This June 14th, the final 23 Hal Roach Our Gang sound shorts will be released on Blu-ray in The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 6.
With the release of this last volume comes the culmination of what Little Rascal fans have dreamed about for decades: all 80 Our Gang sound shorts produced by Hal Roach from 1929 - 1938 have now had both image and sound beautifully restored (in high definition, no less).
As with previous volumes, every film in this must-have collection was newly scanned and restored from original Hal Roach 35mm materials.
See below for full details.
Remastered, uncut and beautifully restored, now you can see The Little Rascals like never before! With restorations so glorious, it will be like watching these iconic shorts for the first time!
By 1935, the writing was on the wall for the staple at Hal Roach Studios: two-reel comedies. While his short films were still popular with the public, Roach's filmic output was losing ground financially to double features, necessitating that his stars either transition to feature films (like Laurel & Hardy) or find employment elsewhere. An exception was made for Our Gang as the producer continued to make one-reelers featuring the kiddie troupe with the focus on five members: Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat and Porky.
With the length of the shorts cut in half (Our Gang Follies of 1938 [1937] being an exception), the finished streamlined product was both cost-effective and profitable. The change didn't seem to hurt the franchise either as the first one-reeler, Bored of Education (1936), won the Academy Award for Best (One-Reel) Short Subject the following year. In 1938, after two additional years of cranking out classic comedies, Roach would sell the property to MGM where the series continued until 1944.
The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 6 contains the final 23 Our Gang sound shorts produced by the Hal Roach Studios: Bored of Education (1936) to Hide and Shriek (1938)—with each short newly scanned and restored from the original Hal Roach 35mm film elements.
A must-have for any true Our Gang fan, Volume 6 features the talents of George "Spanky" McFarland, Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, Darla Hood, Eugene "Porky" Lee, Tommy "Butch" Bond and Sidney "Woim" Kibrick. There are also special appearances from former members Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Joe Cobb and Matthew "Stymie" Beard!
SHORTS:
1936
1937
1938