Free Wheeling

The gang operate a donkey-powered taxi service in this fun Our Gang entry. The taxi itself is a marvel of ingenuity that has to be seen to be believed.

I recently bought a collection of Little Rascals shorts on DVD for my 3 year old daughter...needless to say she loves these pieces more than anything on TV today...she's memorized many of the lines in them and will quip off at will at any time around the house... This particular episode serves as a sterling example of the Little Rascals at their best...not only the kids but the adult team of McGowan, Roach, and Walker. Their direction and writing are fantastic, and create humor that is enjoyable and timeless... 70 years later we still find ourselves in stitches watching the gang's adventures.

This episode features Dickie Moore and Stymie Beard, along with Spanky, Kendall McComas (Brisbane), and Dorothy (DeBorba)... The premise of the sick rich kid wanting to "rough it up a bit" with the "street urchins" is refreshing to this day...color of skin was no barrier. The taxi contraption is ingenious and hilarious to watch in action. Spanky provides priceless comic relief going up against the poor little monkey. In the end, every issue is resolved and it even seems Dickie's (rich kid) parents view Stymie (street urchin) as a hero! Look for Stymie's real-life mother in a brief cameo...

Could you imagine how much fun it would be if we could watch one of these shorts in a theater before the main attraction (instead of all the commercial advertising)like the old days? Imagine what a treat people who've never heard of this series would be in for!

I can't speak for other reviewers, but when I first saw this episode as a kid, my first reaction was: "My friends and I need to build a car like this." And hey, it's light years before anyone was serious about sustainable energy vehicles! I wanted to build that same taxi in our driveway. Of course, it didn't take me long to realize that I didn't have the building materials, the donkey, or the know how, to create anything this exceptionally wonderful! Those lucky kids!

It's films like this that define The Little Rascals as kids who got along very well, and race or gender had very little meaning (especially to the children). Child labor laws hadn't quite gone into effect yet. And it would be several more years before PETA stepped in to help protect the rights of the animal actors. But the film stands as it is, representing that particular period of time and should not be taken too seriously.

No spoilers necessary. The film speaks for itself. Although I will reveal that some of the scenes on Mulholland Drive will bring back quite a lot of memories to those of us that grew up in southern California in the 50s and 60s.

There are those who complain about the supposed racism of the Our Gang/Little Rascals films. This one dispels a lot of that.

This is where rich kid Dickie is hampered by his overprotective mother, who despises Stymie, who she refers to as "That colored boy" and a "street urchin," but the two bond nonetheless and without spoiling it, let's just say that Stymie's actions in this film changes the snooty mother's mind.

Not only is this a nice and somewhat subtle message about friendship across lines of race and class, but the film is good and funny to boot. The gang's makeshift cab, their encounter with the drunken mule, Spanky playing with the monkey, the wild taxi chase, and the gag with the midgets and the car (you have to see this, although it's in pretty good taste). While there is no racism here, this is certainly RASCALism at its best!

"Free Wheeling" is one of the best Little Rascals films. It's loaded with the sight gags and exaggerated sound effects that make films from Hal Roach Studios so funny. A whole variety of hilarious things happen in "Free Wheeling," from a mule that gets drunk to a traffic cop jumping 12 feet in the air. A must see for any Little Rascals fan!