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Post by ymymeatemup on Jul 3, 2016 1:01:48 GMT -5
SHIVERING SHAKESPEARE (1930)
Things I like:
Gertrude Sutton. High-strung and self-important, she suffers through the destruction of her "masterpiece" largely due to her own short-sightedness. I still feel kinda sorry for her, though.
Lyle Tayo. As much as Chubby seems perfect for the role of Nero, I've always found it a bit distasteful the way he keeps liftng his toga to read his crib notes. But the repeated scoldings from his mother save the situation.
Edgar Kennedy. I've never been a Kennedy fan, but I've got to give him a thumbs up both for his "call out the army" gag, and for his fistfight with the sacred bull, itself an inspired bit of lunacy.
Farina & The Lion. In a similarly looney matchup, Farina gets into a tussle with a sad excuse for a lion.
Much Of The Pie Fight. The success of any given moment during the pie fight comes down to how well each 'victim' takes a pie in his or her face. Some of these people flinch way before the pie arrives, but not Farina, Jackie, Harry Keaton, or the "give me a pie" guy. It's a testament to the quality of the child talent in this series that children are among those who can "take it like a pro" during this scene.
The Title. Short subjects, whether live-action or animated, usually have forgettable enough titles that the only people who know the names of the films are obsessive fans such as myself. I knew the name of this short, though, long before I ever started keeping track of such information.
Things I don't like:
The Lack Of Incidental Music. We've nearly reached the end of the earliest portion of the sound era - that is, the stretch of films that contain virtually no incidental music. Most of these films suffer because of this, including "Shivering Shakespeare" (particularly during the pie fight). This episode might creak like an unoiled hinge, but the gags and situations are mostly funny, which can't be said about most of the preceding talkies in the series. The presentation of the kids as hopelessly inept actors is somewhat surprising given their abilities in other episodes, but it nevertheless adds authenticity to the situation. Unfortunately, only Farina's exasperated comments about Sutton and Jackie Cooper's shorthand "well anyway" offer much by way of humor.
Grade: C+
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Post by sandro on Jul 4, 2016 15:21:49 GMT -5
Talking about Shrimps For A Day (1934) When Mr. Crutches comes to Mr. Wade house, bringing the kids we see him helping Marianne Edwards off the bus, then Scotty Beckett after Kibrick Leonard and Alvin Buckelew get off the bus then we see Alvin Buckelew again getting off the bus and step on the foot of Mr. crutches. correct me if I'm wrong.  |
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Post by tboneator64 on Jul 4, 2016 17:49:52 GMT -5
Talking about Shrimps For A Day (1934) When Mr. Crutches comes to Mr. Wade house, bringing the kids we see him helping Marianne Edwards off the bus, then Scotty Beckett after Kibrick Leonard and Alvin Buckelew get off the bus then we see Alvin Buckelew again getting off the bus and step on the foot of Mr. crutches. correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah, I noticed that too. I guess Alvin snuck back on just so that he could step on Mr. Crutch's foot. Hey, at least he said he was sorry!  Small Talk (1929) - The kids run away from the orphanage to visit Wheezer in his new home. Of course, this was the first Our Gang talkie. As with most of the early talkies, today it's probably enjoyed more for its historical significance than anything else. Here we have the usual problems with the early sound films - discomfort with dialogue delivery, slow pacing, no background music... Pete the Pup is voiced by an off-camera actor, likely out of fear that the dog's barks would disrupt the sensitive sound equipment. And a high society party held by Wheezer's new mother has musicians performing at it, with no sound coming from their instruments. A boom mic can briefly be spotted in the opening scene. But 1929 audiences couldn't care less. They were thrilled to hear just about anything in a film - particularly the voices of their favorite stars. Every Hollywood film person was essentially a pioneer at the time, figuring out how to keep people entertained with the incorporation of sound, and inventing new techniques with the sound. The Roach staff certainly deserves credit for both attempting to and successfully making the transition to talkies. And director Bob McGowan should especially get some kudos for figuring out how to lead the Our Gang kids through dialogue-heavy scenes. Despite the kids' obvious difficulties with both memorizing and delivering lines (with Farina coming off as one of the better ones), there is a degree of charm to be found in their struggles - at least from an "aw, isn't that adorable?" perspective. The story and settings work for the series' first talkie - nothing too elaborate, just an excuse for the kids to talk. In fact, at times the film feels a bit like a