Hi'-Neighbor!

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Although the Gang tries to be friendly with a snooty new rich kid - `HI-NEIGHBOR!' - it's obvious he disdains them all. And when his spiffy fire engine impresses Jane, it's time for the Rascals to build their own competition vehicle.

Some good laughs here. The building of the contraption, especially Spanky helping Stymie put on the wheels, is hilarious. Highlight: the race down the very steep hill.

This is the funniest, most thrilling OUR GANG I've ever seen. If I could wish for one picture in the series to be named to the National Film Registry or to survive the Apocalypse or what have you, it would probably be this one. I wouldn't say it's the best - the Rascals made too many different kinds of film for any one to be the best - but it embodies what made the series great.

One of those great things is Spanky McFarland. In some of his early shorts his grumpiness is a little overdone, but here he's just perfect. I doubt any of the children have ever been cuter.

Between the wars, and in spite of the depression, America remained in two halves. Today, those are red and blue states, but in the 30s it was rural America and the cities. During this time, the cities got bigger and the farm areas somewhat thinner but more resolute. You were either in one or the other, period.

There were essentially no suburbs, what we would think of today as suburbs. Except in Southern California. Suburbs were invented after the second war with Levittown and the huge incentive of veteran's mortgages. Only then would they become something fully recognized in the film consciousness as physically representing the middle class melting pot.

That's why it is so noticeable here. The gang lives in a suburb where rich, poor, back and white coexist.

Now think about that a moment. I'm pretty sure that Roach had no special agenda. This suburb was outside Los Angeles and handy for filming. But the notion of a gang that transcends class (but not in this episode) and race, and even sex mostly is pretty darn commendable. And I suppose in the long run it was as influential as all the other stuff that gets Spike Lee riled.

This one has a familiar theme for the Gang shorts: class is bad, women are fickle and attracted to cash, cooperation and imagination trumps all.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Okay, I love the Little Rascals! The ones from the 30s and 40s. 1934, i think, is the best season of shorts. Mainly it's becuase it contains Scotty Beckett and Spanky McFarland at there best! I give "Hi Neighbor" 10 stars!

The film begins with a moving fan rolling down the street. The boys are thrilled when they see a beautiful new toy fire engine on the truck and follow it--hoping to make a rich new friend. However, the new boy wants nothing to do with them and won't let them ride his neat firetruck. So, the gang decides to build their own. Not surprisingly, when they take it for a spin on the big hill, the shortcomings in their design become all too apparent.

This film bears a lot of similarity to another Our Gang short--"Hook and Ladder"--which is about the boys building their own firetruck in order to help the local firemen put out fires. However, the rear-projection in the final scene is a lot more obvious here in "Hi' Neighbor" and it's not quite as good as the earlier film. Worth seeing but far from their best.