Editing Skippy (film)

{{short description|1931 film}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Skippy
| image          = File:Skippy (1931) film poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Norman Taurog]]
| producer       = [[Adolph Zukor]]<br />[[Jesse L. Lasky]]<br />[[B. P. Schulberg]]
| writer         = [[Norman Z. McLeod|Norman McLeod]]<br />[[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]]<br />[[Don Marquis]]<br />[[Sam Mintz]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Skippy (comic strip)|Skippy]]''<br>comic strip|[[Percy Crosby]]}}
| narrator       = 
| starring       = [[Jackie Cooper]]<br />[[Robert Coogan]]<br />[[Mitzi Green]]<br />[[Jackie Searl]]
| music          = [[John Leipold]]
| cinematography = [[Karl Struss]]
| editing        = 
| distributor    = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released       = {{Film date|1931|4|5}}
| runtime        = 85 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English}}

'''''Skippy''''' is a 1931 American [[pre-Code]] [[comedy film]] based on the popular [[comic strip]] and novel ''[[Skippy (comic strip)|Skippy]]'' by [[Percy Crosby]]. The screenplay was by [[Joseph L. Mankiewicz]], [[Don Marquis]], [[Norman Z. McLeod]], and [[Sam Mintz]].

The film stars [[Jackie Cooper]] in the title role, [[Robert Coogan]], [[Mitzi Green]] and [[Jackie Searl]]. Director [[Norman Taurog]] won the [[Academy Award for Best Director]] (at age 32, he remained the youngest winner in this category until [[Damien Chazelle]] won for the 2016 film [[La La Land (film)|''La La Land'']]). The film also did well enough to inspire a sequel called ''[[Sooky]]'' (1931). ''Skippy'' was released on April 5, 1931, by [[Paramount Pictures]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90395/skippy |title=Skippy (1931) - Overview |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Hall |first=Mordaunt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9803EEDD143BE433A25757C0A9629C946094D6CF |title=Movie Review - Skippy - THE SCREEN; Two Boys and a Dog. Mr. Keaton's New Farce. Beauty's Power. A Russian Film. "The Stolen Jools." |newspaper=NYTimes.com |date=April 4, 1931 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> 
For his performance, Cooper, at the age of nine, became the youngest person to earn an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]]. The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.<ref name="Oscars1931">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1932 |title=The 4th Academy Awards (1931) Nominees and Winners |access-date=May 24, 2019 |publisher=Oscars.org}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:Jackie Cooper Robert Coogan Skippy 1931.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[Jackie Cooper]] and [[Robert Coogan]] in ''Skippy'']]
Skippy ([[Jackie Cooper]]) is the feisty son of the strict Dr. Herbert Skinner ([[Willard Robertson]]) and his wife Ellen ([[Enid Bennett]]) who live in Morrisville, Indiana. Skinner forbids Skippy to play in the pauperized Shantytown, because of its filth and criminal surroundings. Regardless, Skippy and his friend Sidney ([[Jackie Searl]]) visit Shantytown, where Skippy meets a new boy named Sooky ([[Robert Coogan]], [[Jackie Coogan]]'s little brother). He saves Sooky from the bully Harley Nubbins ([[Donald Haines]]), and Skippy and Sooky become friends.

One day, Harley accidentally breaks his father's windshield with Skippy's yo-yo. Harley, whose father is brutish and aggressive, blames the damage on Skippy and Sooky. Mr. Nubbins ([[Jack Rube Clifford]]), who works as a dogcatcher, takes Sooky's dog and demands the two boys pay for the damages if they want their dog back. Skippy and Sooky gather three dollars by breaking Skippy's savings bank, but Mr. Nubbins accepts it only for his windshield. He gives them three days to obtain another three dollars for a dog license, and he threatens to kill their dog if they don't get him the money.

Sooky and Skippy spend the next two days selling bottles, lemonade and wood, and staging a performance to earn money, but Skippy's father doesn't want to lend them the remaining thirty cents. Mr. Nubbins kills the dog and Skippy blames his father. The next morning, Skippy gets a new bicycle from his father but trades it to his friend, Eloise ([[Mitzi Green]]), for her new dog. He then takes the dog to Sooky. Dr. Skinner has a change of heart and buys Sooky a licensed dog, finds his mother a job, and refrains from ordering Shantytown destroyed, instead offering assistance to its citizens. For the first time, Dr. Skinner plays with Skippy in Shantytown. There they accidentally break Mr. Nubbins' new windshield. Dr. Skinner wins a fight against Mr. Nubbins and shows he is a good father.

==Cast==
* [[Jackie Cooper]] as Skippy Skinner
* [[Robert Coogan]] as Sooky Wayne
* [[Mitzi Green]] as Eloise
* [[Jackie Searl]] as Sidney
* [[Willard Robertson]] as Dr. Herbert Skinner
* [[Enid Bennett]] as Mrs. Ellen Skinner
* [[Donald Haines]] as Harley Nubbins
* [[Jack Clifford (actor)|Jack Rube Clifford]] as Mr. Nubbins, Dog-Catcher
* [[Helen Jerome Eddy]] as Mrs. Wayne
* [[Guy Oliver]] as Dad Burkey

==Production==
In the scene where the dog dies, director Norman Taurog needed to get his nephew, Jackie Cooper, to cry, so he told young Jackie he was going to kill his own dog by dragging the dog off set (with the assistance of Cooper's grandmother) and then having a security guard "shoot" the dog. Cooper did the scene, but despite finding the dog was not harmed, he was still hysterical for hours afterward to the point of needing a sedative.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |date=1981-04-16 |title=COOPER: A STAR AT 8, BUT HAPPIER AT 58 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/16/arts/cooper-a-star-at-8-but-happier-at-58.html |access-date=2024-05-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Reception==
''Skippy'' received positive reviews from critics. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 86%, based on 7 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Skippy |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009186-skippy |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0022397|Skippy}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/skippy-am138094 ''Skippy'' at AllMovie]
* {{tcmdb title|id=90395}}
* {{AFI film|4442}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|10009186_skippy|Skippy}}

{{Norman Taurog}}

[[Category:1931 films]]
[[Category:1931 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1930s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about children]]
[[Category:Films based on American comics]]
[[Category:Films based on comic strips]]
[[Category:Films directed by Norman Taurog]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Directing Academy Award]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz]]
[[Category:Live-action films based on comics]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:1930s American films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]