Add to Cart. Like many child actors, the Our Gang children were typecast and had trouble outgrowing their Our Gang images. The hat was gifted to him by comedian Stan Laurel, who had also worked under Our Gang creator Hal Roach in shorts and filmed in which he teamed up with Oliver Hardy (hence Laurel & Hardy). But they get the ingredients mixed up and make a huge mess. The Our Gang Comedies (better known today as The Little Rascals) were a series of short subjects released theatrically between 1922 and 1944. For other uses, see, For a detailed listing of the Our Gang child actors, recurring adult actors, directors, and writers, see, 1926–1929: New faces and new distributors, 1993-present: Cabin Fever/Hallmark VHS and DVD releases, Maltin & Bann, p. 119. Due to the popularity of Our Gang, many similar kid comedy short film series were created by competing studios. [19] Morrison's "Sunshine Sammy" instead became one of the foci of the new Our Gang series. At the same time, eight Little Rascals shorts were pulled from the King World television package altogether. (The fact that Wheezer is only four years old and could not yet be at school is conveniently set aside, and there he is declaiming the lines of an ancient Roman.) One early Our Gang short, Lodge Night (1924), short revolves around the kids forming a parody club based on the Ku Klux Klan (though the Black children are still allowed to join). [55] In 2008, a Darla Hood impostor, Mollie Barron, died claiming to have appeared as Darla in Our Gang. These three shorts explored Jackie Cooper's crush on the new schoolteacher Miss Crabtree, played by June Marlowe. I just try to look at it as mostly a fun thing. Semi-regular actors, such as Jackie Lynn Taylor, Marianne Edwards, and Leonard Kibrick as the neighborhood bully, joined the series at this time. Scotty Beckett departed for a career in features (he returned in 1939 for two shorts, Cousin Wilbur and Dog Daze). She spends the class period identifying Jack's co-conspirators (Farina, Chubby, and Buddy), and suspends the foursome for the day just as some delivery boys (Baldwin Cooke and Gordon Douglas) bring in a wealth of cake and ice cream as a first-day treat for the class. Andy (1922 to 1924) Billie Thomas. At that point in time, he was only 3’11” and weighed approximately 113lb. A MOD release of General Spanky was also released by Warner Archive in 2016.[64]. Two further Hallmark DVD collections featured ten shorts apiece and were released in 2003 and 2005, respectively. [40] The strips in The Dandy ended three years after the demise of the Our Gang shorts, in 1947. Republic would release Little Rascals VHS volumes for retail purchase in non-comprehensive collections through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s. [36] Tommy Bond, Darwood Kaye, and Alfalfa Switzer all left the series in 1940, and Billy "Froggy" Laughlin (with his Popeye-esque trick voice) and Janet Burston were added to the cast. Teacher's Pet was remade by Hal Roach in 1936 as Bored of Education. The Little Rascals: 1930-1934. The MGM Our Gangs today appear periodically on the Turner Classic Movies cable network. The film focused more on the adult leads (Phillips Holmes and Rosina Lawrence) than the children and was a box office disappointment. The Little Rascals (1955) 10 x 8 in other sizes. Unbeknownst to Jackie, his benefactor is actually Miss Crabtree, and he tells her everything about the plan to harass the new teacher. Here in School's Out, part of the Our Gang short film series, the Rascals are back and in school and worried about their teacher. The series was produced in various formats from 1922 to 1944 and is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way. Pups Is Pups is a two-reel comedy short subject, part of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. Following his acting stint in the show, he decided to pursue a life outside of acting. However, MGM did not want the series discontinued and agreed to take over production. Little Rascals Cast FILTER BY ROLE. Across 220 short films and a feature-film spin-off, General Spanky, the Our Gang series featured over 41 child actors as regular members of cast. Financial data for negative costs, revenue, and profits/losses are provided for all 52 MGM, Mikkelson, Barbara and Mikkelson, David. The short was also the first in the series to use the now-popular Our Gang theme song, "Good Old Days", composed by Leroy Shield and featuring a notable saxophone solo. Plot. With these releases, Cabin Fever made all 80 Roach sound shorts, and four silents, available for purchase unedited with digitally restored picture and sound. Turner Entertainment acquired the classic MGM library in 1986, and the 1938–44 MGM-produced Our Gang shorts