Radio Bugs
| Radio Bugs | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Cyril Endfield |
| Written by |
Hal Law Robert A. McGowan |
| Starring |
Billy Laughlin Robert Blake Janet Burston Billie Thomas |
| Cinematography | Walter Lundin |
| Editing by | John D. Faure |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 10' 50" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $22,121 [1] |
Radio Bugs is a 1944 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Cyril Endfield. It was the 218th Our Gang short to be released, and the third to last film in the series.[2]
Plot
Froggy and his parents enjoy a Red Skelton USO performance over the radio. Learning from his father that comedians make "a lot of money," Froggy decides that he and the gang should become radio comedians. They buy a joke book from a local used bookstore, and crash the lobby of a local dentists' office looking for a sponsor. The gang's horrible jokes and worse singing cause the waiting dental patients pain and distress, leading to their being thrown off the premises.
Returning to the bookstore to look for another joke book, one of the bookstore patrons, a ham actor, convinces the kids to go into Shakespearean drama instead of comedy. Donning appropriate costumes, the gang attempts to audition their "sad and tragic" Shakespearean radio act for another potential sponsor, a funeral home, but the triplet owners of the company fall over themselves laughing at the gang's "dramatic" acting.
On their way home, the crestfallen kids happen upon the host of the Cantfall Cake Hour radio show, who is interviewing passersby on the street. Amused by the children's costumes, he decides to ask the kids his interview question for the day: "what do you think is the crying need of radio today?" The gang's reply: "a sponsor!"
Notes
Radio Bugs was the first of the three final Our Gang short films. The short marks the debut of director Cyril Endfield, who, like previous MGM Our Gang directors George Sidney and Edward Cahn, was assigned to direct our Gang before being allowed to move on to directing features. Endfield would later go on to write and direct numerous films, mostly "B" pictures, in America and England.
The three Endfield-directed shorts - Radio Bugs, Tale of a Dog, and Dancing Romeo, were all shot in late 1943, and released within two weeks of each other in April 1944. As with several other Our Gang films of this period, Radio Bugs lost money upon its original theatrical release. According to financial data prepared by MGM in 1956, Radio Bugs cost $22,121 to produce, but lost $4,759 at the box office.[1]
The real Red Skelton provides the voiceover for the radio show Froggy's family enjoys during the first scenes of the film. One of the bit players in this short is Mickey Rooney's father Joe Yule, who portrays one of the pained dental patients.
Cast
- Robert Blake - Mickey
- Billy Laughlin - Froggy
- Billie Thomas - Buckwheat
- Janet Burston - Janet
- Brandon Hurst - Shakespearean actor
- Pete Sosso - Mr. Jasper, bookshop owner
- Morris Ankrum - Painkiller Killroy, the dentist
- Tiny Hanlon - Cantfall Cake Hour Radio Host
- Bobby Burns - Audience extra
- Walter Soderling - Mortician
- Erville Anderson - Mortician
- Fern Emmett - Dental patient
- Chester Clute - Dental patient
- Jack Lipson - Dental patient
- Joe Yule - Dental patient
- Red Skelton - Himself (radio voice over)
- Charles K. French - Town banker
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maltin, Leonard & Bann, Richard W (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9. p. 235-236.
- ↑ "New York Times: Radio-Bugs". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-10-08.