School's Out

This is a pretty adorable short featuring the Little Rascals and I'm not usually a fan of their films. This film is not among the earlier Rascals films (they were silents) and this was done well before Spanky and Alfalfa joined the group.

The breakout star among the kids was Jackie Cooper--who later went on to great stardom. However, I was surprised to see that although Farina played a very stereotypical Black child (in this film, talking about wanting to eat watermelon as well as the fact that his dad is in and out of jail--two awful stereotypes), he was actually the highest paid member of the group at the time according to IMDb--so I guess he had the last laugh! Also featured is "Chubby" Chaney--a very, very sad individual indeed. Although he was very, very obese and appeared to be about 8 or 9, he was actually 16 at the time this was made and died a few years later of some glandular condition!!

As for the plot, Jackie is concerned that now that summer vacation is approaching, their beloved teacher might not come back next year--since she's pretty and probably plans on getting married. About the same time, the teacher's brother is in town and the kids mistake him for her boyfriend and play some mean tricks on him to try to chase him away and keep her single! The whole routine is awfully funny and considering how cute the kids act, you can't help but like this film. Unlike many of the later films that had a lot of action, this one is slower paced but much higher on the charm scale.

School's Out (1930)

*** (out of 4)

Our Gang short plays out like a sequel to Teacher's Pet. When a man comes to the school asking about Miss Crabtree, the gang fears it's a man wanting to marry her and take her away. To try and make him change his mind they start telling lies about her but what they don't know is that this man is actually her brother. This is a pretty good short but it's certainly not as good as the previous film as there aren't as many laughs here. The highlight is a wonderful sequence where Miss Crabtree gives the class a history quiz but they keep giving dumb answers after buying them from a classmate. All of the group get some nice stuff with Jackie Cooper once again taking most of the good stuff. There is a rather off color remake made towards Farina that doesn't play too well today but overall this is a pleasant film. The joke about Lon Chaney and one of his famous movies is well done as well.

Watching this put me back to my long ago childhood. There were afternoon children's shows that used the Little Rascals as fillers, killing fifteen to twenty minutes. They reran the ones they had over and over. I have to say that they were gentle and funny, with neat characters. While there was a lot of racism in some of the comments, African American children were regulars. This one didn't use the more recognizable ones (especially Spanky and Alfalfa) and was more coarse. I enjoyed that. It probably portrayed the lives of little kids very well.

Jackie, who has a crush on his teacher, Miss Crabtree, is afraid that she will get married and leave the school. When a strange man comes around the school asking for Miss Crabtree, Jackie and the gang are convinced he's going to marry her. They tell the stranger several stories about her -- saying she puts red stuff on her lips, has two sets of false teeth, one wooden leg, two husbands, and twenty-one kids. Unknown to the gang, the man is actually Miss Crabtree's brother! What will happen to the gang when Miss Crabtree finds out?

"School's Out" is a sequel to the Little Rascals film "Teacher's Pet," and is a fine follow-up for Hal Roach and company. The laughs are constant throughout the film, and the kids are so natural that you would swear you are watching a real situation. The feelings they display are genuine; they truly love their teacher and don't want to see here go anywhere.

Much of the dialogue in "School's Out" is hilarious; Roach dialogue writer "Beanie" Walker deserves the credit. Some lines slipped past the censors! When Miss Crabtree is driving the children to school, they are steadfast in saying they will never get married. Farina says, "I'm not getting married, and I'm raising my children the same way!" Mary Ann states, "I heard my mother say she made my father marry her!" Out of the mouths of babes...

Miss Crabtree's brother is played by Creighton Hale, an actor with greater silent screen credits than talkies ("The Cat and the Canary" is perhaps his most famous silent role). Most of his talkie career went unnoticed in uncredited roles. This appearance, and his two later Rascal roles in "Big Ears" and "Free Wheeling," are undoubtedly his most familiar talkie roles. He displays enough feigned surprise at the gang's comments about his sister to warrant laughter.

If you loved "Teacher's Pet," you'll love "School's Out." A finer comedy sequel would be tough to find in any decade. 9 out of 10.

This Hal Roach comedy short, School's Out, is the one hundred second in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the fourteenth talkie. After the printed title of "Our Gang Comedies-Hal Roach presents His Rascals in School's Out" and Beverly and Betty Mae Crane mention the production credits, we see Jackie passing a petition to the rest of the gang to continue school for the summer as he's afraid Miss Crabtree-who he has a massive crush on-will get married like the previous teacher and leave her job. I'll stop there and just say that while there might be some uncomfortable stereotypical humor-Farina mentions looking forward to some watermelon, his dad is in jail, and the cover of a Minstrel joke book is shown-this was a mostly harmless and very funny short and it's almost as good as its predecessor, Teacher's Pet. Once again, June Marlowe is very charming as Miss Crabtree. So on that note, School's Out is highly recommended.