Bargain Day

the animals:

Joe the Monk as "Pansy"

Featured role. This is presumably Joe. He's Shirley's monkey, and causes plenty of mischief throughout the film.

Pete the Pup III

Supporting role. He joins Wheezer and Stymie, and is given a few comical reactions to the whole Watt Street exchange.

Leo

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

the adults:

Harry Bernard as the hat salesman

Small part. He's seen at the beginning of the film.

Stanley "Tiny" Sandford as the police captain

Small part. He's the cop that's in charge and does most of the talking.

Otto Fries as the plain-clothes cop

Small part. He warns Wheezer and Stymie that they'd better get a license.

Mickey Daniels as the laugh-over for the monkey

Small part. His laugh is heard several times.

Gill Edwards, L.J. O'Connor, Bob Mineford, Silas D. Wilcox and Rus Custer as the remaining cops

Small part. Wilcox is the one chasing Wheezer in the house. I still need to familiarize myself with the others.

Baldwin Cooke as the socks customer

Bit part. He distracts the salesman long enough for the kids to make a mess of his store.

other adults

Presumed small parts. It's fairly obvious that much of the footage shot in December was scrapped after Jackie Cooper was loaned out to Paramount. Publicity photos reveal the presence of Lyle Tayo in Shirley's house, and with Cooper present. Presumably, Tayo played Shirley's mother. Isabel Keith also worked on the same day, so perhaps she was a friend of the mother. The cops listed above were all present, with the exception of Mineford. In this early version, it appears that Bill Knight was originally one of these six men. Also present on the same shooting date was Jim Tugg in an unknown role. On a separate shooting date was Howard L. Hentershee, an officer of the LAPD, who may have been providing security for the production.

the music:

"Good Old Days" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931.

(A12.) The twelfth version is played in part over the opening titles. It's partially played again as the kids discover their baseball equipment is missing.

(A10.) The tenth version is played as the older kids are looking for Wheezer, and Baloney sets off the alarm.

"It Is To Laugh" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted 1930. Most of this is played as Chubby tries on various hats, with most of thesecond half repeated several times. This is the version reproduced by on the second Beau Hunks CD, with elements of "Oh, My Hat" and "Let's Go" incorporated into it. The end part is played as the kids run out of the store. The last bit is repeated as Chubby says 'I must have shrunk.'

"Where? Oh, Where" by Leroy Shield

This effect piece is partially played as the salesman gets angry.

"(We're Going To) Arrowhead" by Leroy Shield

This is played as we first see Wheezer and Stymie.

"Candy Candy" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Dec. 23, 1930. Most of this is played during Stymie's conversation with the plain-clothes cop. The beginning is repeated as Stymie meets the monkey.

"Wishing" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931. This is played and partially repeated as we're introduced to Shirley and her monkey. The introduction to this piece is repeated three times, and interspersed with "One For You," as Stymie finds the toy lion.

"Beautiful Lady" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931. An alternate version of this tune is played as Wheezer and Stymie arrive at Shirley's door.

"Crabtree" by Leroy Shield

Also known as "Girl & Stick." The second half of this piece is played as Wheezer and Stymie walk into Shirley's house. It's played again as the cops round up the kids.

"Riding Along" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Dec. 23, 1930. This is played during the Watt Street dialogue.

piece 106a

This effect piece is played as Pete puts his paws over his ears.

piece 106b

This trombone effect piece is played as Pete puts his paw in his mouth.

"Tuba"

This effect piece is played as Pete rolls onto his back. This seems to be a longer version of the piece from "Helping Grandma" (no. 103).

"In My Canoe" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931. This is played as Wheezer tries to sell Shirley a doorknob. This is the faster version reproduced on the second Beau Hunks CD.

"Nothing At All" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Aug. 13, 1931. This is played as Stymie looks for a tack.

"Hollywood Kate" by Leroy Shield

A very small bit of this effect piece is played as Stymie is about to sit on the tack.

piece 106c

This effect piece is played as Stymie sits on the tack.

"One For You" by Leroy Shield

A single chime from this piece is played three times and is interspersed with "Wishing."

"Tip Toes" by Leroy Shield

Part of the "Goofs Suite." This is played as Stymie is getting scared by the toy lion.

"On To The Show" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931. Part of this are played as Stymie shoots craps. This version is similar to the version reproduced on the second Beau Hunks CD.