stage play. The same could be said for Laurel & Hardy's first talkie, "Unaccustomed As We Are" (incidentally, kudos to H.M. Walker for those silly 'first talkie' titles). I'm a little confused as to why Wheezer was initially adopted, but older sister Mary Ann wasn't. Would this sort of thing typically happen in an orphanage? I know a similar subplot appears in that Farrely Brothers "Three Stooges" movie. But all works out in the end, as the kids each get a new mother (possibly a new father, too. Wheezer keeps mentioning one, but we never actually see him). Farina gets a crying scene - and quite a convincing one - more so than the one Mary Ann has earlier in the film, for sure. Interesting that the kids don't live in a crummy orphanage for once. Homeowner Mrs. Brown (Lyle Tayo) has her rules, but she isn't abusive in any way. Anyway, not the most entertaining entry, but fascinating to view. Director: Bob McGowan. Cast: Farina, Wheezer, Joe Cobb, Jean Darling, Mary Ann Jackson, Harry Spear, Helen Jerome Eddy, Edith Fortier, Pat Harmon, Charles McMurphy, Lyle Tayo, Pete the Pup. My main question regarding this inaugural 'Our Gang' talkie is why 25 minutes? This just seems a rather unnecessarily lengthy experiment, given the very limited audio technology of the day, which in my opinion, would probably have worked better with some editing for time. Of course, SMALL TALK (1929) wasn't the only Hal Roach sound short to have received criticism for its overlength, but it certainly was the earliest one produced! CHEERS!  |
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Post by RJH on Jul 5, 2016 22:40:32 GMT -5
Small Talk (1929) - The gang lives in an orphanage where Wheezer gets adopted by a Mrs. Eddy. This arrangement greatly upsets him and his sister Mary Ann (called Mary here). Wheezer tries to call Mary from a phone in his new mansion, and Mary gets the gang to help her get into the new home. Mary tells off the doctor treating Wheezer, informing him and Mrs. Eddy that she can take care of her little brother better than anyone else. Mary is invited to stay the afternoon, but she and Jean turn a dial that sends te police and fire department to the house. Wheezer shows Farina, Joe, and Harry the radio, where they hear two news reports, one about the escaped orphans, and another about five criminals escaping from Leavenworth who will get hanged once caught. When the police arrive, the adoptive mother finally grasps the obvious and adopts Mary, and gets her friends to adopts the other kids, with Farina getting adopted by her maid.
Okay, this is famous for being the first Our Gang talkie. Much of the dialog is unnaturally slow and halting, but I think the kids do a creditable job under the circumstances. The pace of the story is slow, and there is the plot hole of Mrs. Eddy unbelievably showing no concern at all for Mary Ann at the initial adoption, and being ridiculously slow to realize what was bothering Wheezer. There was another black servant accompanying Mrs. Eddy to the orphanage who might have adopted Farina, so if the heavier woman at the end hadn't appeared out of nowhere it was still obvious that Farina would be adopted by somebody. There are elements from "High Society" here, with someone unwittingly summoning the police and fire departments, but what was present in that silent and is absent in "Small Talk" is humor. A throw rug idiotically placed across the bottom steps of a staircase where several people can slip on it is lame, and that concept was used better in "Mary, Queen of Scots." Instead, here we get a lot of crying, which goes on longer than necessary to get the points across . I also don't care for the policeman telling the gang that they're going to be hanged; is the right adjective for that "deplorable" or "pathetic"? Pete has some good scenes, and even gets included in Wheezer's prayers when he lists his friends at the orphanage, but omits Farina. Well, this long short does have a very predictable happy ending.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 6, 2016 1:51:17 GMT -5
Come Back, Miss Pipps (1941) - Christian Rub is very likable (pretty much a live action version of Geppetto) as the janitor. Here's some trivia: apparently, Rub was a Nazi supporter. While doing "Pinocchio, he would regularly annoy the Disney animators by yakking about Hitler. |
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Post by tboneator64 on Jul 6, 2016 10:05:01 GMT -5
Come Back, Miss Pipps (1941) - Christian Rub is very likable (pretty much a live action version of Geppetto) as the janitor. Here's some trivia: apparently, Rub was a Nazi supporter. While doing "Pinocchio, he would regularly annoy the Disney animators by yakking about Hitler. Christian would "Rub" the Disney animators the wrong way, then? Just dub this "Triumph Of The Puppet Master!"  |
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Post by ymymeatemup on Jul 12, 2016 23:12:15 GMT -5
SHRIMPS FOR A DAY (1935)
Things I like:
Clarence Wilson. He is arguably the quintessential cranky old man of this series, and this is arguably his greatest moment in the series.
