Dog Days

film no. 36


technical details:

Production A-36.

Filmed October 29 to November 5, and November 17 to 24, 1924. See the 'miscellaneous' section below for details.

Copyrighted March 5, 1925, by Pathé Exchange, Inc. Registration no. LU21205. Since the copyright was not renewed, this film is now in the public domain.

Released March 8, 1925. It was the 36th film in the series to be released.

Silent two-reeler.

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

Released into TV syndication as Mischief Makers episode no. 1033, "A Birthday Present," copyrighted Sep. 1, 1960, with registration number LP17338.


the crew:

Produced by Hal Roach
Credited in the film as a presenter.
Directed by Robert F. McGowan
This credit probably appears in the film, but without his middle initial.
Assistant Director: Lloyd French
This credit derives from French's payroll status as the Our Gang assistant director during this period.
Photographed by Art Lloyd
This credit derives from Lloyd's payroll status as the Our Gang cameraman during this period.
Titles by H. M. Walker
This credit probably appears in the film.
Props by Charles Oelze and Don Sandstrom
This credit derives from their payroll status as Our Gang prop men during this period.
Story by Hal E. Roach
This credit probably doesn't appear in the film. H. C. Greening was listed in the studio payroll summaries as an Our Gang gag man until the week ending Nov. 8th. Edward Flannigan was listed as an Our Gang gag man throughout the making of this film.
Animal trainer: Tony Campanaro
He was Pal's trainer.
Teacher: Fern Carter
Released by Pathé Exchange, Inc.
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
construction supervisor - C. E. Christensen
laboratory superintendent - Charles Levin
publicity director - Garrett Graham
purchasing agent - Clyde Hopkins
still photographer - Chester "Bud" Graves and Clarence "Stax" Graves
transportation director - Bob Davis
possible uncredited involvement
editing - Credits were in a transition between Thomas J. Crizer and Richard Currier during this period.
writing - Robert F. McGowan, Thomas J. Crizer and James Parrott may have contributed gags.

the kids:

Mickey Daniels
Featured role. Much of the film centers around him and his dog.
Joe Cobb as "Joe"
Featured role. He's also given quite a lot of footage in this one. It's his dog that has puppies at the end of the film.
Mary Kornman as "Mary"
Featured role. She's the rich girl who's rescued by Mickey's dog, and invites the gang to her birthday party.
Allen "Farina" Hoskins as "Farina"
Supporting role. He gets a few comedic moments here and there.
Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson
Supporting role. He mostly does ensemble acting in this short.
Jackie Condon
Supporting role. He's the owner of the third dog in this short, but mostly does ensemble acting.
Billy Murphy as "Mortimer" aka "Mort"
Small part. He's the baby shown to good effect at the beginning of the film. Sometimes listed in the payroll ledgers as "Baby Murphy."
Peggy Ahern
Small part. She's one of the rich kids, and is given an invitation by Mary early in the film. Listed as Peggy Ahearn by Maltin & Bann.
Johnny Downs
Small part. He's one of the rich kids, and sits next to Mary at the table.
Dorothy Hughes
Small part. She's one of the rich kids, and has a closeup flirting with Joe.
Dorothy Seay
Extra. She's one of the rich kids, and can be seen to the right side as Joe tells the kids to come quick and see the trick his dog performed.
Louise Tordera
Extra. She's one of the rich kids. In the shot of the three girls smiling at Joe, she's the one in the middle. Previously featured prominently in "Stage Fright" (no. 17)
Rae Ethelyn Kohn
Extra. She's one of the rich kids. She's listed in the payroll ledger as Rae Kohn, but in the casting directories as Rae Ethelyn. I've yet to verify which kid she is in the film, but she isn't in the shot of the three girls flirting with Joe.
other kids
Extras. There is one more rich girl at the party, Fifi Edwards, who is presumably the girl on the left among the three who flirt with Joe. There are also four additional rich boys, Rene Lambert, King Gates, Marsile Chiniquy and Harry Navarre.

the animals:

