The Great Film Discussion

[ymymeatemup]

Apr 25, 2015 21:25:11 GMT -5 Mark said:

So the soundtrack on the German release is original? There have been discussions in the past where some people were skeptical.

I've got a list of song titles taken from the cue sheet for this film, and while I'm not familiar with most of the titles, the few that I DO recognize are actually on the soundtrack in the video. Perhaps there's more to this issue than I'm aware of, but at the very least, it sounds authentic.

[ymymeatemup]

ONE TERRIBLE DAY (1922)

Things I like:
Not Much Of Anything Specific. There are very few genuine highlights in this short, with Mickey's crack about being a Spaniard the only thing that really amuses me. That being said, virtually everything else that happens is fairly enjoyable - just not anything special. The theme of the poor Our Gang kids being set loose in a wealthy environment was introduced with this series entry, and they put the snobby adults through quite a lot of misery. It seems natural that this fourth production would be chosen to be the first release, if only because five of the seven kids associated with the early Our Gang comedies had joined the series by this time. Earlier episodes were too overloaded with forgettable child actors, while this one featured several of the standouts that would make this series such a big hit.

Things I don't like:
Not Much Of Anything Specific. There aren't any serious flaws here, though it's clear that the Roach studio figured out later on that these situations work best when the adults provoke the kids. With this short, it's too easy to sympathize with the snobs, since they haven't really done much of anything wrong, and yet they're really put through the ringer.

Grade: B

[RJH]

[[Note: the long layoff was due to my being crazy busy at work, and also hoping mtw12055 would catch up with "The Lucky Corner" and "One Terrible Day." Guess it's time to keep going now.]]


Mail and Female (1937) - When the boys aren't invited to a party thrown by some girls, Spanky forms the "He-Man Woman Haters' Club" and nominates Alfalfa for president. Meanwhile Alfalfa has just finished writing a love letter to Darla, and when Buckwheat and Porky inform him that he's wanted at the barn, he entrusts them to deliver the letter, but to "keep it under your hat." At the club, Alfalfa accepts the nomination, elects Spike Sergeant-at-arms to enforce the rules and give five swats with a paddle to any rulebreakers. Alfalfa then learns the name of the club, and runs to Darla's house to retrieve his letter. Spanky, Spike with paddle in hand, Buckwheat, and Porky arrive before Alfalfa can explain to Darla and leave. A quick search doesn't find Alfalfa, but noises in a closet arouse suspicion. Upon opening the closet door, Alfalfa appears as Darla's "Cousin Amelia." Amelia flirts wtih Spanky and Spike, and Darla plays along, offering the boys ice cream and cookies. Amelia goes into the kitchen to make lemonade, but reappears as Alfalfa, and declares that the other boys have broken the rules and must be paddled. Alfalfa picks up the paddle, and gives one swat each to Spike and Spanky. When Buckwheat bends over, his hat falls off, and Alfalfa's love letter falls out as well. Buckwheat and Porky took the instruction about keeping it under your hat literally. Spanky grabs the letter and Alfalfa realizes he's in trouble. He makes his escape through an open window but lands in an ornamental pond much to the amusement of everyone else.

This is one of the most-remembered films and features the gang's most famous club. Spanky's selection of Alfalfa as president indicates that the events of "Hearts are Thumps" can't be part of the same continuity, as Alfalfa quickly proved he was the worst possible choice for the club's president in that. Taking "Mail and Female" on it's own, it's an enjoyable, fast-moving short which concisely packs a lot into it's one reel. Alfalfa displays a wide range of emotions, including a smug look of triumph when he sheds the Amelia costume and catches the other boys in Darla's house. I'm glad that Buckwheat and Porky didn't get with the paddle, and they have good reactions, shaking their heads, while watching Amelia win over Spanky and Spike. Buckwheat remains truest to the club, refusing a cookie and convincing Porky to turn one down. Buckwheat would have been a much better choice for club president. There is a question as to why Alfalfa's letter didn't get delivered to Darla, since Buckwheat and Porky apparently went to her house at the beginning. Sure the letter was under Buckwheat's hat the whole time, but Alfalfa's first instructions were to give the note to Darla. On a different note, I had to laugh at the poor extras who were told by Spanky to stay in the barn until the important characters get back, which I knew wasn't going to happen during the time depicted in the film.

