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Post by myhomeo on Oct 21, 2013 17:03:49 GMT -5
Benjamin Franklin Junior - It's been years, possibly decades, since I saw this and I still remember Mickey striking his little poses when he'd recite some proverb in the play. Really, if they want to help the war effort, perhaps they could explain where they continually came up with the costumes for these little pageants they were constantly putting on....
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Post by RJH on Oct 31, 2013 23:23:57 GMT -5
Big Ears (1931) - Wheezer's parents are constantly fighting, naturally upsetting Wheezer. He makes a heroic effort to reconcile them, and it works for a few seconds, but when Wheezer goes outside to play wtih Pete his parents are practically at each other's throats, and suggest a divorce is imminent. Wheezer overhears the word, and not knowing what it means, asks the gang, which is rather depleted at this point. He doesn't get much useful information at first, but when he learns that it means his parents will separate and he might be sent to an orphanage, he needs to come up with an idea, and by talking with the gang finds out getting sick may bring his parents together over concern for him.
Stymie obliges Wheezer in getting him sick, getting him to consume all sorts of things from the kitchen. When Wheezer does get sick, he asks for medicine. Stymie makes several trips to the medicine cabinet, and then Dorothy suddenly appears and also helps bring bottles from the bathroom, but Wheezer rejects most of them. Eventually Stymie's mother comes by, sees that one of the bottles is poison, and calls the hospital. It looks like Wheezer didn't actually drink from that bottle, and he will be all right. His parents promise never to fight again, but that is about what they said earlier in the film.
I'm not very fond of the parents arguing so much, nor the deliberately getting sick. The best parts are Wheezer playing with Pete, confiding in Pete, and his exchanges with Stymie. Stymie gets most of the best lines, as was frequently the case. There are a lot of good shots of Pete's facial expressions, reacting to what the humans say.
Chicken Feed (1927) - Ranks near the bottom of the silents. The gang attends Johnny Downs performing a magic trick, making Jean Darling appear to turn into a rabbit and back. It's shown that she simply climbs through a trapdoor to place a rabbit in a wooden box, and one might think kids the gang's age would be aware of this possibility. The gang steals some of Johnny's magic powder, and then try the trick on Mango while holding Farina down. Mango pushes back the box and lets a monkey in while everyone conveniently has their eyes closed. They fail to change the monkey back to Mango, and there are a lot of chase scenes. Eventually they trap the monkey, but it manages to get a chicken to take its place. The chicken flies over a fence conveniently into a hobo's lap, who somehow manages to cook and eat it before the gang can run around the fence. In a desparate move, they sprinkle the powder on the remaining feathers, say the magic words and rub their stomachs and pat their heads, and Mango reappears wearing a sheet and making an unconvincing ghost, scaring everyone else.
There are many films where Farina gets treated badly, but usually things work out much better for him by the end. Nothing goes right for him this time, and the film ends with him thinking his sister was eaten. One problem is that I have the common print which is only 12 minutes long, so close to half the film may be missing. Any chance the cutting continuity is available and can be made public? One thing that would be nice to know is, what was Mango doing all this time? Maybe she was following the gang and laughing at their attempts to bring her back, getting back at them in her own way? Another frustrating thing is that Mango was getting more significant parts at this time, but then the films she is in are missing, like perhaps some of this, Bring Home the Turkey, Yale vs Harvard, and until recently The Smile Wins. Then the character suddenly disappears despite Farina remaining another three years.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 1, 2013 22:19:28 GMT -5
CHICKEN FEED (1927)
Things I like: Krazy Kat. Easily the most arresting image of the entire short is when the monkey climbs into a Krazy Kat costume. It gives the filmmakers an excuse to throw Wheezer into the film (only his second appearance in the series), though he's given virtually nothing to do. The Magic Act. There is something amusing about this part, particularly the way Johnny Downs peers down at the Gang as they try to take notes.