Pal
Featured role. He's virtually the star of the film, and performs some impressive stunts.
dog 036
Small part. This is Jackie's dog. There seems to be a question of whether he or Pal is the father of the puppies.
other animals
Supporting roles, small parts and bit parts.
(1.) Joe's dog, "Bill." Mickey suggests calling her "Billious." She has a litter of puppies at the end of the film.
(2.) The cat that Pal frames for drinking the baby's milk.
(3.) Mary's pony.
(4.) The horse ridden by Mary's dad.
(5.) Farina's dog.
(6.) The dog that Gene dogsits for the lady.
(5.) Several puppies appearing at the end, but I can't count them, as they're all clustered together.

the adults:

William Gillespie as Mary's dad
Supporting role. He's seen both on the street riding his horse, and in the house at the birthday party.
Lyle Tayo as Mary's mom
Small part. She's seen at the birthday party, and wants the "rough" boys of the gang to leave.
Olive Borden as the dog walker
Small part. She winds up pulling the scooter that the sleeping Farina sits on.
Dorothy Vernon as Mickey's mom
Small part. She's seen at the beginning of the film ordering Mickey to keep an eye on the baby.
Joseph "Ernie" Morrison as the butler
Bit part. He's shown opening the door and letting the gang in.
other adults
Bit parts and extras. A maid and two chauffeurs are also among the cast, as well as a cop who talks to Farina, and two men that greet Borden. There are also a handful of people on the sidewalk in the background of the street scenes.

the locations:

Mentone Avenue, Palms district, Los Angeles
The opening part of the film, involving the dog looking after the baby among other things, takes place in the farm-like backyard of a house on Mentone. Seen in the background is the vacant lot on the southwest corner of Motor and Woodbine, with the People's Water Co. at 3392 Motor and the Masonic Hall at 3402 Motor seen in the backyard.
Motor Avenue, Palms district, Los Angeles
When Mary's pony first starts racing down the street, they're seen rounding the corner from Irene Street onto Motor Avenue. In this initial shot, the house at the northwest corner is shown. This was later Dickie Moore's house in "Free Wheeling" (no. 117). After this, they continue to race along Motor in at least some of the shots. At one point, the east side of the 3400 block is shown, with the bottom portions of the Palms Chamber of Commerce at 3438 Motor, Park & Dedrick Real Estate at 3454 Motor, and Home Made Bakery at 3466 Motor shown. Another shot shows the west side of the 3300 block, with the Palms Hardware Co. at 3351 Motor and the Arthur Boetsch Barber Shop at 3347 Motor shown. The scene ends back at the 3200 block, north of Featherstone, with the east side of the block shown. There's a sign on this property which indicates that Park & Dedrick were selling the lot.
3853 Main Street, Culver City
As revealed in Chris Bungo's YouTube video, Gene tries to pull the scooter-riding Farina up onto the curb in front of this building, which was on the northwest corner of Main Street and Culver Boulevard (which was called Putnam Avenue at the time). The woman walking the dog arrives, and the reverse angle shows the Adams Hotel in the background, as well as the Safeway store on Washington Boulevard.
Culver Hotel, Culver City
When the woman inadvertently grabs the rope that pulls Farina's scooter, rather than the dog leash, she winds up pulling Farina along the Washington Boulevard side of this building.

miscellaneous:

13 shooting dates went into the making of this film. A few days after initial filming had finished for "Circus Fever" (no. 35), the 'start' date for "Dog Days" arrived on Oct. 29th. Shooting continued until Nov. 5th. However, filming was divided between both films on Nov. 1st, and no "Dog Days" shooting took place on Nov. 2nd, which was a Sunday, or on Nov. 4th, which was devoted exclusively to "Circus Fever." After the 5th, shooting was suspended for a week and a half until Nov. 17th, when filming resumed for "Dog Days." This continued until the 'finish' on Nov. 24th. No shooting took place on Sundays. After this, there was a break of nearly three weeks before shooting began on "The Love Bug" (no. 37).

40 still images were printed into numerous press photos to promote this film.


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


© Robert Demoss.


My thanks to the following people for assisting with this page:
Rob Stone (for providing the production number and shooting dates)
Joe Moore (for providing the copyright information)
Steven Wright and Lord Heath (for helping to ID Rae Ethelyn Kohn)
Randy Skretvedt (for clearing up the confusion involving Bud and Stax Graves)
Mark Brumfield
Ray Frieders (for telling me about the casting directory credit for Rae Ethelyn)


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