The Brasnos. I'm not a huge fan of these two little siblings, but they nevertheless carry the heaviest load in this comedy and do so quite successfully. Olive, in particular, has one of the film's biggest highlights, singing "Here Comes The Ice-Cream Man," and is later helped by a couple of timely sound effects. George could almost have played Emerson Treacy as a child, considering his no-nonsense outlook on life. His misadventures at the orphanage really underline the dilemma of being an adult trapped inside the body of a child.
Spanky. Much of what satisfies with this episode is the fact that Spanky's willingness to obey Wilson is quite limited, in spite of the very real threat. In various small ways, most notably riding to the party on top of the truck, Spanky scores minor victories in an overall losing situation. On a more oddball note, his use of Scotty (and vice versa) as a security blanket is either disturbingly cute or cutely disturbing - I'm not sure which.
Leonard Kibrick. Not quite a bully, he's nevertheless a menacing presence now that "Dick" is back to being a kid.
The General Idea. Continuing the general theme of fantasy after the making of "Mama's Little Pirate," this short features a magic lamp which somehow amazes the characters less than the terrible way Mr. Crutch runs the orphanage. Nevertheless, the use of this lamp results in one of the most novel ideas in series history, in which two characters transform back into their childhood selves (one of whom is strangely unrecognizable to her father, even though he must have known her when she was young). Director Gus Meins does a good job of presenting contrasts throughout the film: cranky old Mr. Crutch juxtaposed with the innocent faces of the kids in the opening scene; cranky old Mr. Crutch versus the phony sweet version of himself; the rundown orphanage versus the opulent mansion; the raggy clothes of the children versus the nice clothes they acquire (and have to later discard); "Dick" talking down to Leonard, only to have the tables turned a few moments later.
Things I don't like:
Pretty Much Nothing. This isn't a perfect episode, but it has so much going for it that any possible flaws are rendered irrelevant. So the fact that the adult versions of "Dick" and "Mary" aren't terribly gifted in the acting department or the fact that the special effects are handled pretty clumsily don't amount to much. This is still essential Our Gang viewing.
Grade: A
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Post by ymymeatemup on Jul 17, 2016 10:18:17 GMT -5
THE SUN DOWN LIMITED (1924)
Things I like:
The Kiddie Train. At the risk of praising something that stretches the limits of plausibilty just a bit too far, I must say that the Gang's railroad is one of the most appealing things ever to be seen in this series. Like most of the kids' homemade contraptions, it's largely just an assortment of metal scraps that miraculously come together and function properly. If that wasn't enough, the Gang has put together a depot complete with both taxi and mail service, and have enough friends in the neighborhood to provide a large, in-on-the-game customer base. I can only guess that the child actors seen in this film must have had a lot of fond memories of working on this project, as it looks like tremendous fun. And I can only hope that the studio kept the train at its Palms location long enough for the local non-acting kids of the neighborhood to get a few free rides.
The Santa Fe Yard. Like in the talkie "Railroadin'," we're treated to a pretty good look at the train yards in Los Angeles, back when locomotives really looked like the locomotives of our imaginations. The sequence is very similar to the later film, except that instead of a runaway train through the countryside, the action switches to the Gang's homemade version (which ends up running away, anyway).
Pretty Much Everything Else. The kids and the film's bare thread of a story clearly take a back seat to the railroad operations (both adult and kid versions), but their engaging personalities still come across well and the action keeps a fairly brisk pace throughout the short. The frosting on the cake, of course, is the runaway kiddie train through the streets of Palms and Culver City, complete with a fairly impressive crash at the end.
