Clown Princes (1939)

The Our Gang kids put on a circus in the barn to raise money to help Porky's family pay the rent and avoid getting evicted.

Director:

George Sidney

Writers:

Hal Law (screenplay), Robert A. McGowan (screenplay) (as Robert McGowan)

Stars:

Darla Hood, Eugene 'Porky' Lee, George 'Spanky' McFarland

Cast

Credited cast:
Darla Hood	...	Darla Hood (as Our Gang)
Eugene 'Porky' Lee	...	Porky (as Our Gang)
George 'Spanky' McFarland	...	Spanky (as Our Gang)
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer	...	Alfalfa (as Our Gang)
Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas	...	Buckwheat (as Our Gang)
Shirley Coates	...	Muggsy (as Our Gang)
Leonard 'Percy' Landy	...	Leonard (as Our Gang)
Gary Jasgur	...	World's Smallest Man / Clown (as Our Gang)
Joe Geil	...	World's Tallest Man (as Our Gang)
Jimmie Brown	...	Clown (as Our Gang)
George Crosby	...	Younger Famous Sime and Neez Twin (as Our Gang)
Malcolm Crosby	...	Older Famous Sime and Neez Twin (as Our Gang)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hugh Chapman	...	Musician
James Gubitosi	...	Audience Member
Larry Harris	...	Drummer

Storyline

The landlord has given final notice to Porky's family--pay the rent or get out. Of course the Our Gang put on a show to raise the needed money. This time it's a circus, with Alfalfa on the trapeze, and brave Darla taming the "lions."

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Plot Keywords:

our gang series | demanding landlord | song | singer | singing | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Family | Music

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 1939 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,243 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 178th of 220 "Our Gang" shorts to be released.

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Goofs

When Alfalfa changes the price of the lemonade, the sign completely changes between the close-up and the longer shots of the scene.

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Connections

Featured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002)

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Soundtracks

Sobre las olas (Over the Waves)
(uncredited)
Music by Juventino Rosas
Played during the acrobat routine

User Reviews

Decent Our Gang short

Clown Princes (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

One-reel comedy from Hal Roach and his Our Gang. This time out, Porky is about to be kicked out of his home because of the greedy landlord. The kids decide to put on a circus to raise the money for him but of course things don't go as planned. This is a pretty good entry in the long-running series but I must admit that there weren't enough laughs to make the film a complete success. The best sequence would have to be when Darla is pretending to be the lion tamer but the lions are actually dogs made up. Some might object as there are several scenes where dogs are tied to wires in order for the "gags" to go as planned. There's also a rather silly scene with Buckwheat playing a cannibal from Africa. Clarence Wilson gets a few nice laughs as the landlord including drinking the penny lemonade instead of the two-cent one.