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Post by ymymeatemup on Sept 27, 2015 0:11:02 GMT -5
A QUIET STREET (1922)
Things I like:
Pretty Much Everything. Considering the shortcomings of the available print, it's amazing how well this short holds up. The first part presents the sort of diversions normally seen in the opening sequences of these silent shorts. Jackie plays a clever prank, Mickey and Jack try to extricate a tooth from Mickey's mouth, and with Ernie, arrange a sideshow to exhibit the tooth. While these activities are far from earth-shaking, they provide a pleasant mood, aided mainly by the strong personalities of the four boys. And it helps that the studio chose to focus on just the essential kids in this short. With the multitude of forgettable peripheral kids featured in the first few episodes, it's clear that a lot more mileage could be gained with a smaller group of ace players. The middle portion of the film is arguably the strongest, and involves the boys giving chase to the new kid on the block, not realizing that his dad is a cop. Particularly amusing is the way the new kid has time to repeatedly beat Jackie up, even as he's being chased by the others. This inevitably leads to the boys thinking the whole police force is after them, an idea often repeated in this series, but virtually always worthwhile. The climax of the short involves a desperate criminal being chased over rooftops and whatnot by the gang's dog. And this is the other key (besides the boys' personalities) to the film's success - from the time the boys start giving chase to the new kid, until the bad guy is finally apprehended, the film keeps moving.
Things I don't like:
The Available Print. Not that this affects my rating, but the print that has been circulating for the last couple of decades has been duped a few too many times and has all of the inter-titles missing, in addition to some other footage. And yet, even with this much-to-be-desired copy, it holds together as a coherent whole. I think it's safe to say that the original complete film could only have been better, and ought to rate as one of the best of these earliest Our Gang shorts.
Grade: A-
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Post by ymymeatemup on Sept 29, 2015 14:59:25 GMT -5
YE OLDE MINSTRELS (1941)
Things I like:
I Hate To Say It But..... The blackface sequence. Well, not the sequence, actually. It's a pretty pedestrian rendition of "Lazy Moon," after all, and like most people in modern times, I don't get much enjoyment out of this outdated form of entertainment. However, the effect used to switch from white to black on the dancers' faces is startlingly well-done. I'm guessing that their faces were painted with a color that's normally invisible on black-and-white film, and that it goes dark when they switch on a certain color of light.
And While I'm Hating To Say It..... I have to admit that Mickey delivers his punchline pretty well.
Things I don't like:
Melodies Old. In the followup musical of this series, we're given a bit of relief from the crusty older numbers when the professional dancing children demonstrate various modern dances. In this short, however, Grandma wears her bustle to the very end. As a result, the pacing never picks up from the general dullness established in the first scene. And while the short is peppered with unfortunate attempts at humor, mostly the whole thing just takes itself too seriously. Never is this more clear than when Darla sings "Auld Lang Syne" and the whole crowd joins in. And while I'm reasonably impressed with the way the kids (especially the actual members of this series) manage to pull off their tambourine routine, there's still something very odd about it.
Trapezoids. Not that I normally have any problem with them, but whenever I watch this short, I spend the next fifteen minutes or so seeing trapezoids superimposed over everything.
Grade: D-
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Post by RJH on Oct 9, 2015 20:57:47 GMT -5
1-2-3-Go! (1941) - Mickey gets hit by a car when he runs into the street to catch a baseball. The rest of the gang visit him in the hospital and Spanky is inspired to form the 1-2-3-Go Safety Society. He holds a meeting and gets all the kids to promise to count to three before crossing any street. The idea catches on, including adults, and they get national attention. They get an award at a ceremony where Froggy ends up speaking and causes all the microphones to explode.
This is just dreadful. Spanky is inexplicably surprised that it's Mickey who is lying on the street when everyone saw him run out there, and then faints. Mickey's malapropism about a paralyzed kid "hypnotized from the waist down," is not funny. Froggy drinking a sedative meant for Mickey and falling asleep a the gang's meeting is a weak attempt at humor. The meeting is unbelievable, and Buckwheat gets involved in the awfulness with Spanky's bad line about being out at night. Watching people cross streets carefully is boring. The closing gag of Froggy destroying all the microphones is probably the high point of this, but it doesn't come close to making up for this poor excuse for an "Our Gang comedy." One of many preachy MGM shorts utterly devoid of entertainment value.
