Young Sherlocks

Despite being black, 'Sunshine Sammy' Morrison and 'Farina' Hoskins were two of the higher paid performers in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies. So, while there is one scene that might make a few folks feel uneasy, in context this is actually a very forward-thinking short film and allowed non-white kids to be the leads...a rarity in the day.

When the film begins, Sammy is taking his brother/sister* for a walk. But they're hungry and Sammy goes about trying to get them some food. This part, frankly, is not especially memorable. However, when Sammy forgets about watching his sibling and instead visits with the gang, the film heats up in many ways. The Jesse James Juniors want Sammy to prove he's brave enough to join them and Sammy spins a very funny yarn about saving a young girl from kidnappers, earning armloads of cash and being able to defeat criminals all by himself! Naturally, it doesn't end with this!

The Jesse James Juniors wear hoods that are somewhat reminiscent of the Klan. Of course it's not--as they want Sammy to join. But I am sure some folks might be a bit shocked by this scene. Taken in context, it's easy enough to ignore. Apart from this and a slow beginning, this is actually one of the better Our Gang silents--quite fun and worth your time. If you want to see it, try archive.org, where you can download it for free.

For this month of February, Black History Month, I'm attempting to review, in chronological order, many achievements of African-Americans on film, both in front of and behind the camera. For my second entry, I'm reviewing the earliest "Our Gang/Little Rascals" short I've seen so far: Young Sherlocks-No. 3 in the series. The first two black child stars in the movies were introduced here: Ernie Morrison (often nicknamed "Sunshine Sammy" here) and Allen "Farina" Hoskins, a toddler boy who was often dressed like a girl in the early days. Also appearing is another toddler named Jackie Condon and the first "Our Gang" leading lady, Peggy Cartwright, as rich girl Mary Jane. Ernie and baby "sister" Farina with their mule Dinah are attempting to find food since they have no money. Jackie sells newspapers. Mary Jane stops by the local grocer with her horse and buys some apples. Things start to pick up when she gets kidnapped and Ernie and Jackie ride with Dinah to rescue her...There's plenty of funny gags involving milk through a hose, Jackie slipping to the back of Dinah only to go forward again, Ernie going back every time he shoots a rifle helping him to defeat the bad guys, and Farina going up while carrying balloons. The person who put this on YouTube added the wonderful LeRoy Shield score that underlined many of the "Little Rascals" talkies. Also worth noting, Morrison's father, also named Ernie, appeared as a bank extra and the eventual leading character for the next few years, Mickey Daniels, appeared here in a smaller role. Young Sherlocks is hilarious and is well worth seeing for any "Our Gang" completists or anyone who loves great silent comedy. P.S. Since I always want to make note of anyone who was born in my now home state of Louisiana, I'm proud to mention that Ernie Morrison was born in New Orleans on December 20, 1912. Also, despite having earlier appeared as a baby in the now considered racist picture, The Birth of a Nation, Ms. Cartwright must have inherited great racial tolerance in her brief time spending with Ernie and Allen since she would later marry an actor named William Walker who's the grandson of a freed slave and whose most famous movie role would be that of a preacher who would say to Gregory Peck's children in To Kill a Mockingbird, after Peck lost his case, "Stand up, children, your father is passing."

This was one of the first four Our Gang comedies to be released in 1922. It's the amusing tale of Ernie Morrison, the pioneer black child star,and his white curly-haired pal Jackie Condon who learn that a rich girl (Peggy Cartwright, the original Our Gang cutie pie before Mary Kornman and Darla Hood) has been kidnapped. Way ahead of it's time for showing Morrison and Condon as an interracial comedy team without (minor dialect issues aside) much stereotyping of Morrison's character. But it's also funny and charming throughout. Excellent viewing after a hard day at work or school and fine for the whole family. Even people who don't usually like silent films should enjoy this.

The first Our Gang shorts tended to revolve around young Ernie Morrison - a supporting player at the Roach Studio for years until promoted to a feature role with the Gang. He was also a known commodity to the movie going public at the time, unlike the rest of the troupe. However, it wouldn't take long before the original cast became as well known as Ernie but here they are still getting their feet wet.

When rich girl Peggy is kidnapped Ernie and moppet-headed Jackie ride to the rescue, with Jackie bouncing on the back of the horse like a ping pong ball. The kids ingenuity at getting by in life has always been apparent from the very beginning, such as Ernie supplying baby Farina with morning milk using a goat and a bicycle pump hose. So vanquishing a group of thugs is a piece of cake if one has a mule and an endless supply of cannon balls to launch.

Ernie wraps everything up by spinning a tale about going to Freetown, where everything is free for kids. While this film is more fanciful than the other Gang shorts with more grounded visions of childhood, the ending is still an apt description of this series ability to project the dreams of children through humor.

This was the third in the silent 'Our Gang' series produced by Hal Roach and supervised by Charles Parrott. When you watched these short films as a child you kind of grew up with the kids, even if you lived across the big pond eighty plus years after they were released.