School's Out | |
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Directed by | Robert F. McGowan |
Produced by | Hal Roach |
Written by | H. M. Walker |
Starring |
June Marlowe Jackie Cooper Allen Hoskins Norman Chaney Mary Ann Jackson Bobby Hutchins Dorothy DeBorba Matthew Beard Bobby Young Creighton Hale |
Music by |
Leroy Shield Marvin Hatley |
Cinematography | Art Lloyd |
Edited by | Richard C. Currier |
Distributed by | MGM |
Release date
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Running time
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20' 38" |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
School's Out is a 1930 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 102nd Our Gang short to be released.
Jackie is trying to circulate a petition among his classmates to keep school open during the summer, as he and the gang are afraid that they might lose Miss Crabtree during summer vacation. In addition, the kids fear that she might get married and therefore no longer be able to teach them.
The gang has grown to like Miss Crabtree tremendously, and ride with her in her roadster to school every morning. In the car this particular morning, the kids all try to scare Miss Crabtree away from even considering marriage in the future, but Miss Crabtree states that she wants to get married some day.
Later in the day, Miss Crabtree goes into town for lunch and a man named "Jack" stops by the school looking for her. The man is actually Miss Crabtree's brother, but the gang is afraid that Jack is a suitor who wants to marry their teacher. The kids tell the man outlandish lies about Miss Crabtree in order to scare him away ("She has two false sets of teeth and one wooden leg!" "She's got seven husbands!" "And twenty-one kids!"). Jackie, Farina, and Chubby follow Jack when he leaves the schoolyard and goes for a swim in the nearby lake. Hoping to keep Jack away from Miss Crabtree, the boys steal and stash his clothes, forcing Jack to wander around dressed in leaves and branches.
A sequel to Teacher's Pet, School's Out was the second of six Our Gang shorts to feature June Marlowe as Miss Crabtree. This was also Bobby Young's first talkie short in Our Gang. When shown on television as part of King World's Little Rascals package from the 1970s on, School's Out was edited to remove racial humor and stereotypes relating to African-Americans.
The kids lost their last teacher, Miss Magillicuddy, after she got married. In the 1930s, female teachers were usually not allowed to continue their profession after marriage.
School's Out is one of four sound Our Gang shorts that fell into the public domain after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other three being Bear Shooters, Our Gang Follies of 1938 and Waldo's Last Stand). As such, these films frequently appear on inexpensive video and/or DVD compilations.