Babes in Toyland

Although the print viewed was a re-issue version entitled March of the Wooden Soldiers, the above credits were taken from the film's original cutting continuity. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, whose names appear above the title, are listed last in the cast listing. The picture was also re-issued as Revenge Is Sweet. According to an unidentified December 7, 1933 news item in the file on Hal Roach at the AMPAS Library, the film was to be produced with $500,000 provided by M-G-M, and was to star Laurel and Hardy as Simple Simon and the Pieman. Hollywood Reporter news items provide the following information about the production: preparation for the film, including testing actors for various roles and shooting "stop-motion and miniature material" began as early as January 1934. L. A. French was in charge of the two crews working on the special effects, and the dramatic sequences were scheduled to begin shooting on February 15, 1934. Roach tried and failed to obtain Ramon Novarro for the romantic lead, then considered Donald Novis and Earl Oxford before awarding the part to Felix Knight. Roach also sought to borrow Patricia Ellis for the female romantic lead, and tested Doris Paxton for an unspecified feature spot. Anita Louise was tested for the part of "Little Miss Muffet," which was turned into "Bo-Peep" and given to Charlotte Henry, while Douglas Wakefield and Charles Rogers (who would later become the co-director) were tested for the role of "Gumio, the Toymaker's assistant," which was cut before production began. According to a February 26, 1934 Hollywood Reporter news item, Laurel was "out of the picture for the time being," and Roach suspended production until Laurel could be "brought back to the fold." Modern sources assert that this delay was caused by Laurel's announcement that he was returning to his native England. The announcement was supposedly a ploy to avoid Laurel's alimony difficulties.
       Preparations for filming began again in mid-June 1934. Ray McCarey was scheduled to direct the film, but in early Jul, he was replaced by Gus Meins, and Margaret Seddon was engaged for the role of "the Widow Peep." Soon after production began in early August 1934, Laurel suffered a serious leg injury and production was halted on 16 Aug. Contemporary news items conflict about the exact date shooting resumed, but apparently some work was done on the picture while Laurel recovered. By the time production fully resumed, Seddon had been replaced by Florence Roberts, possibly because Seddon was no longer available. The film's pressbook noted that Rogers, who had frequently worked with Laurel and Hardy as a writer, directed their comedy sequences, while Meins was responsible for the other portions of the film. The following actors were included in the cast by Hollywood Reporter production charts, and their roles are supplied by modern sources: Kewpie Morgan (Old King Cole); Marie Wilson (Mary Quite Contrary); Charlie Hall (Toyland townsman); Billy Bletcher (Chief of police); Alice Moore (Queen of Hearts); Pete Gordon (Cat and the fiddle); Richard Powell (King's guard); and Sumner Getchell (Tom Thumb). Other actors listed on Hollywood Reporter production charts who are not listed in modern sources are: Alice Lake, May Wallace and Arthur Lovejoy. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, the "Three Little Pigs" appeared through a deal with Walt Disney Productions, which was to supply their voices. The film's pressbook stated that after the film was completed, Roach donated the set of Toyland to the city of Los Angeles. Actor Henry Kleinbach, who later changed his name to Henry Brandon, was twenty-two when he played "Silas Barnaby" in this film, which marked his screen-acting debut. He noted in a modern source that his makeup was done by Jim Collins, the former head of the Paramount makeup department.
       Modern sources assert that Roach wrote the film's original script in late 1933, and hired Ray Harris to polish it. Roach's material was largely rewritten, however, by Frank Butler and Nick Grinde, who are credited on screen, and Laurel. According to modern sources, Gordon Douglas was an assistant director on the film, and photographer Art Lloyd was assisted by special effects director Roy Seawright with the filming of the march of the wooden soldiers. Modern sources also include the following actors in the cast: Scotty Beckett, Marianne Edwards, Tommy Bupp, Georgie Billings, Jerry Tucker, Jackie Taylor and Dickie Jones (Schoolchilden); Sam Lufkin, Jack Hill, Baldwin Cooke, Jack Lipson, Robert Burns, Bob O'Conor, Ernie Alexander, Ham Kinsey, Charles Dorety, Edward Earle and Margaret Nearing (Toyland townspeople); Scott Mattraw (Toyland townsman, also the town crier); Alice Dahl (Little Miss Muffet); Payne Johnson (Jiggs, one of the Three Little Pigs); Angelo Rossitto (Elmer, one of the Three Little Pigs); Dick Alexander (King's guard); Tiny Sandford and Eddie Baker (Duckers); John George (Barnaby's minion); Frank Austin (Justice of the peace); Gus Leonard (Candle snuffer); Charles Rogers (Fisherman); Jack Raymond and Eddie Borden (Demon bogeyman); Alice Cooke (Mother Hubbard); and Fred Holmes (Balloon man).
       Jack Donohoe directed Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello in the 1961 Walt Disney Productions version of Victor Herbert and Glen MacDonough's operetta (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1961-70; F6.0238). The many television versions, all entitled Babes in Toyland, include a December 25, 1950 NBC broadcast directed by Bill Corrigan and starring Dennis King; a December 18, 1954 NBC Color Special, directed by Max Liebman and starring Wally Cox and Dennis Day, which was rebroadcast on December 24, 1955; an episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook, broadcast on December 25, 1960, starring Temple and Jonathan Winters; and a December 19, 1986 NBC presentation directed by Clive Donner and starring Drew Barrymore, Richard Mulligan and Eileen Brennan.