Things I don't like: Monkey Abuse. I can accept the possibility that the duck is biting down on a fake monkey tail, but the alternate shot of the monkey on the other side of the fence makes it clear that somebody is holding onto his tail through the knothole. But that's nothing compared to.... Duck Abuse. So the duck's head comes through the knothole with the monkey's tail wrapped around its neck. Then some sort of 'V' shaped piece of metal falls over the duck's neck, holding its head in place. Then the monkey turns a hose on it. And so ends one of the most tasteless sequences in series history. Race. Inevitably, when a chimp or a monkey turns up in an Our Gang comedy, some sort of comparison is made to one of the black kids. In this case, it's made to look as though Mango has transformed into a monkey. I guess if one were to put a positive spin on this, it could be pointed out that all of the really tasteless elements that the series dealt with from time to time turned up in one short, instead of being spread over several episodes. The Available Print. Not that the film should be judged based on this, but we pretty much just have the Mischief Makers print for this one, which isn't a good thing at all.
Grade: D
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 4, 2013 1:57:39 GMT -5
BIG EARS (1931)
Things I like: Wheezer. Some of his dialogue falls a bit flat, but this is cancelled out by at least four factors: The way he innocently makes things worse between his parents at the breakfast table; The way he frolicks on the floor with Petey; The way the little puppy licks his face; And the facial expressions he gives while eating the lard and the bar of soap. Stymie. In a film that's typically sentimental for this era, he provides some much-needed humor to the proceedings. Some lines are funnier than others, but there's at least a couple that are top-notch.
Things I don't like: Wheezer's Parents. There's something patently phony about these two. Pete's reaction to them at the end of the film indicates that we're supposed to be unconvinced by them when they're making up, but they're not convincing when they're fighting, either. The General Idea. Luckily, this was just a one-off in the series, because the subject matter of divorce seems a bit heavy for the Gang. And, of course, there's something a bit unsettling about the whole medicine cabinet sequence, as well.
Grade: C-
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 6, 2013 1:56:34 GMT -5
THE BIG PREMIERE (1940)
Things I like: The General Idea. The Gang had gotten around to making their own movies in a handful of earlier episodes, and the results were usually quite good. And, actually, there's something mildly appealing about the film they make in this short, if only for the believable naivety of it. Some of the details surrounding the premiere are fun, particularly the idea of Buckwheat getting his feet stuck in the cement, but the execution could be better.
Things I don't like: Alfalfa. His big number is easily the least appealing part of the short, but then, how could it be otherwise? It's one of the very worst musical moments for Alfalfa, during an era when he was blazing newly horrific territory with each attempt. But it's not just the song - he's the most unappealing member of the Gang throughout the entire short. He was getting too old to be innocently meddlesome around the cop, so he just comes off as obnoxious. There's also something about the way his hair droops down when he's wearing a hat that just makes him look like a slob, and this is how he is in most of his latter appearances. Also, I can't think of too many weaker endings for an Our Gang short then when he winks at the chicken. The Acting. As usual with these MGM shorts, the kids aren't particularly natural, though it can be said that this actually works during the film-within-a-film. Alfalfa As Buckwheat. Okay, well it WAS 1940, after all, so we shouldn't be too surprised that Alf imitates Buckwheat using a stereotypical 'Negro dialect.' Now if only he was any good at it..... Mickey As Groucho. "Maybe the horse didn't wanna see the show!" And if only Mickey was any good at Groucho-style humor. Runner-up in this category is that moment when he's playing the guitar and looks at the camera and shrugs. There's something so contrived about both of these instances that it actually makes me uncomfortable watching it. On a positive note, though, I find his 'bad guy' character in the film-within-a-film to be sort of amusing.
Grade: D+
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Post by antifrodis on Nov 9, 2013 20:57:30 GMT -5
Circus Fever (1925) - Haven't seen this one in awhile, and I'm too lazy to pull out my old VHS copy, so I'll have to base this review off of a shortened German print I found on YouTube, and memories of my print. Got a link to this German version?
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Post by mtw12055 on Nov 9, 2013 22:04:14 GMT -5
Got a link to this German version? Here it is, complete with a remade circus ad.
