Free Wheeling

{{Infobox film

| name = Free Wheeling

| image = OURGANG FreeWheeling.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Robert F. McGowan

| writer = Hal Roach
H. M. Walker

| producer = Robert F. McGowan
Hal Roach

| starring =

| narrator =

| cinematography = Art Lloyd

| editing = Richard C. Currier

| music = Leroy Shield
Marvin Hatley

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

| released = {{Film date|1932|10|01}}

| runtime = 19' 34"[http://theluckycorner.com/vc/cf.html#part%2021 Free Wheeling details], theluckycorner.com; accessed January 20, 2016.

| country = United States

| language = English

}}

Free Wheeling is a 1932 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. It was the 117th 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=144–146 |isbn=978-0-517-52675-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/144/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}

Plot

Confined to a neck brace, poor little rich boy Dickie would like to play with the neighborhood kids, but his overprotective mother will not let him. On the sly, however, Dickie sneaks out of his bedroom in search of adventure in the company of his best pal, Stymie. Purchasing a ride on the donkey-driven "taxicab" piloted by Breezy Brisbane, the boys, along with hitchhikers Spanky and Jacquie Lyn, experience enough thrills and excitement to last a lifetime when the taxi begins rolling down a steep hill minus brakes.{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225663/Free-Wheeling/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520172300/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225663/Free-Wheeling/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |title=New York Times: Free Wheeling |accessdate=September 19, 2008| first=Michael |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2011 | last=Cieply}}

Cast

=The Gang=

Dickie Moore as Dickie
Matthew Beard as Stymie
Dorothy DeBorba as Dorothy
Kendall McComas as Breezy Brisbane
George McFarland as Spanky
Jacquie Lyn as Jacquie
Douglas Greer as Douglas

=Additional cast=

Bobby Mallon as Kid who gets paddled by the gang
Johnnie Mae Beard as Stymie's mother
Estelle Etterre as Dickie's nurse
Lillian Rich as Dickie's mother
Creighton Hale as Creighton, Dickie's father
Harry Bernard as a roadside worker
Dick Gilbert as a roadside worker
Theresa Harris as Maid
Jack Hill as Officer sent skyward
Wilfred Lucas as the doctor
Anthony Mack as the man who gets socked while asleep by lamppost

Note

Free Wheeling was edited by a few minutes on the syndicated Little Rascals television packages in 1971 due to its racism toward African Americans. The film was restored on AMC airing from 2001 to 2003.

Filming Locations

Some of the "free wheeling" downhill scenes involving the runaway car were filmed on Outpost Drive in Hollywood, California.

The hill the taxi runs down at the end of the film is located on Overland Avenue north of Rose Avenue in the Palms neighborhood of Los Angeles.{{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}}

The final scene where the taxi runs into the haystack was filmed on the site at present-day 3300 Overland Avenue.{{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=2024-10-09 |website=Chris Bungo Studios Filming Locations Then and Now |language=en-US}}