Free Eats

{{Infobox film

| name = Free Eats

| image = Free eats TITLE.JPEG

| caption =

| director = Ray McCarey

| producer = Robert F. McGowan
Hal Roach

| writer = H. M. Walker

| narrator =

| starring =

| music = Leroy Shield
Marvin Hatley

| cinematography = Art Lloyd

| editing = Richard C. Currier

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

| released = {{Film date|1932|02|13}}

| runtime = 19:03

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Free Eats is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Ray McCarey.{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225660/Free-Eats/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520171716/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225660/Free-Eats/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: Free Eats |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2011 |accessdate=September 19, 2008}} It was the 112th 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=137–138 |isbn=978-0-517-52675-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/136/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}

Plot

The gang along with other poor children in the town are given a party with games and great food to eat. In addition, each child would be given a food basket to bring home to their parents. It's given by a wealthy woman whose husband is running for office. Meanwhile a couple of criminals have set up two midgets to come to the party as babies. They would steal expensive jewelry and planned on robbing a safe filled with money. Stymie caught the "fidgets" in the safe. After an altercation with Stymie, the rest of the gang come to Stymie's rescue as the midgets pull a gun. An alarm goes off and the police come to arrest the midgets. Episode concludes with the police sergeant spitting tobacco into a nearby waste can, from which the missing midget then rises, telling the "flatfoot" to call his shots.

Cast

=The Gang=

Sherwood Bailey as Spud
Matthew Beard as Stymie
Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy
Bobby Hutchins as Wheezer
Kendall McComas as Breezy Brisbane
George McFarland as Spanky
Pete the Pup as himself

=Additional cast=

Donald Haines as Kid getting cake in face at party
Eddie Baker as Detective's assistant
Harry Bernard as Officer Flaherty
Lillian Elliott as Mrs. Clark
Estelle Etterre as Estelle, a lawn-party guest
Paul Fix as Elvira, 'wife' of the head of the family of thieves
Otto Fries as Detective
Billy Gilbert as Head of the family of thieves
Dell Henderson as Mr. Moran
Tiny Lawrence as Waldemar, midget
Major Mite as Elmer, smaller midget
May Wallace as Friend of Mrs. Clark

Notes

Free Eats marked the debut appearance of George "Spanky" McFarland. He and his brother Tommy auditioned for Our Gang in the spring of 1931, with Spanky passing a screen test easily. Tommy also appeared in many Our Gang film in bit roles.

Reception

The Motion Picture Herald said that the short provided "innumerable laughs".{{cite journal |title=Shorts |journal=Motion Picture Herald |date=February 13, 1932 |volume=106 |issue=7 |page=38 |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher106unse/page/n699/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}