A small boy is instrumental in a famous Civil War victory.A small boy is instrumental in a famous Civil War victory.A small boy is instrumental in a famous Civil War victory.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
George 'Spanky' McFarland
- Spanky
- (as Spanky McFarland)
Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas
- Buckwheat
- (as Billie Thomas)
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer
- Alfalfa
- (as Carl Switzer)
James P. Burtis
- Boat Captain
- (as James Burtis)
Willie Best
- Henry
- (as William Best)
Ernie Alexander
- Boat Passenger
- (uncredited)
Hooper Atchley
- Slavemaster at Meeting
- (uncredited)
Harry Bernard
- Bit
- (uncredited)
John 'Uh huh' Collum
- Kid Army Member
- (uncredited)
Jack Cooper
- Bit
- (uncredited)
Al Corporal
- Man on Boat
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe initials of R. P. W. C. R. C. W. M. R. (Spanky's Confederate Army) stands for "The Royal Protection of Women and Children, Regiment Club of the World and Mississippi River".
- Quotes
Spanky Leonard: [Shortly after Spanky & Marshall Valiant go to a card playing room, for Spanky to complete his shoe shining mission, that he just started. Just as Spanky starts to continue his shoe-shining hobby that he had just started, Simmons dropped a Poker card, on purpose, to cheat] You dropped this card, mister.
Simmons: That's not my card.
Spanky Leonard: Oh, yes sir, I saw you drop it.
- ConnectionsEdited from Abraham Lincoln (1930)
- SoundtracksEzekiel's Wheel
(uncredited)
Traditional
Featured review
Exceptionally well made but rather grotesque...
Spanky and his friends all decide to play army as the country is embroiled in war. His friends designate him their general and he leads them on a rather funny encounter with real Union troops! In addition, they help a nice Southern officer escape a hanging--a hanging orchestrated by a total jerk.
It's not hard to believe that Hal Roach Studios decided to give little Spanky from the Our Gang comedies his own feature film. After all, for his age, he was a dandy actor...and cute as a button. However, in hindsight, their choice of material was a bit on the grotesque side. It's not that setting the story in the South during the Civil War was necessarily a bad thing, but the whole slavery issue is very weird when you see it today. After all, in this film you see lots of black slaves standing about and singing for joy, as they apparently love their lot in life!! And, when Buckwheat (who is a runaway slave) begins to cry because he wants to have a master, too, it's just too much! If it weren't so evil, it would be comical. It's sad. Because without the racial insensitivity, the film is very good. The kids in the film are all good actors and Buckwheat really is quite adorable and effective in the film.
Rather surreal...that's for sure.
It's not hard to believe that Hal Roach Studios decided to give little Spanky from the Our Gang comedies his own feature film. After all, for his age, he was a dandy actor...and cute as a button. However, in hindsight, their choice of material was a bit on the grotesque side. It's not that setting the story in the South during the Civil War was necessarily a bad thing, but the whole slavery issue is very weird when you see it today. After all, in this film you see lots of black slaves standing about and singing for joy, as they apparently love their lot in life!! And, when Buckwheat (who is a runaway slave) begins to cry because he wants to have a master, too, it's just too much! If it weren't so evil, it would be comical. It's sad. Because without the racial insensitivity, the film is very good. The kids in the film are all good actors and Buckwheat really is quite adorable and effective in the film.
Rather surreal...that's for sure.
helpful•109
- planktonrules
- Jan 25, 2011
Details
- Runtime1 hour 11 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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