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Post by RJH on Nov 10, 2013 0:52:06 GMT -5
The Big Premiere (1940) - The gang is attending the premiere of a movie starring a new Hollywood sensation, who has her footprints recorded in cement for the occasion. The gang spots Waldo with a camera across the way and wants him to take their picture. They duck under a rope blocking off the area for the stars, and when a cop chases them, he slips in the cement and ruins the actresses's gown. Chased away, the gang decides to hold their own premiere. Their movie, "The Mysteerious Mistery," features the combiantion of Robin Hood, Robinson Crusoe and Friday, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. At the opening, the attempt to preserve Buckwheat's footprints fails. The cement is too wet initially, so he stands there like an idiot until it hardens and he gets stuck. This forces Alfalfa to attempt Buckwheat's part in the movie, as the film is silent and the gang does their own voiceovers. It is a tough call as to which is more annoying, Alfalfa's voicing Buckwheat's part or his singing at the end. An egg drops into Alfalfa's mouth, and instead of spitting it out like a normal person, we are supposed to believe he swallows it, and then a chicken hatches from it and escapes his mouth.
The highlight of the movie may be when Cinderella announces her hero is coming, and Violet the Goat enters the scene. During the show, Buckwheat falls asleep, and teeters at impossible angles, until Violet wakes him up. When Violet charges, Buckwheat finds the strength to break out of the cement-filled box, and runs away with his feet encased in cement blocks. The moive has the usual mishaps with the film getting tilted or upside-down, and the films runs out before the end, prompting Alfalfa to sing his final number live.
Thankfully there is no moralizing in this MGM effort, which makes it better than many of the films surrounding it. I just feel that other films with shows, like The Big Show, were done better.
Circus Fever (1924) - The circus is town for just one day, a school day at that, and next-door neighborts Joe, and brothers Mickey and Jackie, desperately want to go, but their mothers won't allow it. On their way to school, they pass Farina and Gene's house. This shares a feature with Spanky's house in "Bedtime Worries" in that the children's ground-floor bedroom faces the street. Gene informs the trio that he and Farina have speckled fever, as their faces and arms are covered wituh unrealistic white dots, and that they can't go to school for six weeks. Their house has a quarantine sign. This gives Mickey an idea, so he, Jackie, and Joe paint their faces with red dots (guessing at the color from a black and white film) and return home, feigning illness. A highlight of this film is the communication devices between their two houses, with strings attached to alarms to get attention and a tube for talking. In addition, a board can be lowered so they can cross directly from one window to the other. The mothers are fooled by this, which seems to stretch credibility, but the doctor they call isn't. To teach the "little rascals" a lesson they are forced to drink castor oil and remain in bed. Then Mary and Johnny pass by, and Mary informs them that the teacher gave them a half holiday and free circus tickets. A bit predictable if one has seen other hookey attempts by the gang.
Gene and Farina are treated by a different doctor, played by Joseph Morrison. He arrives in an amazing car that backfires frequetnly, and opens with a house door and house key, the latter of which he places under a welcome mat on the short running board. While Farina is being examined, he (well, "she" in this) pulls out lots of medical equipment form the doctor's coat and ends up shooting dice with Gene on their bed.
As for attending school, Farina is still just four years old in this and would have been too young for any Our Gang film to this date. It is conceivable Ernie atteneded a different school in Lodge Night, but is disappointing that he's present at Commencement Day but not in class. There is a chance Ernie and perhaps Farins were attending the same school as the rest of the gang in Stage Fright because the alternate Mischief Maker's title is "The School Play." Not terribly convincing I know.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 16, 2013 2:13:15 GMT -5
CIRCUS FEVER (1925)
Things I like: The Doctor's Car. It's a bit strange seeing such a rickety vehicle driven by an adult, but it's nevertheless one of the funniest things about this short. I'm particularly amused by the doctor hiding his key under the welcome mat on the running board. Joe. To throw a slight variation on the "Joe" theme, the filmmakers make him virtually incapable of waking up. The highlight of this sequence is when he begins to put his pants on over his head and falls asleep in the process. Bathing The Baby. There's something about the opening sequences of these silent shorts that I always find enjoyable, and the scene with Mickey bathing his younger sibling while Jackie plays on the bed with another sibling is no exception. The Telephones. They might not have the car, but the kids DO have a nifty telephone setup.
