Railroadin'

technical details:

Production G-24.

Filmed April 17 to 25, 1929. See the 'miscellaneous' section below for details.

Title sheet prepared by H. M. Walker on May 27, 1929.

Cutting continuity submitted June 10, 1929.

Released June 15, 1929. It was the 88th film in the series to be released.

All-talking two-reeler, sound on disc only. (In actuality, there is a very small amount of silent footage in this film.)

Copyrighted December 9, 1929, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Corporation. Registration no. LP892. Renewed December 19, 1956, with registration no. R182606. This copyright expired at the end of 2024, and the film is now in the public domain.

Opening title: "Our Gang" Comedies; Hal Roach presents His Rascals' Voices in "Railroadin'."

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 and F. E. Hershey

This credit appears in the film.

Film Editor: Richard Currier

This credit appears in the film.

Story Editor: H. M. Walker

This credit appears in the film.

Recording Engineer: Elmer Raguse

Studio documentation verifies his participation, and indicates that he was employed by Victor.

Story by Robert F. McGowan

This credit doesn't appear in the film. The press release also credits him with the dialogue.

Animal Trainer: Harry Lucenay

He was Pete's owner and trainer.

Teacher: Fern Carter

Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Indicated in the opening credits.

Passed by the National Board of Review

As indicated in the film.

A Victor Recording, Western Electric System

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, Charlie Hall, Harry Keaton and Carl Harbaugh may have been among the gag writers.

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

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

the kids:

Allen "Farina" Hoskins as "Farina"

Featured role. He repeatedly gets run over by the train, and then joins Joe and Harry for their wild ride.

Joe Cobb as "Joe" aka "Jody"

Featured role. His father is the engineer, so Joe shows Harry the engine, and doesn't know how to stop it once Loco Joe starts it up.

Harry Spear as "Harry"

Supporting role. He talks Joe into showing him the engine, and then is present throughout the wild ride.

Norman "Chubby" Chaney as "Chubby" aka "Chub"

Supporting role. He's with Joe at the beginning of the film and later helps Farina to free himself from the track. This was his first appearance in the series. He's identified in the publicity photos by his real name even though the nickname was used in the film.

Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins

Supporting role. The nickname isn't used in this film. He's seen with the girls throughout the film.

Mary Ann Jackson

Supporting role. She's with Wheezer and Jean in an open-air car, and sings "I Faw Down And Go Boom."

Jean Darling

Supporting role. She's also in the open-air car, accompanying Mary Ann on banjo, but otherwise isn't given much of anything specific to do. Her pigtails were retained from the previous film, "Small Talk" (no. 89), since it was in keeping with her role as one of the 'small vagabonds.'

Donnie Smith

He's listed in the payroll ledger for April 23rd. Presumably, he was on hand to stand in for Wheezer.

other kids

Extra. The only remaining kid is the girl who's shown in the other train sitting next to Bob McGowan.

the animals:

Pete (no. 1)

Small part. He's in the open-air car with Wheezer and the girls, but is given very little to do. The cutting continuity identifies him simply as 'dog.'

Leo

Bit part. The MGM lion appears at the opening of the film (but is cut from the Cabin Fever print).

other animals

Bit parts.

(1.) The chicken that lays the egg.

(2.) The billy goat being bottle-fed by Wheezer. According to the press release, this goat belonged to Harry Spear.

the adults:

Otto Fries as "Otto," Joe's dad

Supporting role. He's shown at the beginning and end of the film. Publicity photos misspell his last name 'Freeze.'

Harry Lorraine as "Loco Joe"

Supporting role. He's the lunatic that starts up the engine.

Ed Thomas as "Ed"

Supporting role. He's the other engineer that works with Fries. The cutting continuity identifies him as a fireman.

Charles A. Bachman as a train conductor

Small part. He works on the other train, and warns the other conductors of the runaway train coming towards them. He also talks to the kids after the train stops.

Chet Brandenburg as the brakeman

Bit part. He's the first to come up to the boys after they get off the train. Listed in the payroll ledger as Chet Brandy. Maltin & Bann list his brother, Ed Brandenberg, instead.

Robert Page and Ham Kinsey as the train engineers

Bit parts. They're present as Bachman and Brandenburg talk to the kids. Page is on the right and Kinsey is on the left, mostly hidden behind Bachman. One of them is presumably the fireman on that engine.

Bob McGowan as a train passenger

Bit part. In the first shot, he's seen sleeping to the right of the car. In the second shot, he's in the aisle and stumbling forward.

Carolyn Chaney as a train passenger

Extra. In the shots showing the inside of the other train, she's sitting in an aisle seat right next to Bachman as he says his line. Listed by Maltin & Bann as Mrs. Norman T. Chaney, even though her husband was William J. Chaney. She was Chubby's real-life mother.

Dorothy Hamilton Darling as a train passenger

Extra. She's sitting at the window seat next to Mrs. Chaney. She was Jean's real-life mother.

other adults

Small parts, bit parts and extras. Only two additional names are listed in the payroll ledger for this film: Lee Lindsay and Cecil T. Truschel. I have no idea which roles they play, but they were both Culver City police officers at the time. Perhaps they were there to provide security. I should also point out that the ledger doesn't mention the people on the interior of the passenger car, including Bob McGowan and the mothers of the Our Gang kids. Even in Bachman's case, he's listed only because he was in the later scene with Brandenburg, which may have been filmed on a separate day.

