7/10
Too Many Parents was a pretty good programmer from a former director of the Our Gang shorts
1 December 2014
After Robert F. McGowan left the Our Gang shorts series, he also left the Hal Roach Studios and went to Paramount where he did both shorts and features of which this was one of them. Too Many Parents concerns some military school boys, many of whom were once in Our Gang. Among them who worked under McGowan were Sherwood Bailey and George Ernest. Another kid-a tap dancer named Billy Lee-had also appeared in an OG short called Mike Fright which was directed by the then-current series helmer, Gus Meins. Two then-current members of the group who appeared in this were Jerry Tucker as a bartender in a sketch and Carl "Alfafla" Switzer who, yes, sings off-key here to hilarious effect and who McGowan had previously directed in his last OG short, Divot Diggers. This was mostly a drama with comedy elements. So on that note, Too Many Parents was pretty entertaining for its time. P.S. Since I always like to cite players from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, in other films, here it's not only Switzer but also Henry Travers who appears as the kindly janitor and mentor to the boys.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed