For Pete's Sake! (1934)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Gus Meins

Release Date:

14 April 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Comedy | Short

Plot:

The kids try to raise money to buy a doll for Marianne. |

Plot Keywords:

Our Gang | Children

Cast

Wally Albright	...	Wally (uncredited)
Carlena Beard	...	Buckwheat (uncredited)
Matthew 'Stymie' Beard	...	Stymie (uncredited)
Scotty Beckett	...	Scotty (uncredited)
Tommy Bond	...	Tommy (uncredited)
Marianne Edwards	...	Marianne (uncredited)
Fred Holmes	...	Man with day off (uncredited)
Leonard Kibrick	...	Gang (uncredited)
Philbrook Lyons	...	Gang (uncredited)
George 'Spanky' McFarland	...	Spanky (uncredited)
Jacqueline Taylor	...	Jane (uncredited)
Lyle Tayo	...	Wife of man with day off (uncredited)
Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas	...	Billie (uncredited)
Marvin 'Bubbles' Trin	...	Bubbles (uncredited)
William Wagner	...	Storekeeper (uncredited)

Directed by
Gus Meins

Produced by
Hal Roach	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Francis Corby

Film Editing by
Ray Snyder

Sound Department
Harry Baker	....	sound recording engineer

Music Department
Leroy Shield	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Hal Roach	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Hal Roach Studios

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cabin Fever Entertainment (video)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

USA:18 min (VHS version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Quotes:

[repeated line - after the older boys' schemes fail miserably]
Scotty Beckett: They'll never learn.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Men Without Jobs (2004)

Good Rascals outing featuring Pete The Pup

Little Marianne is ill, and is comforted by the Gang and by her doll. Bratty Leonard breaks Marianne's doll, and the Gang must find her a new one before she goes to bed.

The Gang goes to a toy store, run by Leonard's father. They don't have the money to buy a doll, but Leonard's father strikes a deal with them; he'll trade a doll for Pete the Pup. The deal goes off until Pete destroys the toy store!

"For Pete's Sake" provides comedy, drama, and a cliffhanger with pleasant results. Several funny moments occur; one such scene features the Gang doing yardwork in an effort to raise the money for the doll. They end up destroying a rug in the process!

The effort to team Spanky McFarland and Scotty Beckett fully developed in this short. They were the observant and knowing younger Gang members compared to Wally and Stymie, the older boys who think they know more than Scotty and Spanky. An example of this takes place at the beginning of the short. Wally is filling Marianne's dolly with sawdust, unaware that it's running out of the doll into his pants. Scotty and Spanky know, but Wally can't be bothered with them - until he notices how puffy his pants have become!

Paced well and ably directed by Gus Meins, the short also features standout performances by Spanky, Scotty, and William Wagner as the storekeeper. Funny throughout. 7 out of 10.