First OUR GANG film (1922)

Presented here is all known existing scenes from the very first OUR GANG comedy which was titled "Our Gang" as well. The series was originally going to be called "Hal Roach's Rascals," but after the film was release, enthusiastic exhibitors started asking for more of those "Our Gang" comedies and the name for the series stuck.
No known negative or complete copy of this film is known to exist and for many years it was considered a lost film except for perhaps a small fragment. Although no 35MM print seems to exist, thanks to the home movie market and film collectors, some obscure home movie prints struck in the 1930's and '40's have been identified as scenes from this first film. Copies of Hollywood movies made for for home use are just about as old as film itself. Just like consumers desire to build up a phonograph record library, many people wanted copies of movies they could show in their home. Two of the segments used in reconstructing the film "Our Gang" came from a home movie outfit from Chicago called EXCEL FILMS. They specialized in releasing 100' segments from movies that would run about 2 minutes and 40 seconds when screened. These film segments were not long enough to convey a plot- it was just enough footage to show an amusing isolated scene. One reason these films were so short was the price they were sold for. The film companies could release these films on the home movie market and charge a reasonable price because of the short length. Cheap projectors were also produced that had a hand crank and were often given to children as a "toy" projector so a large variety of short "toy" films were also needed.
For a long time these two Our Gang segments released by the Excel company were considered the only 2 surviving clips, but a longer excerpt, produced by a home movie company in the UK that released films in the popular European 9.5MM format was discovered. All three of these segments from these films have been edited together and now comprises about 12 minutes worth of footage- not bad for a film that had an original running time of about 20 minutes. More so, the film now has a plot that is much easier to follow. Archives around the world are busy trying to rescue old, damaged and historically important 35MM movies- but a great source of restoration comes from 16mm and other size formats of home movie prints that have been discovered and reconstructed by private film collectors.