Things I don't like:
Virtually Nothing. The only negative thing that comes to mind is the brief slow-motion gag at the very end of the film. Otherwise, like in most silent Our Gang films, the gags range in quality from okay to good, with nothing tarnishing the overall feeling of good fun.
Grade: A
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Post by RJH on Jul 17, 2016 20:30:37 GMT -5
Spanky (1932) - Spanky is honing his skills as a bug hunter when his older brother Brisbane is forced to watch over him for most of the day. This is not welcome news to Brisbane who is running "Uncle Tom's Cabin" starring the gang in the barn that day. He tells Spanky not to interfere, but naturally Spanky causes lots of disruptions. As the performance falls apart, audience members throw rotten food at the players. Meanwhile, Spanky, back to bug hunting, hits a wall that reveals the hiding place of his stingy father's inheritance. Spanky throws the coins and bills around the room and then out the window, attracting the attention of the audience. His father comes home, repeatedly chases the kids away and tries to get in the house, and then declares he will put the money in a bank and spend some on his family, perhaps including some on disinfectant to get rid of the bugs.
This film comes across as disjointed. There is the play, which is a remake of the much-better-done one in "Uncle Tom's Uncle," and then a lot of unrelated scenes of Spanky forced into the script. This could have worked better as two one-reel films. Spanky is very good in his part, and Pete is especially patient. I don't like seeing Spanky hit Pete with the cork of a pop-gun and a hammer, but Pete taking the first weapon from Spanky and putting in a drawer is a good answer. There is a pointless scene of Spanky taking a bath in a small tub. Spanky's mother is sweet, and his father, played by Billy Gilbert, is a blustering jerk. He plays the role as he should, but I liked him a lot better in "Shiver My Timbers." His change at the end, from yelling at the kids to suddenly promising to be reasonable, is jarring and hard to believe. The play has good and bad points, the worst being a lot of kids in blackface picking cotton, and even staying in blackface even when they're done being onstage and trying to lift Little Eva (Dorothy) through the hole in the ceiling and pulling the ice blocks on the river. Among the better bits is Stymie having to play Uncle Tom and Topsy, and his multiple costume changes getting mixed up. There is a wonderful sound effect for Dorothy's bad cough, Sherwood is a natural playing Aunt Ophelia, and Wheezer's business card turns out to be a playing card. Spanky temporarily saves Stymie from being flogged several times by Legree (Brisbane) by pulling the curtains closed, but later undoes his good deed by hitting Stymie with an egg. This prompts a barrage of rotten food tossing from the audience, and it gets repetitive quickly. At least Brisbane tries to defend himself with various increasing levels of armor. The final scene of Stymie being pulled up and down by the goat is far-fetched; it's not believable the goat was harnessed like that, nor that it would constantly run the way it does if it could pull Stymie's weight for a long time.
Sunday Calm (1923) - Two next-door neighbor families go on a Sunday picnic. Jack Davis, Jackie Condon, and Joe are brothers, and Mickey has a little sister. The kids are naturally mischievous, especially Jackie, who loosens a lug nut on their horse-drawn carriage and arranges for Ernie and Farina to tag along by throwing a rope they can attach to their little wagon. Two miles along, the wheel falls off, and when the men get it back on, the horse bolts, with only all the kids on it. This makes the picnic much more enjoyable for gang, while the parents have to give chase for a long time. The boys have a good time, encountering wildlife and going for a swim, but when they don't let Mickey's sister join them, she ties their clothes in knots. The parents finally arrive, and when things are almost straightened out, a tame bear scares them and eats a lot of their food. When that matter is settled, a cloudburst sends them back to the horse and they try to leave. The storm ends suddenly, but the harness breaks and the horse runs away again.
