SEEING THE WORLD is a curio in the OUR GANG series. Purporting to show a school trip around Europe led by their teacher (Mr “D’oh” himself, Jimmy Finlayson), it is a comic travelogue with scenes shot on location in London, Paris, Rome and more.

Look a little closer and you’ll spot that actually it’s a cunning mixture of location footage and bits shot on the Roach backlot, and with back projection.  Finlayson and Gang director Robert MacGowan shot footage on a holiday around Europe, but the kids never went along.  In Leonard Maltin & Richard W Bann’s book THE LITTLE RASCALS, Joe Cobb recalled “They took our clothes and got these other kids to wear them, and then they photographed those kids together in all the long, long shots you see, so you can’t tell it isn’t really us. And then we made the rest back in the studio. A lot of people say “Oh, you went to Europe, I saw that picture and you were there. No, well, I wasn’t!”

Back at the studio, a few other Roach regulars were roped in, too. Charlie Hall plays the chauffeur, and two other Englishman appear in a small cameo: Frank Butler and… Stan Laurel!

A fun little curio. Enjoy!