Rainy Days (1928) - Wheezer has a penchant for drawing on walls with chalk, and it's up to big brother Jay to watch him when their mother goes out. Jay is distracted by the gang when they invite him to their gym, and when he returns, he finds to his horror that his house has been marked up extensively by Wheezer and sisters Jean and Mildred. He gets the gang to help, and Joe volunteers wallpaper since his father is in the business. Jay makes a sort of paste in a tub into which his little siblings drop all sorts of things. Naturally the past erupts, and the gang encounters numerous problems in putting up the wallpaper, which frequently acts as if it's alive. A big mess is made, and a lot of it does get cleaned up when Jay's mother returns, only to see a piece of wallpaper crawling along one of the walls.
A solid entry with several familiar themes, the main one being the gang making a big mess when trying to fix something. The first part of this film is a little slow, with a long sequence of Jay feeding Pete, and then Wheezer sausages under the table. When he realizes the substitution, Jay feeds Wheezer a sausage covered in tabasco sauce, a trick used later in "Birthday Blues." One nice gag is the telephone that blows dust at the opposite end when Joe and Jay talk into it. Wheezer, Jean, and Mildred manage to chalk the walls very quickly when Jay is away. The film picks up with the wallpapering attempt, and the crew went to a lot of trouble to create some marvelous effects of apparently animated wallpaper. Farina has the most hard times with it, with it rolling down after he pushes it up, and getting trapped behind some and the wall when he falls off makeshift scaffolding. It is nice to see Jay get a prominent role, while in contrast Jackie doesn't get to do much, but along with Harry does get a few whacks at Farina behind the wallpaper, who soon turns the tables when he punches through the paper, grabs Harry's broom, and blindly whacks all who come by before the paper eventually falls off the wall. The film ends abruptly after the mother sees the crawling piece of wallpaper; I would have expected more of a panoramic view of the disaster. Still this is so much better than the recent MGM atrocities I had to watch.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Oct 22, 2015 0:33:56 GMT -5
1-2-3-GO! (1941)
Things I like:
Not A Whole Lot. There are no actual highlights in this short, but there are a few moments that are better than others. Froggy provides most of the comedy relief, taking some fairly funny ideas and delivering them in a way that only partially undermines their potential. So, way to go, Froggy! You're kinda sorta funny in this film!
Things I don't like:
The Public Service Message. I speak, of course, of the various demonstrations of the rules of the Gang's safety society. I get the impression that the people from one of the other MGM departments - the "Crime Does Not Pay" series, for instance - infiltrated the Our Gang unit for a couple of weeks, holding Darla for ransom until their demands were met. In any event, even though the world doesn't need MGM's safety campaign - the "Look Both Ways Before Crossing" effort being a resounding success for about a century now - there's no doubt that it made the backlot of MGM a much safer place for pedestrians. Incidentally, I find it odd that the old couple step out into the street the way they do, as though a random car hasn't had more than enough time to enter the scene while they were having their conversation.
"I...Caught It....Fellas." This melodramatic delivery of dialogue is topped only by the fainting of Mickey's mother-away-from-home.
The Gang's Songwriting Abilities. Every once in a while, MGM presents these kids as being typical kids - in this case, making random noise in place of actual music. However, the studio seemed to be under the impression that ALL kids do this and not just the ones in kindergarten. This is sort of like the boys visiting the stork in "Baby Blues," or falling for the "invisible rays" in "Robot Wrecks." They're too old to be this stupid.
Grade: D-
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Post by ymymeatemup on Oct 30, 2015 13:17:14 GMT -5
RAINY DAYS (1928)
Things I like:
"Wuff! Wuff! It's Petey!" "I told you not to feed Petey!" The scene at the breakfast table is virtually as amusing as the sound version in "Birthday Blues." Jay R. Smith didn't normally have this much to do in the series, but he handles his part quite well.
"Be careful, fellas, not to get the house mussy!" This house has to be pretty high on the list of homes utterly devastated by the Gang's activities. Kudos, too, to whoever thought up the gag where Farina hits the others with a broom from behind the wallpaper.
Crawlpaper. I really think somebody should market this stuff. At the very least, the local middle school's Halloween spook house or any random head shop on Haight Street ought to be able to get some use out of it. Anyway, props to the prop department, which not only achieved most of the cool wallpaper effects, but also provided Jay with his nifty umbrella. And of course, the animation department was never better utilized.
