Dog Days

This long-lost (until recently) Our Gang comedy is filled with elements that make the silent Our Gangs so special to those of us who belong to their underground cult of admirers.

In a nutshell, this deals with the Gang enjoying their dogs "p'forming" some interesting tricks until one of them comes to the rescue of our lady of cuteness Mary Kornman, playing a rich girl as she did in "Mary Queen of Tots" and "Derby Day." The cute one invites the poor kids of the Gang to her birthday party as a reward, and LOOK OUT! On the whole, none of this will cause you to bust your guts and bang on the floor in hysterical laughter, but it's all quite charming in its simplicity and I would highly recommend it.

In the early Our Gang silent comedies, Ernie Morrison played Farina's older brother. Well, in 1924, Ernie's parents decided to put him in Vaudeville so this left a Farina (who was often billed as a girl even though he was played by Allen Hoskins) without a brother. So, for a few films they had Eugene Jackson play 'Pineapple'.... Farina's older brother. "Dog Days" is one of these films with Jackson.

The boys are all comparing what tricks their dogs can do but it seems only Mickey's dog has any abilities. He not only can be sneaky, but he is a real hero when Mary's pony cart runs amok with her in it...and the dog saves her. As a result, she is grateful and invites the Gang and the hero dog to her birthday party...where, oddly, the Gang is actually pretty well behaved!!

Overall, it seems as if the filmmakers were going less for laughs in this one and more for a stronger story. I appreciate this and think it's actually among the better Our Gang silents. Well worth seeing.

Dog Days (1925)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining Our Gang short has the kids in the streets trying to teach their dogs tricks with the owner bragging about whose dog is the best. Soon Mickey's dog rescues a rich girl (Mary Kornman) after her horse runs away with her in the cart. The kids are invited to her party when trouble follows. Apparently DOG DAYS is one of the handful of shorts that were at one time lost only to be rediscovered years later. From what I've read this one here is still missing quite a bit of footage as it barely runs 12-minutes, which is a lot shorter than most films in the series. Either way, this was a pleasant entry and certainly one of the best I've seen up to this point in the series. I think what makes it work so well are the animals and the various tricks we get to see. The majority of them are quite nice to watch and this includes the big scene where the dog manages to catch up with the horse and jump on the back of the cart to save the day. Also funny were several moments where Mickey tells the gang to follow Mary's lead when it comes time to eat and poor Joe gets put through the pains of not being able to eat the ice cream.