Seeing The World

film no. 55

availability:

The Larger World Of Laurel And Hardy Volume III (DVD) from Looser Than Loose Publishing: This print has good picture quality, but 'pulsates' in and out of focus during the second half. It includes the original opening title, but also a reproduction of the crew credits. It appears that almost the entire film is included, with the original footage totaling 19:26.
Rascals Silents Vol. 1 (VHS) from A-1 Video and
Versatile Laurel & Hardy (VHS) from A-1 Video: This copy has the original opening title, crew credits and inter-titles, but a different end title. The picture quality is fair. The print totals 19:45 with 19:44 of it original footage. It appears that almost all of the original film is included.
Our Gang Volume #7 (VHS) from Grapevine Video and also from The Picture Palace: This copy is a home movie print from Blackhawk. The inter-titles are original, but the end title seems to come from another source. The picture quality is fairly poor, and some of the footage is missing. The print totals 17:13, with 16:09 of it original footage. This version has appeared on numerous bootlegs.
Our Gang Silent Comedies Vol. 4 (VHS) from HenryButch: This version is the same as on the A-1 Video release.

technical details:

Production K-13.

Filmed July 1926, and October 29 to November 15, 1926. See the 'miscellaneous' section below for details.

Copyrighted January 14, 1927 by Pathé Exchange, Inc. Registration no. LU23539. Renewed January 10, 1955 with registration no. R142088. This copyright is currently due to expire at the end of 2022.

Released February 13, 1927. It was the 57th film in the series to be released.

Silent two-reeler.

Opening title: '"Our Gang" Comedies - Hal Roach presents His Rascals in "Seeing The World".'

Released into TV syndication as Mischief Makers episode no. 1048, "A Roamin' Holiday," copyrighted Sep. 1, 1960, with registration number LP17353.

the crew:

Produced by Hal Roach: Credited in the film as a presenter.
Supervised by F. Richard Jones: Credited in the film as supervising director.
Directed by Robert F. McGowan: This credit appears in the film, but without his middle initial.
Assistant Directors: Robert A. McGowan and Charles Oelze: McGowan was later credited as Anthony Mack. Rob Stone's list credits both as assistant directors, which is reflected in the payroll summaries during this period.
Photographed by Art Lloyd and W. V. Draper: This credit appears in the film. According to Rob Stone's list, Draper also worked on this film. Draper was currently listed in the payroll summaries as the Our Gang assistant cameraman.
Edited by Richard Currier: This credit appears in the film.
Titles by H. M. Walker: This credit appears in the film. The inter-title cards now have the speckled gray tone look.
Story by Hal E. Roach: This credit doesn't appear in the film.
Props by Don Sandstrom and Timothy O'Donnell: According to Rob Stone's list.
Teacher: Fern Carter
Released by Pathé Exchange, Inc.
Passed by the National Board of Review: As indicated in the film.
studio personnel
possible uncredited involvement

the kids:

featured players
Allen "Farina" Hoskins as "Farina": Featured role. He's given most of the funny lines among the kids, and is the one that Finlayson joins on the plunge from the Eiffel Tower.
Joe Cobb: Supporting role. He gets to make a few wisecracks and bits of business.
Elmer "Scooter" Lowry: Supporting role. He wants to pick a fight with an Italian boy, and later gets drenched while riding in the gondola.
Johnny Downs: Supporting role. He does mostly ensemble acting, but also provides one of the wisecracks.
Jay R. Smith: Supporting role. He does mostly ensemble acting, but is also the one that slaps Farina's tooth away.
Jackie Condon: Supporting role. He does mostly ensemble acting.
Peggy Eames: Supporting role. She does pretty much entirely ensemble work in this short.
the other kids in the class
boy 055: Small part. This is the class prankster. I'm pretty sure he appeared in "Olympic Games" (no. 63).
other kids: Extras. There are an additional six boys and six girls in the class.
the European kids
the doubles: Small parts. Three sets of doubles, in Naples, Rome and Paris, were used for the seven featured kids. Presumably, only one set was selected per city, and the Naples set was probably used at both Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius.
other kids: Bit parts and extras.
(1.) The Roman boy that Scooter wants to sock.
(2.) There are at least a couple of kids shown in the longshots.
questionable listings
Jean Darling: According to Maltin & Bann. Perhaps she's in the scene at the dock, since her mother is listed among the people there, but she's not visible in these prints.

the animals:

animals: Small parts and extras.
(1.) The pigeon that ends up with Farina's tooth.
(2.) Several horses, mostly in London and Paris, but a couple in Rome as well.
(3.) Dozens of pigeons at Trafalgar Square in London, and scores of pigeons at St. Marks in Venice.

the adults:

