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Post by RJH on Jan 26, 2015 23:33:32 GMT -5
Lazy Days (1929) - Farina is too tired to do anything and just sits in a chair outside while his girlfriend Trellis attends to all his wishes. Many of the animals in the barnyard appear tired too, but a strong-smelling goat named Samson causes some trouble and winds up waking Farina's baby brother. The baby is rocked to sleep by a contraption where Pete runs from end to end of a wooden tunnel charging cats at either end at the direction of Trellis. The device rocks Farina's chair at the same time. Then she has to leave. The rest of the gang decides to enter a baby contest described in a flyer Joe finds. Harry and Jean go get their baby siblings, Mary Ann decides to dress up Wheezer as a baby, and likewise Joe does with Chubby. Joe passes Farina's yard and convinces him to enter. Farina gives his baby brother a bath and puts him in a carraige, but the carriage breaks down on the way and gives Farina a hard time when he tries to fix it. Then Farina decides to rest under a shade tree. Joe comes by to tell him that no one won anything in the baby contest because it happened a month ago. Pete kindly rolls a watermelon to Farina, and Trellis shows up in time to open it, and then swat an annoying bee on Farina's nose. She does hit his nose, swelling it grotesquely.
This is among the worst of the Roach era, because of its depiction of Farina and the lack of humor. The whole film moves slowly. It is nice to see Jannie Hoskins back in a significant role; it's a shame there couldn't have been a better plot. She has more energy than everyone else combined. The rocking device is kind of clever, and maybe using the duck pond water for the baby's bath is funny. I don't like seeing and hearing the baby cry, which is definitely real. One does wonder why Trellis dotes on Farina so much. Farina is too lazy to raise his arm to accept a rose he told Trellis to get to overcome the goat's odor, so she has to lay it on his chest with the bloom near his nose. Chubby keeps repeating the line that he's afriad the gang will get pinched. Farina's baby carriage has a mind of its own, but is very unrealistic. The closing shot of the swelled nose is supposed to be funny, and Farina deserved it, but I just don't care for this short at all.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Jan 29, 2015 0:49:53 GMT -5
LAZY DAYS (1929)
Things I like: A Few Odds & Ends. Every once in a while, something clever happens in this short. The contraption used to rock the baby's cradle (and Farina's rocking chair); Mary Ann's vision of Wheezer in baby clothes; Chubby in baby clothes; the baby carriage with a mind of its own. Aside from a couple of funny lines of dialogue from Farina, that's about it.
Things I don't like: Zzzzzzzzzzzz. The opening segment of this short is possibly the most boring thing that ever happened in this series. Since this was one of the earliest talkies, everything moves at a snail's pace, while the soundtrack roars with static in place of the customary peppy instrumentals. I might be willing to entertain the notion that it's all part of the theme of the short - after all, it's about Farina being unbelievably lazy - but "Small Talk" has virtually the same level of excitement to it, and no thematic excuse could be made for that one. Perhaps what's worse is that much of this section could have been trimmed in favor of actually fleshing out the 'baby contest' idea, which winds up going nowhere. Bathing Thermos. Not only does this poor kid cry incessantly, but it's entirely understandable once that cold water gets poured over him. Obviously, no acting was required. His crying is loud and long, and almost unbearable to sit through. The Final Gag. One of the most sickening sight gags ever conceived.
Grade: D-
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Post by RJH on Jan 31, 2015 1:14:13 GMT -5
Little Daddy (1931) - Farina has been taking care of Stymie for a long time, but their church pastor informs them someone will come the next day to take Stymie to an orphanage. The boys seem to be doing quite well in their house with many gadgets making everyday tasks a breeze. Stymie takes the news much better than Farina does. Farina decides to throw a farewell party, but Stymie wants to eat all the cake and ice cream himself and neglects to inform the rest of the gang about it. When then gang, who has set up a gadget-filled miniature golf course, does arrive at Farina's invitation, they find Stymie finishing all the food. The gang is upset, but when the orphanage official comes to take Stymie away, Farina and Stymie put up a fight, and the gang decides to help. The official's clothes get torn badly in the long scuffle which ends after many tires get rolled at him, with Stymie hiding in some them getting rolled as well. The official grabs when Miss Crabtree arrives, and her offer to find Stymie is enough to get the official to relent. However, Stymie is last seen riding away on the back of his car.
