When the Wind Blows

When I grew up watching "When the Wind Blows" on television, I had no idea Farina was in the film. All his scenes showing his home life and him being scared were deleted. While this was done out of sensitivity to modern viewers, a lot is missed when viewing the TV version. And besides, several of the other kids are shown scared, so why not Farina?

Jackie gets locked out of his house on a cold and windy night. Kennedy the Cop makes things worse as usual by thinking there is a burglar loose. Jackie attempts to climb into Mary Ann's window, but to no avail.

A decent Gang outing, but not an important one in the series. 6 out of 10.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Strange things happen WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. After getting locked out of his house on a stormy night, nightshirted Jackie seeks solace at the homes of Farina, Chubby & Mary Ann. When a neighborhood prowler shows up, things get really hectic...

A funny little film, although the beating Jackie gets from his Dad seems a bit much. Farina's home life is shown in a stereotypical fashion, common for that era in Hollywood. Highlight: Mary Ann's flirtatious ways. That's Edgar Kennedy as the hapless cop on the beat.

This Hal Roach comedy short, When the Wind Blows, is the ninety-seventh in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the ninth talkie. As such, it's also the first to employ a musical score throughout and have plenty of sound effects. At night, Jackie gets spanked by his father for not doing his homework but throws his textbook out the window after his parents and little brother Wheezer go to sleep. When he's pretending to sleep his parents look on him and he overhears them saying how they want what's better in life for him than what they went through. Jackie then goes back outside to retrieve his book but gets locked out and gets mistaken for a prowler when trying to get back in. I'll stop there and just say how hilarious I found the whole thing especially when Edgar Kennedy as the bumbling cop shows up! When I first watched this on TV during the '70s, I don't think they showed the scenes involving Farina since I think I'd remember him if they did. I guess the stereotypes involving his race at the time was why they were cut but I still found the scenes depicted funny despite that. Loved the musical score and James W. Horne did a good job in his lone directorial effort of an Our Gang short. He also helmed my favorite Laurel & Hardy film, Way Out West. Incidentally, he'd eventually become the father-in-law of Jackie Cooper when Cooper married his daughter June in 1944. So on that note, I highly recommend When the Wind Blows.

Jackie angrily throws his school book out the window, then overhears his father talking about how proud he is of him, and how he wants him to get out of life everything he never had the chance for. In a change of heart, Jackie climbs out the window, retrieves the book and finds he can't get back in.

Hilarity ensues, partly in the form of Edgar Kennedy, with his trademark "slow burn" comic touch, and partly in the form of Farina, one of my favorite members of the gang. There's some great sound effects for the wind, and a wonderful set dresser's contraption that I won't give away. There's some scenes that are a little spooky, which only adds to the overall hilarity of the production. The scenes between the parents and children are genuinely played, and it's actually pretty touching at times. Plus anybody who loves the Rascals really loves Wheezer, and he's as adorable as ever in this one, one of several times he plays Jackie Cooper's little brother. And there's a cameo by that freckle faced lolita May Ann Jackson, and a snoring/screaming Chubby Cheney.

Allen 'Farina' Hoskins' character are considered racist by a number of people today (I don't) and his scenes are often eliminated by by censors. What a shame, erasing such a brief but talented legacy from the screen. If it weren't for such breaches of the first amendment, the average person might actually know who he is and put him up there with Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat and all the other Our Gang alumni, where he belongs.

When the Wind Blows (1930)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Our Gang short has Jackie getting locked out of his room so he walks around the neighborhood trying to find a place to sleep. The only problem is that everyone mistakes him for a burglar. This is an above average short for this period in the series and most of the film's charm comes from the performance of Cooper who really stands out among all the gang here. Wheezer and Chubby have a couple good moments but even these two don't come close to Cooper. I actually thought Charles McAvoy stole the film as Cooper's father, the one who spanks him and gets this whole mess started. McAvoy's comic timing hits all the right marks especially the scene where he pulls out a gun thinking the burglar is breaking into his home. Edgar Kennedy also gets a few funny sequences as the dimwitted cop who can't keep up with the whole neighborhood calling him.