[RJH]

Mama'a Little Pirate (1934) - Spanky's father reads a story at breakfast about discovered treasure in a nearby cave, so Spanky gets the gang to go exploring. The cave they find is too dark after a few steps, so Spanky returns home to get a flashlight. When he has to explain why he needs it, his mother forbids him from going to the cave and sends him to his (enormous) room. There Spanky's conscious appears in a ghost-like form, and eventually convinces him not to be henpecked the rest of his life. Spanky takes two candles to the cave, and they throw an astonishing amount of light, though one ends up lit in Stymie's back pocket. Scotty is constantly worried that something bad will happen. Clever Spanky ties a string or yarn to Buckwheat and tells him (or her) to wait outside, and he unrolls the spool so they can find their way back. At the end of the string, they reach a giant treasure chest. Stymie manages to break the lot and tons of gold coins and jewels spill out, almost burying the rest of the gang. They load up what they can carry, but find that Buckwheat has been pulled along and followed the string, getting all tangled up in it but more importantly the gang now can't find their way out. They go through a large door into a room with a giant chair and footprint, and soon the giant returns. They hide successfully until Spanky's loot spills out of his pants. The giant captures the bigger gang members, hanging them on hooks, and is pulling a bedsheet that Spanky is trying to crawl away on when Spanky wakes up in his room. The gang has found other sources of light and are inviiting him to join them and go back to the cave. Spanky's conscious reappears and tells him to go, but Spanky kicks him and knocks him out.

This is a very enjoyable film with a strong story line and a great performance by Spanky. The overall spirit of adventure conflicting with the mother's voice of reason is a good setup, and the conversation between Spanky and his devil-like half is done well. One thing I would change is Spanky tying the string around Buckwheat's neck, tying one around his waist as in Divot Diggers was much better. Also it is obviously a dummy that gets pulled into the hole by the cave entrance. There are running gags like the baby's hiding places always getting revealed by the giant, and Buckwheat stumbling along and tangling himself in the string. It was a shock to see Stymie take off his hat to put treaseure in it and reveal some hair. A couple gang members, Marianne I guess and some small boy, don't really do anything; the dialogue always includes Spanky, and then Scotty, Stymie, and to a lesser extent Jerry. There is a wide range of emotions from the excitement of the discovery to the terror of getting caught. The segue between Spanky's dream and waking up to the gang's shouts is a nice touch. A question that remains is what did the gang do after Spanky declined their invitation to go to the cave at the end.

One Wild Ride (1925) - Johnnie and Jackie run a taxi service - with a car that has no engine or brakes, and is pushed by Johnnie's grandfather's horse. Mickey and Joe are stuck doing chores, but find ways to get out of them when encouraged to join the taxi crew. They give a ride to some unknown girl, and stop to fix a flat tire in front of rich girl Mary's house. Mary gets to ride after she trades dresses with the other girl so the fancy dress won't get ruined. Farina has been chasing the taxi for days but the gang won't let him ride, maybe because he doesn't have the one-cent fare. Eventually Johhnie's grandfather takes his horse away, but the gang gets a lift via a tow-rope up a hill by a friendly passing motorist. They coast back down, and try to get another lift, eventually using the tow rope to stop another car. Back down, they are disctracted by some dogs, and Farina seizes the opportunity by hooking the rope to a parked truck and climbing into the taxi's driver's seat. His plan works, and he gets a tow up the hill, but on the other side, the taxi breaks loose and he is in for the wild ride. Kneeling on the seat since he isn't tall enough to see over the dashboard otherwise, he works the steering wheel frantically as he encounters many obstacles, including a fishbowl, parrot, monkey, and flypaper. The long ride ends when he bumps a watermelon cart and then overturns at the bottom of a hill, with the melons rolling up against the inverted cab. Farina emerges, struggling through the pile with watermelons stuck on his feet and head. He is dazed, but recovers enough to munch the slice of watermelon around his neck after he knocks the rest of it off his head.

