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The "Spin and Marty" series was a serial appearing on the "Mickey Mouse Club" beginning in 1955. It dealt with snooty young Marty Markham who is left in the care of family butler, Perkins and sent off to a dude ranch for the summer. The story of the first serial has Marty, a wealthy city boy, who has been raised without the companionship of children his own age, antagonizing everyone by calling the Triple R a "dirty old farm" when he arrives with his personal butler. Marty dislikes the outdoors and makes things difficult for his fellow ranchers in the process. He is afraid of horses and is harassed by the other boys. Good-natured Spin tries hard to help the other boys get accustomed to life on the Triple R. Marty tries to leave, but eventually decides to stay. With help from foreman, Bill, doubling as camp counselor, he conquers his fear of horses by learning to ride Skyrocket, even though he gets thrown. Interestingly, the boy who eventually played Spin, Tim Cosidine, was originally chosen to play Marty. As the original book was built around Marty--that was how the TV serial was planned. Tim had his own idea. He was very self-possessed. Since acting was his idea, he felt he should be able to choose his roles and he argued that he should have the part of Spin--the "cool" boy. In contrast, David John Stollery III who played Marty was a different story. His mother had pushed him into acting and he had many acting credits before showing up at Disney. He was used to being given a role and then performing it. For him "Marty" was a role, not part of his teen-age ego. The series had a huge following from the old days of "The Mickey Mouse Club". Lawrence Edward Watkin had written a book entitled Marty Markham that had come to the attention of Walt Disney and his Mickey Mouse Club producer, Bill Walsh. They decided that it would be a good story to serialize on the television show, and so early in the summer of 1955 work began on what would be Production 8209 at the Disney Studio. Jackson Gillis was brought in to write a screenplay based on the Watkin book. The boys on the show always wore white "T" shirts and jeans, often with Keds. David recalls his "Spin and Marty" years, "I had no idea of the impact the show when I was doing it. I think we were too close to it and too preoccupied with other things that teenage boys are preoccupied with to really comprehend the overall picture. You know, we weren't very good. We weren't great actors. The story lines were pretty trite. But itās amazing how much people loved it." Tim aptly sums up his "Spin and Marty" experience-"Nothing I have ever done and possibly nothing I will ever accomplish in the future could touch as many lives and bring pleasure to as many people as did the "Mickey Mouse Club". One interesting aspect of the show was Spin's flat-top hair cut. Along with Rickey Nelson appearing on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, that cut became the "in" cut for boys during the mid-1950s.
The "Spin and Marty" series was a serial appearing on the "Mickey Mouse Club" beginning November 4, 1955. The show didn't provide much in the way of costume information as the mouskateers wore a kind of basic uniform complete with Mouseketeers. The kids were always scrubbed and proper, but alas never wearing shorts -- even the little ones. It was all
very controlled, never anything really interesting. Nothing like the modern kid shows that appeal to the perverse streak in kids. The show was divided into sements. One of the sements was often a serialized kids adventure. The first was "Spin and Marty". This was followed by "Clint and Mac" and "The Hardy Boys Mystery."
"Spin and Marty" dealt with snooty young Marty Markham who is left in the care of family butler, Perkins. Marty shows up at a boys' dude ranch in a fancy suit. The other boys decide to teach him a lesson, but soon they are all friends. Besides lots of adventures dealing with horses, there are some of the standards of camp life like snipe hunts. Then of course the girls led by Annette Funicello arrive to stir things at the Triple R up a bit.
Marty under Perkins care was sent off to a dude ranch for the summer. The story of the
first serial has Marty, a wealthy city boy, who has been raised without the companionship of children his own age, antagonizing everyone by calling the Triple R, horrors of horrors, a "dirty old farm" when he arrives with his personal butler--Perkins
Marty dislikes the outdoors and makes things difficult for his fellow ranchers in the process. He is afraid of horses and is harassed by the other boys. Good-natured Spin tries hard to help the other boys get accustomed to life on the Triple R. Marty tries to leave, but eventually decides to stay. With help from foreman, Bill, doubling as camp counselor, he conquers his fear of horses by learning to ride Skyrocket, even though he gets thrown.
