The Story of Hal Roach and Our Gang

This is a documentary that's included with the Our Gang mega-set of eight DVDs. This in on disc eight--the Bonus disc. It's a relatively short film of under 30 minutes--which just isn't enough considering that the series went for for over 20 years (if you count the films later made by MGM after the series was sold by Hal Roach Studios). So, if you are interested in seeing about the later films and characters more familiar to many of us since they were the ones often shown on TV in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, then you'll be disappointed as the film is much more about the formation of the first films--mostly the silents. Yes, you hear about the later years but it's all much more rushed. As for me, it was well worth seeing but I sure would like to see a much longer film about the films--and would really appreciate it if it would also feature interviews with Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, since they literally wrote the book on Our Gang. However, you do get to see a few of the old stars such as Dickie Moore and Jean Darling and there are lots of clips from the older films.

UPDATE: A few days after I watched this film, I found a copy of "The Our Gang Story". While not perfect, the documentary was MUCH more comprehensive and is well worth finding. It's far better than "The Story of Hal Roach and Our Gang", that's for sure.