Mike Fright

Mike Fright
Mike Fright
Directed by	Gus Meins
Written by	Hal Roach
Produced by	Hal Roach
Cinematography	Kenneth Peach
Edited by	Louis McManus
Music by	Marvin Hatley; Leroy Shield
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	August 25, 1934;
Running time	17' 11"
Country	United States
Language	English

Mike Fright is a 1934 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. It was the 130th^[2] Our Gang short to be released.^[3]

Plot

When open auditions are announced for a radio variety program, the local station is besieged by aggressively over-coached "professional kids." Also auditioning is the International Silver String Submarine Band—which turns out to be the gang, equipped (or rather, armed) with home-made instruments.

They suffer through an endless parade of cute kiddie troupers, and accidentally knock over the microphone several times, which inadvertently blows tubes and bulbs in the control room, causing the hat worn by the sound man, played by vaudevillian Sid Walker, to be literally blown off his head, and making his hair stand on end. The gang then steal the show with a rendition of "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze."

Musical numbers include Jimmy had a Nickel (by Maurice Sigler), My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii, and My Wild Irish Rose (by Chauncey Olcott), which is cut short because the gang is distractingly eating lemons!^[1]

Cast

The Gang

Matthew Beard as Stymie (on percussion)
Scotty Beckett as Scotty (on fife)
Tommy Bond as Tommy (conducting)
George McFarland as Spanky (on kazoo)
Alvin Buckelew as Alvin (on harmonica)
Jackie Wilson as Jackie (on ukulele)
Pete the Pup as himself

Additional cast

Leonard Kibrick as Leonard
Jean Aulbach as Hula dancer
Billy Lee as Tap dancer
Leona McDowell as Darling Sister
Joy Wurgaft as Hula dancer
Sid Walker as Charlie, the Sound Man
Charlie Hall as Elevator Operator
Marvin Hatley as Piano Player
William Irving as Announcer
Frank LaRue as Mr. Barker, the Sponsor
Isabel La Mal as Receptionist
James C. Morton as Mr. Morton, Station Manager
Fern Carter as Audience member
Joe Young as Audience member
Laura June Kenny as Undetermined role
Gloria White as Undetermined role
The Meglin Kiddies as Dancers

Theme song

Mike Fright was the first Our Gang short since Pups Is Pups to not contain the opening "Good Old Days" Our Gang theme song. Instead, it was replaced with the Leroy Shield incidental tune "Little Dancing Girl", which appeared as background music in many of the films and would be the music used for the first 4 minutes of this episode. Because the nature of this film was a talent show with a variety of musical selections, additional background music was not used, nor was it needed.

References

^ ^a ^b Erickson, Hal (2011). "Mike Fright". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
^ ^a ^b Demoss, Robert (August 19, 2008). "The Little Rascals Remastered & Unedited Vol. 6 (VHS)". Cabin Fever Entertainment. TheLuckyCorner.com. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
^ Maltin, Leonard; Bann, Richard W. (1977). Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals. Crown Publishers. pp. 166–168. ISBN 978-0-517-52675-0. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

External links

Mike Fright at IMDb
Mike Fright at the TCM Movie Database

This article related to a short comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[NY_Times-1] Erickson, Hal (2011). "Mike Fright". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2008-09-20.

[lucky-2] Demoss, Robert (August 19, 2008). "The Little Rascals Remastered & Unedited Vol. 6 (VHS)". Cabin Fever Entertainment. TheLuckyCorner.com. Retrieved 2013-12-07.

[3] Maltin, Leonard; Bann, Richard W. (1977). Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals. Crown Publishers. pp. 166–168. ISBN 978-0-517-52675-0. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

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