Things I don't like:
A Few Things Here And There. Some of the gags are very standard stuff for this series - lots of slipping and falling, for instance (though Jay slipping all the way down the stairs is a highlight). There's lots of sticky stuff, too, which isn't so bad with the wallpaper, but I always get annoyed watching little kids struggle with flypaper. The main problem with this short, though, is the fact that it's raining outside. I realize this provides the film with the kind of novel difference that makes it easier to differentiate one episode from another (and which helped to keep the entire series fresh), but it also means that the kids are confined indoors during an era when they were normally outside. I actually get a bit of cabin fever watching this one.
Grade: B
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Post by RJH on Oct 31, 2015 23:26:19 GMT -5
Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) - Alfalfa is scheduled to croon in Spanky's show, but decides he'd rather sing opera instead, much to the disappointment of many fans. He leaves with Porky, goes to an opera house, and soon the manager Barnaby gets him to sign a contract to come back in twenty years. Returning to Spanky's show, Alfalfa still refuses to croon, and falls asleep in a big armchair. He dreams that it's twenty years later, but at his debut performance the audience turns on him quickly, and he is forced to sing opera in the street because of his contract. Spanky, in fine duds, comes by and drops a coin in Alfalfa's tin cup, and invites him to Club Spanky, a rousing success. Darla greets them and informs Alfalfa that they all make hundreds and thousands of dollars. The show goes on, including Porky, and Alfalfa is inspired to croon, but Barnaby won't let him due to the contract. Alfalfa begs to be released, wakes up, and closes the actual show crooning.
This is unique and pretty good, with Spanky and Alfalfa working very well together. It's interesting to see Porky as Alfalfa's sidekick, but the downside is Buckwheat is left with a total of one line, in the Love Bug sequence in the dream. Otherwise he's a silent conductor in the real and dream worlds. Alfalfa's dream is the best part. I can see why the audience doesn't like him since all he sings is "I'm the Barber of Seville" and "Figaro" as if there weren't any other lyrics. Barnaby is a great character, and Darla makes a charming Cupid. The song and dance routines went on longer than I care for, and this could have been very good for one and a half reels. I just don't care much for long sequences with no real "Our Gang" characters. Best to focus on the major characters, and appreciate Alfalfa and Spanky's performances.
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Post by RJH on Nov 8, 2015 19:52:00 GMT -5
Our Gang Follies of 1936 (1935) - Not too much more to be said. This is better than the MGM musicals because the acts are non-professional kids, except that opening tap dance bit that is way out of place. Dickie DeNuet being told to sit on an egg is reminiscent of Wheezer in "The Ol' Gray Hoss", and Porky blowing out the candles Buckwheat lights reminds me of Spanky removing the wheels on the fire engine after Stymie puts them on. A negative is the several occasion black characters are shown disappearing in the dark except for their eyes. The finale is the biggest hit with the audience, though hardly in the way Spanky intended, but he makes a nice recovery announcing the end of the show.
Saturday Morning (1922) - The gang starts out as individuals who meet on the way to their various Saturday morning activities. Ernie (Sorghum) and Jack (Waldemar) decide to join forces and ditch their chores when they meet Jackie fishing. Mickey comes by on a bridge, and the others offer to catch his bass violin, but run away when he drops it. Soon they decide use the laundry Ernie and Farina (Maple) are delivering to dress up as pirates, and Ernie and Mickey take up hunting, only to be chased by a small bear. Eventually the parents catch up to their missing children, but the bear chases them all away.
My print is missing a lot, opening with about seven minutes of Mickey. Everything he does is great, but it would be better with scenes with all the other gang members trying to get out of chores. My print also has no subtitles and no gag with the missing Farina as he would later do with Stymie in "Fly My Kite." One high point is the introduction of the venerable wobbly wagon. I also like Richard Daniels as the violin teacher in a ridiculous wig. The theme of rigging contraptions to do chores, including playing musical instruments, is introduced very effectively by Mickey. His mother has great reactions to discovering his water-bottle alarm and this frogs. The way the gang shakes hands make this seem like it could have been the first in the series, with the members meeting each other for the first time. This film is upbeat throughout and does an excellent job showing the gang using their imagination to do something fun given the circumstances. Of course not everything will go as planned, as in this case the bear sees to it, and that adds to the charm of these early silents.
