Robert A. McGowan

DirectorWriter

Robert Anthony McGowan (May 22, 1901 – June 20, 1955) was an American screenwriter and film director. He is the nephew of film director and producer Robert F. McGowan. Both are known for their work in the Our Gang film series.

22-05-1901

Birthday

Gemini

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Robert McGowan, Bob McGowan, Anthony Mack

Also known as (male)

Denver, Colorado, USA

Place of Birth

22-05-1901

Birthday

Gemini

Zodiac Sign

Genres

Total Films

Robert Anthony McGowan, Robert McGowan, Bob McGowan, Anthony Mack

Also Known As (male)

Denver, Colorado, USA

Place of Birth

Popular works

Media

‌

Creative career

actor

0 Works

producer

0 Works

director

82 Works

writer

55 Works

other

0 Works

Gas House Kids Go West

The second of three "Bowery Boys" rip-offs produced by bargain-basement Producers Releasing Corporation.

6.0

Year:

1947

Dancing Romeo

Froggy plans a dance recital to win over Marilyn.

6.0

Year:

1944

Tale of a Dog

When Bigshot Jones gives his unnamed dog to the All-For-One Club, Buckwheat quickly names the canine "Smallpox", inadvertently causing a city-wide panic.

6.0

Year:

1944

Three Smart Guys

Froggy hatches a plan to get Mickey, Buckwheat, and himself sent home from school early so they can go fishing. When the plan backfires, the boys decide to play hooky the next day. At the fishing hole, there are plenty of lunkers just waiting for the bait, but the boys have some comic trouble. After Buckwheat finds a new way to catch fish, an old man gives them a life lesson. Will they keep fishing or change their ways?

6.0

Year:

1943

Family Troubles

Our Gang member Janet Burston believes that her family is neglecting her, so she decides to run away from home. The other gang members try to help Janet get adopted (or "adapted") by a more agreeable family, choosing a kindly elderly couple (Sarah Padden and Harry C. Bradley) for the honor.

5.5

Year:

1943

Unexpected Riches

Weighing themselves on a penny machine, the Our Gang kids receive a fortune card predicting that they will receive "unexpected riches." Acting upon this, the kids decide to dig for buried treasure, using a fraudulent map provided by one of their wise-guy acquaintances.

6.7

Year:

1942

Mighty Lak a Goat

The Our Gang gets splashed by mud from a passing car and so using some cleaning fluid to get rid of the mud; they unknowingly created a bad odour among themselves.

6.0

Year:

1942

Surprised Parties

Since Froggy was born on Leap Year Day, he's upset that he only gets a birthday party once every four years. So, the gang decide to have a surprise party for him.

6.0

Year:

1942

Don't Lie

After Buckwheat tells the gang he's seen a big monkey, Spanky, Froggy and Mickey decide to teach him once and for all not to lie. What the gang doesn't know is that the monkey is real, and hilarity will ensue.

6.5

Year:

1942

Going to Press

The Our Gang kids are running their own newspaper and are determined to get the big scoop by learning the identity of the leader of a gang of bullies.

6.0

Year:

1942

Come Back, Miss Pipps

On Mickey's birthday, Miss Pipps, the school teacher, serves cake and ice cream during school hours. Sour old Mr. Pratt, head of the school board, stumbles on the festivities and has Miss Pipps fired. The Our Gang conspire to save her job by inviting all the parents to a special meeting. There the gang stage a melodrama, with Mr. Pratt portrayed as Simon Legree. The parents react by demoting Mr. Pratt to janitor. They appoint kindly Mr. Swanson, the current janitor, to head the school board. And of course they reinstate Miss Pipps as school teacher. Sometime later, in an act of forgiveness, Miss Pipps and the gang hold a birthday party for Pratt who is then humbled by the experience.

6.0

Year:

1941

Helping Hands

Inspired by his soldier brother, Spanky decides to organize a military unit among his friends, collecting odds and ends for the war effort.

