The Kid from Borneo

I remember seeing the original Our Gang Comedies (the silent films) on television in the Fifties. Joe Cobb, the little fat kid, was the leader at that time just as Spanky MacFarland became in the Thirties. Mary Kornman was a pretty little blonde girl who preceded Darla Hood as the sweetheart of the gang. Freckled faced Mickey Daniels was Alfalfa's predecessor and Farina was the only black child in the gang. Later would come Stymie and Buckwheat. The gang used to build soap box derby cars that would actually run and they had their own clubhouse. I think it was the inventiveness of the kids that actually appealed to the kids in the Fifties. How many of them had actually built a soapbox car with wheels that they took off the Irish Mail (Say What, it was an early scooter) or their sister's baby carriage. If their father was watching with them, perhaps he would recall building something like this as kids did back then. They had tree houses or club houses with signs that said "No Girls Allowed." Remember the Women Haters Club that Spanky started and Alfalfa couldn't join because Darla talked him out of it. That is what made the series cute and entertaining. The politically correct critics always look at everything in a modern sense. The stereotype was not meant to be mean, just a reflection of the times.

I can only assume this short's popularity has something to do with its political incorrectness; in itself it's rather lame. How funny is it really to see a grunting halfwit running around in circles after a bunch of little kids? The film does have its moments, especially with Spanky and Bumbo in the kitchen, but overall it reminded me a lot of that standard childhood nightmare of being chased by a gorilla, except not as exciting. I pass on this one.

This Hal Roach comedy short, The Kid from Borneo, is the one hundred twenty-second in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the thirty-fourth talkie. In this one, the uncle of Spanky, Dickie, and Dorothy is supposed to come to town with a traveling sideshow. The mother is anxious to see him again but the father, not so much. The gang ends up going to the place the show's at but they miss him and sees this child-like man who loves candy but is mistaken for Spanky's uncle and also a cannibal...Okay, the fact that the "uncle" is black and primitive in characterization may give one pause watching today but otherwise, this was one of the most hilarious shorts in the series yet especially when Spanky and Stymie are involved! So on that note, I highly recommend The Kid from Borneo. P.S. This was Tommy Bond's second appearance in the series but the first in which he has lines.

The gang goes to a circus sideshow to visit Dickie and Spanky's uncle George, mistakenly believing he is "The Wild Man from Borneo."

I watched this as part of a Super-8 movie event, so the version I watched may have had a few minutes clipped from the film (though with the full film being eighteen minutes, I doubt very much was removed).

There were some good jokes that stood the test of time, and got me cracking up. There is some issues with racial content, but honestly not as bad as you might think (at least what I saw). By no means did I get the impression that everyone from Borneo was a cannibal or wild. This is not really any more or less racist than anything else coming out in the 1930s.

The best part is definitely when the younger kid (Spanky?) is feeding the wild man from the pantry. While obviously edited, it is amusing to see the bottomless pit that is the cannibal's stomach.

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Uncle George comes to town, bringing the Wild Man he's brought with him from Borneo. When the Gang goes to visit, Stymie's candy awakens the savage within him (`Yum-Yum! Eat ‘em up!') and he chases them all back to and through Spanky's house.

A very funny film - lots of wild slapstick here - but the sight of the drunken fellow pursuing little kids with a big knife is a bit unsettling. Highlight: Spanky feeding the Wild Man. Query: why does the film treat Spanky's Mom so harshly at the end? That's John Lester Johnson as the Wild Man.