The Great Film Discussion

[ymymeatemup]

MIGHTY LAK A GOAT (1942)

Things I like:
"Don't Open That Door!" Easily the highlight of this episode is the film-within-a-film, not only campily parodying the crime serial genre, but also breaking the fourth wall as the characters in the film react to the hideous odor emanating from the boys in the theater.
The General Idea. Once in a while, MGM would get on the right track with these shorts, at least when it came to subject matter. The idea of the resident brainiac of the group using his chemistry set to mix together a cleaning solution naturally fits into the general theme of this series, and the idea of the whole town reacting to the resulting odor is perfectly appropriate for any comedy series. Unfortunately, it's only after the boys arrive at the movie theater that the gag really pays off, and only because the adults in the theater make it work.

Things I don't like:
The Boys. Even in this relatively good MGM episode, the kids overact throughout, and their 'model citizen' personalities (not only with the four principles, but with their classmates as well) only serves to remind us that the Roach era had long passed. Of special note is Froggy's utter failure to get a laugh as he struggles with the word 'pedestrian,' and the cheap fast-motion gag as the schoolkids file out of the classroom. Also - what's with the salt? Couldn't that have been put on the sandwich when it was made? I mean, he's actually walking around town with a salt shaker in his pocket.
The Bookends. I speak of the opening Patrick Henry speech and the complete dud that passes for an ending gag.

Grade: C+

[RJH]

Moan & Groan, Inc. (1929) - The gang is bored, so goes off to dig for buried treasure at Officer Kennedy's suggestion, but in a haunted house that he told them to stay away from. They dig in the cellar, and then the resident lunatic makes eerie noises and scares them. Most of the gang hides behind the walls and gets trapped, but Farina gets left behind and when the madman pulls him from the cellar, Farina and Pete are forced to have an imaginary turkey dinner with him. Meanwhile, Kennedy takes care of Farina's baby brother and gets his finger stuck in a Japanese handcuff. Then he investigates the haunted house, and has a long cat-and-mouse battle with the lunatic. Eventually, when everyone is in the main room, Kennedy catches the madman's finger in the other end of the Japanese handcuff and takes him in.

This has a good premise and then doesn't come through as well as it might have. It isn't clear why the gang can't leave the house the way they got in. But what I find revolting is that when Farina is to be pulled up from the cellar by a rope, he puts it around his neck. Jackie Cooper has to tell Farina not to hang himself. I hate it when Farina is made to do something so incredibly stupid, and he certainly knew what hanging was long ago in "Telling Whoppers." He could also have just simply put the ladder back up. There is also a tasteless gag with "flesh-colored" black talcum powder for Farina's baby brother. Most of the scenes with the madman scaring the kids are decent, with the highlight being the imaginary dinner. Even that has a bit I don't like - holding the real knife to Farina's throat. Farina does do an excellent job with the scene, and gets Pete to play along by tossing imaginary bits of turkey to the dog who pretends to eat them. The gang is left out of a long sequence between Kennedy and the lunatic which has Three Stooges elements to it. Kennedy is very flustered by the Japanese handcuffs, frequently pointing the handcuff at his target and his gun at himself. The ending is telegraphed as the lunatic holds his finger still so that Kennedy can handcuff (really fingercuff) him, and then all of a sudden it's easy to leave the house.

[ymymeatemup]

MIKE FRIGHT (1934)

Things I like:
The International Silver String Submarine Band. The performances that precede the boys of the Band are somewhat of a mixed bag. Presumably, we're given a peek at the type of over-(or is it under-)rehearsed "talent" that was routinely rejected during Our Gang auditions. Only Billy Lee shows any actual ability among these kids, and he's way too professional to have ever fit into the Gang. It could be said that Leonard Kibrick is also quite well-rehearsed, but of course, he's just faking it. There's basically two reasons why the Band blows away their competition. First - they chose the perfect song for the occasion. It's entirely believable that these small kids would have selected such a fun song to sing. Secondly - they perform the song with such innocent joy and enthusiasm that it couldn't help but appeal to all but the most cynical people.
The Boys. Needless to say, most of the fun dialogue comes from Spanky and Scotty, who were in the thick of their 'Greek chorus' phase. Nevertheless, there are some great moments from the other boys, most notably Tommy Bond and Alvin Buckelew ("you said it!"). And, of course, Leonard never disappoints.
The Adults. This short would not be nearly as effective without William Irving, who delivers every line and every facial expression like a pro. James Morton, too, is in top form.
"Little Dancing Girl." Not that there's anything wrong with "Good Old Days," but it's refreshing to hear "Little Dancing Girl" in the opening credits of this one. And while I'm mentioning it, the reprise of "The Man On The Flying Trapeze" for the closing is also very effective.