Interestingly, the boy who eventually played Spin, Tim Cosidine, was originally
chosen to play Marty. As the original book was built around Marty--that was how the TV serial was planned. David had his own idea. He was very self-possessed. Since acting was his idea, he felt he should be able to choose his roles and he argued that he should have the part of Spin--the "cool" boy. Apparently he saw himself as one of the "cool" boys. One of the reasons he probably felt this way is because he had just done a film about a boarding school, Her Twelve Men (1954), with Greer Garson. Tim plays the new boy who has trouble fitting in with the other boys--virtually the same as the Marty role.
In contrast, David John Stollery III who played Marty was a different story. His mother had pushed him into acting and he had many acting credits before showing up at Disney. He appraocjed it mopre professionally. He was used to being given a role and then performing it. For him "Marty" was a role, not part of his teen-age ego.
The series had a huge following from the old days of "The Mickey Mouse Club". Lawrence Edward Watkin had written a book entitled Marty Markham that had come to the attention of Walt Disney and his Mickey Mouse Club producer, Bill Walsh. They decided that
it would be a good story to serialize on the television show, and so early in the summer of 1955 work began on what would be Production 8209 at the Disney Studio. Jackson Gillis was brought in to write a screenplay based on the Watkin book.
Many now grown-up children who watched the "Mickey Mouse Club", remember "Spin and Marty" wih some affection. One HBC reader writes, "Speaking of "Spin and Marty", I watched it on the Disney Channel late last night - it's shown late on Saturday and Sunday nights. The episode began with a late night sing along around the campfire. To put all this in context I've been following the news reports from Palestine, and of course, it doesn't seem so encouraging. Watching that old show really brought back the innocence of that time, at least from a young person's perspective. Of course, the year that episode was filmed came the Suez Canal crisis, the Hungarian uprising, and "Duck and Cover" films. But on the ranch that all seemed so far away, someone else's cares. Mr. Burnett and Mr. Logan put out the campfire, everybody turned in, slept soundly, and the next day - long, languid, bright - there'd be more fun and adventure. Like the line from Mr. Burnett's song, "Goodnight, Little Wranglers" said, this is the springtime of our lives." Although even some of the show's principals dismiss the plots and acting of the series, "Spin & M"'s popularity a half century after filming began is a real tribute to the program. For some of us, it recalls a genuine innocence, free of so many of the negative influences that so sadly rob many young people of their lives' "springtime".
Also rather surprising is that "Spin and Marty" conginue to be popular today. The Disney cable channel in 2002 quite regularly runs the series in late night slots. Given all the programming that Disney possesses, it is very interesting that they run "Spin and Marty" so much.
The boys on the show always wore white "T" shirts and jeans, often with Keds. I seem to recall Marty showing up at the ranch in a limousine and short pants suit. I have it in my mind that Marty wore a black short pants suit and knee socks. A HBC reader recalls him wearing a kind of adult hat and sports jacket. Apparenly I am incorrect. I wonder if they could have reshot the scene. "Spin and Marty" expert Darrin Michaels tells us, "I had to double check my copy of this one: for costuming, Marty originally came to the ranch in his limo dressed in a two-piece suit (jacket, long pants, could have been grey, hard to tell in B&W), a long-sleeve button down collar dress shirt, slim bow tie, dark dress socks, dark loafer-type shoes, a hat (like a fedora, but not), and a nice gold wrist watch." At any rate, the other boys at the camp were agast. But they were realtively gentle with him and he was soon wearing jeans as well. Walt Disney's emensely popular Mickey Mouse Club ran a serial at about the same time as "Leave It To Beaver" where the boys also wore "T" shirts and jeans.
David recalls his "Spin and Marty" years, "I had no idea of the impact the show when I was doing it. I think we were too close to it and too preoccupied with other things that teenage boys are preoccupied with to really comprehend the overall picture. You know, we weren't very good. We weren't great actors. The story lines were pretty trite. But it's amazing how much people loved it." David aptly sums up his "Spin and Marty" experience--"Nothing I have ever done and possibly nothing I will ever accomplish in the future could touch as many lives and bring pleasure to as many people as did the "Mickey Mouse Club".
One interesting aspect of the show was Spin's flat-top hair cut. Along with Rickey Nelson appearing on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, that cut became the "in" cut for boys during the mid-1950s.
We have focused on the costuming here. Much more information is available on the series. Darrin Michaels has created a wonderful site with detailed inormation about Walt Disney's "Spin and Marty". Interested HBC readers may want to have a look. We especially thank Darrin for looking over our site and correcting some errors in it.
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