• Billie Thomas - Buckwheat
• Mickey Gubitosi
  Robert Blake (actor)
  Robert Blake is an American actor who starred in the film In Cold Blood and the U.S. television series Baretta. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted for the 2001 murder of his wife, but on November 18, 2005, Blake was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death.-Early...
  
   (later known as Robert Blake) - Mickey
• James Gubitosi
• Frank Ward
• Robert Ferrero
• Leon Tyler - Jimmy
• Margaret Bert - Froggy's mother