This film is unique, and is touching at times. The first half of is all Stymie and Farina. At the beginning they're church ushers who get mostly buttons in the collection plates. At bedtime, Stymie wants to hear the story about Noah's Ark, and there is a lot of confusion between his name and the dialect "No" or "No-uh." Then there are a lot of wonderful contraptions seen in the morning, including Farina's getting a hen to rise off her egg, which rolls down some chutes and is cracked by a hammer automtically to facilitate making breakfast. Stymie foils some of the automation by taking a shower wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella. He has most of the best lines, like "What do you want me to do, bust out crying?"
The rest of the gang has small parts, though there is an unnecessarily long scene of Chubby lip-syncing some old song. The part about the black churchgoers being so cheap as to offer buttons apparently got this filmed kicked off the television package, but that is rather innocuous compared to what really is the offensive part: that the white schoolteacher's offer to help find Stymie a home is enough to get the orphanage official off Stymie's case wihle the black church's and pastor's repeated protestations were not. Then Stymie riding away on the spare tire in back of the car doesn't make sense, or he's become really clueless. This could have been a lot better with a more thought-out ending. And then this would have made a better farewell than "Fly My Kite" for Farina since he has such a large role in this; his last three films could have been reordered.
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Post by buckwheatisawesome on Feb 3, 2015 6:51:23 GMT -5
Official Officers (1925) - The kids become junior police officers. Pretty average silent entry. The kids are their usual selves, running around the streets, playing baseball, taking pretend time a bit too seriously, etc. I enjoyed seeing the kids blocking traffic just so that they have a place to play. Other highlights for me were Joe's many attempts at grabbing bananas from the fruit stand, and Farina's unsuccesful attempts at locking up Mango. It was nice to see Mary being treated as one of the Gang in this one. She gladly plays baseball with them, and is an equal member of the junior police squad. Jack Gavin is a perfect villain, and Charley Young seems to be enjoying himself as the fruit vendor. I could have done without the scene in which Farina visits 'Powder-Puff District,' an obvious exaggeration of black ghetto neighborhoods. It's interesting that most of the film was shot on Hal Roach's backlot. Definitely a fitting setting for this premise. It's also that this film features a handful of supporting players we haven't identified. There's the Our Gang kid that drives the wagon (I'm guessing he's a fill-in for Eugene Jackson), "Officer Mac," and "Inspector Malone," among others.Wait, hold on!! You left out other L's, such as the classic Little Sinner or many other titles. Are we not doing those ones?
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Post by buckwheatisawesome on Feb 3, 2015 6:52:24 GMT -5
Ugh.. Sorry for double-posting, but my message is inside mtw12055's message, and it says, " Wait, hold on!! You left out other L's, such as the classic Little Sinner or many other titles. Are we not doing those ones?"
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Post by mtw12055 on Feb 3, 2015 8:32:08 GMT -5
Ugh.. Sorry for double-posting, but my message is inside mtw12055's message, and it says, " Wait, hold on!! You left out other L's, such as the classic Little Sinner or many other titles. Are we not doing those ones?" Check out page one of the thread again. There are two lists, one covering the talkies, one covering the silents. Both lists are numbered so reviewers can easily match up which two films to review each week. Last week was 71., LITTLE DADDY and OFFICIAL OFFICERS. This week is 72., LITTLE MISS PINKERTON. We're only doing silents every other week to even the lists out. Sorry for the confusion.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Feb 5, 2015 1:41:28 GMT -5
LITTLE DADDY (1931)
Things I like: Stymie. "Well....(ptoooey!)....whataya want me to do, bust out cryin'?" If this isn't the funniest line in series history, then it's virtually the best delivered line. And since this short focuses so much on Stymie, and since Stymie was still in his early years, it's far from being the only funny moment. I'll give honorable mention to Stymie pointing out to the preacher where he got his blister. Farina. It may be largely repeated from Mary Ann's version in "Small Talk," but Farina's prayer is a lot funnier. Otherwise, Farina is mainly a straight man to Stymie. But he's a thoroughly sympathetic character: Stymie might not care if they're separated, but as long as it upsets Farina, then we care. Chubby's Big Number. A bizarre and completely unrelated gag, but pleasingly offbeat. The only thing it needs is a bit tighter lip-synching from Chubby. The Opening. The churchgoers provide some very stirring music to open this short, which is unique for this series. And even after the dialogue starts up, the organ continues to keep the mood solemn.