This has a lot of the features that made the series popular. There is the ingenuity of setting up the operating taxi service, and the etermal battle to get out of chorse. Mickey plants seeds without taking them out of the packet. Joe rigs up a device to take care of his little brother and churn butter. Mary is simlar to her role in "Mary, Queen of Tots." But the star is obviously Farina, who deserves a lot of screentime after the way the rest of the gang treats him. (It seemed out of character for Mary to be as dismissive of Farina as the other boys.) Here the filmmaketrs went all out to justify the title, and the effects are excellent. Much more effort was put into the back projection than in other films like "Free Wheeling." Here there is some correlation between the shots and Farina's handling of the steering wheel, and his reactions to the events around him ring true. He deals with a fish sliding down the back of his shirt and pants, and flypaper that lands on his face. There are several clever title cards depicting his conversations with the parrot and monkey. One thing that seems odd is how no one rushed to the scene of the crash to help at the end, but that would have prevented the final gag. This set the standard for wild rides, and while none of the available films measure up to that, it would be interesting to compare it to that in "Edison, Marconi & Co.", where the description of the wild ride in that sounds like it's at a similar level.

[ymymeatemup]

MAIL AND FEMALE (1937)

Things I like:
The Storyline. As typical with these Roach one-reelers, the story is compact and briskly told without a loose end in sight.
Cousin Amelia. Alfalfa is the real star of this short and has some stand-out moments even without getting into drag. For instance, there's something touching about the way he embarrassedly admits to Darla that he loves her. But the real kicker is his feminine alter ego, who charms Spanky and Spike in spite of the presence of the notably cuter Darla. I guess only Popeye and Bluto would relate to the boys' taste in dames.
Spike. He's sort of in the catagory of 'quasi-bully,' being quite an intimidating character, but still part of the Gang.
The Music. Somewhat of a rarity to have this much background music during this period, but it's always welcome.

Things I don't like:
Pretty Much Nothing. While this short doesn't exactly find its way onto the top of my Our Gang pile, I can't honestly find anything wrong with it. In addition to being terrific in a general sense, it's also the quintessential episode dealing with one of the series' best-known ideas: the He-Man Woman Haters Club.

Grade: A-

[ymymeatemup]

MAMA'S LITTLE PIRATE (1935)

Things I like:
The Treasure. Needless to say, growing up I really envied the Our Gang kids every time I saw this short. In fact, I still feel pangs of jealousy whenever I watch all that treasure pouring out of that giant chest.
The Giant. He's more than menacing enough to scare a bunch of little kids, and seems to be only somewhat human, as though he was the last holdout of some ancient, forgotten race. He obviously doesn't have much compassion for real humans, either, judging by the way he adds the kids to his assortment of edibles hanging from the meat hooks.
The Extra Effort. Roach obviously spent more money than usual on this phantasmagorical episode, not only filling the soundtrack with Leroy Shield's instrumentals, but adding interesting transitions between scenes and featuring Spanky in double-exposure at one point.
Most Everything Else. Spanky turns in a typically solid performance, as does Scotty (keeping in mind, of course, that they were only about half-a-decade old at this time) and the others hold their own well enough in spite of having a minimal amount of the dialogue. Buckwheat doesn't exactly 'act' in this film, but 'she' provides a comical presence throughout, and the 'thwack' heard as she lands in the hole is pretty funny.

Things I don't like:
Not Much. Aside from an occasional detail, such as sloppy editing or an overly corny one-liner, there isn't much of anything to complain about here. Neither of the parents are particularly good, but perhaps that's by design and meant to be interpreted from Spanky's point of view. In any event, none of the flaws can possibly overshadow the strong points of this imaginative entry.

Grade: A+

[RJH]

Melodies Old and New (1942) - The gang wants to buy new football uniforms, so they enlist Froggy's Uncle Walt for help in putting on another show. The house is packed, but the take is only $1.28 because Mickey let those who said they couldn't pay in for free. Janet sings, then Spanky, Buckwheat , Mickey and Froggy sing in suits much too large for them, and then Janet introduces a bunch of dancing non-gang members for a finale that they have to perform in street clothes since the cleaners didn't deliver the uniforms in time. At the end, Uncle Walt returns with uniforms, but they're the new football uniforms, not the performers' uniforms. Walt says good deeds are always rewarded.

