Little Mother

technical details:

Production G-20.

Filmed February 4 to 13, 1929. See the 'miscellaneous' section below for details.

Released June 1, 1929. It was the 87th film in the series to be released.

Copyrighted June 3, 1929, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corporation. Registration no. LP430. Renewed September 13, 1956, with registration no. R176898. This copyright expired at the end of 2024, and the film is now in the public domain.

Silent two-reeler.

Opening title: '"Our Gang" Comedies - Hal Roach presents His Rascals in "Little Mother".'

the crew:

Produced by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach

This is the way Maltin & Bann put it. The film credits Roach as a presenter, with a separate credit reading "A Robert McGowan Production."

Directed by Robert F. McGowan

This credit appears in the film, but without his middle initial.

Photographed by Art Lloyd

This credit appears in the film.

Edited by Richard Currier

This credit appears in the film.

Titles by H. M. Walker

This credit appears in the film.

Animation by Roy Seawright

This credit derives from Seawright's payroll status as the studio animator during this period. This film features animated bubbles.

Story by Robert F. McGowan

This credit doesn't appear in the film.

Animal Trainer: Harry Lucenay

He was Pete's owner and trainer.

Teacher: Fern Carter

Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

As indicated in the opening title card.

Passed by the National Board of Review

As indicated in the film.

studio personnel

general manager - Warren Doane

assistant general manager - L. A. French

secretary-treasurer - C. H. Roach

assistant secretary - Mat O'Brien

construction supervisor - C. E. Christensen

laboratory superintendent - Charles Levin

optical effects supervisor - Roy Seawright

still photographer - Clarence "Stax" Graves

transportation director - Bob Davis

possible uncredited involvement

assistant direction - Possibly Charles Oelze.

cutting - Possibly Lloyd Campbell.

writing - Robert A. McGowan, Jean Yarbrough and Charlie Hall may have been among the gag writers.

property department - Charles Oelze, Don Sandstrom and Thomas Benton Roberts were probably involved in this capacity.

animal training - Tony Campanaro may have been among the animal trainers.

the kids:

Mary Ann Jackson

Lead role. Introduced in the titles as "Little Mother." She takes care of her little brothers while their father works at night.

Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins as "Wheezer"

Featured role. He's paired up with a twin in this film, and the two of them have some trouble with swelled bellies and open fire hydrants.

Donnie Smith as "Beezer"

Featured role. He's alongside Wheezer in every scene, and often follows his dialogue with "me too."

Joe Cobb as "Joe"

Supporting role. He lives next door and advises Mary on how to remedy the twins' swollen bellies.

Harry Spear

Small part. He misleads the twins into thinking a black woman is their mother.

Allen "Farina" Hoskins

Small part. He's seen briefly at the end of the film.

Jean Darling

Small part. She's seen briefly at the end of the film.

the animals:

Pete (no. 1)

Supporting role. He lives in the house with Mary Ann and the twins, and figures into a lot of the gag material.

cat 080

Small part. This is the tabby that lives in the house.

Leo

Bit part. The MGM lion appears at the opening of the film.

other animals

Bit part. There is also a mouse that Pete chases into a vase.

the adults:

Warner Richmond as the kids' dad

Supporting role. He appears in the early part of the film and returns towards the end. He works as a night watchman, which is why Mary has to watch the twins overnight.

Lyle Tayo as the kids' aunt, and as the kids' mom in the painting

Small part. She's shown as the mother in the painting, and then appears at the end of the film as the mother's twin sister.

Pearl Merrill as Joe's mom

Small part. This ID is by process of elimination, as her name is the only choice included in the payroll ledger for the one day that Warner Richmond worked.

Edith Fortier

Small part. She's listed in the ledger, and is presumably the black woman that Harry identifies as the twins' mother, seeing as she seems to be the only black character in the whole film.

