Who Killed Doc Robbin
Encyclopedia
Who Killed Doc Robbin is a film
produced by Hal Roach
and Robert F. McGowan
as a reimagining of their Our Gang
series.
The film was one of "Hal Roach's Streamliners
" features of the 1940s, running only 55 minutes, and was designed as a B-movie
. Like most of Roach's latter-day output, Who Killed Doc Robbin, the sequel
to 1947's Curley
, was shot in Cinecolor
. Bernard Carr was the film's director, and the film was released to theatres on April 9, 1948 by United Artists. It stars Larry Olsen, Billy Gray, and Renee Beard, younger brother of original Our Ganger Matthew "Stymie" Beard.
Who Killed Doc Robbin's plot involves a murder mystery involving the death of local scientist Dr. Hugo Robbin. Curley (Olsen) and his "gang" happen to have been key witnesses to several of the events, and the children's testimonies are told in flashback during the court case.
When Hal Roach sold Our Gang to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
in 1938, he was contractually bound not to produce anymore kids comedies. When Roach decided that he wanted to produce Curley, he got MGM's permission by giving up his right to buy back the name Our Gang.
Both Curley and Who Killed Doc Robbin, performed poorly at the box office
(as a result, Roach discontinued theatrical film production, turning his studio's efforts towards television), and when Roach bought back the rights to the 1927-1938 Our Gang shorts in 1949, he had to re-christen the series as The Little Rascals.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
produced by Hal Roach
Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
and Robert F. McGowan
Robert F. McGowan
Robert Francis McGowan was an American film director and producer, best known as the senior director of the Our Gang short subjects film series from 1922 until 1933.-Career:...
as a reimagining of their Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
series.
The film was one of "Hal Roach's Streamliners
Hal Roach's Streamliners
Hal Roach's Streamliners were a series of short comedy films created by Hal Roach that were longer than a short subject and less than a feature film not exceeding 50 minutes in length. Twenty of the twenty-nine features that Roach produced for United Artists were in the streamliner format...
" features of the 1940s, running only 55 minutes, and was designed as a B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
. Like most of Roach's latter-day output, Who Killed Doc Robbin, the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to 1947's Curley
Curley (1947 film)
Curley is a 1947 film produced by Hal Roach and Robert F. McGowan as a re-imagining of their Our Gang series. The film was one of Roach's "streamlined" features of the 1940s, running 53 minutes and was designed as a b-movie...
, was shot in Cinecolor
Cinecolor
Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M...
. Bernard Carr was the film's director, and the film was released to theatres on April 9, 1948 by United Artists. It stars Larry Olsen, Billy Gray, and Renee Beard, younger brother of original Our Ganger Matthew "Stymie" Beard.
Who Killed Doc Robbin's plot involves a murder mystery involving the death of local scientist Dr. Hugo Robbin. Curley (Olsen) and his "gang" happen to have been key witnesses to several of the events, and the children's testimonies are told in flashback during the court case.
When Hal Roach sold Our Gang to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in 1938, he was contractually bound not to produce anymore kids comedies. When Roach decided that he wanted to produce Curley, he got MGM's permission by giving up his right to buy back the name Our Gang.
Both Curley and Who Killed Doc Robbin, performed poorly at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
(as a result, Roach discontinued theatrical film production, turning his studio's efforts towards television), and when Roach bought back the rights to the 1927-1938 Our Gang shorts in 1949, he had to re-christen the series as The Little Rascals.