(1.) "Bob," the railroad worker that gets off the passenger car and switches the tracks, averting disaster. It seems that we're supposed to think that this is the same character that Brandenburg plays, but it's not the same guy.

(2.) Three additional women and two additional men in the passenger car. I suspect that the woman sitting directly behind Mrs. Chaney is Mary Ann Jackson's mother, which is a bit more convincing in the second shot when McGowan stumbles.

(3.) The grocery truck driver, who Maltin & Bann list as Jack Hill, but it's impossible to tell in the film. Perhaps there's a photograph that reveals this. In any event, he's not in the ledger, so it may be that this role was played by Lindsay or Truschel.

(4.) The engineer of the train that blows steam on Farina and Harry at the beginning of the film. I suspect he was an actual railroad employee.

(5.) Various pedestrians, drivers and streetcar passengers shown in the background, as well as a few railroad workers.

the music:

"I Faw Down And Go Boom" by James Brockman and Leonard Stevens

Published in 1928. This is sung by Mary Ann. At the time, it was a hit (peaking at no. 15 on April 20, 1929) for Eddie Cantor.

music in alternate prints

"That Old Gang Of Mine" by Ray Henderson

Written in 1923 with lyrics by Billy Rose and Mort Dixon. This version is an instrumental. It appears at the end title, but not in the Blackhawk print, suggesting that it was probably not an original part of the film.

the locations:

Santa Fe railroad yards

The tracks run along the west side of the Los Angeles River. The roundhouse is just north of Washington Boulevard. In his book Following The Comedy Trail, author Leon Smith mentions the Olympic Boulevard Bridge, which is north of this location. It can best be seen right after Joe convinces Farina not to jump from the train. Smith also mentions the 4th Street Viaduct as appearing behind the open-air car in which Wheezer and the girls are playing, but it doesn't match the photo in his book, and looks more like the Olympic Boulevard Bridge. He also mentions that the Sears Building (at 2675 East 12th Street) is shown numerous times, but this doesn't match the photo in his book, either. Maltin & Bann state that some of the location footage was shot behind the Samuel Goldwyn studio near Santa Monica Boulevard, which is a pretty good distance from these other locations. They mention some identifying oil cylinders in that area. This location can also be seen in Laurel & Hardy's "Berth Marks" and Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid."

The Optimistic Donut

There are numerous buildings with signs on them seen during the runaway train sequence, but most of them are too blurry to read. However, there is a sign for "The Optimistic Donut," a bakery that sponsored a popular radio program called "The Optimistic Doughnut Hour."

F streetcar

Later in the same shot with The Optimistic Donut, the train races past this streetcar, so the location footage was shot somewhere along the F line. The front of the streetcar reads "116 St. via Hoover St. and Vermont Ave."

miscellaneous:

8 shooting dates went into the making of this film. A week and a half after shooting finished for "Small Talk" (no. 89), the 'start' date for "Railroadin'" arrived on Apr. 17th. Shooting continued until the 'finish' date of Apr. 25th. No shooting took place on Apr. 21st, which was a Sunday. Robert F. McGowan directed on each of the shooting dates. After this, two and a half weeks passed before the Our Gang unit began shooting "Boxing Gloves" (no. 91). It should be noted that the press release for this film states that twelve shooting dates were spent with the engine.

On September 15th, the Scripps-Howard newspaper syndicate published an article on Chubby Chaney, with this to say: "The soul of this artist is a bit troubled by the camouflage amid which he must work. He explained, for instance, that he was disappointed when he made his first picture. 'Railroaders' it was called. It concerned some youngsters who were playing in the cab of a locomotive and who were sent on a wild, careening ride by a maniac who started the engine. 'Gosh,' said Norman, 'that was all faked. They took us up to Santa Fe and took the whole picture right in the railroad yards. And there was an engineer in the locomotive all the time but they cut out all the shots that you could see him in. And there was a platform built right outside the engine for the cameras to stand on and the director to sit on. And he just sat outside while the engine went and told all the kids what to do and what to say.'"

During the runaway train sequence, some election posters can be seen, but I can't make out who it was that was running for office.

Another poster seen during the runaway train sequence advertised the 1928 feature "Abie's Irish Rose."

Among the items in the railway car inhabited by Jean, Mary, and Wheezer, is a box of Edison Mazda Lamps, which figured more prominently in "Bouncing Babies" (no. 93).

The first reel ends when Farina says "I wish ah wasn't where ah ain't."

The press release refers to the kids as the six Roach Rascals.

During the scene where the two engines are heading towards each other, the gang is in engine no. 1272 while the opposing train is engine no. 1373. However, earlier shots show the gang in engine no. 1373. According to studio publicity, '1373' was the runaway engine, and the gang made it a certified member of its Whangeedoodle Club, with Joe as president, Harry as secretary, and Farina as treasurer.

The script submitted to MGM was given the catalog number B573.

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© Robert Demoss.