Production K-19.
Filmed February 21 to 25, 1938. See the 'miscellaneous' section below for details.
Cutting continuity submitted March 19, 1938.
Title sheet prepared by Elmer Raguse on March 21, 1938.
Music cue sheet prepared March 21, 1938.
Copyrighted April 12, 1938, by Loew's Incorporated. Registration no. LP7962. Renewed June 16, 1965, with registration no. R362813. This copyright is currently due to expire at the end of 2033.
Released April 16, 1938. It was the 166th film in the series to be released. Early in the film season, Fred Quimby of MGM set a projected release date for this production of February 26, 1938.
All-talking one-reeler.
Opening title: 'Hal Roach presents Our Gang in "Came The Brawn".'
The soundtrack for this film was used for A Little Rascals Color Special made by King-World Productions and presented by Charles King. The resultant film, using puppet animation, was one of five episodes refashioned this way, which were intended to be marketed as a television series that never came to be.
King World Productions episode no. 54a, available in both colorized and original black-and-white versions.
There are no adults in this film.
Five days of shooting went into the making of this film. Some of the names as listed below are misspelled, but appear
that way on the original documents. Here's a breakdown of the activity, deriving from the call sheets, daily film
reports, and various memos:
Feb. 1 - A rough synopsis from this date by Hal Law was given the production number K-19, but it was actually an
early version of "The Awful Tooth" (no. 168), which ended up with the production number K-21.
Feb. 12, 14 and 15 - The script for this film was written on these three dates. Alfalfa is repeatedly referred to as
"Alf" in this script, and Sid Kibrick is called "The Woim." The end of the film is different in the
script then it is in the finished film. There's no "goodnight, folks" from Alfalfa. Instead, the other boys
think that Alfalfa has learned his lesson, but soon find him flirting with Effie, a girl played in the film by Betsy
Gay. This version of the ending was actually filmed, but replaced.
Feb. 19 - Film costs for the previous week were $1035.22.
Feb. 21 - This was the first day of shooting. Scheduled were the four main boys, Darwood Kaye, and four extra
boys: Roger Terry, Ernest Wetmore (sic), Paul Hilton, and Billy Minderhout. Shooting was to take place on the
Athletic Club set (that is, the backyard set) on Stage 4. The film was untitled at this point. The daily film
report reveals that virtually all of the scheduled shots were achieved, though the film itself reveals that Paul Hilton
was left out of these. He would be among the spectators at the wrestling match on later dates, however. It also mentions
that Darla did not work. A Collum memo from this date to O'Brien, Van Keuren, Huber and Cash, requests that the four
main boys be 'started' as of this date, and that Darwood Kaye be started with a one week guarantee.
Feb. 22 - This was the second day of shooting. Scheduled were the five main kids, Darwood Kaye, Gary Jasgur,
Tommy Bond, Sid Kibrick, and Henry Lee. Shooting was to take place on the exterior Darla's yard and alley sets, and
the interior Waldo's room set, both on Stage 4. The film was referred to as "Untitled" at this point. The
daily film report reveals that Buckwheat and Porky did not work. Three extra boys were used: Tommy McFarland, Harold
Switzer and Henry Lee. All of the footage at Darla's house was shot, as well as much of the footage showing Butch and
Woim arriving at the wrestling match. The footage inside Waldo's dressing room was not shot on this date. A Collum
memo from this date to O'Brien, Van Keuren, Huber and Cash, requests that Sid Kibrick be 'started' as of this
date.