Things I don't like: The Racial Stuff. Or at least some of it. The boys' mother is obviously a white man in blackface, and looks entirely unconvincing. There's also something about the 'speckled fever' that seems too exaggerated in this film. The fact that the white kids have dark spots while the black kids have white spots is repeated in similar episodes (including "Three Smart Boys"), and is obviously very un-PC for modern audiences. Nevertheless, this is one racial gag that I've always found amusing. However, in "Circus Fever," the spots on the black kids are so numerous and large that they just look freakish and distracting.
Grade: B+
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 17, 2013 1:52:42 GMT -5
BIRTHDAY BLUES (1932)
Things I like: The Cake. Was there ever a better sound effect in series history? Bwa? Bwaaaaaaaaa. The bouncing stove makes it even more comical. Dickie. This is arguably the highlight of his short tenure in the Gang. Sentiment was a recurring theme in these early talkies, and they found a kid that was empathetic without being too weepy. Spanky. I can think of other shorts in which he's funnier, but none of those have the "shoot papa" line, so I've gotta mention him here. The Kid With The Hairbrush. No acting required. Just pull out the hairbrush and be yourself. And don't mind the bits of cake in your hair. They're always in fashion at your age. The Bubbles. In an era when special effects were firmly on the crude side of technology, they were still able to make soap bubbles look relatively realistic. I always find these moments amusing.
Things I don't like: The Parents. I do find it touching when Dickie visits his mother as she cries on her bed, but otherwise she's a little too Helen Jerome Eddyish for my tastes. The father's level of contempt for his wife's feelings seems rather over-the-top, and is rendered less plausible by his sudden shift of attitude near the end of the film. However, if we think of this film as being made primarily for kids, then I suppose rendering everything in stark emotional extremes (a la "Fly My Kite") makes sense. Stymie's Sweat. One of the handiest things to edit out of the TV print, since it lasts mere seconds. But it's also one of the crudest racial gags they ever came up with.
Grade: A-
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Post by RJH on Nov 17, 2013 23:04:49 GMT -5
Very true. But we can't forget four year old Buckwheat attending the Gang's class in "Teacher's Beau". Not to mention three year old Porky in the 1936-37 school-related shorts. Though considering Porky's height, I suppose he could pass for about Buckwheat's age. Evidently Buckwheat and Porky were prodigies. It was a shock to see Porky's last short was at aget 5; I'd have guess a couple years older. It's a shame he didn't make it near the advanced age of 10 like many of the other main stars. I know I'm behind, but I'm not skipping any films.
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Post by RJH on Nov 17, 2013 23:40:24 GMT -5
Birthday Blues (1932) - Dickie and Spanky's father is a real jerk who forgets his wife's birthday for the second year in a row and refuses to buy her a present. Dickie takes it upon himself to earn the money to buy his mother a dress. Going into town, he meets Stymie, who keeps track of Cotton by having a rope tied around his waist. When Dickie and Stymie stop to talk, Stymie reels in Cotton like a fish. Stymie tells Dickie that Stymie's church sometimes raises money by baking prizes in a cake. The highlight is the kids trying to bake the cake. They assiduously follow the directions, but misinterpret many of them, with Dorothy beating eggs lightly with a whisk and Spanky sitting in the icebox. Cotton and Pete are also given incorrect tasks involving powder and rolling in flour. Dorothy and Spanky add all sorts of junk to the cake batter, and when Dickie and Stymie put it in the oven, there is a series of amazing sound effects, sort of like a broken foghorn.
Some of the neighborhood kids don't like the prizes, and a food fight ensues. Dickie and Spanky's father comes home to a big mess, chases the kids out, and spanks Dickie for inviting them and making a mess. When the mother comes, she asks for the explanation, and upon hearing that Dickie was trying to raise money for a dress, the father finally realizes what a jerk he has been. Mother then wears the dress, albeit several years out of fashion, to church the next day.
