Skippy

SKIPPY (1931) has nothing to do with the Childhood of a certain obnoxious and whining 'Sports Commentator' on ESPN, whose arm waving and mugging for the camera is reminiscent of Benito Mussolini. Nor is it directly related to a similarly named (but excellent) peanut butter. It is a heart warming film about Children and their simple but important life forming adventures.

The film centers around two (2) characters SKIPPY (Jackie Cooper) and his new found friend SOOKY (Robert Coogan). SKIPPY is from the right side of the tracks, SOOKY the wrong, Shanty Town, which SKIPPY finds far more interesting then his native haunts. Excellently directed by Norman Taurog, slighting neither the Child actors nor the Adult supporting cast, there is a fine morality lesson here showing the importance of friendship and loyalty, both in joyful times and in tragedy. It also shows the importance of parental understanding for Children's problems.

Norman Taurog won the Best Directing Oscar for his sensitive handling of what could have become maudlin. Sad to say this film is seldom seen today nor its sequel SOOKY (1931). The film is appropriate today for Parents to watch with their young Children ages four (4) to eight (8) for it still has lessons of value to teach. After those ages in the 21st Century they will be to bored or cynical to care and that's a shame.

Note for the Historical challenged, Mussolini (1883>1945) was a minor league Fascist dictator in the first half of the 20th Century. History has not been kind too his legacy. Nor will it be to his imitators, take note IL BAYLESS.

P.S. Rewatched today on TCM (02/22/2011) to see if our review holds up, IT DOES! So our only conclusion from the negative votes is that these must be from 'kiss-asses' to SKIPPY 'Peanut Butter For Brains' BAYLESS or sycophants of the ESPN (Eastern SeaBoard Propaganda Network)! Neither attributes flattering to those voters! As for the Peanut Butter SKIPPY. It is our favorite, low fat, extra crunchy.

The little son of a doctor makes friends with a poor kid from shantytown.

First time viewing for me and I liked it very much. Jackie Cooper is great in the title role, so much that he got an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. The thing I liked most about this was how it shows what it is like to be a kid, especially in the early 1930s but still has some timeless quality. All the children in this film seem like real kids, not actors. It has a bit of Our Gang vibe to it, as in the scenes where the kids put on a show and sell lemonade. Cooper and Donald Haines were both members of Our Gang. Haines played a bully in this, just as he did in the Our Gang short The First Seven Years (1930) . Cooper and Haines appeared together in that one too.

Some interesting trivia is that Jackie Cooper was at the Oscar ceremony but fell asleep on Marie Dressler's arm, so he did not hear that he lost to Lionel Barrymore in A Free Soul. Norman Taurog, the director did win for this. He was Cooper's uncle (by marriage). This became infamous years later when Cooper revealed that Taurog got him to cry by pretending he was going to shoot Jackie's dog. His crying scene here is heartrending.

This movie is a MUST for Jackie Cooper fans or for anyone who likes sentimental comedy/dramas of the early 1930s.

"Skippy" is a very unusual film because young Jackie Cooper was only 8 years-old when he made the movie...and was nominated for Best Actor! In addition, the film was nominated for Best Picture and the director, Norman Taurog, received the Oscar for Best Direction*.

The story is similar to a full-length Little Rascals episode...minus the humor. Apparently folks in the early 30s ate up schmaltzy stories featuring kids....and the public ate this one up!

Skippy (Cooper) is a child who lives in a lovely home and his father is the head of the board of health. However, his dad is also rather snobby and doesn't want Skippy playing with the poor kids who live on the other side of the tracks (literally). However, Skippy likes the kids in Shantytown....and who can blame him since the kids living near him are annoying...with Jackie Searl playing the usual sort of annoying brat he played in most every film! However, Skippy's new friend, Sooky (Robert Coogan--Jackie Coogan's brother) is in a lot of trouble, as the nasty dog catcher got his dog and he can't afford to pay for the return of the mutt. So, Skippy tries to help out the best he can.

This is a modestly enjoyable film. My only complaint about it is the ending...it gives the audience everything they probably wanted but it wasn't logical at all. It's a shame, as the film was quite good until this 'out of nowhere' ending. Still, overall it's well worth seeing....particularly if you have a high tolerance for schmaltz.







*In his autobiography, Jackie Cooper recounted a story about the director (who was also his uncle). Apparently, the script called for Cooper to cry and the boy was having difficulty doing it. So, Taurog apparently told a crew member to 'take the dog out and shoot it'...and the crew member apparently shot a gun into the air to make it sound like they really DID do it! The boy cried...and never forgave his uncle for this! And, frankly, I can't blame the boy and think Taurog was a bit of a monster.

Skippy (Jackie Cooper) is the spunky son of stern Dr. Herbert Skinner who hates the poor and forbids him from returning to the poor side of town. Nevertheless, he goes back to the shantytown with his friend Sidney. He saves new kid Sooky from bully Harley Nubbins.

I really like the kids. In fact, I like most of the kids and their amateurish acting. This is Our Gang or Peanuts. Jackie Cooper would get an Oscar nomination. I'm not sure if this film deserves Best Director. It's all about the kids and Jackie in particular. The movie is best when it's just the kids. I would like more of Sidney and Eloise. I even like the bully. Robert Coogan does try but he's mostly half step behind his older brother except for the last act. The story takes over at that point and hits the audience with a brutal turn. It takes the movie to another level.

I didn't expect much from "Skippy." How substantial could a Depression-era movie based on a comic strip be? But I found myself really into this film. I watched it with my kids and we all really enjoyed it.

It's dated for sure, and the precocious antics of the child actors will likely grate on some. But I liked some of the cultural subtleties in this movie that I found parallels for in our current world. Like the hypocrisy found in Skippy's parents, affluent, casually prejudiced people who think poor, underprivileged folk are deserving of medical care (he's a doctor) but not of basic kindness and empathy (when Skippy wants to go to the "other side of the tracks" his mom asks him if he wants to grow up to be like "those" people). Or the tendency of Skippy's parents to underestimate the complexity of a child's world and who dismiss a child's problems because they're deemed less important than those of adults (not to a child, they're not).

Jackie Cooper is the rare child actor, especially from that time period, who's able to be truly winning instead of aggravating. He received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance, I believe the youngest actor to ever achieve that feat. The film was also nominated for Outstanding Production and Best Writing (Adaptation), while Norman Taurog won that year's Oscar for Best Director. I've read that he got Jackie Cooper to cry at key moments in the film by threatening to shoot his dog. What a guy.

Grade: A-