were shown on Turner's TBS and TNT cable networks for many years as early-morning programming filler, with a regular slot on Sundays at 6 am ET on TNT. In 2011, Legend Films released black and white versions of Little Rascals DVDs. $7.49. $23.99. $7.49. Add to Cart. Their beloved teacher, Miss McGillicuddy, got married, and now the kids will have a new teacher for the upcoming school year. Later Our Gang directors, such as Gus Meins and Gordon Douglas, streamlined the approach to McGowan's methods to meet the demands of the increasingly sophisticated movie industry of the mid-to-late 1930s. [25] At the start of the 1933–34 season, the Our Gang series format was significantly altered to accommodate McGowan and persuade him to stay another year. Season 1. However, by 1934, many movie theater owners were increasingly dropping two-reel (20-minute) comedies like Our Gang and the Laurel & Hardy series from their bills and running double feature programs instead. Less notable imitations series include The McDougall Alley Gang (Bray Productions, 1927–1928), The Us Bunch and Our Kids. The following is a listing of selected Our Gang comedies, considered by Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann (in their book The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang) to be among the best and most important in the series. Carl Dean Switzer (August 7, 1927 – January 21, 1959) was an American singer, child actor, dog breeder and guide. It was produced and directed by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach, and originally released to theatres by M-G-M in 1930. The Laurel & Hardy series went from film shorts to features exclusively in mid 1935. One notable exception was Jackie Cooper, who was later nominated for an Academy Award and had a career as an adult actor. Another 1930 short, Teacher's Pet, marked the first use of the Our Gang theme song, "Good Old Days", composed by Shield and featuring a notable saxophone solo. As part of the arrangement with MGM to continue Our Gang, Roach received the clearance to produce an Our Gang feature film, General Spanky, hoping that he might move the series to features as was done with Laurel & Hardy. The last few of the Roach comedies featured Alfalfa Switzer as the lead character; Spanky McFarland had departed from the series just before its sale to MGM. [13], In their adult years, actors Morrison, Beard, and Thomas defended the series, arguing that the white characters in the series were similarly stereotyped: the "freckle-faced kid", the "fat kid", the "neighborhood bully", the "pretty blond girl", and the "mischievous toddler". "The Little Rascals" redirects here. Some shorts around this time, particularly Spook Spoofing (1928, one of only two three-reelers in the Our Gang canon), contained extended scenes of the gang tormenting and teasing Farina, scenes which helped spur the claims of racism, which many other shorts did not warrant. A Quiet Street. "[15], Despite the stereotyping and racial gags, Our Gang's integrated cast caused it to be disliked by certain theater owners in the southern United States. Jack decides that he "can't ever go back; I'm too ashamed", sits under a tree in the schoolyard and begins sobbing. Show Spoilers . The franchise began in 1922 as a series of silent short subjects produced by the Roach studio and released by Pathé Exchange. Farina, Chubby, and Buddy decide to go back inside, apologize, and hope that they can "get in on that ice cream". Scarcely two years old, she goes through each set like a wee, sombre shadow. Initially, the music consisted of orchestral versions of then-popular tunes. These were released as "Famous Kid Comedies," as Official could not use "Our Gang". [50] The Snopes.com website debunks the rumor of an Our Gang curse, stating that there was no pattern of unusual deaths when taking all of the major Our Gang stars into account, despite the deaths of a select few. After the girl and her mother left the office, Roach looked out of his window to a lumberyard across the street, where he saw some children having an argument. It was produced and directed by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach, and originally released to theatres by M-G-M in 1930. Everything seen from Little Rascals? For example, Norman Chaney ("Chubby"), Matthew Beard ("Stymie"), and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas all won contests to become members of the gang: Chaney replaced Joe Cobb, Beard replaced Allen Hoskins ("Farina"), and Thomas replaced Beard. At first appearing as the tag-along toddler of the group, and later finding an accomplice in Scotty Beckett in 1934, Spanky quickly became Our Gang's biggest child star. Hatley and Shield's jazz-influenced scores, first featured in Our Gang with 1930s Pups is Pups, became recognizable trademarks of Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, and the other Roach series and films. By the spring of 1931, Hal Roach had sold his contract to MGM so that Cooper could make features full-time. As of February 1, 2021[update], the following notable cast members are confirmed as still living. Teacher's Pet marks the first Our Gang appearances of June Marlowe, as the "lovely schoolteacher" Miss Crabtree, and of Matthew Beard, here identified as "Hercules", and later called "Stymie". The 1930 Our Gang short Pups is Pups was an inductee of the 2004 National Film Registry list.