A lighthearted enjoyable adventure. The opening setup is nice with the guys reading the Sunday comics, and the wives gossiping through the facing windows. This is among Jackie's more prominent roles, with him being responsible for most of the mischief. Still the most attention is on Farina as he gets to eat more than anyone else, gets a piggyback ride, and scares the boys with a length of rope they mistake for a snake. Another gag is Mickey and his sister using a milk bottle (remember milk bottles delivered daily to your doorstep?) on a phonograph turntable to unravel their mother's shawl. Something similar was done with a revolving door in "Your Own Back Yard." One thing that's off is that Farina is referred to as "she," but joins the other boys in the water, though he is mostly by himself, splashing and pretending to be bitten by a turtle. The boys tell Mickey's sister it ain't ladylike for little girls to go swimming with boys. The boys also seem to become dry very quickly after their swim. It's interesting that Richard Daniels is one of the fathers, but not Mickey's like he usually is when he's a parent. Also wonder why Mary Kornman isn't in this. From the title it's predictable that all sorts of things will go wrong, but that's just fine for this romp in the rural countryside.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Jul 20, 2016 23:20:36 GMT -5
SMALL TALK (1929)
Things I like:
A Few Minor Things. In a film that has very little going for it, it's nice to see a few meager virtues here and there. The strongest, I think, would be a couple of lines spoken by Joe Cobb, the first about Mary being Wheezer's "distant relative," and the second being the rather risque "barefooted all over" line. I will also give a thumbs up to whoever decorated the bedroom set for this film, both for the beautiful silhouettes on the wall and the vintage toy train set. And last but not least, the final shot of Pete at the piano puts a positve note at the end of an otherwise uneventful experience.
Things I don't like:
The Doldrums. Considering the fact that it would be several months before incidental music was added to this series, it's not surprising that this first talkie episode is in desperate need of something peppy to brighten it up a bit. It doesn't help that the roaring static on the soundtrack is accompanied by such a slow-moving storyline, more or less in a similar vein to the one in "Little Mother." The acting on the part of the kids is largely clumsy, with plenty of shouting to compensate for the weak microphones in use at the time, and the story contains an overdose of sentiment that doesn't match the acting style well at all.
Helen Jerome Eddy. A veteran of silent era melodrama, she has a way of gushing over her precious, adorable little boy that just gets on my nerves. Her character is also rude enough to impose upon her friends the idea of adoption, with the decision having to be made right in front of the prospective adoptees. And it's only at the end of the film that it finally dons on her that maybe Wheezer shouldn't be separated from his sister, something that modern audiences would take for granted.
Grade: D+
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Post by RJH on Jul 23, 2016 22:25:34 GMT -5
Spooky Hooky (1936) - The circus is in town for one day - a school day - but Spanky has come up with a plan. He has written a doctor's note excusing himself and accomplices Alfalfa, Porky, and Buckwheat from school because they have colds or "new monia." While the younger duo plants the note on their teacher's desk, the older pair fakes sneezes to convince her they're coming down with colds. She then reveals that she has tickets for the circus for the whole class, and hopes her pupils feel up to it the next day. The door to the school locks behind Buckwheat and Porky after they deliver the note, and the janitor won't let Spanky in. Therefore the boys sneak back at night in raincoats and climb through a window. A breeze scatters lots of papers, so it will take them some time to find the note. The boys gets scared, though much of it is by Porky, first with an accordion-like noisemaker, donning a sheet like a ghost, and then breaking light bulbs. Alfalfa does find the note, but by now the janitor has been waken up. Buckwheat gets attached to a skeleton, there is mass confusion and terror, and the boys finally escape. However, they all do come down with colds so they can't go to school the next day.
This strikes as a standard entry, with many elements from previous films like "Circus Fever" and "Fish Hooky." With one reel, the action is appropriately concise. The most amusing part may be Porky seemingly off in a world of his own, acting as if he doesn't understand what's at stake. Of course it's Buckwheat who encounters the skeleton, following in the footsteps of Ernie and Farina, after being too frightened to whistle the alarm when scared by an owl. One interesting thing is how when they are leaving class, Porky is carrying two enormous books and Buckwheat two thinner books, while Spanky and Alfalfa aren't carrying any. I don't care for the way the janitor is portrayed, acting in such an exaggerated manner when getting scared easily. My favorite shot is the 4-way split screen at the end showing each of the Rascals sick in bed. There's a testament to their equality. Perhaps influenced by the earlier films, this comes across as quite predictable.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 24, 2016 13:51:17 GMT -5
Spooky Hooky (1936) - The kids sneak into school on a stormy night to retrieve a phony sick note.
This is a decent entry. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. Many of the best moments come from the easily frightened Buckwheat, and the mischievous Porky, who seems rather oblivious to all that's going on.