Ugh. This has no plot and is not entertaining. It is inconceivable that all those neighborhood kids would want to watch that show; Spanky put on much better shows in the past. The boys should have sold those oversize suits to someone who could use them and use that money for new football uniforms. To add insult to injury, Buckwheat is the only one of the quartet who doesn't get a solo. The dancers at the end are good, but they are too old for "Our Gang" and just don't belong. The final moral falls flat for "Our Gang" historians: Hey Walt, check out what happened to Farina and Pleurisy at the end of "Election Days" when they recovered the stolen ballots.

[ymymeatemup]

ONE WILD RIDE (1925)

Things I like:
The Wild Ride. It's essentially the whole point of the film, and it doesn't disappoint. Various Our Gang kids took 'wild rides' over the years, but I can't think of any that were quite as hair-raising as this one (and I mean this quite literally, as evidenced by Farina's pigtails). Throwing a monkey and a parrot into the mix wasn't terribly inspired, but otherwise, the second half of this short is non-stop entertainment. It's strange to note, though, that even though this silent version avoids the type of rear-screen projection footage seen later in "Free Wheeling," it nevertheless includes some bits shot with the treadmill on the studio backlot (and featured prominently in "Dogs Of War"), which looks hopelessly phony.

Things I don't like:
Not Anything Important. The first half of the short has the sort of typically engaging antics one would expect in a silent Our Gang, but doesn't distinguish itself much from the pack. Highlights include Mickey planting seeds without taking them out of the packets and Mary interacting with the governess and butler from "Mary, Queen Of Tots."

Grade: B+

[RJH]

Men in Fright (1938) - Darla is in the hospital recovering from a tonsillectomy, so the gang, aka the Third Ward Sunshine Spredders Club, visit her with a basket of food Spanky knows she can't eat. Alfalfa waits outside while Spanky verifies that Darla can't eat stuff like pie, hamburgers, hotdogs, pickles or watermelon. Before this is accomplished, another kid in to have tonsils removed offers Alfalfa a dime to trade his clothes for a hospital gown. When the gang finds the basket without Alfalfa, they take the food and start eating. Soon Alfalfa is taken to the operating room with Junior having stowed away on the bottom of the hospital gurney. When Alfalfa learns his fate, he calls for help. The gang comes to his rescue, but the elevator door closes before they can help. However, Junior releases the valve on a canister of laughing gas, affecting the elevator operator, an orderly, and Alfalfa. They all act goofy when they emerge, but Alfalfa is the goofiest, riding while standing on a gurney, hiding in a baby's crib, and swinging from the chandelier in Darla's room before falling and coming back to reality when a pitcher of water spills on him. A nurse comes in with ice cream for Darla, and offers some to the gang, not knowing about the picnic basket. Darla comes out fine, but the combination of ice cream and all the other food gives all the boys indigestion, for which they get a trip to the emergency room and some castor oil.

This film is quite enjoyable. Spanky has a clever idea, but is too clever for the gang's own good. Alfalfa has some good bits under the influence of N₂O, and Darla is sweet throughout. I think of poor Leonard, in every scene with the rest of the boys but never getting a line. When Alfalfa calls out for help, he calls Spanky, Porky, and Buckwheat by name, but not Leonard. There is the effect of the elevator dial going crazy, and Spanky's line "They must have tooken his brains out." There is also an animated sequence of ice cream battling a hot dog or pickle in Alfalfa's stomach. The biggest negatives for me are that it would be Buckwheat inquiring about watermelon and devouring the one that gang brought. This has a lot in common with "No Noise," which I prefer somewhat, but the silent had the advantage of having two reels for gags and more of the gang involved in goofy antics. Such a shame MGM couldn't produce shorts of this quality for more than a few more months.

Our Gang (1922) - In the first part of what I have, a boy named Jimmy tries to win over a girl named Flora by getting his dog to drop her doll into a shallow pond so he can rescue it. They walk off together. Then there is an abrupt change to Ernie pacing his backyard in a barrel because all of his clothes are being washed. The gang comes by, but he won't join them until he coaxes his mule Dinah to retrieve a dress for him. There is another abrupt change of scene, where Flora goes for the more refined Pat in a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit. Jackie Condon, apparently Jimmy's little brother, advises him that his appearance is more important than his actions. The gang decides to force Pat to trade clothes with Ernie, but Pat beats them all up unseen behind a solid wooden gate. The gang then decides to admit Pat since he's such a great fighter, but to fit in he gets them to cut his curls off and is involved in a change of clothes that includes Ernie. However, when Flora sees Pat in his new ragged state, she returns to Jimmy, now elegantly dressed with a hat and cane.

