Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse

Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse (1984)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Music Director T. Marvin Hatley, cameraman William Draper and J.R. Smith, Jackie Cooper, Matthew Beard, George McFarland, Tommy Bond, Peggy Ahern and Jackie Lynn Taylor are interviewed about the history of the Hal Roach Our Gang series.

Clocking in at just over ninety-minutes, this documentary certainly has some flaws and is out-of-date but it's important to remember when this was made. The most fascinating thing about this documentary is the fact that they managed to get many of the kids who worked on the series. The documentary itself does a very good job at starting at the very beginning and going through the history of the series including the various changes that happened throughout the years.

Another major plus is the racial content that is discuss as many of the Our Gang shorts that were currently playing on television were highly edited. The subject of the controversy is certainly interesting as is getting to hear what it was like on the set back then in regards to the races being mixed. All of the stories told are highly entertaining and there's no question that fans are really going to enjoy this. Another highlight comes towards the end when we're given an update on where the actors are today. The whole "curse" of the series isn't mentioned.

Having just seen most of the available "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series films in existence right now, I felt the need to also now watch this documentary of many of the then-surviving members of that unique group of children who were a part of it. I was especially fascinated by George "Spanky' McFarland's recollections concerning many of his former castmates. When Robert Blake was mentioned, he said his and Mickey's (Blake's then name) parents got along offscreen which would be as good an explanation as why they-Spank and Bob-got along real well after reuniting after some 40 years later from the series end in 1944. Also loved both his and Tommy "Butch" Bond's take on the late Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer's outlook on life. Overall, "Our Gang: Inside the Clubhouse" is a very good, not great, documentary of the entire run of the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series.