The Cobbler

In this short, The Cobbler, the eighth in a series of "Our Gang/Little Rascals" films that started in 1922, the gang hangs around Mr. Tuttle's shop. Among the customers: rich girl Mary who the boys instantly become smitten with. Mickey tries to get her attention by bending his thumb backwards, Jack wiggles his ear, and Jackie chews some nails! Earlier, Farina almost ate some tacks. Good thing both boys had the sharp objects removed! After Mary leaves and Mr. Tuttle receives his back pension, the boys go on a picnic as they encounter car trouble and a tramp who resides at the open park...Among the gags I didn't mention: Pete the Pup turns out to be scared of the store cat, Mr. Tuttle's car goes backward after Jackie ties the rope from a truck behind them going the opposite way, and Farina has a big stomach after hanging around some watermelons at the park then we find out he hid one under his shirt! This very amusing short was the first solo effort of Tom McNamara after collaborating with resident helmer Robert McGowan on 5 of the first six "Our Gang" entries. His next one, Boys to Board, was his last. Kudos to the YouTube poster for adding LeRoy Shield's music score from the "Little Rascals" talkies here. Also appearing here was Mickey Daniels' father, Richard, as Mr. Tuttle. Once again, I highly recommend The Cobbler for any fan of the gang and anyone who loves silent comedy.

Cobbler, The (1923)

** (out of 4)

Our Gang short has the kids playing in Mr. Tuttle's shop when he learns that he has gotten his back pension. He takes the kids on a picnic but the car breaks down and while he walks to get water the kids do battle with a tramp who tried killing Mickey. This entry in the Hal Roach series certainly isn't a good movie but it's decent enough for fans to make it worth viewing, although I'm sure many people will be troubled by some of the images here. I know a lot of people say the Our Gang series was good because it showed white kids and black kids playing and for the longest time I bought into this but having actually seen many of the movies now it appears that the only reason the black kids are here are to be made fun of. You have one scene with Farina eating too much watermelon and an earlier scene where he falls into some powder making him appear to be white. Another rather bizarre sequence comes when the tramp tries to kill Mickey, which certainly isn't funny and not something you'd typical see in a "kids" film. Outside of these images the film moves along fairly well but I'd argue that there really isn't that good of a screenplay on hand here. The first half offers up simple jokes of the kids causing trouble and fighting inside the shop. The second half features the stuff with the tramp and it's not even funnier.

Within a scant half dozen of shorts the makers of the Our Gang comedies quickly found their voices that would carry the series for over twenty years. One of the tenets was that the kids were leery of adults and authority figures. The flip side to that was that they usually embraced the elderly. We think of the Rascal's as always being coddled by understanding Grandma's, but by and large that was usually in the talkie era. During the silent era that role generally fell upon kindly Grandpa-types, such as the title character of this film.

Mr. Tuttle runs a small shoe repair shop and the Gang has the run of the place to come and go as they please. Farina's daily excuse for living is to walk in and immediately head to the curtained back room to do battle against a most malicious cat. When he exits covered in flour we know the cat is once again victorious. The silent era Gang could be such a whirlwind of destruction that at times it boggles the mind, but even though the cobbler is constantly yelling at the kids to behave there is still an unspoken affection between all concerned. Fighting seems to be the main occupation between pals Mickey and Jack (and eating nails seems to keep everyone else busy) so when little rich girl Mary arrives to have a heel repaired the rivalry seen in THE CHAMPEEN (1923) continues unabated. She takes leave in a luxurious automobile and the Gang is told by their friend that when his pension check arrives they too will take a glorious automobile trip. No sooner is that title card out of his mouth than a mailman enters with said check. In one of the funnier dissolve gags in the series we fade in on the group all decked out in the finest traveling attire – frock coats, caps and goggles. We then cut to the most modern, up-to-date car of 1923 which immediately drives away revealing the shoemakers dilapidated model A.

From there it's almost as if a new short is starting as the group endures car troubles, tries to repair it on their own after their guardian goes for help, and then do what all kids do – explore their surroundings. The gags are all fine as they correlate to the kids rapidly developing screen personalities – from Farina cavorting in a watermelon patch (which some find racist. I just like to think that he loves watermelon, as emphasized by the final gag of having a swollen belly), to the kids encounter with a disgruntled tramp. A chase ensues but what I find fascinating is the mammoth hay stacks they clamber on. Blocks of hay bales stacked to the sky in a willy-nilly fashion so that tunnels are formed inside the massive structure. It is so large that the tramp was living inside it until the Gang disturbs his peace. And with so many avenues of escape available we know that the Gang is never in danger of ever being caught (not with tunnels available) so instead we marvel at the Gang's world where castles of hay appear and cars can run on wind power.

For some inexplicable reason, an elderly cobbler agrees to watch the kids...and spends most of the film regretting it. The kids go from one problem to another to another...and you have to feel sorry for the man. But despite this, later he takes the boys on an outing and, as expected, things are a mess because the kids are jerks. What is NOT expected is when an evil hobo attacks the kids and chases them with a pitchfork. So, it's up to T-Bone (an early incarnation of Petey) to save the day.

There is a lot to like in this one and it's got one crazy situation and laugh after another. There's only one uncomfortable laugh towards the end, when Farina is found in the watermelon patch...a rather sad stereotype for a black child.

When kindly Richard Daniels gets his back pension, he takes Our Gang on a picnic. There, they tangle with tramp Dick Gilbert.

Although the kids usually had issues with most adults, who constantly forced them to do things like go to school and practice the contrabassoon -- I'm making that one up -- they usually got on well with the elderly, who looked on them as fondly as I do, albeit with occasional bouts of exasperation. Here we see both sets of adult in practice.

This entry in the long-running series does clear up one mystery that has puzzled the ages: is Farina a boy or a girl? In this one, as Ernie Morrison's young sibling, the feminine pronoun is used. At one time, this might have puzzled people, but in this modern age, when people seem to choose their own gender, I'm glad that Alan Hoskin's character chose one that I can identify.