The rest of the film deals with the gang trying to save Mary Jane's mother, Mrs. Nichols,'s store from an evil rival merchant, Jacobson, across the street. Ernie and Pat have the ideas, which include making a dog look rabid to scare away customers from Jacobson's store. Another is to have Dinah deliver packages by pointing her in the right direction and making her kick the packages, and one drunk, to the correct addresses. Jacobson is livid and threatens Mrs. Nichols with a gun, but the mule and dog take care of him, chasing him away.

This is tough to judge due to half the film missing. I think it's best to concentrate on the last part, where several themes are introduced. One is the gang banding together to help the deserving underdog, and another is using clever animals, in this case to defeat the bad guy. The shaving cream to make a dog look rabid would also be used in the future. An unseen fight with an unexpected winner would also occur in "Cousin Wilbur." Ernie displays some ingenuity by catching fainting women in a wheelchair and bringing them to the Nichols store. One thing that makes no sense to me is why Ernie needs Dinah to bring him something to wear. Dinah walks from the clothesline, carrying the dress, to Ernie, so there's no reason Ernie couldn't simply walk to the clothesline himself. Also, Ernie's mother is unconvincing in being scared when Ernie puts on a sheet. She also looks rather masculine and could be in blackface. I also found Jacobson threatening Mrs. Nichols with a gun to be way over the top. I guess that's a way to make it clear how evil he is. It is odd to see Mickey and Jackie in such small parts, but who knows what is in the missing film. What is also bewildering is that this film makes it look like Pat will be a prominent member of the gang in the future, but he is never heard from again while Ernie was a big star for years.

[ymymeatemup]

MELODIES OLD AND NEW (1942)

Things I like:
Welllll...... I have to admit that I'm impressed with the abilities of the young dancers in this short, particularly during the jitterbug and boogie-woogie segments. The problem is, though, that this type of entertainment has nothing to do with what made me an Our Gang fan. None of these kids, dancing or otherwise, act like kids. They've constantly got these precocious expressions on their faces as though they're all in their '20s and dancing in some nightclub.  In any event, this must be a pretty crappy episode if I'm already talking about the stuff I don't like in the 'things I like' section.

Things I don't like:
The Middle Act. I speak, of course, of Mickey, Froggy, Buckwheat and Spanky in oversized tuxedos turning in the kind of performance that would barely get by in an actual amateur show, let alone a Hollywood motion picture. It's particularly notable that Spanky's number is so serious, which just underlines how thoroughly he had transitioned from comedy relief to straight character in this series. And the closing gag is just painful to watch.
Janet. *Sigh* Well, it's not the worst moment in her career, but nevertheless, I don't find anything particularly entertaining about the opening act, and her little introductions during the final act are quite annoying (though somehow right in step with the attitudes of the dancers).

Grade: D+

[ymymeatemup]

MEN IN FRIGHT (1938)

Things I like:
Pretty Much Everything. While not one of the best episodes in series history, there's no question that it's one of the very best MGM ever produced. The story is a variation on the silent episode "No Noise," and is played purely for gags. The whole thing wouldn't work without Alfalfa, who quite handily steals the show, acting every bit as though he's on cloud nine after breathing in the laughing gas. The hospital orderly and the elevator operator also add to the general silliness of this segment.  The other kids, too, come across as refreshingly innocent, which is really unusual for the MGM era.  It's also notable that this short includes what is easily the most accomplished animation in any Our Gang episode, presumably the work of the recently-established MGM cartoon department.

Things I don't like:
Not Much. Sonny Bupp seems a bit too much like he's in organized crime to believably pass off as a kid, but that's about all I can really complain about. I might add the fact that it's Buckwheat munching on the watermelon, but if I let that bother me too much I might as well just stop watching these altogether. And lo and behold, there's a slo-mo gag after Gary's been exposed to the laughing gas. Doesn't that bring back memories of the least enjoyable moments of the silent era?

