The Original Mickey Mouse Club Show

By the show's third year, the Spin and Marty series was regarded as the centerpiece of the season's production schedule. The third installment was a massive affair of thirty episodes, with five juvenile leads. Besides original actors Tim Considine and David Stollery, and last year's Annette Funicello, the producers added Darlene Gillespie and promoted Kevin Corcoran to featured billing.

Lillie Hayward again handled the script, while Disney newcomer Charles Barton took over the direction. Since the Mickey Mouse Club was now only one-half hour, and used recycled musical numbers from the first season, the season's crop of replacement Mouseketeers were available as extras to save money. There was also a "recycled" feel to the storyline, as Spin and Marty once more clash over horses and girls.

Synopsis

Spin and Marty arrive at the Triple R in a hot rod driven by Perkins. Marty's grandmother let him buy the jalopy over the winter, and Spin came out to help work on it before camp started. The boys' reunion with Ambitious, Joe, Speckle and Moochie is interrupted by the revelation that the latter has smuggled his pet rabbits into camp. The boys find that wrangler Ollie is away on a trip, and his cousin Hank is filling in for him. Perkins, too, is surprised to find a new cook in place of his old friend Sam. Hank tells Col Logan that the rogue stallion Dynamite has stampeded some Triple R mares again. Logan sends Burnett, Perkins, Spin, and Marty out to try and recapture the mares. Moochie, disappointed at being left behind, decides to saddle his horse and sneak after them.

The next morning Dynamite suddenly appears and the boys chase after him. Back at the Triple R, the other boys wash Marty's jalopy, then start the engine, not knowing the car was still in gear. It takes off, and crashes into the side of the cookhouse, wrecking Col Logan's new stove. Burnett, Spin, and Marty round up the stray mares after Dynamite gets distracted by Perkins on his mule. The stallion chases Perkins straight into the Triple R corral, and is captured. When Spin and Marty return with the mares, they are dismayed over the wreck of the jalopy and the stove. Even pooling all their cash, the boys can't come up with the $200 needed to pay for a stove.

The new Lakeview Lodge girl, Darlene, suggests that the Triple R boys and Circle H girls put on a show together to raise money for the cookhouse repairs. The kids turn an old barn into a theater, and begin rehearsing musical numbers and a Robin Hood skit. With Annette as Maid Marian, Spin and Marty clash over the role of Robin Hood, until at last their tempers result in a fight that wrecks the barn. Fortunately, Perkins calls Marty's grandmother, who readily coughs up the money for the repairs. The two camps have a joint campfire, where Darlene and Annette, instead of being mad at the wasted work, hold hands with Marty and Spin.

Episode Guide

Episode		Orig Air Date
An Introduction		Nov   4, 1957
1.   Back to the Triple R		Nov   5, 1957
2.   Marty's New Jalopy		Nov   6, 1957
3.   The Big Raid		Nov   7, 1957
4.   The Searching Party		Nov   8, 1957
5.   Moochie in Trouble		Nov 11, 1957
6.   Lost on the Range		Nov 12, 1957
7.   Moochie's Rescue		Nov 13, 1957
8.   Horse Meets Lion		Nov 14, 1957
9.   The Capture of Dynamite		Nov 15, 1957
10. Jalopy Trouble		Nov 18, 1957
11. The Taming of Dynamite		Nov 19, 1957
12. Dynamite Strikes Back		Nov 20, 1957
13. Spin Takes Over		Nov 21, 1957
14. Moochie Spills the Beans		Nov 22, 1957
15. The Mysterious Prowler		Nov 25, 1957
16. Darlene Steps In		Nov 26, 1957
17. All Hands to the Rescue		Nov 27, 1957
18. Pleasant Dreams		Nov 28, 1957
19. The Trouble With Robin Hood		Nov 29, 1957
20. The Charm Boys		Dec   2, 1957
21. The Hunting Song		Dec   3, 1957
22. The Rabbit Hunt		Dec   4, 1957
23. The Ghost of Anne Bolyn		Dec   5, 1957
24. Ambitious Turns Green		Dec   6, 1957
25. A Couple of Jokes		Dec   9, 1957
26. Spin Walks Out		Dec 10, 1957
27. A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing		Dec 11, 1957
28. The Big Fight		Dec 12, 1957
29. Perkins Saves the Day		Dec 13, 1957

Notes

Filming began July 18th and wrapped up on September 27, 1957. Exterior scenes were once again done at the Golden Oak Ranch and Iverson's Ranch. Writer Lillie Hayward had a good grasp of action and did well with the first half of this serial's storyline. But the "show within a show" in the second half of the serial was probably imposed on her by the producers out of budget considerations. The "barn" scenes were, of course, filmed on the studio lot, saving time, trouble, and money over busing everyone out to location. Hayward also had learned to keep the action centered on the kids, an improvement over her teleplay for Further Adventures of Spin and Marty, and thankfully there were no romantic couplings for Bill Burnett or Col Logan this time out.