6.0

Year:

1941

Robot Wrecks

Spanky and the gang discover a demonstration of a "human-like" robot named Volto and are inspired to create a robot themselves to do their chores for them. Slicker Walburn convinces them they will need "invisible rays" to bring it to life which he just happens to have to sell to them. As they rush off to get their money, Slicker gets Boxcar Smith to wear the robot's outer body so when he "brings" the robot to life, it will be Boxcar bringing it to life. The gang unsuspectedly gets their robot to mow the lawn at Froggy's house, but with a signal from Slicker, Boxcar runs amok and mows down everything in his path. Froggy gets to explain what happened to his parents who bust up the fraud and get the miscreants to work with the gang to clean up the mess.

6.3

Year:

1941

1-2-3-Go!

While playing baseball, Mickey runs into the street to catch a fly ball and is struck by a car. When the gang visit him in the hospital they are appalled to find the ward populated by many other children injured in automobile accidents. The Our Gang kids resolve to do something about the problem, and thus the "1-2-3-Go Safety Society" is born.

6.7

Year:

1941

Fightin' Fools

Spanky and the Our Gang kids go to battle over pranks with a rival gang.

6.0

Year:

1941

Baby Blues

Mickey's mom is about to give birth, but he gets worried when he reads that every fourth child born is Chinese. Spanky and the gang then visit a Chinese friend and learn that kids are kids, no matter where they are from.

6.0

Year:

1941

Kiddie Kure

While playing baseball near the home of wealthy hypochondriac, Mr. Morton, the gang inadvertently breaks one of his windows. This mishap coincides with a plan hatched by Morton's wife to get her husband's mind off his imaginary illnesses by adopting some children.

6.0

Year:

1940

Waldo's Last Stand

The gang offers to help their pal Waldo attract customers to his lemonade stand. Redecorating their clubhouse as a lavish nightclub, the kids stage an elaborate floor show, with Darla Hood as the star vocalist.

7.0

Year:

1940

Good Bad Boys

Alfalfa and the gang decide to turn to a life of crime, but Spanky tries to trick them with a fake burglary.

6.5

Year:

1940

Bubbling Troubles

To impress Darla, Alfalfa drinks a concoction of Butch's "dynamite" brew.

6.5

Year:

1940

All About Hash

Mickey's parents are constantly quarreling because his mother serves hash every Monday night. The kids decide to put on a radio skit to try to get them to stop fighting.

5.0

Year:

1940

The Big Premiere

It is a premiere night at the Fox Carthay Circle theater, and the Our Gang show up to observe the festivities. But after the Gang causes a disruption, the police send them scurrying home. Not to worry--the Our Gang stage their own premiere night in the clubhouse barn.

6.0

Year:

1940

Alfalfa's Double

Our Gang member Alfalfa comes face to face with his wealthy lookalike Cornelius.

6.0

Year:

1940

Time Out for Lessons

Alfalfa imagines himself being the star football player on a college team. After a big pep rally he ends up letting the team down when his poor grades cause him to be suspended from play.

6.5

Year:

1939

Dad for a Day

The "Our Gang" kids encourage a shy man to take a widow and her son to a picnic.

6.0

Year:

1939

Captain Spanky's Show Boat

An abandoned old show boat is moored in a lazy creek. The Our Gang put the old vessel back to use when they stage a show featuring "Darla's Dancin' Dandies" and a "meller dramer" entitled "Out in the Snow You Go." All is not smooth sailing however, as Butch seeks revenge for having been excluded from the cast.

6.0

Year:

1939

Auto Antics

The "Our Gang" kids enter the Kidmobile Race Classic and must rescue their dog from the pound.

6.5

Year:

1939

Joy Scouts

The Boys Scouts give a demonstration of their camping skills, but Our Gang are excluded from participating because they are not yet old enough. Undeterred, the kids head off on their own unsupervised camping adventure, with comically disastrous results.

6.5

Year:

1939

Clown Princes

The Our Gang kids put on a circus in the barn to raise money to help Porky's family pay the rent and avoid getting evicted.

4.7

Year:

1939

Duel Personalities

While under a hypnotic spell, Alfalfa thinks he's one of the Three Musketeers and challenges Butch to a duel.

6.0

Year:

1939

Tiny Troubles

Alfalfa "trades in" his whining baby brother for another baby--who turns out to be a midget criminal.