Things I don't like: Noah & Yeah. This is a bit like the whole Watt Street routine in "Bargain Day." It's mildly amusing for the first ten seconds, and then continues for what seems like five minutes, finding a hundred ways to make the same joke. The Ending. This looks like the kind of ending they would have come up with if it was the last day of shooting and they suddenly realized that they had forgotten to write the last page of the script. Miss Crabtree conveniently walks into the film and the prospect of Stymie finding a new home and avoiding the orphanage is suddenly feasible. Of course, it's possible that the point being made is that the pretty young schoolteacher can hold sway with the county sheriff while the minister at the local black church couldn't - but I'm guessing it's more a case of a tacked-on ending that the filmmakers didn't bother to think through that much.
Grade: B+
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Post by buckwheatisawesome on Feb 5, 2015 20:45:49 GMT -5
Lazy Days (1929) - Confession: I intentionally watched this one with an added background score. Can you blame me? It's a snooze-fest without one (though admittedly only slightly more watchable with one). To be fair, LAZY DAYS was made at a time when 'talkies' were still a novelty. Practially everyone in Hollywood was making films merely to show off/play with sounds. This film is no exception. Much like NOISY NOISES, practically every gag is built around noise. And it wouldn't surprise me if 1929 audiences went nuts over it. That being said, I'm not sure if I can really call it a 'bad' film. It just hasn't aged very well. But why does NOISY NOISES come off as a better film than LAZY DAYS? Admittedly, the gags in the former film are a lot stronger, not to mention timed well. The fact that LAZY DAYS relies so heavily on dialogue could also be a reason. Of course, filmmakers were still adjusting to the big change, and learning how to get their movies 'just right.' In short, those interested in film history (particularly early talkies) may enjoy LAZY DAYS. Those wanting to be entertained probably won't. Highlights: - The return of Jannie Hoskins. - Farina. He's so lazy that he has to have somebody else put a straw in his mouth for him when he wants a drink of milk. - "Fifty bucks? Oh, I thought you said fifteen!" - Dressing up Wheezer and Chubby as babies ("Aw, don't be a baby!"). Yes, I'm sure anyone would think that the obviously adolescent Chubby is an infant. - The prize categories ("HOMLIEST BABY"? Really? I'm almost surpirsed there wasn't a "Darkest Baby" category). - The random woman in the background towards the end of the film. She nearly ruins the shot! Lowlights: - The pacing (mentioned above). The opening sequence is especially lengthy. - The bathing sequence. Not only is it unfunny, but we have to listen to a baby wailing, Farina yelling, a buzzing bee, and a monkey. - Little Thermos crying his eyes out (mentioned above). - Farina's bee-stung nose! Ugh.. the crying scene is honestly a horror to watch. I didn't think he was actually crying, except my friend did. Well, my friend was right. Speaking of the crying scene, who is the baby played by? Is the person playing the baby still living? Don't tell me he was in a tragic accident.. Then, I'll be crying like he was in the movie!
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Post by RJH on Feb 6, 2015 21:48:37 GMT -5
A great source for questions like is theluckycorner.com , created by ymymeatemup. There one finds Junior Allen listed as playing the baby. At first the name "Allen" made me think it was Farina's real baby brother, but "Allen" was Farina's actor's first name, not his last, so we can't much information from that. IMDb doesn't have any information on him.