[52]. The early talkie Railroadin' was never part of the television package because its soundtrack (recorded on phonographic records) was considered lost, although it was later found and restored to the film. The pilots were not bought, but were notable for including Gary Coleman. After telling the gang about the beautiful lady that gave him the ride, Jack is shocked to find that the lady with the roadster and Miss Crabtree are one and the same. [25] Lacking a replacement, Hal Roach persuaded him to stay on for another year. It was the 100th (12th talking) Our Gang short that was released and the first in the 1930 … Then, the kids are to have their younger siblings — Wheezer, Dorothy, and Hercules — come in and tell Miss Crabtree that they need to be excused to go home ... "and then, we're all goin' swimmin'! See more ideas about rascal, little rascals buckwheat, comedy short films. He signed on to release future products through the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which released its first Our Gang comedy in September 1927. A Tough Winter is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Many series entries were trimmed by two to four minutes, while others (among them Spanky, Bargain Day, The Pinch Singer and Mush and Milk) were cut to nearly half of their original length. The sound discs for Railroadin' had been lost since the 1940s, and a silent print was available for home movie release until 1982, when the film's sound discs were located in the MGM vault and the short was restored with sound. 12 x 16 in other sizes. CBS Television Distribution, through King World Productions, owns the rights to the Little Rascals trademark and has all other media rights to the 1929-1938 Roach shorts, which constitute The Little Rascals television package, with certain territory exclusions controlled by Cinematografische Commers Anatalt. This process was also used in the Little Rascals shorts When the Wind Blows (1930) and A … The children had all taken sticks from the lumberyard to play with, but the smallest child had the biggest stick, and the others were trying to force him to give it to the biggest child. The move to MGM offered Roach larger budgets and the chance to have his films packaged with MGM features to the Loews Theatres chain. In later shorts, both Butch and Waldo were portrayed as Alfalfa's rivals in his pursuit of Darla's affections. Gordon Douglas served as Meins's assistant director, and Fred Newmeyer alternated directorial duties with Meins for a handful of shorts. The Our Gang series was a success from the start, with the children's naturalism, the funny animal actors, and McGowan's direction making a successful combination. This was a second film loosely based on the series and featuring interpretations of classic Our Gang shorts, including Helping Grandma, Mike Fright, and Birthday Blues. The four black child actors who held main roles in the series were Ernie Morrison, Allen Hoskins, Matthew Beard and Billie Thomas. After realizing that he had been watching the children bicker for 15 minutes, Roach thought a short film series about children just being themselves might be a success.[18]. These productions did not appear to be affiliated with Hal Roach, but often used storylines from the shorts of the period, and sometimes went so far as to identify themselves as being Our Gang productions. He was best known for his role as Alfalfa in the short subjects series Our Gang.. Switzer began his career as a child actor in the mid-1930s appearing in the Our Gang short subjects series as Alfalfa, one of the series' most popular and best-remembered characters. Our Gang . As part of a month-long tribute to Hal Roach Studios, Turner Classic Movies televised a 24-hour marathon of Roach Our Gang shorts - both sound films and silents – on January 4–5, 2011. Young Sherlocks. 