One Terrible Day

One Terrible Day is a 1922 American silent short film, the first entry in Hal Roach's Our Gang (Little Rascals) series to be released. Directed by Robert F. McGowan and Tom McNamara, the two-reel short was released to theaters on September 10, 1922 by Pathé. It is a comedic film about a group of children from the poor section of town being taken by a wealthy matron to her country estate. The party is crashed as more kids than were invited show up, along with their dog, and stow away in the limousine. When they arrive at the country estate, the boys proceed to make mayhem and wreak general havoc.

This was the first Our Gang comedy to be released, although the fourth to go into production. The gang’s leading lady in this film is Peggy Cartwright, who only makes a brief appearance in the company of an unnamed character at the country estate.

Allen Hoskins’s character in this early silent Our Gang short is female. His character will not start taking on male characteristics until the 1923 short, The Champeen, when he dresses like a boy for the first time. This is very similar to what happened with the Buckwheat character years later.

When the television rights for the original silent Pathé Our Gang comedies were sold to National Telepix and other distributors, several of the Our Gang films were released into TV syndication and retitled. In 1960 the collective title "Our Gang" was changed to "Mischief Makers" and the title of "One Terrible Day" was changed to "The Outing." About two-thirds of the original footage from the film was included. Most of the original inter-titles were also cut and later replaced. The film, having been produced prior to 1923, and never having the copyright renewed, is in the public domain. However, the "Mischief Makers" additions to the film were copyrighted in 1960.