Things I don't like:
Not Much. My only gripe concerning this film is the somewhat stagnant pacing prior to the Gang's big number. Plenty of highlights happen along the way, but in between, the film seems half-asleep.

Grade: A-

[ymymeatemup]

PLAYIN' HOOKEY (1928)

Things I like:
The Roach Studio. As in "Dogs Of War" four years earlier, we're treated to somewhat of a studio tour in this short. That in itself makes it worthwhile viewing for any Roach fan, but more importantly, this section of the film races along with the kind of non-stop gaggery that seems to be unmatched by any other episode in the series. From the dummy gag repeated from "Dogs Of War" to Herr Dun Der Blitzen (funniest character name in series history) to William Gillespie and his lovely counterpart to the knife-wielding surgeons to the pie fight to the triceratops to the wind machine to the final disposal of the kids over a nearby fence, this film is nothing short of a free-for-all.
The Vacuum Cleaner. One of the more amusing home-made devices seen in this series.

Things I don't like:
Shooting Pete. Aside from a nice cinematic touch as we look down the rifle barrel at Joe's dad, the early part of this short, largely involving the execution of the Gang's beloved dog, falls a bit short. The idea's a bit macabre for this series, but even beyond that, things don't really pick up until the film crew shows up.

Grade: A-

[ymymeatemup]

MOAN & GROAN, INC. (1929)

Things I like:
Farina's Dinner. An inspired idea which is aided by good performances from both humans involved, though Pete just about steals this scene.
The Japanese Hand Cuffs. They start as an amusing novelty, but wind up becoming part of the plot. It's particularly satisfying to see the easily irritated police sergeant struggle with them.

Things I don't like:
The Doldrums. Like virtually all of the earliest talkies, this one moves along pretty slowly and suffers greatly from a lack of incidental music. Max Davidson, who in recent years had starred in his own series at Roach, is generally appealing in this short, but it still feels like his talent is being wasted, especially when comparing this film to the consistently hilarious episodes from the Davidson series. Edgar Kennedy is one player that I never got into that much, though his career certainly had its moments. Unfortunately, his association with Our Gang occurred only during this awkward transitional period. Generally speaking, the kids take a back seat to both of these adults, which perhaps isn't such a bad thing since none of them seem in any position to save this mediocre episode.

Grade: C-

[ymymeatemup]

Aug 4, 2015 20:24:24 GMT -5 mtw12055 said:

Most sources claim that it has to do with Davidson playing a Jewish stereotype. Maybe I'm missing something, but how are we supposed to know he's Jewish here?

I'm no expert on Jewish stereotyping, but I think the way he says stuff like "noodle soup" and "turkey" is supposed to be stereotypical.

[RJH]

About "Moan & Groan, Inc." naivete can help. When I first saw it, I had no idea that Max Davidson was Jewish and why that had any relevance to the film. I prefer putting that out of my mind when watching that.


Mush and Milk (1933) - The gang finds themselves in a boarding school run by the most horrible woman in the Our Gang universe. She carries a whip and orders the kids to do their chores at 4 am. Pete spills the milk Stymie and Dickie got from a cow using a vacuum cleaner, so Dickie improvises with Plaster of Paris, which turns the kids' mush solid when it is poured on it. The husband, Cap is much more pleasant, and as the gang's teacher doesn't mind the kids' goofy answers in the geography lesson. Rather, the lesson ends early so there can be entertainment, with various members dancing, reciting, playing music, and singing. Then Cap gets a phone call from the bank informing him his back pension has arrived. He takes all the kids out to an amusement park. They have a great time until dinner where Cap has blindly ordered a French dish which turns out to be mush.

This is quite enjoyable throughout. It has one of the familiar setups with the gang in a home run by someone truly awful, and Cap's wife fills the bill to the extreme. Fortunately she never uses the whip. Stymie and Dickie are a good team milking the cow. There are several clever answers in the school lesson, and Uh-huh gets to say his most famous line, "Isthmus be my lucky day," without which the character might well have been relegated to total obscurity. The tap dancers seemed a bit out of place; they were clearly older than the gang members. Stymie's harmonic, Spanky's recital, and Tommy's singing fit in much better. Then Spanky has a truly wonderful conversation with James Finlayson, who has a hard time getting his message across when Spanky answers all his questions in a way that make sense from a literal point of view. It starts off by Finlayson (Mr. Brown from the bank) asking who this is, and Spanky replying that he doesn't know because he can't see the speaker via the phone. The amusement park scene might have been a little longer, and the waiter doesn't deserve the bowl of much in his face at the end. There is one unanswered question: how could Cap have possible married and stayed with that shrew?

