Our Gang-The Life and Times of the Little Rascals

The other day we mentioned Fantagraphics’ ongoing reprint series of OUR GANG COMICS. Today, we offer OUR GANG-THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LITTLE RASCALS by everyone’s favorite Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann. Hard for me to believe that this book itself is thirty years old this year. One of the BEST written and laid out film books in the Collection, this enjoyable volume offers a marvelous overview of the series and how it fits into film history, a film by film look at the over 200 Hal Roach and MGM shorts and a near-complete "Whatever happened to…" section! Interspersed with all of this, you’ll find an absolute treasure trove of photos of Gang regulars from the silent days onward—Mickey Daniels, Joe Cobb, Mary Kornman, Farina, Wheezer, Jackie Cooper, Stymie Beard, Scotty Beckett, Echo DeBorba, Mickey (Robert Blake!) Gubitosi, Froggie and, of course, the classic crew of Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and Darla. At the time I got this book, the "Little Rascals" package was running on local TV and I watched it religiously with this book by my side, taking in all of the behind-the-scenes anecdotes and trivia. Eventually, they even ran quite a few of the silent films and the book definitely came in handy there as I hadn’t even suspected that there WERE silent OUR GANG comedies! If you are or ever were a fan then you MUST have this book in your own library! It seems to be a staple in used bookstores and I’m pretty sure is still in print even! This is the way all film books should be done! Thanks Leonard and Richard!