La Bande à Curley

This was the first of two efforts of Hal Roach Studios to basically revive the "Our Gang" series without using that name (since it was now exclusively owned by M-G-M, forcing Roach to retitle the syndication prints of his shorts "The Little Rascals") with Who Killed Doc Robbin? the other one. One of the members was Rene Beard, little brother of Stymie. I watched this on Amazon TV with some people in back of me talking through it so whatever enjoyment I got out of this was mainly in the visual humor presented throughout. I did recognize this as a partial remake of the Gang talkie short Teacher's Pet with the kids once again assuming something bad about the new teacher. Anyway, Curley was pretty enjoyable for what it was.

"Curley" was banned from many Southern theaters in the U.S. for depicting black and Caucasian children "playing happily together." Other than that it is a rather desperate attempt to recreate the Our Gang shenanigans, with lovely Frances Rafferty doing most of what real acting seems to be required. Another sideline: I saw this film on a 16mm camera in 1964 in second grade. My teacher supposedly screened it for the entire class in order to prove that instead of disliking me as I had thought, she was "very fond of" me, to quote Rafferty to little Larry Olsen in the final sequence, which was all that I remembered when I stayed up till 4 in the morning to watch it again (!!!) in 1983 on a UHF station. Not much of a movie, but fascinating to me on the two levels I mentioned above!

A delightful film that I first saw as a teenager in the 1950s and was able to identify with very closely. Frances Rafferty's portrayal of the new teacher did much to bring the film to life - I had always wished for a teacher like her. It was great to see the reaction of her charges when she turned out to be not quite what they had expected. One of my all-time favourite films for pure entertainment. Not deep but well acted, interesting, and a good treatment of a juvenile subject.

Not quite a feature length film, the movie runs about an hour. It's a rather curious featurette, an apparent attempt to revive Our Gang-type humor following the horrors of WWII. The trouble is that the kids don't quite gel, while Larry Olsen in the lead just doesn't seem the really mischievous little rascal he's supposed to be. Unfortunately, this is a long way from Alfalfa and Spanky. There are some funny set-ups, including a madcap go-cart that kids really loved when I sat in the front row, lo, so many years ago.

I have to confess that my real purpose here is to send a belated valentine to the big girl who captivated me then (when I hated girls) and still does whenever I chance to see her-- the ever lovely and beguiling Frances Rafferty. Seeing her now in the teacher's role, I realize what an indelibly sparkling presence she was. It's really her sloe-eyed beauty and physical grace that injects life and energy into this minor production. There's an unforced naturalness here that's perfect for the role. I guess she never had the big Hollywood career she probably hoped for. Maybe she was too athletic as her decathlon skills prove in the surprisingly feminist picnic scene. (Watch her "float like a butterfly", even though she refuses to "sting like a bee".) But whatever the reasons behind her career, she certainly made a life-long impression on this front-row kid. Thank you, Frances, and may you rest in peace.