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Post by RJH on Feb 6, 2015 22:46:41 GMT -5
Official Officers (1925) - The gang needs a place to play baseball, so after their game in the streets is constantly interrupted by traffic, Mickey gets the idea to make up signs saying the street is closed. Soon Officer "Hard Broiled" McManus and chases them away. The gang gets into a fight with the Man-Eating Tiger Cubs of Wildcat Alley and hit McManus with a tomato, and he wants to arrest him, but another cop, Inspector Malone, tells him to report to the captain, who is about to fire him. McManus's replacement, Officer Mac, entertains a baby and gets the idea to make the gang junior police officers. They get uniforms and attempt to impose the law, arresting some other kids and bringing them to a jail. Joe, however, is seeking to steal as many bananas as he can from a grocer who complained when McManus took a few. The gang them comes upon McManus after he's been fired, and tease and attack him. When Mac comes to break it up, McManus grabs a fallen billy club and hits Mac with it. The gang, aided by two dogs, then chase McManus through town and he gets beat up badly, clothes all torn, in a sawmill.
My print is of low quality and I'm sure it's incomplete, but this film doesn't sit very well with me. It made me feel sorry for the bad guy until near the end where he loses it and strikes Officer Mac. The film gets off to a good start with the gang's attempt to play baseball in the streets. Farina takes getting run over by a car with high clearance very well, and his watch is still clucking. Regardless, McManus is only trying to do his job and the gang makes it very difficult. The gang is in fact creating traffic hazards, and breaks a store window, and hits him with a tomato, and there is no justification for his firing. If it's because he took some bananas from the grocer, he should have gotten a reprimand and told not to do it again, and anyway Joe's taking so many more bananas pretty much negates McManus's earlier actions. It isn't clear why Mango is arrested, but it is nice to see her with a brain, escaping repeatedly from the jail cell. On the other hand, Farina loses his, somehow losing the key with which he locks and unlocks the padlock getting Mango into the cell when he locks them both in. And then Farina could easily slide through the bars like Mango. The film would be better if Farina's other scene in the Powder-Puff district never happened; that was just plain bad with the exaggerated stereotypes. Then when the gang encounters McManus after he's been fired, they tease and then assault him for no good reason. I find that this makes the gang come across as unlikeable jerks. The only other occasions the gang was this bad were the few times the others treated Farina badly in the beginning of a film, but that is not the case here. And then McManus snaps, hits Mac, and okay, McManus really is a bad guy who deserved to be assaulted before he committed the crime. It just doesn't strike me as very satisfying.
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Post by RJH on Feb 8, 2015 21:53:49 GMT -5
Little Miss Pinkerton (1943) - A Greenpoint store is holding a murder mystery contest with clues in the display window. The gang get can't close enough to see, so the janitor offers to let them in the back entrance the next morning for a close-up look. Unfortunately, two crooks are blowing up the safe then, and the janitor investigates, he is shot dead. The kids don't realize at first, but a minute later they hide when the crooks come to the window to exchange the body with the mannequin. Mickey sneezes, so the boys hiding under the bed are captured, but Janet remains hidden in a trunk and hears where the crooks are taking the boys. She tells a policeman who doesn't believe her, so she enlists the help of other neighborhood kids to ride bikes to the crooks' hideout. The policeman finally understands the truth when another officer tells hiim, and they catch up with the bicyclists. They take Janet with them, and a shootout breaks out. The shooting stops when one of the crooks holds up Froggy as a hostage, but then Froggy manages to turn the car key with his mouth and swallow it. The car stops, and the crooks surrender. In the hospital, Froggy has his stomach pumped and then demonstrates to the press how he stopped the crooks, and he ends up swallowing the key again.
