Chicken Feed

This Hal Roach comedy short, Chicken Feed, is the sixty-second in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. The Gang are watching magician Johnny Downs (in disguise with mustache and proper costume) turning little Jean into a rabbit which inspires Joe to try the same on Farina's little sister Mango (Allen "Farina" Hoskins' actual sis Jannie). She runs out of sight of them in her box and in comes a monkey. That's when the trouble begins...This was a pretty uncomfortable short to watch what with all the racial connotations concerning Mango's "change". There was also a pretty cruel sequence involving a duck and that monkey though I admit I laughed at that one especially since neither of them seemed damaged by it. This short was later partially remade as the talkie series entry A Lad an' A Lamp which also wasn't very funny. The version I saw was only 12 minutes so this may not have been the complete version. Oh, and Robert F. McGowan was on vacation during this period so the actual directors of this one was his nephew Anthony Mack and Cherles Oelze. And there were some sound effects added like lions roaring when Farina encounters some in cages which was another sequence I thought was pretty funny. P.S. This was Downs' last appearance in the series. He appeared in vaudeville and feature films before hosting a San Diego kids show during the '50s in between "Little Rascals" shorts (presumably also among the silent ones he was in being in that show so he could talk of his experiences in them). He also sold real estate before passing on June 6, 1994. This short also marked Harry Spear's first appearance in the series. When Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann wrote their book "The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang", they included a "Where Are They Now?" section and had little info on Spear noting the last thing known about him was from a 1955 article that said he was working in a bank in San Pedro. This site lists him as having died on September 22, 2006.

The Gang arrives at a neighborhood magic show, with Johnny Downs as the magician (in his last "Our Gang" appearance). The Gang is amazed at Johnny's big trick, making Jean Darling turn into a rabbit with some magic powder (the trick is done with a hidden trap door). The Gang swipes Johnny's magic powder and decides to use it on Farina's sister. To their amazement, they think they have transformed her into a monkey (it's actually a loose monkey who has taken her place at the last moment.) Can the Gang turn her back?

"Chicken Feed," while possessing some funny gags, ultimately fails with some bad gags, which are often tasteless. The idea of turning Farina's sister into a monkey -- and then holding Farina back while he tries to rescue his sister -- ranks as one of the most tasteless gags in "Our Gang" history.

The treatment of the animals in the film is also brought into question. A monkey and a goose have water sprayed in their faces, and the poor goose's neck is trapped through a knothole with a horseshoe.

This film was directed by Robert A. McGowan, who was more often credited as "Anthony Mack." He was the nephew of the Gang's main director, Robert McGowan. While "Uncle Bob" McGowan's films contained heart and often sentiment, nephew Mack's films -- like "Chicken Feed" --often veered into questionable territory. "Uncle Bob" McGowan was on a break from the series, leaving it to his less talented nephew. It's no surprise that Anthony Mack resurfaced some eleven years later to co-write the abysmal MGM-produced "Our Gang" films.

The storyline, obviously in bad taste, must have been successful at the time. It was reworked five years later into the equally tasteless Gang film "A Lad An' A Lamp." Not only do we have to sit through the same tasteless storyline in that film, but we get to hear tasteless dialogue as well!

At least "Chicken Feed" was silent. 4 out of 10.