Grade: B+

[ymymeatemup]

OUR GANG (1922)

Things I like:
The Gate Gag. I speak of the unseen chaos that takes place while the neighborhood sissy pummels the boys of the gang. Easily the funniest moment in the film.
Not Too Much Else. Most of the gag material in this short works well enough for a silent Our Gang episode, but the genuine highlights are few and far between. The sight of Ernie Morrison wearing nothing more than a barrel is pretty amusing, and the business with the rival merchant is generally entertaining, but that's about all that comes to mind. Of course, the available print is far from complete, so perhaps a full viewing would reveal more highlights.

Things I don't like:
The Unfamiliar Faces. It doesn't help that watching this episode reminds the viewer more of the typical rival series than the Our Gang series itself. This was, of course, because so few of the kids that were established as regulars had arrived at this point. Ernie Morrison was already well-known prior to this film, so much of the action involves him, but the other kids are mostly obscure faces. They're generally capable in their roles, but only in the same way that kids in the rival series were capable. Somehow, Roach managed to find most of the best kids for Our Gang, leaving the mediocre leftovers for the other studios - but it took time to find those kids, and this was only the first film, so we inevitably wind up with a lesser episode.

Grade: C

[RJH]

Mighty Lak a Goat (1942) - The boys are waiting for the bus to school when a motorist drives too close to the curb and splatters them with mud. Froggy offers to clean all their clothes with a solution he can make in his garage. The cleaner works, but has a very powerful odor. Froggy assures Spanky, Buckwheat, and Mickey that they'll get used to it. They sort of do, but are kicked off the next bus due to the lingering order. Forced to walk, they arrive late. When they enter the classroom, the student leader calls an emergency and the students file out quickly. The teacher dismisses the late arrivals before they can finish the explanation. With the day off, they decide to take in a matinee, a murder mystery thriller. Their odor overwhelms the ticket taker, and then all but one of the patrons, the exception being a man with a cold. Then the actors onscreen are overcome and leave the set, leaving an empty stage for a minute or so. The police arrive wearing gas masks and haul the kids off, which allows the actors to return and complete the scene. The boys have to bury their clothes outside of town, and hide behind a sign until the camera fades out.

In my opinion this is the last good MGM short. None of that moralizing, boring support-the-troop shows, and long song-and-dance scenes by non-Our Gang kids. Instead, there is an actual story with a plot, with the gang coming up with a solution to a problem that doesn't work out as intended. The highlight is the movie theater sequence. The patrons can only put up with the smell for so long, with one commenting that it is worse than murder. But the most clever gag in a long time is the stench being so powerful that the actors on the screen can't stand it. A man playing a murder victim gets up from the floor, and Ava Gardner points to the audience and says the odor is coming from out there. The man with a cold is a nice touch, unaffected since he can't smell anything. The gag is completed by having the actors peek from behind doors to find the smell has gone away, and resume the scene from where they left off, even if it is to an audience of one. The police gas masks fit right in. The film has flaws - the instructions on how to deal with classroom emergencies take up time that could have been used to show more people reacting from the smell. Besides the class and moviegoers, there is just the bus that speeds away. The closing shot of the boys waving good-bye would have made a much better end to the series than the lame talking dog originally named Smallpox.

[RJH]

Mike Fright (1934) - The gang auditions for a radio show as the International Silver String Submarine Band with a band consisting of home-made instruments. They annoy just about everyone from the elevator operator to the announcer as they carry their equipment into the studio. Some other acts go on first, none of which impress the sponsor Mr. Barker. After Leonard Kibrick can't play the trumpet after seeing Tommy and Alvin sucking lemons, Barker has had enough and gets up to leave. Desperate, the station manager gets the gang to perform. When they start playing "The Man on the Flying Trapeze," Barker, having opened the door to leave the studio, stops in his tracks. The sound is the novelty he is looking for and the gang wins the audition.

