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Comedy Movies/Our Gang/Little Rascals comedies

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Expert: - 12/10/2005


Question
Hi:
My father and several of his siblings where extras in the "our Gang/Little Rascals: comedies of the 1920s and 1930s. How would I go about finding out which of the epsoides they were in?

Answer
Dear Roger:  I'm sorry to say I think it might be difficult to locate this information, at least on-line. I take it none of your living relatives can help you with this information?

The Internet Movie Data Base lists 224 "Little Rascals/Our Gang" shorts, with cast lists.  Sometimes in this data base, the cast lists include noncredited extras, but often they do not.  The name "Covalt" is not listed among their lists of people in the biz, but sometimes people are listed without also having a bio.  Or perhaps your father had a different name from yours, or one of his siblings was more than an extra?  If I had some names, as well as when they were acting in Hollywood (specific years) I might be able to locate the names of those shorts produced in those years which would provide a more narrowed starting point for you(or you could locate that information yourself on the imdb.com, if you had the specific years when your family was acting).

There are some other options.  When I typed in "Our Gang comedies" on google.com, a huge number of sites were listed.  The first goes to a webring related to these shorts (http://hwebring.com/hub?ring-little rascals) that gives some additional sites that might be promising.  You might also see if you can track down anything on the Hal Roach Studios, since the archives for the studio may list extras (that might require contacting the Merrick Library in L.A.--that's the library for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).  Its all a long shot for people who only performed as extras.

I hope this information can give you some leads to locate the specific shorts your family were in.  Good luck on your search.

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Barbara L. Baker

Expertise

I am a professor of communication at a midwest university, who has expertise on subjects related to film. I can answer general questions on U.S. film comedy (especially satires of the 1960s and 1970s) and comic theory. I also could answer questions related to specific comic genres, such as comedian comedies, screwball comedies, "stupid" comedies, and so forth. The more specific you can make your question, the better (e.g. main plot details, main characters, possible character names, possible actors, how you viewed the show, etc.). I also need to have a release date (or range of dates, or at least the year you viewed the film). Please do not just provide a set of links to someplace else (e.g. imdb discussion threads). I am less able to answer questions about comedies from other countries, made-for-TV movies, and recent comic films and actors (although I would do my best to find out). I cannot answer questions about specific TV shows or series, "Our Gang" episodes, anime/magna or about film collectables. I generally cannot provide movie recommendations, since what I find funny others may not. Nor will I answer obvious homework (although I will point you to resources to help answer the question, if asked). I also can't help you find movie stars, or where to buy movie memorabilia, or tell you how to break into the business.

Experience

Course work in comedy films along with teaching about comedy films for several years; I've also conducted research into comedy films.

Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in Communication, emphasis in film and rhetoric

Awards and Honors
A dissertation award from a national organization plus various paper awards

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My students

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