Our Gang's final silent, non-talkie movie was "Saturday's Lessons." Even though it was filmed in early March 1929, just before the construction took place to convert Roach's studio to sound, "Saturday's Lessons" was withheld until its release in November 1929. The short's premise has the gang members ignoring their parents' instructions to do household chores on Saturday morning before going out to play. A neighbor, witnessing their insolence, dresses up as a devil and scares them because they didn't listen to their parents. The fact "Saturday's Lessons" was a silent shows the young actors in a more free-wheeling comfort level than their first talkie movie, "Small Talk."
The next few months transitioning to sound created a major overhaul in the talent pool in the Our Gang's series. Joe Cobb, Jean Darling and Harry Spear left the gang. Replacing them were Norman Chaney, Dorothy DeBorga, Mathew 'Stymie' Beard, Donald Haines and Jackie Cooper. The last actor, Cooper, remained with the Roach troupe for only two years before the producer sold his contract to MGM in 1931 for the Louis B. Mayer studio's feature films.
The next few months transitioning to sound created a major overhaul in the talent pool in the Our Gang's series. Joe Cobb, Jean Darling and Harry Spear left the gang. Replacing them were Norman Chaney, Dorothy DeBorga, Mathew 'Stymie' Beard, Donald Haines and Jackie Cooper. The last actor, Cooper, remained with the Roach troupe for only two years before the producer sold his contract to MGM in 1931 for the Louis B. Mayer studio's feature films.