Birthday Blues

{{about||the phenomenon in mortality statistics|Birthday effect|the Bert Jansch album|Birthday Blues (album)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Birthday Blues

| image =Birthday blues.JPEG

| caption =

| director = Robert F. McGowan

| producer = Robert F. McGowan
Hal Roach

| writer =

| narrator =

| starring = Dickie Moore
George McFarland
Matthew Beard
Dorothy DeBorba
Kendall McComas
Pete the Pup

| music = Leroy Shield
Marvin Hatley

| cinematography = Art Lloyd

| editing = Richard C. Currier

| distributor = MGM

| released = {{Film date|1932|11|12}}

| runtime = 19' 09"[http://theluckycorner.com/vc/cf.html#part%2021 theluckycorner.com/]

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Birthday Blues is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 118th Our Gang short to be released.{{cite book |last1=Maltin |first1=Leonard |last2=Bann |first2=Richard W. |title=Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals |date=1977 |publisher=Crown Publishers |pages=146–148 |isbn=978-0-517-52675-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/146/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}

Plot

When their pennypinching father refuses to buy a birthday gift for their long-suffering mother, brothers Dickie and Spanky decide to purchase a gift for Mom on their own. Unfortunately, the "late 1922 model" dress they have selected is beyond their price range at $1.98 (equivalent to $44.04 in 2023); thus, acting upon the advice of Stymie, Dickie and Spanky decide to bake a cake with hidden prizes, then auction off the cake at ten cents a slice.

The party turns out to be a mess and Spanky's and Dickie's father returns to find it. He throws the gang and other kids out of the house and then gives Dickie a severe spanking. When Dad finds out that Dickie is using the money to buy Mom a dress, he abruptly changes his attitude.{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225664/Birthday-Blues/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520172401/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225664/Birthday-Blues/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author=Hal Erickson |title=New York Times: Birthday Blues |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2011 |accessdate=September 19, 2008}} However, Dad feels the dress that Dickie bought is too fancy for Mom to wear to church on Sunday morning, but Mom proudly wears the one Dickie and Spanky picked out, to the crowd's amusement.

Cast

=The Gang=

Dickie Moore as Dickie
Matthew Beard as Stymie
Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy
Kendall McComas as Breezy Brisbane
George McFarland as Spanky
Bobbie Beard as Cotton
Jackie Lyn Dufton as Jacquie
Pete the Pup as himself

=Additional cast=

Carlena Beard as Party guest with fake snake
Georgie Billings as Party guest with powder in mouth
Edith Fellows as Party guest with string in mouth
Douglas Greer as Party guest squirted by liquid
Donald Haines as Tough party guest
Dickie Jackson as Party guest with bubbles in mouth
Mildred Kornman as Party guest
Marcia Mae Jones as Party guest with whistle
Bobby Mallon as Party guest with liquid in mouth
Hooper Atchley as John, the father
Harry Bernard as Store proprietor
Gordon Douglas as Delivery boy
Lillian Rich as Lillian, the mother

Notes

The film was edited by about 5 minutes from the Little Rascals syndicated television package in 1971 due to perceived racism toward African Americans. The episode was fully reinstated on AMC from 2001 to 2003.

Filming Locations

The final scene at the church was filmed at St. Brendan Catholic Church at 310 Van Ness Ave in Los Angeles. This is the same location that appears at the end of the Our Gang/The Little Rascals film Pups Is Pups where Wheezer is reunited with his puppies.{{Cite web |last=Now |first=Chris Bungo Studios Filming Locations Then and |title=Chris Bungo Studios Filming Locations Then and Now |url=https://ChrisBungoStudios.com |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Chris Bungo Studios Filming Locations Then and Now |language=en-US}}