The kids are terrific in this, and the melodrama involving Dickie is handled much so better than the later MGM efforts. He doesn't cry or whine, and one can readily sympathize with him. As in a few other films, the father goes from one extreme to the other very abruptly and not terribly believably, but this is minor compared to the cake and party scenes.
The Cobbler (1923) - First, thanks are due to antifrodis for assembling an essentially complete print out of many sources to produce a coherent film from what had been disjointed and quite incomplete previously. I think the film shown on the TCM marathon a couple years ago was based on this.
Richard Daniels plays Mr. Tuttle, the cobbler, whose work day does not run smoothly. The gang comes in to have him stitch up a baseball, and Ernie needs to pick up Farina. Ernie thanks Tuttle for taking good care of Farina despite Farina making a mess and getting covered in flour. Mickey, Jack, and Ernie make fun of a pretentious customer who is getting her "boudoir slippers" repaired, while Mickey's dog loses a fight to a cat in a closet. Farina enjoys munching on tacks, which Ernie removes with a magnet. Then rich Mary arrives to have her shoe repaired, and Mickey and Jack get into a fight over her, only to see her appear more concerned with little Jackie. After Mary and her mother leave, Tuttle claims that some day he'll be rich, buy a car, and take the boys (and Farina, who is a girl here) riding. Coincidentally enough, the postman arrives with Tuttle's back pension.
In the next scene, Tuttle has a car; one of those charming vehicles that starts with a crank. He has difficulty in starting it, and then keeping it started when he runs from the front of the car to the driver's seat. Jackie hitches the car to a truck, when results in first Tuttle's car, and then the truck, getting pulled backwards. Eventually they make it out to the countryside where the car overheats. Tuttle goes to get water, so the boys offer their opinions on how to fix the car before he gets back. Jackie pops a tire with a magnifying glass that Ernie is trying to inflate, and Jack spills oil on Mickey, so they get into another fight. Running around, they come across a tramp who has made a home among a large pile of hay bales. There is an extended chase, with the tramp going after the kids with a pitchfork, until Jackie unleashes the dog, who chases the tramp away.
Farina has gone off by herself into a watermelon patch, and returns with an apparently swollen belly, which turns out to be an extra melon under her outfit. Upon discovering the watermelon, the rest of the gang promptly devours it, so they get a picnic after all. When Tuttle finally returns with some water, he finds that the gang has fashioned a sail to the car and he is left chasing it as it rolls along due to wind power.
In this very early short one sees several themes, many for the first time, that would reoccur many times in the future. There's the Mickey-Jack rivalry over Mary, Jackie pulling pranks, and Farina getting solo comedic scenes. And Richard Daniels would play seveal more harried characters, and always doing a great job with them.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 18, 2013 1:24:59 GMT -5
THE COBBLER (1923)
Things I like: The Boys. I'm not sure if the kids of the Gang have ever looked more like a filthy band of ragamuffins than they do in this film. As soon as the cobbler breaks up a fight between two of them, another dilemma pops up. I particular love the way Mickey and Jack compete with each other in their efforts to impress rich girl Mary. I also get a kick out of the way Jackie Condon succeeds at this while the other two can only stand and glare at him. Also of note is the brief encounter with the 'flapper' and the way the boys tease her behind her back. All of this adds up to one of my favorite sequences of the early silent era. Richard Daniels. This is probably my favorite appearance by Mickey's real-life dad. He's virtually as comical as the kids are in this. Babysitting. The film opens with a very funny bit in which the cobbler babysits Farina and fails to keep the toddler from winding up covered in flour. Ernie arrives to collect his younger sibling and politely smiles and thanks the cobbler, blithely unconcerned about the mess his mother will soon have to clean up. The Car Gag. Actually, I like the entire sequence that bridges the two main halves of the film, but the gag with the bright, shiny car pulling away to reveal the cobbler's hunk o' junk is very clever.
Things I don't like: The Lack Of A Plot. Or nearly so. The cobbler receives his back pension, which is merely an excuse to shift the action to a rural setting. The latter part of the film, in which the boys try to fix the car and then get tangled up with a not-so-friendly tramp (played by Dick Gilbert), is reasonably entertaining, but a noticeable letdown after the extended scene in the cobbler's shop.