01. [55] Bracken's official biography was once altered[55] to state that he appeared in Our Gang instead of The Kiddie Troupers, although he himself had no knowledge of the change. Other early Our Gang children were Eugene Jackson as Pineapple, Scooter Lowry, Andy Samuel, Johnny Downs, Winston and Weston Doty, and Jay R. Smith. [2] Douglas, in particular, had to streamline his films, as he directed Our Gang after Roach halved the running times of the shorts from two reels (20 minutes) to one reel (10 minutes). Later that year, the first 10 Cabin Fever volumes were re-released on VHS with new packaging, and the first two volumes were released on DVD as The Little Rascals: Volumes 1–2. Many also appeared in a group cameo appearance in the all-star comedy short The Stolen Jools (1931). On May 31, 1938, Roach sold MGM the Our Gang unit, including the rights to the name and the contracts for the actors and writers, for $25,000 (equal to $454,078 today). Add to Cart. Coupled with a brief suspension in McFarland's work permit,[28] Our Gang went into a four-month hiatus, during which the series was revised to a format similar to its original style and German-born Gus Meins was hired as the new series director.[25]. 3 December 1922 3 Dec 1922. Episode Ep. During the 1980s and 1990s, MGM released several non-comprehensive VHS tapes of its shorts, and a VHS of the feature General Spanky. Most of the Blackhawk Bulletins are available here: Blackhawk Bulletins. Scripts were written for the shorts by the Hal Roach comedy writing staff, which included at various times Leo McCarey, Frank Capra, Walter Lantz, and Frank Tashlin, among others. Another director, Herbert Glazer, remained a second-unit director outside of his work on the series. By the end of 1941, Darla Hood had departed from the series, and Spanky McFarland followed her within a year. Episode Ep. 16 x 12 in other sizes. [2] It was the 101st Our Gang short to be released. Early in 1935, new cast members Carl Switzer and his brother Harold joined Our Gang after impressing Roach with an impromptu musical performance at the studio commissary. When six of the 13 shorts released between 1942 and 1943 sustained losses rather than turning profits,[38] MGM discontinued Our Gang. Following the broadcast, Spanky McFarland informed the media of the truth,[55] and in December, William Thomas, Jr. (son of Billie Thomas, the person who played Buckwheat) filed a lawsuit against ABC for negligence.[55]. 8 x 10 in other sizes. The MGM-produced Our Gang shorts, General Spanky, and the rights to the Our Gang name are owned by Warner Bros. through Turner Entertainment. [68] The television rights for the MGM Our Gang shorts belong to Warner Bros. Television Distribution, and the video rights to Warner Home Video. Episode Ep. In 1994, Amblin Entertainment and Universal Pictures released The Little Rascals, a feature film based loosely on the series and featuring interpretations of classic Our Gang shorts, including Hearts are Thumps, Rushin' Ballet, and Hi'-Neighbor! In Follies of 1938, Alfalfa, who aspires to be an opera singer, falls asleep and dreams that his old pal Spanky has become the rich owner of a swanky Broadway nightclub where Darla and Buckwheat perform, making "hundreds and thousands of dollars.". The Mack-directed shorts are considered to be among the lesser entries in the series. It was produced by Hal Roach, directed by Robert F. McGowan, and originally released to theatres by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 11, 1930. Ernie Morrison was, in fact, the first black actor signed to a long-term contract in Hollywood history[7] and the first major black star in Hollywood history. These new television prints made their debut on the American Movie Classics cable network in 2001 and ran until 2003. Featuring Our Gang alumni Mickey Daniels and Mary Kornman among its cast, The Boy Friends was produced for two years, with fifteen installments in total. In the 1950s, home movie distributor Official Films released many of the Hal Roach talkies on 16 mm film. The film, directed by Penelope Spheeris, starred Travis Tedford as Spanky, Bug Hall as Alfalfa, and Ross Bagley as Buckwheat; with cameos by the Olsen twins, Whoopi Goldberg, Mel Brooks, Reba McEntire, Daryl Hannah, Donald Trump and Raven-Symoné. [13] Early in existence of Our Gang, these theater owners complained to Pathé that Morisson and Hoskins had too much screen time and their prominence in the shorts would offend white audiences. With Eugene 'Porky' Lee, George 'Spanky' McFarland, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas. Robert A. McGowan was credited for these shorts as "Robert McGowan"; as a result, moviegoers have been confused for decades about whether this Robert McGowan and the senior director of the same name at Roach were two separate people. Unfortunately, while his height stopped at 4′ 7″, his weight ballooned to 300 pounds. This led to rumors of an Our Gang/Little Rascals "curse", rumors further popularized by a 2002 E! Directed by Gordon Douglas (who coincidentally has a walk-on as a delivery boy in Teacher's Pet), and starring the mid/late 1930s Our Gang line-up of Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, and Porky, Bored of Education won the 1937 Academy Award for Short Subjects (One-Reel). [19] Theater owners then were wary of booking shorts focused on a black boy,[19] and the series ended after just one entry, The Pickaninny, was produced. 