Feb. 23 - This was the third day of shooting. Scheduled were the five main kids, Darwood Kaye, Tommy Bond, Sid
Kibrick, and 16 boys and 9 girls, all between the ages of 6 and 10. These would include Corky Guile (sic), Tommy
McFarland, Harold Switzer, Paul Hilton, Dickie De Nuet, Betsy Gay (in pigtails, etc.) and the Williams' Boy
(Voight Williams). There's also a note on the call sheet requesting that Henry Lee's salary be raised for
Feb. 21st, though this was probably meant for Feb. 22nd, and would have been a result of his special role as the ticket
taker. Also written into the call sheet were Beverly Baldy (whose name was crossed out), Drue Roddy, David
Wilmott, and Cheryl Hopper. Shooting was to take place on the athletic club and ring set (that is, the backyard
set) on stage 4. The film was still referred to on the call sheet as "Untitled." The daily film report
reveals that a total of 26 extra kids worked on this day. A Raguse memo from this date copying in Van Keuren, Bren, Ross,
O'Brien, Douglas and Burch, stated that the title "Came The Brawn" was being registered and cleared.
Feb. 24 - This was the fourth day of shooting. Scheduled were the five main kids, Darwood Kaye, Tommy Bond, Sid
Kibrick, and 25 extras. Shooting was to take place on the athletic club and ring set on Stage 4. The daily film report
reveals that Spanky was absent due to illness, and that there were actually 26 extra kids. In addition to footage shot on
the backyard set, the scene using the interior dressing room set on stage 4 was also shot on this date.
Feb. 25 - This was the final day of shooting. Scheduled were the four main boys, Darwood Kaye, Tommy Bond, and
Sid Kibrick. The call sheet states that Darla was unscheduled and was finished with this production, as were all of the
extras. It also gives an instruction to adjust Betsy Gay's salary in light of her additional activity on the previous
shooting dates. Shooting was to take place on the athletic club and ring set on Stage 4, the object being to finish the
film. The daily film report reveals that not only Darla, but Darwood and Sid, were finished and did not work. Harold
Switzer worked on this date as a double, presumably filling in for Tommy Bond in the shots in which he's holding and
throwing Alfalfa. Tommy McFarland also worked as an extra, a fact that seems to indicate that shots in which Harold and
Tommy are the only extras shown were probably shot on this date. In addition to the backyard/ring set, the exterior
'under ring' set on stage 4 was also used. There was also one process shot taken on Stage 2. A Collum memo from
this date to O'Brien, Van Keuren, Huber and Cash, requests that the four main boys be 'closed' as of this
date and that Darla be 'closed' as of Feb. 24th. Another Collum memo to the same four people requests that Sid and
Darwood be 'closed' as of Feb. 24th.
Mar. 18 - A Raguse memo from this date states that the domestic negative and domestic negative soundtrack were
delivered to the MGM lab, and that the domestic positive Movietone print was shipped to W. D. Kelly in New York.
Apr. 4 - A Raguse memo from this date copying Huber, Van Keuren, O'Brien and Burch, states that the Canadian dupe
negative composites for productions K-18 and K-19 were both delivered.
The title of this film is a spoof on the 1928 feature "Came The Dawn." A Players casting directory refers to this film as "After The Brawn," which may have been a working title.
The gang's organization is called the Ajax Athletic Club.
This film was 980 feet in length.
A document prepared at the beginning of the film season gave projected dates for all of the one-reelers to be released. Editing on this film was to begin on Jan. 28th, with the negative cut on Feb. 9th and shipped to MGM on Feb. 12th, and the film released on Feb. 26th.
The script submitted to MGM was given the catalog number B368.
Baby Patsy May's contract was terminated on Feb. 26th.
On March 1st, Spanky's contract with the Roach studio expired and he officially retired from the Our Gang series. He then embarked on a 10 week personal appearance tour, visiting Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Pittsburgh, among other cities. His departure from the series drew press attention across the country. His readmittance into the gang in mid-July received noticeably less coverage.
©Aug. 12, 2005, by Robert Demoss.
2005 updates: 8/30, 11/7, 12/19.
2006 updates: 1/2, 2/11, 2/13, 4/3, 5/16, 10/25.
2007 updates: 2/4, 2/27, 4/1, 6/15, 10/22.
2008 updates: 1/7, 5/26, 7/12, 9/12, 9/22, 11/6.
2010 updates: 3/13.
Thanks to Rob Stone, Joe Moore, Kay Becker and Paul Mular for assistance on this page.