Grade: B+
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Post by ymymeatemup on Nov 19, 2013 0:25:59 GMT -5
BORED OF EDUCATION (1936)
Things I like: Rosina Lawrence. I can't think of a more appealing schoolteacher the Gang ever had, Crabtree not withstanding. She just seems so genuinely kind that I can't imagine any kid not liking her. The Opening Gag. I'm speaking of the opening title and the subsequent shot of the glum children on the steps of the schoolhouse. It's a variation on gags used in at least a couple of silent episodes, but it's most effective in this short. The Apple. The bit with the apple is played beautifully by Porky and Darla, who were both at their cutest during this era. The General Atmophere. There is a certain innocence that these earliest one-reelers have that the series was unable to recapture in subsequent years. While it's ironic that one of the weakest Our Gang shorts of the year was given an Academy Award, it is nevertheless pleasant and enjoyable to watch.
Things I don't like: Alfalfa's Big Number. Okay, so the hillbilly numbers are firmly in the past at this point, and Alf had already had a couple of crooning episodes, but even with those, the novelty was wearing off. So we now enter the era when little gimmicks were added to foul up his performance. What's amazing is that the least imaginative gimmick came from the Roach studio and not from MGM. The squeak heard when Alf takes a breath is a pretty one-dimensional gag, and is already getting old the second time it happens.
Grade: B-
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Post by RJH on Nov 27, 2013 23:13:23 GMT -5
Bored of Education (1936) - It's the first day of school, and unwilling to give their new teacher a chance, Spanky and Alfalfa concoct a plan to get out of school. Spanky blows up a balloon in Alfalfa's mouth to fake a toothache. Buckwheat asks to be made sick, too, but Spanky declares him to be too young. Interestingly, Buckwheat at age 6 has already caught up in height to Spanky, who is two and a half years older. In school, Alfalfa refuses to sing "Good Morning to You," explaining his toothache makes him unable to sing. The teacher, Rosina Lawrence, suggests he might go home, and Spanky will help Alfalfa make the trip. Once outside, they discove that the teacher has ordered ice cream for the class, and the duo decides they have to get back in. Spanky pops the balloon by slapping Alfalf'a's cheeks, and Alfalfa swallows part of the balloon. They will be allowed ice cream after Alfalfa sings, and his attempt is painful to listen to. The last two ice cream bars melt during the performance, but Miss Lawrence had saved two that they got to enjoy at the end.
This short is distinguished by being the one that won the Academy Award for best short subject in 1936, but I'd pick several others from just that year. This is pretty average, using the well-worn idea of playing hooky causing the truants to miss out on something good. Highlights are the opening scene of all the dejected children sitting on the school steps, Porky eating the appla Darla brought without her noticing, and Buckwheat and Porky taunting Spanky and Alfalfa through the window while the former were eating their ice cream.
Commencement Day (1924) - I appear to have the common print, which is of low quality and missing the intertitles and one-third of the footage. Based on what I can view, this doesn't stand out much. There are several fights, mainly between Mickey and Gabe Saienz, who apparently is named Snoozer here. Mickey eventually wins, so Snoozer seeks revenge by getting a beehive. Jackie gets to play a couple practical jokes, like putting pepper on Joe's lollipop. The school bell rings, and parents are invited to see the kids perform, but all of the performances go awry. Mickey, playing the violin left-handed, extracts a frog from the back of his shirt with the vilion bow, and after causing some mayhem, jumps outside, where Farina ridiculously walks backward from it and falls into a hole left uncovered by a board that had previously been broken by some other kid who had to be pulled up from it, next to a pump. The hole is only six or seven feet deep, and after he's rescued, the school ceremonies continue, but soon after Snoozer releases the beehive, and everyone runs out of the building. Except Farina, who is shown hiding in the stove at the end.
I don't like the way Ernie doesn't attend the school, and then does a lousy job of watching Farina. The lack of title cards makes it hard to understand some of what is going on, and there isn't a whole lot of plot. Maybe this would be better if the missing parts were included.
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