[RJH]

A Pleasant Journey (1923) - Ernie gets an idea to drum up shoeshining business by painting the toes of a man's shoes white while he is absorbed with a newspaper. Farina sees this, and paints all the shoes he can find, including police lined up for inspection. After Ernie shines all the shoes, Farina gives the show away by painting the officers' shoes again. They run away to the trainyard where they meet the rest of the gang, where Mickey has lost a close freckle-counting contest to an unknown. They soon meet up with some runaway boys from San Francisco The groups agree to change places, which works because Tilford, the welfare lady's boyfriend who hates children, doesn't know what the runaways look like. The lady has sprained her ankle and can't make the trip herself. The gang gets on the train and gives everyone a hard time. At the end Tilford and the gang are loaded into a van as if headed for an asylum and taken away.

I apparently have a common Grapevine print of low quality that is missing almost half the footage and thus can't give a proper full review. About half of what's shown is the shoeshine sequence, and very little of the train ride. There is a novelty salesman who tries to entertain the gang, so one has to imagine what happened after his introduction. Perhaps there were a lot of fireworks like in "Choo-Choo!" I'll guess Jackie's large dog was involved. In the beginning there is a unique little wagon. Ernie pulls Farina along in it, but it has no bottom, so Farina has to walk fast to keep up while holding onto the sides. I wonder what happened to the real runaways.

[ymymeatemup]

MUSH AND MILK (1933)

Things I like:
Tommy Bond. It's a minor miracle that Tommy would end up at the top of this list since (a) he doesn't play Butch in this episode, and (b) there are so many other highlights in it. However, I can't think of a more disarmingly amusing moment in any Our Gang short than Tommy's rendition of "Just Frayends" (you know, no matter how much I search, I just can't seem to find this title anywhere). His delivery is dead serious, and he sings it really well, nailing it note for note.  Which is somehow hilarious.
Louise Emmons. This most frightening of all Our Gang adults has to have been some sort of human/ogre hybrid. Her face is something out of a nightmare and her personality matches it perfectly.
Gus Leonard. Directly opposite to Emmons is lovable Old Cap. This is arguably his biggest moment in the series.
Jimmy Finlayson. Spanky handles his half of the conversation quite well, but Fin is so good at what he does that he actually achieves the rare feat of upstaging a popular child actor.
Pretty Much Everything Else. The kids are all quite appealing in this film, with Spanky being an obvious standout. We're also treated to the ultimate Uh-huh moment, providing us with a far more reasonable use of the word "isthmus" than the one found in "Come Back, Miss Pipps."

Things I don't like:
Pretty Much Nothing. The kids are ill-treated at their boarding school until Old Cap receives his back pension. Then they all live happily ever after. Some story, huh? And yet there isn't a single scene in this short that isn't at least passable, and many of them are indispensable to any collection of series highlights.

Grade: A-

[RJH]

The New Pupil (1940) - There is a new girl, Sally, in class, and Spanky and Alfalfa immediately go crazy for her, and forget they agreed to eat lunch with Darla, who breaks down in tears. Sally considers the boys pests, and breaks away when Spanky spills grapes on her, and then sits with the lonely Darla. They agree the boys are jerks, and hatch a plan to humiliate them. Sally invites them to her house after school, Spanky to arrive fifteen minutes before Alfalfa. Somehow Sally convinces Spanky to dress up in women's clothes and pretend a doll is his baby for their tea party. Soon Alfalfa witnesses this, but gets talked into doing the same thing. The rest of the gang is hiding behind a hedge and eventually bursts out laughing. Spanky and Alfalfa are indeed humiliated and run away. They make up with Darla at the end, though.

This is pretty awful. It feels like someone thought it would be funny to embarrass Spanky and Alfalfa as much as possible, and dreamed up this unbelievable script. Alfalfa gets to wear a huge dunce cap for not knowing when the War of 1812 was fought, and gets to listen to Froggy's excellent report. The highlight may be Alfalfa trying to impress Sally with his monstrous sandwich, which is reminiscent of what he and the gang consumed in "Men in Fright." Buckwheat has no lines and is no more than an extra. Mickey gets a few lines, and ends up walking with Sally because neither likes the other gender. Kids teaching other kids a lesson is not a good formula, and this film is one of many MGM entries lacking in entertainment value.