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Post by antifrodis on Nov 9, 2015 1:49:31 GMT -5
A couple bits of info on Saturday Morning's missing footage: The film starts with Waldemar being pampered with breakfast in bed by the maids. Waldemar's mother comes in and appears to be annoyed by a loving hug from her son. She tells the butler to "make sure Waldemar takes his morning ride." The Mickey footage follows and goes all the way up until he is dreaming of hacking up his cello (or whatever instrument it is) with a hatchet. The Maple and Sorghum footage begins here with Aunty Jackson telling the mule to wake the boys.
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Post by RJH on Nov 22, 2015 20:48:45 GMT -5
It turns out "Saturday Morning" is on youtube, at least until it runs afoul of another bogus copyright claim. It starts with Dinah the Mule waking Ernie/Sorghum by rolling him off his bed, so it may have been pieced together in a different order than the original. No Auntie Jackson or Waldemar at the beginning, so it looks like waking Ernie was the mule's idea. After two minutes it cuts to Mickey, and there is a brief cutaway to Ernie and Farina/Maple's breakfast of somehow eating watermelon into rings around their necks.
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Post by mtw12055 on Nov 23, 2015 21:46:36 GMT -5
It turns out "Saturday Morning" is on youtube, at least until it runs afoul of another bogus copyright claim. It starts with Dinah the Mule waking Ernie/Sorghum by rolling him off his bed, so it may have been pieced together in a different order than the original. No Auntie Jackson or Waldemar at the beginning, so it looks like waking Ernie was the mule's idea. After two minutes it cuts to Mickey, and there is a brief cutaway to Ernie and Farina/Maple's breakfast of somehow eating watermelon into rings around their necks. The version online is (I believe) a combinatiom of the TV print and an UK home movie print titled "Hoorah for the Holidays!" ("holiday" being a British term describing a vacation/break). |
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Post by RJH on Nov 29, 2015 22:41:54 GMT -5
I was waiting for ymymeatemup to catch up, and am also very busy.
Party Fever (1938) - Darla declines Waldo's invitation to the Strawberry Festival Butch and Alfalfa already asked her. Butch beats up Alfalfa to win the honor, but Waldo convinces Darla that she should go with the winner of the upcoming Junior Mayor competition. Alfalfa tries to clean up the streets with sidekicks Porky and Buckwheat, but is sabotaged by the Woim. Butch is inspired by a passing van and throws a "marshmello" feast to get votes after bullying doesn't work. Alfalfa tries to top him by skywriting in a balloon named "Darla 2nd." Unfortunately, the rope meant to hold the balloon in place slides off the peg and Alfalfa floats away. Butch shoots him down with a slingshot, causing Alfalfa to land in a fountain to the amusement of all the kids in town. Nevertheless, the competition goes to Waldo, who thanks the mayor by name, "Uncle Frank."
This is clearly in the early MGM era, better than most that followed it but not as good as a typical Roach entry. It is a decent parody of elections with candidates doing whatever they can to win votes, only to lose out to nepotism at the end. It was a bit ridiculous tying the balloon to a peg with no cross-piece to keep the balloon in place once it reached what was supposed to be its maximum altitude, the length of the rope. An observation of something unusual: Woim carries rocks in his pocket in case Butch needs ammunition for his slingshot. I also found the twin announcers annoying. Overall this is among the better Butch-Alfalfa interactions.
Alfalfa names the balloon "Darla 2nd," and in "Three Men in a Tub" the boat is something like "Darla the 4th." Was there a "Darla the 3rd"? Or the first, unless that was Darla herself?
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Post by myhomeo on Nov 30, 2015 15:04:11 GMT -5
Re: The Twins. Agree. Why in the world did the folks at MGM think identical twins moving and speaking in unison would be funny? I kept waiting for them to tell the Gang they wanted them to stay FOREVER... AND EVER... AND EVER...
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Post by ymymeatemup on Dec 3, 2015 2:10:38 GMT -5
OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1938 (1937)
Things I like:
The Story. In a series that often emphasized characters and gags over story structure, it's always a treat to watch a film like this, in which the story takes precedence over all else. Every scene, save for the musical numbers, is carefully constructed to move the story forward, while never sacrificing humor or personality.
