Shiver My Timbers is a 1931 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Robert F. McGowan.[1] It was the 109th Our Gang short to be released.[2]

Shiver My Timbers
Title card
Directed byRobert F. McGowan
Written byH. M. Walker
Produced byRobert F. McGowan
Hal Roach
StarringBilly Gilbert
June Marlowe
CinematographyArt Lloyd
Edited byRichard C. Currier
Music byLeroy Shield
Marvin Hatley
Distributed byMGM
Release date
  • October 10, 1931 (1931-10-10)
Running time
21 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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A loud sea captain (Billy Gilbert) tells violent stories about adventures out on the sea as pirates. The gang is playing hookey from school in order to hear his stories. Miss Crabtree (June Marlowe) finds where they are and decides to team up with the sea captain to teach the kids a lesson and scare them from ever wanting to be pirates.

The sea captain invites the gang back that night to become pirates. When they board the ship, the sea captain puts on a show and scares the kids. He acts mean and pretends to be sending other pirates overboard. Miss Crabtree is also there and pretending that she would be next to walk the plank. The gang then decides they want to go back to school and take the sea captain seriously.

However, during a staged "raid" on their ship, the children turn the tables on the crewmen.

Cast

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The Gang

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Additional cast

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Memorable quote

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According to Leonard Maltin, one of the most memorable lines in the history of the movies was spoken in this short. Gilbert has called two of his crew over for mock abuse to scare the kids. He bellows at Harry Bernard, "What are you two doing over there?" Bernard answers, "We don't know!"[3]

Notes

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In 1971, the first several minutes, where Billy Gilbert is telling the gang wild pirate stories were edited out due to perceived violence and reinstated in 2001 on prints shown on American Movie Classics until 2003. It was not available on home video VHS tapes until 1994 when it was released on the first round of volumes issued by Cabin Fever.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hal Erickson (2011). "New York Times: Shiver My Timbers". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
  2. ^ Maltin, Leonard; Bann, Richard W. (1977). Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals. Crown Publishers. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-0-517-52675-0. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  3. ^ Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, pp. 113-114. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-517-58325-9
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