[ymymeatemup]

A PLEASANT JOURNEY (1923)

Things I like:
Mark Jones. His drunken novelty salesman is the single most amusing character in a short populated with amusing characters. William Gillespie already has his hands full enough with the rambunctious 'runaways,' but Jones makes the situation much worse, handing over noisemakers and fireworks every time Gillespie's back is turned.
The Shoeshine Gag. This clever routine turns up every few years in this series, but never as satisfyingly as it does in this short. This is possibly the strongest Ernie/Farina intro segment of these early episodes.
Jackie Condon. In addition to switching clothes with Mary Kornman (a gag repeated perhaps more effectively in "Choo-Choo!"), he's featured without the other kids in an amusing scene in which he witnesses a man trimming his beard, and then finds a loose pair of scissors and pretty much destroys the sleeping Gillespie's goatie.
The Freckle Contest. A novel idea in which Mickey finishes in second place to some kid named Speck. Presumably, Jay R. Smith hadn't moved into the neighborhood yet, as neither Mick nor Speck would've dared enter the contest if he had.

Things I don't like:
Not Much. This film is similar to a lot of other early Our Gang shorts, with a huge dose of chaos thrown into the lives of the hapless adults that happen to cross paths with the kids. That said, the results are a bit better than usual this time around.

Grade: A-

[ymymeatemup]

THE NEW PUPIL (1940)

Things I like:
The Shrug. Inexplicably, I like Mickey Gubitosi in this short. Not only does he come across as a typical little boy (that is, he doesn't like little girls), but his reaction to Alfalfa's "Ain't She Purty?" is actually kinda priceless.
Not Much Else. The only other thing I can think of that doesn't make me wanna kick in my TV screen is the series introduction of Froggy. As tiresome as his trick voice got within only the next few episodes, it must have been a welcome novelty at first. Not that I'm counting it as a highlight or anything - it's just that so much of the rest of this short stinks.

Things I don't like:
Alfalfa. Could this possibly be the worst Alfalfa episode ever? Not only is he the obnoxious slob he plays in other latter appearances, he's also made out to be the dumbest kid in the class (who, of course, has the kind of teacher who can only ever worsen his predicament). Worst of all, he sings in this episode.  And not only does he sing, but he does so in the same way a really bad Alfalfa impersonator would do it.  It makes me long for the relative quality of, say, "Listen To The Mockingbird" from "Joy Scouts."
Spanky. Even Spanky doesn't know the answer to the War of 1812 question? I know it's the MGM era, but even during that period, he generally had a working brain in his head.
Juanita Quigley. You know that unsettling feeling you get when you're watching Olive Brasno in "Shrimps For A Day," where she looks like a little girl, but you can still tell she isn't? I get this same feeling watching Juanita Quigley, even though she really was a kid. Like many kids that populated the Our Gang world in the '40s, she had an unnaturally precocious personality, but there's also something disturbingly adult-sounding in her voice and it always gives me the willies.
Darla. Oh, come on, Darla. You react to the boys' thoughtlessness like you've just been told your mother died. Man up.

Grade: D-

[RJH]

Night 'N' Gales (1937) - The boys, as the Four Nightengales, are singing at Darla's house, but when it is time to leave, they are surprised, apparently because Darla's house doesn't have any windows, to find there is a big storm outside. Darla's mother tells them to stay the night, and the four boys start to sleep with Darla's father. Pretty soon they annoy him so much that he goes downstairs to sleep on the couch. Several things prevent anyone from sleeping, including hunger which leads to the dropping of a drawerful of silverware. Mr. Hood then has a nightmare where he dreams the boys are devils stabbing him with pitchforks. He staggers upstairs wearing a bearskin rug and falls on the bed, breaking it. The boys then decide to go home since it's stopped raining and it's too crazy in Darla's house for them.

This has several good features, most of them revolving about Johnny Arthur as Mr. Hood. Everything he does, from his pained expressions and mutterings to his nightmare sequence are very well done. His wife is ridiculously unsympathetic to him, not believing him and not letting him explain on multiple occasions. She even makes Junior endure the horrible singing for over an hour. In one of Junior's finer moments he puts his fingers in his ears during the show. What I don't like is the treatment of Buckwheat. He screams because he's scared of the dark, he gets hungry and then a tummyache (of course he grabs the watermelon first) and then lets a hot water bottle leak, with the resulting scene giving the viewers the impression that Porky, Spanky, and Alfalfa in turn think he's wetting the bed. Fortunately they only accuse of pulling the cork out of the bottle. I also don't care for Junior getting trapped in the icebox or Mr. Hood throwing the cat from the couch. The highlight for me is the nightmare, and the devil costumes are perfectly appropriate. One of the best exchanges is Mr. Hood declaring he'd rather sleep with a bunch of porcupines, and Alfalfa asking "Where are you going to find a porcupine this time of night?" None of the boys knows what a porcupine is. A few changes and this would be well up there for me.