Both Tim Considine and David Stollery received a major increase in pay for this serial, to $650 a week. Kevin Corcoran's salary hasn't been made public, but like Tim and Dave he had the perk of a stand-in assigned for setups of his shots. Serial actors were employed on a project basis, rather than on long-term contracts like the Mouseketeers. Their salaries were more reflective of prevalent industry standards, and an acknowledgement that any of the three boys could have taken outside work rather than do this serial.

Their less-fortunate female co-stars were tied to low-paying contracts that obligated them to do whatever the studio wanted. Though serials were sought-after projects at Disney, it's doubtful Annette and Darlene were thrilled to be working together on one. In his 1976 book, Jerry Bowles reported rumors circulated around the Disney lot about feuding between the girls' families. If true, there were never any public scenes reported and certainly no hint of it on camera. However, the opening credits for this serial had the girls' names alternate in order between episodes. These things don't happen by accident; they're a serious matter for folks in show business.

For supporting players Sammy Ogg ("Joe"), B. G. Norman ("Ambitious"), and Tim Hartnagel ("Speckle"), this was their last work at Disney. The first two would continue in show business, doing films and television shows for another couple of years. The Mouseketeers brought in as scene fillers, Don Agrati, Lynn Ready, and Bonnie Fields, remain nameless and largely voiceless during this serial, save for The Hunting Song scene.

Wrangler Lennie Geer, who had played Ollie in the first two seasons to such good effect, was lost to this series due to other film commitments. His replacement, Dennis Moore, as Hank, had a feeling of "second-choice" to him, and was not as memorable. Another weak substitution was Joe Wong for Sammee Tong. Though the role of the camp cook was very minor, Tong had brought a believable gruffness and charm to the small part, while his replacement simply played it as a buffoon.

The pipe-smoking Snowman, in the scene where Annette dances with him, was actually played by choreographer Tom Mahoney, rather than B. G. Norman. The song Hap Hap Happy Snowman was written by Tom Adair and Jeanne Gale, a former nightclub singer, who was the wife of Disney composer George Bruns.

Credits

Cast

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Actor		Role
Tim Considine		Spin Evans
David Stollery		Martin "Marty" Markham III
Annette Funicello		Annette
Darlene Gillespie		Darlene
Kevin Corcoran		Montgomery "Moochie" O'Hara
Roy Barcroft		Col. Jim Logan
Harry Carey		Bill Burnett
J. Pat O'Malley		Perkins
B. G. Norman		Ambitious
Tim Hartnagel		Clarence "Speckle" Smith
Sammy Ogg		Joe Simpson
Dennis Moore		Hank
Joe Wong		George1
Lynn Ready		Lynn
Don Agrati		Don
Bonnie Fields		Bonnie
George Eldredge		Dr. Spaulding
Hank Patterson		Pete Duggan
Joe Horan		Speckle's father
Thomas L. Mahoney		Specialty Dancer (Snowman)
Francis Adams		Triple R camper (Uncredited)
James Melton		Triple R camper (Uncredited)
Cheri Albright		Circle H camper (Uncredited)
Karen Hansen		Circle H camper (Uncredited)
Fred Brookfield		Stand-in for Spin (Uncredited)
Billy Curtis		Stand-in for Moochie (Uncredited)
Bobby Jay		Stand-in for Marty (Uncredited)

1 - As in the other serials, the credits list the cook as "George" but the character is called "Sam".

Crew

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Bill Walsh		Producer
Mike Holoboff		Production Supervisor
Charles Barton		Director
Arthur Vitarelli		Assistant Director
Dolph M. Zimmer		Assistant Director
Lillie Hayward		Writer (teleplay)
William Lava		Theme
Buddy Baker		Music
Joseph Mullendore		Music
Oliver Wallace		Music
Tom Adair		Songs
Marvin Ash		Songs
Ray Darbey		Songs
Jeanne Gale		Songs
George Bruns		Songs
Gil George		Songs
Franklyn Marks		Songs
Stan Jones		Songs
Paul Smith		Songs
Sidney Miller		Songs
Bill Walsh		Songs
Bruce Bushman		Art Director
Marvin Aubrey Davis		Art Director
Walter H. Castle, A.S.C.		Director of Photography
Gordon Avil, A.S.C.		Director of Photography
Joseph S. Dietrick		Film Editor
George Gale, A.C.E.		Film Editor
Al Teeter, A.C.E.		Film Editor
Wayne Hughes		Film Editor
Robert Stafford		Film Editor
Ed Sampson		Film Editor
Jack M. Vandegriff		Film Editor
Robert O. Cook		Sound
Armor E. Goetten		Set Decorator
Emile Kuri		Set Decorator
Chuck Keehne		Costumes
Pat McNalley		Make-up
John Grubbs		Production Manager