03. It was produced by Hal Roach, directed by Robert F. McGowan, and originally released to theatres by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 11, 1930. Other members in these years included Mary Ann Jackson's brother Dickie Jackson, John "Uh-huh" Collum, and Tommy Bond. ‪1‬ HD; CC; Classics; 2013; $12.99; $12.99; Description. [30] Directed by Gordon Douglas and Fred Newmeyer, General Spanky featured characters Spanky, Buckwheat, and Alfalfa in a sentimental, Shirley Temple-esque story set during the American Civil War. Add to Cart. Our Gang Comics outlasted the series by five years, changing its name to Tom and Jerry Comics in 1949. Lazy Days, Moan and Groan, Inc., the Stepin Fetchit-guest-starred A Tough Winter, Little Daddy, A Lad an' a Lamp, The Kid From Borneo, and Little Sinner were deleted from the syndication package because of perceived racism, while Big Ears was deleted for its depiction of carelessly ingesting an assortment of drugs out of a medicine cabinet. [60][61] This set includes all 80 Hal Roach-produced Our Gang sound short films. Academy Award for Short Subjects (One-Reel), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teacher%27s_Pet_(1930_film)&oldid=988539519, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Beverly and Betty Mae Crane as the Title readers, This page was last edited on 13 November 2020, at 20:09. Another was Robert Blake, who found great success in the 1960s and 1970s as an actor, with films like In Cold Blood (1967) and television shows like Baretta (1975–78), which netted him an Emmy Award. Spanky, Buckwheat, Porky and all The Little Rascals … Our Gang would be used by MGM as a training ground for future feature directors: Sidney, Edward Cahn and Cy Endfield all worked on Our Gang before moving on to features. [13] A later Our Gang spin-off film, Curley (1947), was banned by the Memphis, Tennessee censor board for showing black and white children in school together, a characteristic common to even the earlier shorts. In 1971, because of controversy over some dated racial humor in the shorts and other content deemed to be in bad taste, King World made significant edits to Little Rascals TV prints. Unlike many motion pictures featuring children and based in fantasy, producer/creator Hal Roach rooted Our Gang in real life: most of the children were poor, and the gang was often at odds with snobbish "rich kids," officious adults, parents, and other such adversaries. According to Roach, the idea for Our Gang came to him in 1921, when he was auditioning a child actress to appear in a film. The first cast of Our Gang was recruited primarily of children recommended to Roach by studio employees, with the exception of Ernie Morrison, under contract to Roach. A long list of people, including persons famous in other capacities such as Nanette Fabray, Eddie Bracken, and gossip columnist Joyce Haber[54] claimed to be or have been publicly called former Our Gang children. Although they were among the biggest stars of their day, the Little Rascals saw virtually none of the wealth they generated during their TV revival. MGM prepared to distribute its own Our Gang shorts to television in 1957,[45] and offers for the shorts to stations began to be made in 1958. In an interview on Tom Snyder's The Tomorrow Show in 1974, Matthew Beard said of his time in the series that "I feel it was great. [57][58] Each tape contained four shorts, as well as newly-produced introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin. Norman Chaney is another one of the Our Gang/Little Rascals child actors who met an early death. The Little Rascals (Our Gang), Best of Vol. The characters of Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, Porky, Darla, Froggy, Butch, Woim, and Waldo were especially well known. 10 September 1922 10 Sep 1922. 