A Quiet Street (1922) - When a new family moves into town, Jackie plays a prank by covering a fire hydrant with a bag, and gets beat up by the new kid for the effort. Meanwhile, Jack tries to help pull Mickey's loose tooth by tying it to the gang's dog. Mickey follows the dog to avoid getting his tooth, but when the dog suddenly chases Jackie's cat, the tooth comes out. Ernie comes by and they decide to put on a show charging admission to see the tooth. Later they put on a radio show with Ernie singing through a megaphone from inside a barrel. Jackie is left out of the activities, so he manages to put a bug down the back of Ernie's ragged shirt, causing him to shake so much the barrel rolls away for a long ride. Then there is a repeating sequence where the gang beats up or tries to beat up the new kid. When he runs away, the gang chases him, and he keeps catching Jackie by himself and beats him up some more. This happens near where a criminal, Red Mike, is making a getaway, and the gang thinks the police, including the new kid's father, is after them. They end up at the same basement hideout, where the dog chases Mike for a long time and eventually catches him. The gang gets some credit for helping with the capture.

This film is another early silent that is hard to rate because about one third of the film and all of the subtitles are missing, making it a bit incoherent. One sees several solid elements that appear in future films. The loose tooth bit is repeated in "Noisy Noises," the dog catching the bad guy in "Official Officers," rides downhill in various barrel-like objects, and the smallest kid getting beat up by a new bully in "Fast Company." A scene at the end where Dinah has kicked a rug to shreds must refer to some previous missing scene, and foreshadows other films where rugs or clothing are ripped to shreds. This film maintains a high level of energy throughout, and it's a real shame that so much is missing.

[ymymeatemup]

NIGHT 'N' GALES (1937)

Things I like:
The Boys. All four of them are in fine form in this short, but I particularly enjoy the porcupine exchange (especially Porky's laconic final line), Buckwheat's ability to change his mood instantaneously once the hot water bottle is applied to his tummy, the reactions of the other boys after the cork comes off the bottle, and the way Porky gets carried away as the scene fades on their opening song. The main thing, though, is that there's nothing obnoxious about the way the boys annoy Johnny Arthur - they remain entirely innocent throughout.
Johnny Arthur. When it comes to the Arthur trilogy, I prefer "Anniversary Trouble," but this one definitely tops "Feed 'Em And Weep" in my mind, and Arthur is the main ingredient in the success of all three.
The Devil Gag. A rare instance of surrealism from the one-reel era, and it works perfectly.

Things I don't like:
Elaine Shepard. Not that she does any real damage to my overall impression of this film, but she's my least favorite of Johnny Arthur's three wives. There's something a bit frustrating about watching her jump to conclusions at her husband's expense.

Grade: A-

[RJH]

Ye Olde Minstrels (1941) - Spanky reads that the Red Cross needs money, and agrees to put on a minstrel show with Froggy's Uncle Walt's help. They get 30 more kids too old for the gang to fill five neat rows in a trapezoid and sing, play tambourines, and dance. Spanky is the emcee and tells jokes with Froggy and Mickey. Froggy then sings a solo, and Uncle Walt leads a dance for the finale with twelve of the new kids, changing into blackface in the middle. Then everybody, starting with Darla and eventually including the audience, sings Auld Lang Syne.

The most entertaining part of this film for me was the discussion at the beginning of this thread that the word "Ye" here is an old form of "the" and hence should be disregarded in an alphabetical list. This film has no real plot and precious little entertainment value. The 30 non-gang kids have talent and do their parts well, but they have nothing to do with the real gang. The real gang is shut off from view behind a curtain for Uncle Walt's big number. Thus the clever (note sarcasm) gag of Buckwheat suddenly in whiteface during the last minstrel act is diminished as no one can see him. How he noticed is unclear with no mirror around. At least the rest of the gang didn't appear in blackface. The audience overreacts to the Spanky, Froggy, and Mickey jokes. I'd have rather seen the outcome of Buckwheat and Mickey's marbles game that Spanky interrupted in the beginning.