Railroadin'

{{Infobox film

| name = Railroadin'

| image =Our Gang 1929 Railroadin.jpg

| caption =

| director = Robert F. McGowan

| producer = Robert F. McGowan
Hal Roach

| writer = Robert F. McGowan
H.M. Walker

| narrator =

| starring = Joe Cobb
Allen Hoskins
Norman Chaney
Harry Spear
Mary Ann Jackson
Bobby Hutchins
Otto Fries

| music = Ray Henderson

| cinematography = F. E. Hershey
Art Lloyd

| editing = Richard C. Currier

| distributor = MGM

| released = {{Film date|1929|6|15}}

| runtime = 18' 40"[http://theluckycorner.com/vc/cf.html#part%2021 theluckycorner.com/]

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Railroadin' is an Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan.{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/Railroadin1929.html |title=Silent Era: Railroadin' |accessdate=September 16, 2008|work=silentera}}{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225642/Railroadin-/overview |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130065803/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225642/Railroadin-/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |title=New York Times: Railroadin' |accessdate=September 16, 2008| first=Mordaunt |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |author-link=Mordaunt Hall | last=Hall}} Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the 88th release in the Our Gang series, and the second to be made with sound.{{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=102-104 |url=https://archive.org/details/ourganglifetimes0000malt/page/102/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2024}}

Plot

File:Railroadin' (Robert F. McGowan, 1929).webm

The gang is playing around the railroad station, and Joe and Chubby's father, an engineer, lectures against the kids playing in such a dangerous area. True to his word, after Joe and Chubby's father leaves, a crazy man named Loco Joe starts a train with most of the kids on it, save for Farina who is nearly run over several times.

Once Farina manages to climb aboard himself, the kids attempt to stop the runaway locomotive, but have no luck until the engine crashes into a grocery truck. As it turns out, however, the entire incident is revealed to be a dream Farina had as Joe and Chubby's father lectured the kids about rail-yard safety.

Production notes

Railroadin' is a partial remake of The Sun Down Limited. The film marked the first appearance of Norman Chaney as "Chubby", having won a national contest to replace Joe Cobb as the Our Gang "fat kid".

Lost soundtrack

Like many early sound films, Railroadin' was recorded using a sound-on-disc synchronization process - the soundtracks for the film were held on separate phonographic records, which would be played by a projectionist in synch with the film. The sound discs for the film went missing at MGM in the 1940s, and only the film negative survived. When MGM sold Roach the catalog of Our Gang films made at the Roach studio, it therefore acquired only the picture element of Railroadin'; as such, the short was never included in any of the Little Rascals theatrical reissue or television distribution packages.

Home movie distributor Blackhawk Films produced a silent film adaption of Railroadin' with text titles in the 1970s, leading to the film's first release in any form since its original theatrical release. In 1982, the long-lost sound discs for Railroadin' were located in an MGM vault, and the film was finally made available with sound for the first time in decades via a 1983 VHS release by Blackhawk. Railroadin' has since been released on DVD as well, but was never added into the Little Rascals television package, despite being restored to sound.

Cast

=The Gang=

Norman Chaney as Chubby
Joe Cobb as Joe
Jean Darling as Jean
Allen Hoskins as Farina
Bobby Hutchins as Wheezer
Mary Ann Jackson as Mary Ann
Harry Spear as Harry
Pete the Pup as Himself

=Additional cast=

Ed Brandenburg as brakeman
Carolyn Chaney as Passenger
Dorothy Hamilton Darling as Passenger
Otto Fries as Otto, Joe's father
Jack Hill as Grocery truck driver
Harry Lorraine (American actor) as Loco Joe

Filming Locations

The train yard scenes were filmed at Redondo Junction just south of downtown 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=2024-11-14 |website=Chris Bungo Studios Filming Locations Then and Now |language=en-US}}