The Ol' Gray Hoss

The rascals come to the rescue of a retired fire chief who now scratches out a living driving a horse-drawn cab when a taxi driver tries to muscle in on his patch. Decent enough entry in Hal Roach's long-running series.

This story revolves around an old man who feels alone in the world aside from the gang who keeps him company and his old horse. He runs a horse and buggy business, but he has new competition: an auto taxi. The gang helps him to maintain his job by sabotaging the other man's.

This is a very funny film overall. Wheezer namely is incredible. He constantly asks the older children what to do, "Me wanna do something!" They brush him off by telling him to sit on an egg, to soak his head, and to roll a peanut. He does so reluctantly, happy to be doing something. Wheezer is a tiny boy in this short, but he has a big personality that really aids the film.

Old Grey Hoss also employs some advanced forms of film making including slow motion and animation.

The gang loves old Richard Cummings and his horse. Together they run what seems to be the last horse cab in town. But Cummings has a note coming due, which he may have to sell the horse to pay, and a new, motorized taxi cab is coming into direct competition. Fortunately the gang wants to help out, with typically disastrous results.

It's another of the Our Gang shorts in which the kids express their affinity for old people and animals. When the series was first conceived, it was going to be about the kids and their animals. The latter part got sorted into the weird Dippy-Doo-Dads series that lasted a couple of years.

It's a typically delightful short, with a lot of extended sight gags as Joe Cobb runs the taxi business while Cummings is busy trying to raise money, and Wheezer keeps saying he wants to do something, and being told off.... and going to do it.

The gang is friends with an old man who is operating one of the last horse and buggies. The man laments that the cabbies are putting him out of business, so the kids decide to help. Now, help could involve washing the horse and even driving the buggy...which they do. But in this case it also involves sabotaging the mean cabbie's car again and again. It's all very funny...but also shows an evil side to the gang as well! See the film, you'll see what I mean. Overall, the film has some nice gags and is well worth seeing...just don't expect these kids to be cute or sweet...they definitely are NOT.

This Hal Roach comedy short, The Ol' Gray Hoss, is the seventy-eighth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. Retired fire chief Cummings would be feeling left off of society if it wasn't for the kids around keeping him company and helping with his taxi business especially when a younger rival is around getting the business. Well, that rival would be if he didn't get sabotaged at every turn by them! This is quite a funny gag-filled entry in the series with some animated special effects adding to the proceedings. It's especially funny seeing toddler Weezer take many of the gang's exclamations literally culminating at the unbelievable final scene. This was one of several in the series directed by Anthony Mack-really Robert A. McGowan, nephew of usual series director Robert F. McGowan. His work is usually not considered great but here it's non-stop hilarious. So that's a recommendation of The Ol' Gray Hoss.