I haven't been giving these films letter grades but here I'll declare this deserves a big fat F for the murder of the nice old man who befriended the gang. Nothing could make up for that. Other morality and plotless support-the-troops films have no entertainment values, but this is a huge negative, and that makes this my choice when asked what was the worst film of the entire series. Stupidity abounds, with one crook supposed to be comically stupid, and then the idiotic police officer who pooh-poohs Janet's story. Then bringing Janet along for the ride is ridiculous, putting her in obvious danger. The car key is not attached to a key chain, but maybe that was common in 1943. Anyway, the crooks immediately surrendering when their car rolls to a stop is preposterous, any murderer in their situation would point a gun at one or two of the boys and continue holding them hostage. Also, it looks like Buckwheat, Froggy, and Mickey are holding their hands behind their backs pretending that their hands are tied. Then there's the final act of stupidity with Froggy swallowing the key a second time, a scene with so little imagination that it was obvious that was going to happen. Apparently that was supposed to be funny, but that was a failure like the rest of the film.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Feb 11, 2015 1:54:44 GMT -5
OFFICIAL OFFICERS (1925)
Things I like: Officer Mac. It's both amusing and heart-warming to see what this guy goes through to get Husky Hanes to stop crying. Edgar Kennedy's variation in "Moan & Groan, Inc." was a pale imitation of this scene. And judging by the affection heaped upon him by Mary Kornman, I imagine the kids must have liked him quite a lot off the set as well. The Gang As Cops. Pretty much the entire sequence in which the kids are patrolling the streets and making arrests is comical. Jackie's little 'motorcycle' to catch speeders, Joe's appropriation of the baby carriage to steal bananas, Peggy flirting with Johnny, the neighborhood kids being taken off in the paddy wagon, Jannie slipping through the jailhouse bars - the gags here are numerous and inventive. Even the 'powder puff' segment, as stereotypical as it is, manages to be absurdly comical, and it's easy to see why Farina opted to arrest a toddler in favor of the rough characters he sees in that neighborhood. The Opening Sequence. It's unique to see the kids living in such an urban setting, especially when it's as debris-strewn as this one. Having them barricade their ball game within a busy intersection was an inspired choice. The Dogs. Surely one of the more impressive dog tricks seen in this series is the one where the German shepherd pulls on the rope to lift Pal up to the loft of the barn.
Things I don't like: Soft-Broiled McManus. The film's biggest problem is its failure to establish McManus as that much of a bad guy early in the film. Surely, his style of law enforcement leaves something to be desired, but considering how unruly the kids are being, it's difficult to think of his actions as being worthy of dismissal. Even after he's back to civilian life, he's basically minding his own business when the kids start harrassing him. It's only when he knocks out Mac that we finally see him doing the kind of thing that warrants his punishment, and by that time the film's almost over.
Grade: B+
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Post by RJH on Feb 16, 2015 23:34:51 GMT -5
Little Papa (1935) - The gang wants to play football but they need Captain Spanky who has the ball, and he can't play becasue he has to mind the baby. His mother says if the baby falls asleep to put her to bed, and Spanky interprets that as it's all right to leave her alone in the house if she falls asleep. The baby isn't tired, and wears down Spanky trying to walk her into exhaustion. She gets into a small duck pond, and then Spanky and Alfalfa take her inside and lay her down on a bed to coax her to sleep. After Spanky has a battle with a windowshade, she does falls asleep, but wakes when the shade rolls up later. Alfalfa then manages to sing her asleep. There are a few more problems like Alfalfa locking himself in a closet and then leaving the football behind. When he and Spanky go to retrieve it, the baby is sucking on its nozzle, which is cut off. The football needs to be reinflated, and when they try to do that outside, they overinflate it, it bursts, the baby wakes up again, and the gang isn't going to play football that day.