26 November 1922 26 Nov 1922. In spring 1929, the Roach sound stages were converted for sound recording, and Our Gang made its "all-talking" debut in April 1929 with the 25-minute film Small Talk. Spanky from the "Little Rascals", Photograph, America, Around 1930 [Spanky von den "Kleinen Strolchen" , Photographie, Amerika, Um 1930] Erstklassige Nachrichtenbilder in hoher Auflösung bei Getty Images He underwent a treatment for it in 1935 at John Hopkins University and, as a result, his weight dropped pretty quickly from 300 pounds to 140. [37] The children's performances were criticized as stilted and stiff, their dialogue being recited instead of spoken naturally. They imagine this "Miss Crabtree" to be a dried-up old hag, and concoct a plan to disrupt the class with items such as a white mouse, red ants, and sneezing powder. In 1949, MGM sold Roach the back catalog of 1927–1938 Our Gang silent and talking shorts, while retaining the rights to the Our Gang name, the 52 Our Gang films it produced, and the feature General Spanky. After accepting the other three pranksters' apologies and giving them their treats, Miss Crabtree goes outside looking for Jack, and upon finding him quietly presents him with a plate of cake and a bowl of ice cream, showing that she forgives him. The colloquial usage of the term Our Gang led to its becoming the series' second (yet more popular) official title, with the title cards reading "Our Gang Comedies: Hal Roach presents His Rascals in..."[20] The series was officially called both Our Gang and Hal Roach's Rascals until 1932, when Our Gang became the sole title of the series. The characters in this series are well-known cultural icons, and identified solely by their first names. On August 26, 1997, a limited-edition volume, For Pete's Sake, was released in honor of the Rascals' 75th anniversary with an introduction from original cast member Tommy "Butch" Bond and "Petey," the dog from the 1994 feature. In 1930, Roach began production on The Boy Friends, a short-subject series which was essentially a teenaged version of Our Gang. Teacher's Pet is a 1930 two-reel comedy short, part of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. For years afterward, Blackhawk Films eventually released all 80 Roach talkies on 8mm and 16 mm film, including Big Ears, which is proven since it is listed in the Blackhawk Bulletin. $14.99. Under its new name, The Little Rascals enjoyed renewed popularity on television, and new Little Rascals comic books, toys, and other licensed merchandise were produced. Sidney Kibrick, the younger brother of Leonard Kibrick, played Butch's crony, Woim. Some stations bought both packages and played them alongside each other under the Little Rascals show banner. An unsatisfied McGowan abruptly left after Wild Poses. Teacher's Pet. This process was helped with the aid of language tutors, blackboards placed out of camera range with the phonetic dialogue written on them, and the hiring of foreign actors for the incidental roles. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love. Production continued at the Roach studio until 1938, when the studio's Our Gang production unit was sold to MGM, which produced the comedies until 1944. Since 1937, Our Gang had been featured as a licensed comic strip in the UK comic The Dandy, drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. The set is available by mail order and digital download as part of the Warner Archive Collection, and is available for purchase via the iTunes Store. Jackie Cooper left Our Gang in early 1931 at the cusp of another major shift in the lineup, as Farina Hoskins, Chubby Chaney, and Mary Ann Jackson all departed a few months afterward. Because they discontinued various shorts at different times, and also continued to add new releases, there is not one bulletin that lists all 80. Wheezer says "Mama wants Jack home right away; she's gonna shoot Papa!" Saturday Morning. After the girl and her mother left the office, Roach looked out of his window to a lumberyard across the street, where he saw some children having an argument. The first one-reel Our Gang short, Bored of Education (1936), marked the Our Gang directorial debut of former assistant director Gordon Douglas and won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (One Reel) in 1937. Serie Televisee Les Petites Canailles Little Rascals, C. 1930. [2], As children became too old for the series, they were replaced by new children, usually from the Los Angeles area. The video contained three previously-released shorts and the previously-unreleased silent short Dog Heaven; the VHS tape was also available in a gift set with a Pete plush doll.[59]. [25] The first two entries of the season in fall 1933, Bedtime Worries and Wild Poses (which featured a cameo by Laurel and Hardy), focused on Spanky and his hapless parents, portrayed by Gay Seabrook and Emerson Treacy, in a family-oriented situation comedy format similar to the style later popular on television. and "Okey-doke!"[27]. By 1936, Hal Roach began debating plans to discontinue Our Gang until Louis B. Mayer, head of Roach's distributor MGM, persuaded Roach to keep the popular series in production.