Ham Kinsey

Bit part. He's listed in the payroll ledger for this film, and it appears that he might be the guy whose suit shrinks. Maltin & Bann identify this character as Gene Stone, but he's not in the ledger.

Charles Millsfield

Bit part. He's the bearded man who gets showered.

Evelyn Burns

Bit part. She's listed in the ledger, and seems to be the dowager in the back of the car getting sprayed.

Jack O'Brien

Bit part. He's listed in the ledger, and it appears that he's the guy on the corner who gets knocked down by the water.

Charlie Hall as the cab driver

Bit part. According to Maltin & Bann. It's too difficult to tell with this print, but he is included in the ledger.

other adults

Bit parts and extras. Among these are Virginia Winters, Harry Bayfield, William Dill, Tex Higginson, Andy McIntyre, William Searby, Eddie Welch, Vera White, Elizabeth Henry, Billie Tilford, Crete Sipple, Jane Talent, Flora Craig, Edna Hall, Cora Shumway, Mauree Coffee, Joan Jaccard, Richard Block, Dan Peterson, Clarence Morehouse, Eugene Barrey, Roy Saeger, Mike Donovan and Pete Gordon. All of these worked on Apr. 12th, along with the other extras listed here and involved in the water spraying sequence.

(1.) The cop that chases the kids away from the fire hydrant.

(2.) The cop that chases the kids away during the deleted 'funny glasses' footage.

(3.) Several pedestrians getting showered. According to Maltin & Bann, one of these is Ed Brandenberg, but they seem to often interchange him with his brother Chet Brandenburg, who is listed in the ledger for this film as Chet Brandy.

(4.) Several pedestrians taking part in the "funny glasses" deleted sequence, which was filmed on Apr. 13th. In addition to the aforementioned Roy Saeger, Mike Donovan, Jack O'Brien, Chet Brandenburg and Pete Gordon, this sequence featured Eddie Clayton, Richard Bellfield, Gordon Clifford, L. J. Casey, Babe Green, Ken McGregor, Stanhope Wheatcroft, Clay DeRoy, Skeet Noyes, Clarence Wertz, Edna Altemus, Adeline Ashbury, Eleanor Black, Betty Caldwell, Lucille DeNever, Pearl Elmore, Anna Foote, Eleanor Frederick, Adelaide Hallock, Helen Hayward, Mary Mayo, Gertrude Oakman, Susanne Rhoades, Alona Tenant, Dorothy Vernon, and Louis O'Connor.

the locations:

Hal E. Roach Studios

The New York street set was used for the fire hydrant scene. The scene where the twins are on the back porch was actually on the back of the administration building right next to the entrance gate.

insurance company

The black woman is standing next to this.

miscellaneous:

9 shooting dates went into the making of this film. Five weeks after shooting finished for "Fast Freight" (no. 85), the 'start' date arrived for "Little Mother" on Feb. 4th. The studio had been closed for four of those weeks. Shooting continued until the 'finish' date of Feb. 13th. Information written into the 1929 studio datebook for Feb. 14th was crossed out. No shooting took place on Feb. 3rd or 10th, which were both Sundays. Robert F. McGowan directed on each of the shooting dates. After this, one week passed before the Our Gang unit began filming "Cat, Dog & Co." (no. 87).

The twins munch on Superior Brand Dried Apples, which don't react well with a bedtime glass of water.

Publicity photos refer to the kids as Roach's Rascals.

A scene deleted from the finished film involved a small business run by the Gang with a sign that reads 'Funny Look How You Look.' In a publicity photo, Farina tries on some funny glasses as Joe holds a mirror for him to look into. Jean is the cashier, while Harry looks on. A second photo shows a cop chasing them away. In the available film, there's a brief moment where Harry is wearing glasses. More deleted footage seems to be connected to a photo showing Mary and the twins looking out a window at the Gang, who are flenching their fists at the siblings.

See anything that needs changing? Contact me at BtheW@aol.com.

© Robert Demoss.