This is one where I like the performances a lot better than the story. It's clear early on that they're never going to get to play football. One thing that is strange is that the baby is never referred to by name, even by the mother. The scene with Spanky and Baby Patsy walking back and forth goes on for a very long time. The pace picks up some once they're in the house, and Spanky has some nice reactions to the windowshade that rolls up and down on its own. The bit where Alfalfa gets locked in the closet after he and Spanky pull on the door knob is done well. There is a lot of shoe-tying which gets boring after the leads tie their shoes together and trip. Then at the end everyone suddenly gets stupid; there is no way the entire gang wouldn't notice the football is about to burst. The story is just too predictable for me; the kids' talents were put to better use in the surrounding films.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Feb 17, 2015 1:23:18 GMT -5
LITTLE MISS PINKERTON (1943)
Things I like: Most Of The Plot Points. Of course, this film doesn't resemble an actual Our Gang comedy, but if I'm willing to imagine that this was the ONLY Our Gang I've ever seen, then I'd probably think it was a reasonably entertaining early '40s comedy influenced by the popular crime dramas of the day. The idea of a murder mystery in a window display is novel, and there's something inspiring about a bunch of bike-riding preteens pursuing the crooks when the cops are unwilling to do anything. But, of course, one of the plot points is the actual murder of a character in an Our Gang comedy - the only time this ever happened. But again, this is only a problem in light of the history of the series, and wouldn't be a big deal if it was just an isolated film. The Crooks. The adults in this short are a mixed bag, but I find the two crooks to be the most amusing characters in the whole film. Neither of them would be believable in the average Bogie feature of the period, but for a one-reel comedy, their cartoonish personalities are right at home. The smart guy is a genuine threat to the well-being of our not-so-favorite kids of '43, and the dumb guy seems like he's only living a life of crime because the smart guy told him it was the thing to do. Honorable mention goes to Mr. Jenkins, who seems like a really nice guy. Not too bright, though, confronting those crooks the way he did.
Things I don't like: The Kids. Not surprisingly, the acting on the part of the four Gang members is anything but subtle. When Buckwheat shakily addresses the crooks as 'f-f-fellas' and it comes out 'fu-fu-fellas,' it illustrates perfectly just how much the rot had set in with this series. The Police Chief. "Why didn't you tell me what happened at the Greenpoint Department Store?" "I tried to, but..." "Never mind!" I understand that the filmmakers needed to show the chief as being remiss in his duties in order for the story to play out the way it was supposed to, but did they have to make him such a thorough jerk about it? He's still supposed to be one of the good guys, and yet he's willing to blame his own incompetency on a preadolescent girl who tried her best to warn him. The Final Gag. That was clever of Froggy to swallow the key and cause the car to stop. But what was he doing in the hospital after that? Surely, they don't need to do surgery to remove a little key. If the average cocker spaniel can poop it out a couple of days later, why can't Froggy? No, I think it's clear that some sort of lobotomy was performed on him, which is the only thing that could explain a clever boy like him doing something so dumb.
Grade: C
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Post by ymymeatemup on Feb 18, 2015 23:28:26 GMT -5
LITTLE PAPA (1935)
Things I like: Various Backyard Details. As far as I'm concerned, the material involving the larger group of boys is more enjoyable than the Spanky/Alfalfa stuff that dominates the second half of this short. Dickie De Nuet's attempts to make conversation in the face of the wearied reactions of Sid Kibrick and Alvin Buckelew is possibly the single best thing about this episode, but it has close competition from the confused reactions to the hole Spanky has sawed into the seat of the chair. Also of note is the three boys trying to scowl at Baby Patsy, only to find it impossible not to smile. Alfalfa As Yodeler. He was still in the early innocent phase of his singing career, so his number is performed in all seriousness. The addition of yodeling is the icing on the cake.
Things I don't like: The Tedium. Spanky and Alfalfa were two of the most gifted child actors of the era, but that's not quite enough reason to expect them to essentially be Laurel & Hardy in this film. It was common for Stan & Ollie to work with a bare minimum of material and stretch it out to great comic effect, but they were two of the greatest movie comedians of all time. Few people could ever hope to approach their abilities in this area, so I suppose it's a minor miracle that Spanky and Alfalfa are actually not bad in this scene. But they're not good enough to compensate for the fact that nothing much happens in this short - certainly not the football game that we the viewers are anticipating almost as much as the players are (at least until the second viewing). Ultimately, I find this to be virtually the weakest of the Gus Meins episodes.
Grade: C
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