Hide and Shriek
| Hide and Shriek | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Gordon Douglas |
| Produced by | Hal Roach |
| Music by | Leroy Shield |
| Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
| Edited by | William H. Ziegler |
| Distributed by | MGM |
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Release date
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Running time
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10 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hide and Shriek is a 1938 Our Gang short subject directed by Gordon Douglas. It was the 168th Our Gang entry in the series, and the last to involve series creator Hal Roach.
Opening his own detective agency, Alfalfa dons a deerstalker cap and rechristens himself "X-10, Sooper Sleuth." His first assignment: to find out who stole a box of candy from Darla. Suspecting that Leonard and Junior are the alleged culprits, Alfalfa and his chief (and only) operatives Buckwheat and Porky put a tail on the two youngsters. Unfortunately, the three junior gumshoes are sidetracked to a seaside amusement pier, where they find themselves trapped in a spooky-themed fun-house. Darla eventually discovers her candy was right where she left it- in her doll carriage. But it's too late: scared out of their wits by various ersatz ghosts, monsters and spooky moans and groans, our heroes vow to give up the detective business forever (as Alfalfa's "Out of Bizzness" sign on the door notes).
Hide and Shriek was the final entry in producer Hal Roach's Our Gang series and the last short film released overall by the studio. He had another year to go to produce episodes for MGM, but his distribution deal with other properties expired earlier that year. Roach switched to another studio (United Artists) to distribute his produced feature films. Our Gang was his only property left doing short subjects. As a result, MGM opted to purchase the unit outright. Our Gang was still popular and MGM wanted to keep getting the films for the theatres along with MGM's feature films.
Upon arrival at MGM, Our Gang would be revamped and based in the fictitious town of Greenpoint. The entries were initially well made but evolved into morality lessons. Film critic Leonard Maltin stated that the MGM Our Gang episodes were inferior to the Roach produced episodes. MGM continued producing the 10-minute shorts of Our Gang until 1944.
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