James Finlayson as "James Finlayson," the teacher: Lead role. Maltin & Bann indicate that "Old Buzz-Fuzz" is a character name, but it's clearly just name-calling on Joe's part. He's virtually the star of the film.
Stan Laurel as one of the English pedestrians: Bit part. He's a victim of the kids' peashooters.
Frank Butler as one of the English pedestrians: Bit part. He's also a victim of the peashooters. His name also appears in the newspaper article detailing the contest.
Charlie Hall as the English chauffeur: Bit part. He points out the Prince of Wales.
David, Prince of Wales: Bit part. Later Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and after that, Duke of Windsor. He's seen briefly telling the gang to "carry on."
Ed Brandenberg as the window washer: Bit part. He's the victim of Joe's slingshot.
President of France: Bit part. This was Gaston Doumergue in 1926. He's standing next to the Sultan of Morocco.
Sultan of Morocco: Bit part. This was Yusef ben Hassan in 1926. He's standing next to the President of France.
Charles McMurphy as a ship's official: Extra. It looks like he's the official closest to the camera as the kids board the ship.
Charley Young as one of the people at the pier: Extra. He can be seen standing right next to Finlayson.
other adults: Bit parts and extras. Maltin & Bann list Dorothy Hamilton Darling as one of the people at the dock, but it's not possible to tell in these prints. This is also true of Ham Kinsey, who plays a ship's official. Among the additional adults in the film are:
(1.) The French chauffeur, who doesn't know any English.
(2.) "Mrs. Dribblechin," the other teacher at the school.
(3.) The guy rowing the gondola. His face isn't shown.
(4.) The English chauffeur and the French chauffeur in the footage shot in London and Paris respectively.
(5.) The official at the Eiffel Tower.
(6.) Many people at the dock and on the ship.
(7.) Scores of pedestrians in Rome, London and Paris.

the music (sort of):

"America (My Country 'Tis Of Thee)" by Samuel F. Smith: The music first appeared in Thesaurus Musicus in 1744. Smith added the lyrics in 1832. This is the song sung by the class.

the locations:

Naples: Seen very briefly in an establishing shot.
Pompeii: Including Mt. Vesuvius.
Rome: Including St. Peter's, the Colisseum and the Forum.
Venice: Including St. Mark's
London: Including Trafalgar Square, The Houses of Parliament, St. James, and The Tower Bridge
Paris: Including L'Opera, Napoleon's tomb, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, The Eiffel Tower. A stage at the Roach studio was used for the Eiffel Tower footage on November 9th.
Culver City: Footage was shot here for a "running insert" on November 3rd and 4th.
Monte Mov Vista stage: Rob Stone's notes list this as a location for November 10th.

miscellaneous:

15 shooting dates went into the making of this film, but this only counts the footage shot in and around the Roach studio in Culver City. After filming had ended for "The Fourth Alarm!" (no. 53), the Our Gang unit took a long rest, during which the studio was closed for four weeks through July. According to Rob Stone's book, the overseas footage for "Seeing The World" was shot during July and August. However, McGowan is credited in the 1926 studio datebook for directing "War Feathers" (no. 54), which began at the beginning of August, so it's likely that most, if not all, of the overseas footage was shot during July. After "War Feathers" was finished, McGowan directed both "Telling Whoppers" (no. 56) and "Bring Home The Turkey" (no. 57). Two weeks after the latter film finished, the 'start' date arrived for "Seeing The World" on Oct. 29th. Shooting continued until it was considered 'finished' on Nov. 15th. No shooting took place on Oct. 31st, Nov. 7th, or Nov. 14th, which were all Sundays. Robert F. McGowan directed on each of the shooting dates. After this, a little over a week passed before the Our Gang unit began shooting "Ten Years Old" (no. 58).

Author Rob Stone states that a series of these European Our Gang films were planned. He gives a quote from Motion Picture News, but the writer of the article is under the impression that several shorts were made during the one trip to Europe, and that the kids of Our Gang actually went.

Among the names in the newspaper article are Grace Mitchell, Adelle Kaufman, Grace Ely, Edith Wright, James Finlayson, Mollie Thompson and Frank Butler.

The gang goes to Mexicalli School in this film

In the goofs category, it's worthy to note that Charlie Hall is driving on the left side of the vehicle, but the English chauffeur shown in the rear views is on the right side, as is the steering wheel.

There were 37 copies of this film printed for its initial release.

©Feb. 26, 2005, by Robert Demoss.
2005 updates: 2/27, 3/20, 4/25, 6/6, 12/15.
2006 updates: 1/2, 1/9, 5/16, 6/12, 8/20, 10/25.
2007 updates: 4/1, 10/22, 12/8.
2008 updates: 2/3, 2/21, 3/31, 4/25, 7/6.

Thanks to Rob Stone, Joe Moore and Mark Brumfield for assistance on this page.