Club Spanky. A kid-themed nightclub. Ironic, since everybody is supposed to be twenty years older, but I guess in the world of Our Gang, they remain kids even after they've grown up. Nevertheless, it looks like a fun place for a night on the town. The musical numbers are far too slick and professional to be pulled off by children, but the film gets away with this by moving the story into the kids' future. And this being the Roach studio, even the polished numbers turn out to be more appealing than what we wind up with a few years later.
Annabella Logan. It's strange that such a well-rehearsed performance would be part of the actual Follies, since no time traveling has taken place. However, I'll overlook this possible flaw in light of the utter panache with which Miss Logan sings her number.
Most Everything Else. My favorite gag in this short is the one in which Alfalfa gets (literally) thrown out of the opera house. I'm also fond of the catchy theme song at the beginning, as well as Georgia Jean LaRue's spirited singing in the Club Spanky sequence. It's also nice to see Alfalfa getting pelted with large pieces of fruit. And, of course, the three nerdettes that attend the Follies solely to sigh over the dreamy Alfalfa are a plus. Generally speaking, this short makes mincemeat out of every musical that succeeded it in this series, and is pretty much Our Gang's last great moment before the move to MGM.
Things I don't like:
Not Much. I could mention some displeasure at seeing a bunch of black kids dressed as porters and waitresses, but they're so darn cute that I kinda don't care. I could also mention that there's something about Phil MacMahon that reminds me of a middle-aged woman, but at least he performs his part really well. I could also mention the damage that must have been inflicted on Alfalfa's vocal cords during his big crooning number, but frankly, I find it kind of funny when he gets to the "boo-boo-boo boo boo" part.
Grade: A
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Post by ymymeatemup on Dec 3, 2015 2:15:03 GMT -5
I was waiting for ymymeatemup to catch up, and am also very busy. I really have been putting this off lately, haven't I? Just keep plowing forward and I'll catch up eventually. Things have been a bit distracting the last month or two. |
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Post by ymymeatemup on Dec 5, 2015 23:54:02 GMT -5
OUR GANG FOLLIES OF 1936 (1935)
Things I like:
The Opening Number. This film wastes no time in getting things underway, with Spanky introducing little teasers of what awaits us inside the barn, while the skeptical kids outside respond in song. The tune is catchy, the players are appealing and the timing is snappy for what amounts to one of the greatest openings of any Our Gang film.
The Brian Sisters. Of all the guest singers that turned up in this series, this trio stands second only to the Cabin Kids when it comes to combining talent and charm.
Darla. I normally find it distasteful when little girls are made to dress and sing in a promiscuous manner (just watch the beauty pageant in "Little Miss Sunshine" for an example), but somehow Darla, the perfect antidote to Shirley Temple, manages to pull off this saucy performance while seeming totally innocent in the process. And the way she smiles during Alfalfa's number is nothing short of dazzling.
Alfalfa. For the first time ever, we get to hear Alfalfa croon. He hasn't come to realize yet that it's all for the sake of comedy, so he sings the song with utter seriousness. And this is what makes it funny. The gimmicks that would be added to prolong this overused routine were still some months away. Better, though, is his brief hillbilly number at the start of the film - which was familiar territory for him, but the facial expressions make all the difference.
The Skeleton Dance. A novel and clever idea, enhanced by some great shots of the faces of the kids in the audience and Porky's contribution in the sound effects department.
Most Everything Else. Not only do virtually all of the musical acts in this film compare favorably with all others in this series, the general spirit of this short is one of non-stop fun, something that was never quite duplicated in any of the later musicals. And this spirit seems to stem mainly from the kiddie audience, who provide a boatload of gags along the way, and give us such catchphrases as "Hi Buckwheat!" and "We want the Flory Dorys." It's also worth noting that at least a couple of the acts are amateurish enough to make it somewhat plausible that the kids put on this show without any adult supervision. Later musicals didn't even seem to attempt such plausibility. So it is that I consider this to be the greatest of all Our Gang musicals.
Things I don't like:
The One Racial Gag That Keeps Popping Up. I speak of the glowing eyes of the black kids, including Buckwhat, every time they're in the dark. And it isn't so much because the gag is racial in nature - if I let that bother me too much, I wouldn't even be watching these shorts. It has more to do with the general crudeness of the gag and the fact that the whole film grinds to a halt at these moments, disrupting the flow. However, the rest of the episode is strong enough that this doesn't affect my overall impression.
Grade: A+
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