Dudley Dickerson, an African-American comic probably better remembered for his association with the Three Stooges and other Columbia shorts stars ("Dis house has sho' gone crazy!") was a skilled physical comic, and could be quite funny. Sadly, he doesn't have much to work with here.
The film's plot is borrowed slightly from 1925's CIRCUS FEVER. Both films lead us scratching our heads, wondering why a circus' one day in town would be while kids are in school.
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Post by tboneator64 on Jul 24, 2016 16:21:22 GMT -5
Spooky Hooky (1936) - The kids sneak into school on a stormy night to retrieve a phony sick note. This is a decent entry. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. Many of the best moments come from the easily frightened Buckwheat, and the mischievous Porky, who seems rather oblivious to all that's going on. Dudley Dickerson, an African-American comic probably better remembered for his association with the Three Stooges and other Columbia shorts stars ("Dis house has sho' gone crazy!") was a skilled physical comic, and could be quite funny. Sadly, he doesn't have much to work with here. The film's plot is borrowed slightly from 1925's CIRCUS FEVER. Both films lead us scratching our heads, wondering why a circus' one day in town would be while kids are in school. At least in SPOOKY HOOKY (1936), I think that question is somewhat addressed with Miss Lawrence's having set up a special surprise "Circus Field Trip" for the class. Of course, this opens up a whole other can of worms, such as "Weren't permission slips required for such special outings, even in the 1930s?" I think it's sometimes best to view the Roach comedies as being governed by a sort of alternate reality that's often based on what's convenient to a particular short or feature. I do agree this is a good, but not great entry. Perhaps if this had been a two reeler, Dudley might have been given a bit more to do? As I recall TV versions of this short included even less of Dudley Dickerson's footage! CHEERS! |
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Post by ymymeatemup on Jul 30, 2016 1:53:50 GMT -5
SPANKY (1932)
Things I like:
Spanky. This being only his second appearance in the series, it goes without saying that he's about as cute as can be. Even when he's doing mundane things, like banging a hammer on the floor, he's still pretty fun to watch.
The Secret Stash. Oddly, it's an adult that has the idea of stashing his cash behind a wall panel. It's usually the kids who have the ingenious ideas in this series, but at least we can say that Spanky inherited his out-of-the-box thinking from his dad. On a side note, the only thing better than discovering a baby throwing money out of a window is letting the rest of the neighborhood kids know so you share it with them! Right?
Things I don't like:
Uncle Tom's Cabin. Aside from the Roach studio's mysterious inability to gauge the cultural sensibilities of those of us living in the 21st century, the main problem with the Gang's stage presentation is that it just isn't that funny. Occasionally, a mildly amusing gag will rear its head, but most of it's just standard fare. Not so standard, though, is the sound effect used to simulate Dorothy's cough, which produces a reaction from the kiddie audience that pretty much mirrors my own. Perhaps the most positive thing to say about this short, aside from the presence of the tremendous toddler of its title, is that two of the era's less inspired story ideas - the "Uncle Tom's Cabin" parody and the rather one-dimensional bug-hunting - were both dropped into the same episode, giving the surrounding episodes a better chance at rising to the top.
Grade: C+
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Post by ymymeatemup on Aug 6, 2016 20:24:16 GMT -5
SUNDAY CALM (1923)
Things I like:
Nothing Specific. I could mention the vintage comics page from the local newspaper, or the amusing way the two mothers gossip from their windows, or the typically high standard of Beanie Walker's titles - but there's really nothing here that stands out much. The best thing about this short - that is, the likability of the characters, both young and old - is true of every other episode from this era, so even though the results are fairly positive, they never rise above our minimum expectations.
Things I don't like:
The Thread-Bare Story. A number of things happen during the course of this film, and they're all reasonably amusing, but they all make the same basic point: that the picnic is not going to go off as planned. The type of pleasant goings-on normally seen at the beginning of these early episodes continue on for the entire two reels, which makes for a pleasant viewing experience, but a rather uneventful one. There's nothing particularly extraordinary about the kids playing pranks and interacting with animals, nor is it unusual for them to undermine whatever plans their parents might have made for their day's outing. And it doesn't help that most of the gag material is of the tried-and-true variety.
Grade: C+
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