6.0

Year:

1939

Men in Fright

The kids go to the hospital to visit Darla, who's recovering from a tonsillectomy. Chaos soon ensues.

5.5

Year:

1938

Wild Babies!

Two aspiring songwriters have a weird nightmare about the jungle.

1.0

Year:

1932

Too Many Women

College baseball player Mickey Daniels can't keep his mind on the game when he's got an eye for the ladies.

9.0

Year:

1932

You're Telling Me

In this The Boy Friends series short, college students Mickey and Alabam stay at a city friend's place for what they tell him will be one night - though it stretches into several months.

5.0

Year:

1932

The Knockout

When Mickey accidentally knocks out a local boxing champ, he is forced to take the fighter's place in a bout.

4.5

Year:

1932

When the Wind Blows

Jackie throws his schoolbook out the window in disgust, but then climbs outside to retrieve it. Finding himself locked out, he tries various means of getting back inside without his parents finding out. When his parents mistake his noises for a burglar, a local policeman is called, but he seems incompetent to catch either the phony burglar or the real one who has shown up in the meantime

6.1

Year:

1930

The First Seven Years

Jackie gets in a duel over the affections of Mary Ann.

5.2

Year:

1930

Shivering Shakespeare

The gang is participating in a program sponsored by the Golden Age Dramatic League. They present their own fractured version of Quo Vadis. Things go from bad to worse when the neighborhood tough kids disrupt the show. The pie fight is given a new twist by use of some slow motion sequences.

5.7

Year:

1930

Moan & Groan, Inc.

The gang goes digging for treasure in an old abandoned house against Kennedy the Cop's wishes.

5.5

Year:

1929

Bouncing Babies

With Wheezer's new baby brother getting all the attention, he tries to send the baby back.

6.1

Year:

1929

Cat, Dog & Co.

Farina, Joe, and friends use dogs to power their "roadsters," but following a lesson from the head of the Be Kind to Animals Society, they make it their cause to rescue animals from bad treatment. Joe even manages to find patience for a nagging flea that persists in biting him. Meanwhile, Wheezer, who has been tormenting animals with his games, dreams that the animals have turned the tables on him.

6.0

Year:

1929

Cat, Dog & Co.

6.0

Year:

1929

Boxing Gloves

The Rascals have a boxing arena that could pack them in if they could find fighters who would actually mix it up. Harry and Farina notice a rivalry between two very large young kids, Joe and Chubby, that would fill the bill if only the two heavyweights would put aside their gentle natures. Farina gets an idea: tell each of the lads that the other will take a dive in the second round. So the fight begins and the stands are filled; but will the combatants actually throw a punch? Ernie has one more trick up his sleeve to get the fists flying and the crowd on its feet. Sweet science indeed.

6.0

Year:

1929

Boxing Gloves

6.0

Year:

1929

Lazy Days

While the other kids and animals find things to do on the farm, Farina becomes single-minded in his quest to do nothing at all.

4.8

Year:

1929

Railroadin'

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 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.

5.7

Year:

1929

Little Mother

Little Mother is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan. Produced by Hal Roach and released to theaters by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Little Mother was the 87th Our Gang short to be released. A silent film, it followed Our Gang's first sound film, Small Talk, on the release schedule.

6.5

Year:

1929

Small Talk

The gang are all orphans, hoping to be adopted by nice families where "spinach is not on the menu". Wheezer, the youngest child, gets adopted by a wealthy couple, while his older sister Mary Ann does not. The gang all comes to visit Wheezer in his new home, setting off an alarm that causes the police and the fire department to come over. At that time, Wheezer's new mother and father decide to adopt Mary Ann as well. The couple's friends all each adopt a child as well; even Farina is adopted by the maid at Wheezer's new home.

5.8

Year:

1929

Wiggle Your Ears

This is a really strange, but thought provoking film. Here, beloved Mary literally lets Harry Spear kick her behind, spend her money on him, and forces her to push his kiddie car, all so that she could get the occasional joy of watching Harry "Wiggle His Ears." Armchair Freudians and double-entendre fans will quickly get the "joke" here. He quickly dumps Mary for pintsized blonde bombshell Jean Darling. What happens? You'll see.

