Hook and Ladder

For decades this episode was just below my Top Ten in the Little Rascals canon, but a recent viewing fest has finally bumped it up to that hallowed spot.

This could lay fair claim as the series' most inventive episode. Gadgetry abounds. Stymie, Dickie and little brother Spanky are among the heads of the gang's own Fire Brigade, responding to a newspaper article pleading for more local firefighters. Dickie Moore, one of Hollywood's most in-demand child actors, makes his series debut here. Sadly, it was to be his last season as well. Spanky, who'd debuted half a season prior, has the very funniest scenes. Baby Spanky just slays me--whether he's rebelling at taking his half-hour medicine dosage, or whether he's dinkering with the makeshift intercom system by blowing dust onto Dorothy's head--accompanied by that incomparable nasty laugh. Stymie is simply in his greatest period here.

And there's that supporting cast of characters: dogs, cats, horses, goats are pressed into service, primarily to power the gang's three (four?) fire trucks. I especially like the little dog on the treadmill (was that Laughing Gravy from the Laurel & Hardy series?); his barks are dubbed in for extra loudness. And was Pete's offscreen yelp supposed to be the cat in the cage scratching him? And in case you hadn't noticed, the shot of the goat and mule sitting back down was really that same shot run backwards--the same comic device was later used in the episode "Honkey Donkey".

The year 1932 introduced a new actor to the Little Rascals: child star Dickie Moore. The seven-year-older had already been in almost thirty movies, including a trio of silents, when he was offered a part in August 1932's "Hook and Ladder." Some of the gags in Dickie's first "Our Gang" short dates back to the series' inaugural year in 1922's 'The Fourth Alarm." Moore's character is chief of the kids' fire squad who discovers a barn fire. The barn, filled with dynamite and barrels of black powder, poses a challenge for the rascals' fireboys, stretching all the resources they have in their possession. Spanky is Dickie's younger brother here, and requires a dose of dewormer every 30 minutes. Dickie's stay with Our Gang lasted just a year, but his withdrawal from the rascals didn't put a halt to his acting career, which stretched to 1957 when he played the role of Confederate General Jeb Stuart. He retired to start his own public relations firm in the Los Angeles area, operating the business for 44 years.

This is an odd Our Gang comedy because instead of the kids, this particular one seems to star the people who made the wonderful props for this film. Seriously. This is one you just have to see to believe!

"Hook and Ladder" begins with a posting in the paper by the Fire Department. It seems they want assistance from the community. The kids take this to mean that they need to form their own volunteer fire house--and they do. It's filled with TONS of amazing props but the most interesting, by far, are the crazy fire engines they drive. Eventually, the boys actually happen upon a real fire--and they don't know it, but there is dynamite in the place! What's to happen next?

Overall, one of the better comedies for Our Gang. While the humor is okay, the props are just mega-cool and worth seeing.

To help out their city during a shortage of fire fighters, the Rascals have developed their own HOOK AND LADDER company. Converting an old barn into a firehouse, and using a motley assortment of wagons & vehicles, they are vigilant and alert to respond instantly to an alarm - if `Cheef' Dickie can get the pants on little brother Spanky. But when a warehouse full of dynamite begins to burn, and the Gang are the first on the scene, things really begin to heat up...

A very funny little film. The Rascals' fire fighting amenities, in the best tradition of Rube Goldberg, are a delight - as is Spanky & his medicine oil tribulations.

What can you say? What more could you ask for? You've got Spanky, Stymie, and Dickie all at the top of their game...you've got the perfect supporting cast in Dorothy, Breezy, and Sherwood, plus the BEST collection of gadgets the gang has ever used. FIRE ENGINES! I was in heaven when I saw this short 30 some odd years ago and I'm in heaven when I see it with my 3 year old now!

Spanky absolutely steals the show here with the medicine gag and his constant harassment of the older kids...priceless! These little ones take direction like real pros...Their timing is dead on and every gag hits the mark - As many have said, you just don't see this kind of work today! Couple this with some real action as the gang puts their contraptions to work and battles "a real fire" and you've got one of the top 5 Little Rascals shorts of all time!

Most of this episode was shot over in the Palms area of West Los Angeles. The place where the gang battled the fire is still a vacant lot today. The real fire station shown in the film also still stands, LAFD Station 43, located on National Blvd. just east of Motor.