- Fly My Kite
Infobox Film
name = Fly My Kite
image_size =
caption =
director =Robert F. McGowan
producer =Robert F. McGowan Hal Roach
writer =H. M. Walker
narrator =
starring =
music =Leroy Shield Marvin Hatley
cinematography = Art Lloyd
editing = Richard C. Currier
distributor = MGM
released =30 May ,1931
runtime = 20 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = "Bargain Day "
followed_by = "Big Ears "
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0021878"Fly My Kite" is a 1931 "
Our Gang " shortcomedy film directed byRobert F. McGowan . cite web |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/225656/Fly-My-Kite/overview |title=New York Times: Fly My Kite |accessdate=2008-09-20|work=NY Times] It was the 107th "Our Gang " short that was released. Fly My Kite is apublic domain film because copyright was not renewed in the late 1980's.Plot
Grandma, who recently sold her grocery store is enjoying her retirement with her beloved "grandchildren". She was actually a widowed lady who outlived her daughter and only child (who married but had no children) as well. She was living in her son-in-law's house and he was in charge of her money, which he quickly spends. Meanwhile, she is having fun with the gang, as she is not any one child's grandma but everyone's grandma. Her son-in-law, however wants to remarry and they both want Grandma out of the house so they can move in.
He tells her to get her stuff and get out. He also tells her that she is broke and that he used all her money she got from the store sale mere months ago. He stated that she was old and that he cannot wait till she died of old age because that could take forever. He even said he arranged to have her sent to the Poor Farm (where older people with no families and little money went to when they got too old to work before Social Security was created).
Grandma confronts her son in law and the gang all beat him up on the spot. He manages to escape the children's rampages and then tells Grandma to leave immediately. He even finds a letter of hers stating that she had savings bonds and to communicate with them right away. He goes to the bank and discovers they are indeed worth 100,000 dollars (by todays standards at least about 5 million dollars). As Grandma is packing, she finds the bonds that she still thinks have no worth. Chubby is flying a kite with Dickie and the kite does not stay up. Grandma tells him the tail needs more weight and uses the bonds to get the kite to fly.
Grandma's son in law even returns to the house and purposely breaks her galsses (she thinks its accidental) and pretends to read a letter that the bonds she has are worthless. She tells him that the bonds are on the tail of Chubby's kite. He runs outside and tries to take the kite away from Chubby. Grandma then reads the letter and finds that the bonds are worth alot of money. She then sends the gang out to help Chubby keep her son-in-law from getting the kite. The gang runs out and beats Grandma's son-in-law to a pulp. They saw a telephone pole he is climbing to get the kite and get away from the gang. He falls in a large puddle and Mary Ann gets the bonds and hands them to Grandma.
This is the last Our Gang episode with Chubby, Farina, Shirley, and Mary Ann. Today, "Fly My Kite" is one of a handful of "Our Gang" films in the
public domain , as its copyright was not renewed in the 1990s.Cast
* Matthew Beard - Stymie
*Mae Busch - Dan's new wife
*Norman Chaney - Chubby
*Dorothy DeBorba - Dorothy
*George Ernest
*Allen Hoskins - Farina
*Bobby Hutchins - Wheezer
*Dickie Jackson
*Mary Ann Jackson
*Georgie Billings
*Pete the Pup - Petie
*Margaret Mann - Grandma
* Jim Mason - Son-in-law Dan (as James Mason)
*Broderick O'Farrell - Bond agent
*Shirley Jean Rickert
*Chic Sales Jr. - Chic
* Jackie Williamsee also
*
Our Gang filmography References
External links
*imdb title|id=0021878|title=Fly My Kite
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