6.5

Year:

1929

The Holy Terror

Mary Ann is becoming a serious problem to the other gang members and Joe was given the job of training and controlling her behavior.

0.0

Year:

1929

Noisy Noises

Joe Cobb is suffering through a toothache as well as having to babysit his little brother Rupert who won't stop crying. Every effort to calm Rupert is undone by an immediate commotion to wake him up. Joe rocks him to sleep, but then the neighbor starts playing his bass fiddle. Joe then rocks the cradle so hard it falls apart, and he trips and stumbles moving Rupert to the baby carriage, which subsequently rolls down hill through traffic with Rupert and a neighbor's monkey enjoying the ride.

6.5

Year:

1929

Election Day

This film revolves around Election Day, a day on which Jay R. and Joe are fighting to get votes. They warn the kids that they'll be socked in the jaw if they don't vote for them, but the kids are just trying to go about their business, namely Farina. His mother wants him to deliver laundry to her clients, but he can't go anywhere without being harassed by the gang. To escape them, he dons several costumes including that as an older woman, a dancer, and a scarecrow.

7.0

Year:

1929

Election Day

7.0

Year:

1929

Fast Freight

Fast Freight is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film. It was the 85th Our Gang short that was released. The gang takes a tramp's train ride and end up taking shelter in a haunter house.

0.0

Year:

1929

Fast Freight

Fast Freight is a 1929 Our Gang short silent comedy film. It was the 85th Our Gang short that was released. The gang takes a tramp's train ride and end up taking shelter in a haunter house.

0.0

Year:

1929

The Spanking Age

Mary Ann Jackson and Bobby "Wheezer" Hutchins are the children of a widowed inventor who are forced to endure the cruelties of their stepmother and stepsister. The kids get even by rigging a few clever contraptions of their own. In the end the father sells a patent worth millions. Before that, the Our Gang kids bring out out the old "alum" gag, along with several other tried-and-true comedy bits.

6.0

Year:

1928

The Ol' Gray Hoss

This story revolves around an old man who feels alone in the world aside from the gang who keeps him company and his old horse. He runs a horse and buggy business, but he has new competition: an auto taxi. The gang helps him to maintain his job by sabotaging the other man's.

6.0

Year:

1928

The Ol' Gray Hoss

6.0

Year:

1928

Growing Pains

Mary Ann has a liking toward Wheezer. Her mother tells her that if she gives him cod liver oil, he can become a giant. A circus giant comes to board, learns the plan and substitutes for Wheezer.

0.0

Year:

1928

Growing Pains

Mary Ann has a liking toward Wheezer. Her mother tells her that if she gives him cod liver oil, he can become a giant. A circus giant comes to board, learns the plan and substitutes for Wheezer.

0.0

Year:

1928

School Begins

One of a handful of currently unavailable Hal Roach/MGM “Our Gang” silent films, School Begins was a series of gags built around the unenviable ritual of returning to school during the first week of September. School begins and some gang members are forging notes from their mother wanting out. Then too-young Wheezer parades by the school with escaped circus seals following him, causing a disturbance.

0.0

Year:

1928

School Begins

0.0

Year:

1928

Edison, Marconi & Co.

With Jay Edison as the inventor and Wheezer his assistant, the gang contrived an automobile of unusual construction; an automobile that will look like a submarine.

0.0

Year:

1928

The Smile Wins

Farina's mother is very ill and the mortgage is due. He tries to take over her laundry business, but the kids just wreck the clothes. Joe takes pity and devises a scheme to make money: the gang builds their own oil well.

5.8

Year:

1928

Rainy Days

Jay and Wheezer are left alone on a rainy afternoon when Mom goes out to run errands. But when their friends drop by and trash the place, the boys must struggle to clean up before Mom returns.

6.5

Year:

1928

Rainy Days

Jay and Wheezer are left alone on a rainy afternoon when Mom goes out to run errands. But when their friends drop by and trash the place, the boys must struggle to clean up before Mom returns.

6.5

Year:

1928

Spook Spoofing

As a joke, several members of the gang convince Farina, who is "brave but superstitious", that he's caused the demise of a young acquaintance and must therefore lay the body (actually still very alive) to rest in the old burying ground, under the watchful eye of "the graveyard witch". The joke backfires spectacularly on the pranksters.

7.2

Year:

1928

Playin' Hookey

Wheezer gets excited watching his dog Pansy attack and rip apart the chickens and furniture in the back yard. His mother is upset, and his father takes his rifle to shoot the dog. Meanwhile, Joe Cobb has taught Pansy to play dead, and after the deed is done, he hides the dog at Farina's house.

5.5

Year:

1928

Dog Heaven

Poor Pete the Pup. He wants to hang himself because his master, Joe, has given up playing with him and going fishing for the love of a girl. A dog friend of Pete's stops him in the nick of time, and in flashback Pete tells him of his sorrows; Pete becomes a drunkard and is chased away by Joe. The last straw comes when another dog knocks Joe's sweetheart into a lake and Pete is blamed for it. Will Pete carry through with his suicide or will Joe apologize?

6.1

Year:

1927

Heebee Jeebees

A hypnotist comes to town and puts the gang in animal-like trances. Now that the spell is off, the gang returns back to their usual roles. But then while at an afternoon tea social , the spell returned, ruining a perfectly good afternoon.

0.0

Year:

1927

Chicken Feed

Chicken Feed is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 66th Our Gang short subject released. The kids go to a magic show and decides to try a little magic of their own.

5.5

Year:

1927

Olympic Games

While the world watches the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the Rascals gather at the flats for their own games. Whether it's the shot put, the hurdles, the pole vault, or the high jump, not much goes right. There's a deep mud hole that catches several of the kids, and someone out there keeps giving them the razzberry. It's young Wheezer hiding out of sight with his dog Punch, but the kids think it's another boy, so every time they hear the Bronx cheer, they chase the innocent lad and give him a thumping.

5.5

Year:

1927

Baby Brother

Joe Cobb is a wealthy child who longs for a baby brother. His nursemaid takes him to the other side where he meets some kids his age (the rest of Our Gang) where Joe offers three dollars for a baby. Farina finds a fellow African-American neighbor woman who lets him mind her infant which he then paints white and sells to Joe. The rest of the gang has set an assembly-line system that washes, dries, rocks, and feeds male and female babies.

6.3

Year:

1927

Tired Business Men

Tired Business Men is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 60th Our Gang short subject released.

5.5

Year:

1927

Ten Years Old

Ten Years Old is a 1927 American short silent comedy film directed by Robert A. McGowan. It was the 58th Our Gang short subject released. It was remade as Birthday Blues in 1932. Nobody comes to Joe's birthday party so he goes to the rich kid's party with his own special cake.

5.2

Year:

1927

Seeing the World

In this Our Gang film, James Finlayson plays the gang's schoolteacher who takes the kids to Europe after winning a local contest. He takes them on a tour of Naples, Pompeii, Rome, the Vatican, Venice, London, and finally Paris, where problems arise on top of the Eiffel Tower.

6.1

Year:

1927

Bring Home the Turkey

Habitually mistreated at the deceptively named Happyland Home Orphanage, the Our Gang kids find a loyal and kindhearted friend in the form of a black grownup named Uncle Tom. Alas, Tom's own children -- including real-life siblings Allen "Farina" Hoskins and Jannie "Mango" Hoskins -- are carted off to Happyland by the cold-hearted county officials. Farina, Mango, and the other kids escape the cruel orphanage in the dead of night, while Uncle Tom, preparing for their return, "borrows" food, clothes, and furnishings from various merchants.

5.0

Year:

1927

Telling Whoppers

Farina and Joe fib to the gang that they've beaten up the neighborhood bully. Later, they hear he's been murdered and think they'll get the blame.

5.8

Year:

1926

War Feathers

While on a cross-country train trip, the Our Gang kids drive the rest of the passengers crazy with a never-ending game of cowboys and Indians. During a stopover in the sleepy town of Red Dog, the kids disembark in hopes of savoring a taste of genuine Western life. They get more than they bargained for when a trio of bandits rides into town for a showdown with the local sherff.

5.8

Year:

1926

The Girl in the Taxi

The Girl in the Taxi (1921)

7.0

Year:

1921

The Girl in the Taxi

The Girl in the Taxi (1921)

7.0

Year:

1921