This is quite enjoyable, with a strong performance by Spanky. He has several good interactions with the adults, mostly the beleaguered announcer. The receptionist has a great look when she sees the rag-tag band, asking "Are you sure?" and getting Scotty to reply "Maybe we ain't us." Spanky reacts well to that with a look of exasperation. A running gag is the sound engineer's hair flying up and making his hat fly off whenever the microphone gets knocked down or Stymie hits the cymbals. At the end, he has lost it so much that he smashes lots of tubes with a hammer, which reminds me of the cement layer in "The Glorious Fourth." When I first heard this I thought the band name had "Silver Screen" instead of "Silver String," and I'm never completely sure what that word really is. I like the Flying Trapeze song, so that elevates this film for me. I found myself wishing the other acts would get over with faster. "Jimmy Had a Nickel" seems to go on way to long, and it doesn't make sense that there would be hula dancers or a tap dancer on a radio show. Leonard's mother is a typical stage mother for the series, and these never fare too well. In summary, the more real, natural kids are a lot more appealing than the highly coached but artificial ones.

[RJH]

Playin' Hookey (1928) - Joe's dog Pansy, at the encouragement of Wheezer, has been destroying everything in the yard, so Joe's dad plans to shoot the dog. Joe removes the pellets and gets Pansy to play dead. Looking for a new home, Joe tries to give Pansy to Farina, but is refused because the dog eats too much and would be too much trouble. Then a police chase occurs outside, but it's part of a movie. Joe convinces a director who needs a trained dog to give Pansy a tryout. The rest of the gang decides to play hookey and visit the studio, sneaking in on a truck loaded with mannequins (or as Jay calls them, "actors"). Pansy is a failure at playing dead this time, and chases the movie bad guys instead. The gang disrupts several movie sets, and are chased by many employees. Jay runs up the steps to a set of a ship, goes through a door, and falls into water with no ladder to get back up. Fortunately for him Jackie and Farina are there to pull him up with a rope, but the next twenty or so guys who fall in after getting chased up the steps by Pansy aren't so lucky. These guys are mostly actors in cop and animal costumes. A studio guard repeatedly tries to get actors to scare the gang off the premises, with Farina getting most of the attention. Eventually there is a pie-throwing war with gunpowder-filled pastries, and Zuccini turns on a wind machine that blows flour or something all over creating a colossal mess The gang is eventually captured and literally thrown out, over a wall.

I don't care much for the beginning, where Wheezer encourages Pansy to bring a death sentence upon herself. The scene where Joe thwarts his father from shooting Pansy for real is done well, but I just don't like the killing pets theme. Then the film picks up with Joe visiting Farina and Zuccini, who changed her name from Mango for some reason. The siblings have a wonderful vacuum cleaner that is operated by Zuccini bouncing on it and Farina steering, and it blows dust through a hose outside their house and onto Joe. The movie chase scene provides an excuse for the gang to get into the All-American Studios owned by people with very foreign-sounding names. As expected, the gang causes a lot of mayhem. There are many good gags, but they sometimes get repetitive. For this reason I like "Dogs of War!" better. There was a more pleasant excuse to get into the studio, and the gang did some of their own filming in that. One thing I like a lot about "Playin' Hookey" is how Jannie Hoskins gets a significant role after years of the occasional scene. She is involved in much of the action throughout, from the vacuum cleaner to being pulled out of her hiding place in a cupboard by Jackie during the pie fight to setting off the wind machine, and finally being rescued by Farina from eating one of the gunpowder pastries at the end. Farina throws that back over the wall and rattles the three men who just threw them over that wall before the gang runs away. Too bad it was obviously dummies of the gang being thrown over the wall, but I still got a kick out of it. The gang gets caught a bit too easily at the end by three men after causing so much trouble for a long period of time. Such a shame Jannie left so soon after this, except as a different character in "Lazy Days," when she definitely wasn't too old for the series.

Special thanks to Administrator Mark for making this review possible. I have a very low quality print that starts with the gang entering the studios, and still misses a lot. The longest missing scene in the studio is Farina getting chased and scared by all sorts of creatures, human, animal and skeleton. Now that I'm looking at these in detail I notice the buttoned-ness of his shirt changes frequently throughout these chase. large portions of the film, including almost everything after the wind machine is turned on, is washed out, mainly blotches of white with a few unrecognizable black outlines. From my print the review would have been like, "the gang causes lots of havoc at a movie studio, but it's not clear why they're there. There are several gags that are probably good, but details are hard to come by and frequently you can't tell which character is doing what."