Robert F. McGowan
Director
Fred C. Newmeyer.... Newmeyer was the original director of the first short in the Our Gang series, also titled Our Gang; his version tested poorly, and producer Hal Roach scrapped most of the footage and remade the short with Robert McGowan as the director. In this article: Fred C. Newmeyer, Our Gang, Hal Roach, Harold Lloyd, The Pinch Singer, Arbor Day, Male and Female, Girl Shy, The Freshman, and Safety Last |
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New York Times | November 10, 2008
New DVDs: It's Spanky and Gang: Hold on to Your Beanies
...Roach had in mind. McGowan would go on to direct most of the "Our Gang" films until he left Roach in 1933, reportedly exhausted by the stress of dealing with the dozens of child actors who passed through his care. But McGowan clearly had...
In this article: Our Gang, Hal Roach, Spanky, MGM, Irving Berlin, Warner Home Video, This Is the Army, and Luis Bunuel
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Wikipedia | August 09, 2009
Who Killed Doc Robbin
Who Killed Doc Robbin Who Killed Doc Robbin is a 1948 film produced by Hal Roach and Robert F. McGowan as a reimagining of their Our Gang series. The film was one of Roach's many "streamlined" features of the 1940s, running only 55...
In this article: Hal Roach, Who Killed Doc Robbin, Our Gang, Curley, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bernard Carr, United Artists, and Matthew "Stymie" Beard
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Our Gang (film)
...short, shot in January 1922. After preview screenings, Roach brought in Robert F. McGowan and Tom McNamara to reshoot the film (following their work on two other Our Gangs, Fire Fighters '' and ''Young Sherlocks). No complete prints of the...
In this article: Our Gang, Hal Roach, Fire Fighters, Young Sherlocks, Tom McNamara, Pathe, Charley Chase, Fred Newmeyer, and Little Rascals
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Curley (1947 film)
Curley (1947 film) Curley is a 1947 film produced by Hal Roach and Robert F. McGowan as a re-imagining of their Our Gang series. The film was one of Roach's many "streamlined" features of the 1940s, running only 53 minutes, and was...
In this article: Curley, Hal Roach, Our Gang, United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Bernard Carr, Who Killed Doc Robbin, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and The Little Rascals
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Pups Is Pups
...short subject, part of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. It was produced and directed by Robert F. McGowan for Hal Roach, and originally released to theatres by M-G-M in 1930 . It was the 100th (12th talking) Our Gang short that was...
In this article: Pups Is Pups, Hal Roach, Our Gang, Little Rascals, Goat, Dog, DVD, Leroy Shield, Library of Congress, and M-G-M
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Norman Chaney
...was twelve years of age, and the Our Gang series was about to transition to sound . Roach and McGowan held a nationwide contest to find a replacement for Cobb. Chaney won this contest in early 1929, and was offered a two year contract.
In this article: Norman Myers Chaney, Our Gang, Joe Cobb, Hal Roach, Maryland, Baltimore, Railroadin', Surgery, and Myocarditis
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Robert F. McGowan
...rescue mission left him with a permanent limp. McGowan moved to California in the 1910s and made the acquaintance of Hal Roach, an aspiring film producer who opened his own studio in 1914. By 1920, McGowan was a director at the Roach...
In this article: Our Gang, Hal Roach, California, Divot Diggers, Curley, Who Killed Doc Robbin, Shivering Shakespeare, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, and Paramount Pictures
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Teacher's Pet (1930 film)
...part of the Our Gang (Little Rascals) series. It was produced by Hal Roach, directed by Robert F. McGowan, and originally released to theatres by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 11 1930. It was the 101st Our Gang short to be released.
In this article: Teacher's Pet, Our Gang, Jackie Cooper, Ice cream, Hal Roach, Bored of Education, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Our Gang
...Gang was not released until November 5. The Our Gang series was a success from the start, with the kids' naturalism, the funny animal actors, and McGowan's direction making a successful combination. The shorts did well at the box office, and...
In this article: Our Gang, Hal Roach, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, The Little Rascals, King World, and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas
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Description from Wikipedia:
Robert Francis McGowan (July 11 1882 - January 27 1955) was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.
Before moving to Los Angeles, California, McGowan was a firefighter in his native Denver, Colorado. An on-the-job accident during a fire rescue mission left him with a permanent limp.
McGowan moved to California in the 1910s and made the acquaintance of Hal Roach, an aspiring film producer who opened his own studio in 1914. By 1920, McGowan was a director at the Roach studio, and in 1921 began work on the first entries in the Our Gang series.
The Our Gang series was at its most popular and successful under McGowan's direction; when he became ill in the late-1920s and had to turn over the director's chair to nephew Robert A. McGowan (Anthony Mack) for two years, the series faltered. McGowan was a natural with kids, and knew how to explain scenes and comic business to his young charges to elicit convicing performances out of them. His favorite Our Gang kids were Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Mary Kornman, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and George "Spanky" McFarland, whom McGowan declared a "natural". McGowan's daughter Jerry was an actress and dancer herself; she would often sit in on Our Gang story meetings and appears onscreen in Shivering Shakespeare (1930), directed by her cousin Anthony Mack.
McGowan left Our Gang in 1933, after no longer able to bear the strain of dealing with stage mothers and the other hassles of directing child stars. He moved over to Paramount Pictures, returning for one last Our Gang short (Divot Diggers) in 1936 , and retired from directing in the 1940s. He died in Santa Monica, California on January 27 1955 at the age of 72.
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