"Hide And Go Seek" by Leroy Shield

Coyrighted Dec. 23, 1930. Most of this is played as Stymie chases the monkey around.

"Teeter-Totter" by Leroy Shield

This is played as the older kids first get to the house.

"Intermezzo" by Leroy Shield

This is played as Chubby tries out the steam cabinet and Farina warns Wheezer about Jackie.

"Excitement" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Aug. 13, 1931. This is played four times in a row as the cops are chasing the kids around the house.

"Your Piktur" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Jan. 10, 1931. This is played as Mary Ann falls into the fireplace.

"Yearning" by Leroy Shield

Copyrighted Aug. 13, 1931. A small part of this is played as the picture fades and the end title appears.

the locations:

Motor Avenue, Palms district, Los Angeles

As Wheezer, Stymie and Bologna are walking along the sidewalk, it appears that they are heading north along the eastern side of the 3400 block of this street. The first building seen looks like the Palms Chamber of Commerce at 3438 Motor. The cop's house has the number 3422 on it, and if this is also Motor Avenue, then it would be the next building on the block.

Hal Roach Studios, Culver City

Looking out the door of the mansion, we see the cops pulling up. This looks very much like the camera is on the front steps of the administration building at the Roach studio, with the studio pond seen behind the cops.

miscellaneous:

14 shooting dates went into the making of this film. Four weeks after shooting finished for "Little Daddy" (no. 104), the 'start' date arrived for "Bargain Day" on Dec. 14th, which was a rare working Sunday. Shooting continued until the 'finish' date of Dec. 20th. Three days later, on Dec. 23rd, retakes were shot. After this, four and a half weeks passed before retakes resumed on Jan. 26th. These appear to have been necessitated by the absence of Jackie Cooper, who was currently on loan to Paramount for the film "Skippy," which also removed Donald Haines from this film in mid-production. Shooting continued until the 'finish' date of Feb. 2nd. No shooting took place on Jan. 25th or Feb. 1st, which were both Sundays, nor on Jan. 29th. After this, four weeks passed before the Our Gang unit began filming "Fly My Kite" (no. 107).

The files of the Victor company reveal that discs were still being made for the films, presumably to accommodate theaters that had invested in sound-on-disc equipment and weren't quite ready to incur the greater cost of sound-on-film. Interestingly, discs were prepared on Dec. 31st for a 3-reel version of this film. After the new footage was shot early in the new year, new discs were prepared on February 16th for the two-reel version that we now know.

The opening scene with Bernard and Cooke was shot on Dec. 14th and 15th. Greer was also present on both of these dates. Fries was present on both dates, as well as on Dec. 16th. Henterskee was present only on the 16th. The original deleted scene with the cops at the house was shot on Dec. 19th, which is the only date that Tayo, Keith and Knight were present. Jewel and Baird were present on Jan. 29th, 30th, and 31st, as well as Feb. 2nd. The reshot footage with the cops, which included Mineford, was shot on Jan. 30th and 31st, plus Feb. 2nd.

This film was budgeted at $19,000, which was less than usual. However, the final negative cost came to $28,600, no doubt resulting from the extensive retakes.

It's likely that Our Gang's scene in "The Stolen Jools" was shot during January or February, around the time of the retakes for this film. This is contrary to Maltin & Bann's suggestion that it was shot after "Fly My Kite" (no. 107), which doesn't seem likely at all when one compares Shirley Jean Rickert's hair in the three films.

The 'Watt Street' routine derives from a turn-of-the-century vaudeville routine called "The Baker Scene."

A party for Our Gang was held at the end of shooting to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. This may seem about a year too early, but according to Hal Roach Studios, the series began in July 1921, which meant that 1931 saw a fair amount of reference to this milestone.

A rejected press sheet for this film mentions Pete coming down with a case of 'klieg eyes.' This is a condition caused by the bright lights used in film production in which the unfortunate individual becomes temporarily blind. Presumably, the studio thought it best not to share this sensitive information with the public.

The script submitted to MGM was given the catalog number B330.

This is a quote from Shirley Jean Rickert's website: "Back in the 1930's people who went out 'on the town' were known as gad-abouts and the phrase I use is 'My Mother went out to gad'."

Reissue and television prints are titled "Bargain Days."

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

© Robert Demoss.