Proezas de Skippy (1931)

Skippy, the mischievous son of a wealthy doctor, meets Sooky in poverty-ridden Shantytown, and together they try to save Sooky's pet from a cruel dogcatcher.

Director:

Norman Taurog

Writers:

Percy Crosby (comic strip), Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Stars:

Jackie Cooper, Robert Coogan, Mitzi Green

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jackie Cooper	...	Skippy Skinner
Robert Coogan	...	Sooky
Mitzi Green	...	Eloise
Jackie Searl	...	Sidney
Willard Robertson	...	Dr. Herbert Skinner
Enid Bennett	...	Mrs. Ellen Skinner
Donald Haines	...	Harley Nubbins
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Mrs. Wayne
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Carl R. Botefuhr	...	Skippy Skinner (age 3) (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Precocious adolescent Skippy Skinner spends most of his time trying to get around doing those things that his parents want him to do (like brush his teeth), while doing those things his parents don't want him to do. Chief among the latter is spending time across the railroad tracks in Shantytown, instead of playing with "clean" neighborhood kids like brother and sister Sidney and Eloise. Skippy's father, Dr. Herbert Skinner, the city's head of the health board, in particular doesn't like Skippy spending time there as Dr. Skinner is a verminophobe, and believes Shantytown is dirty and unhealthy. On Skippy's latest visit to Shantytown when he meets a new friend named Sooky Wayne, he learns that Shantytown is being torn down and its poor residents have to move. And Sooky's mongrel and unlicensed (since Mrs. Wayne can't afford the $3 license fee) dog Penny is captured by the city's dog catcher. As Skippy does whatever he can to raise the $3 to get Penny back for his new friend (which ...

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | nickname as title | shantytown | dogcatcher | piggy bank | 

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Taglines:

You could spank him one minute-hug him the next. (Print Ad- Elmira Star-Gazette, ((Elmira, NY)) 29 May 1931)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1932 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Proezas de Skippy

Filming Locations:

San Bernardino, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the comic strip of the same title written and drawn by Percy Crosby that was published from 1923 to 1945. The strip also spawned a novel in 1929 and a children's radio serial program from 1932 to 1935 on the CBS Radio Network. The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring the character (albeit as a doll) in 1997. The character was so popular it led to a lot of merchandising, but not including the Skippy brand peanut butter launched in 1933. Litgation over that matter has been repeatedly fought in the courts by Crosby and his heirs well into the 21st century.

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Connections

Followed by Martírio Ditoso (1931)

User Reviews

A good set of values

Paramount Pictures was one step from receivership until Mae West and Bing Crosby signed with them during the Depression. But this film I'm sure kept the wolf from the door for a little while. Skippy which is based on a popular comic strip of the day was the career role for little Jackie Cooper while he was a child star.

Cooper was one of the few child stars to have a real career in front of and behind the camera and it was a long one. He also played a wide range of characters. Yet when his name is mentioned today the first thing that comes to mind is the little kid with the knickers and somewhat pouty, but with a good heart and a set of values that he did not get from home completely.

Skippy is the child of town doctor Willard Robertson and Helen Bennett and he's a good kid at heart. But Robertson who's a fundamentally decent man doesn't want him playing with the kids on the other side of the railroad tracks. That's shantytown and there were plenty of them in America in 1931. Skippy is a film of its time although I'll bet that people who lived in those shantytowns did not part with the nickel needed to see Skippy, it was needed for important things like food.

Robertson as director of the board of health also wants to clean the place up. But with scant regard for the people who live there. So when Skippy makes friends with a slum kid who lives there played by Jackie Coogan's brother Robert and his mother Helen Jerome Eddy and their dog it turns out to be a turning point in everyone's lives.

With his decent, but thickheaded father and a mother oblivious to all except what's within the four walls of their home, Skippy grows up with an intuitive sense set of good values. It's what makes Jackie Cooper's character such an appealing one to this day.

Skippy brought home a Best Director Oscar for Norman Taurog and a few other nominations. Taurog gets it for some superb direction for a flock of kid players who are the ones carrying the film. It musn't have been easy, but the results are great.

Skippy is a film firmly within the Depression times it was made, but it has a universal family appeal to this day.