Everyone growing up had a neighborhood or school bully. Producer Hal Roach tapped into that universal theme by introducing a slugger named Butch Raffety in February 1937's "Glove Taps." Childhood actor Tommy Bond returned to the "Our Gang" series after a three-year hiatus to play the bully to the Little Rascals. Bond was five when he began his film career with the Little Rascals about the same time George 'Spanky' McFarland appeared. A year earlier, a scout from Hal Roach's studio had seen young Tommy as he was leaving a Dallas, Texas, movie theater and convinced him to audition.
The now eleven-year-old Bond, reappearing as an older Butch, opens "Glove Taps" by waiting outside the schoolhouse with his friend Woim (Sidney Kilbrick). Once class is dismissed, Butch announces he wants to take on the meanest of the school's students. Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) backs away for him, only to be accidentally jabbed in the butt by someone's protruding pen behind him. Butch takes the challenge. Spanky conducts a training session to get Alfalfa in shape for the big fight. When the two combatants enter the ring, wild stuff ensues.
Tommy Bond's break from the rascals in his first go-around gave him the opportunity to be the voice of several cartoon characters in the Warner Brothers 'Merrie Melodies.' His second stint with "Our Gang" has him somewhat of a romantic as he vies with Alfalfa for the affections of Darla (Daria Hood) in the 27 shorts he appeared. Bond left the series in 1940. He was in several feature films before enlisting in World War Two in the United States Navy. He returned to Hollywood as the first Jimmy Olsen, cub reporter, in the 1948 "Superman" and the 1950 "Atom Man vs Superman" film serials. He later became a television director and producer, serving as the production manager for 'Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."
Another childhood actor making his debut in "Glove Taps" was Darwood Kaye Smith, who played the rich intellectual boy Waldo, who also made the moves on little Darla. In his first film he's shown towards the end as one of the spectators looking at the Butch/Alfalfa boxing match. When the "Our Gang" film series ended in the early 1940s, its members acted in live performances nationwide. A Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviewer wrote of one such show, "Darwood is easily recognizable as a 'regular guy' in the juvenile company and conducts himself with good manners and lack of effrontery which distinguishes him from Waldo." Smith was in 21 "Our Gang" films and appeared in several feature films before becoming a minister for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. After spending over 14 years in Thailand doing missionary work, Smith returned to the United States. In 2002, he was killed in a hit-and-run accident taking a stroll in his Riverside, California neighborhood, dying at the age of 72.
