marjcbs

It's nice to see the Gang on familiar grounds: seeing a real-life event with adults, and then trying to imitate it. It worked in "Robot Wrecks," and to a certain extent, it works in this short.

Just as in the adult premiere, several of the Gang members proudly make their entrance in the "big premiere" the kids plan. Buckwheat even tries to make "star footprints" by stepping into some gloppy cement which dries instantly ("Hey, I'm stuck!") What's rather funny is how he begins to doze off...which his feet still in the hard cement!

As for the movie the Gang makes, it's slightly funny at best...though there is one particularly amusing scene in which Darla proclaims, "Here comes my hero now, isn't he handsome?" expecting Alfalfa to enter on cue; instead, an errant goat wanders onto the set!

Finally, this short relies on the can't-miss gimmick of Alfalfa's unforgettably bad singing. This would be an otherwise ordinary scene, except that a hen roosted above, drops an egg in Alfalfa's mouth. After he swallows it, "cheep cheep" is heard through the rest of his song, followed by an animated chick coming out of his mouth. Probably one of the most ingenious comic scenes MGM delivered in an Our Gang film.

One of the few MGM shorts worth watching more than once!

.....and that's all too seldom in the MGM Our Gang series.

What a neat idea: the Gang takes a bus to go fishing with tons of equipment, much to the frustration of an already-irritable conductor. This is one of those plot ideas that just can't fail.

Some of the best scenes involves a running gag in which each Gang member stumbles onto the double-decker bus with all their fishing gear, and the conductor yells at each kid to pay the fare; each kid keeps saying: "Mickey's got it!" And, naturally, Mickey is the last kid to get on the bus.

There's another funny scene in which the Gang learns that the bus is heading to the West River (and doesn't everyone know kids fish in the East River?). They're about to get off the bus (further delaying the bus's departure ), when the conductor convinces them that the fishing is better in the West River -- he even goes so far as to name each and every fish that lives in the West River!

Other scenes work as well. Aside from that, the Gang looks pretty good in this short. The acting is fairly natural (which is commonly a stretch for these aging young actors). Even Mickey isn't his usual whiny, obnoxious self (no offense to Robert Blake). What's more, the kids' innocence is priceless; at the end of the film, the bus leaves them at the bus stop, zooming away at double-speed. "I think that conductor was sore at us," says Alfalfa. "Yeah," replies Mickey, "I wonder why?"

The actor is plays the poor conductor is perfectly cast, as are the harangued passengers on the bus. Commenting on the delay, one man moans, "I'd have been better off if I'd walked to work!"

What a wonderful film!

This is another one of those MGM mini-musicals in which the Our Gang kids seems almost peripheral, at least compared to the professional dancers in this film

In the beginning, we see the likes of Spanky, Buckwheat, Mickey, etc., as they ask Walter Wills to help them put on another show (sounds like "Ye Olde Minstrels II").

And in the opening number we do have Janet (in her pre-obnoxious days) doing a cute rendition of "Grandman Wore a Bustle." Then Spanky, Mickey, Buckwheat, and Froggy do a medley of songs. Each does a solo, except Buckwheat for some reason: perhaps he couldn't sing (though that didn't stop the other boys..heh heh).

Ironically, the best part of this short doesn't even involve the talents of Our Gang. This is where the professional child dancers come out to do show their stuff: they do the jitterbug, the Charleston, the boogie woogie, etc. It's really neat to watch.

With that said, I'm not entirely convinced I was watching an Our Gang short. It was more like a Dancing School recital with the Gang as supporting players. Still, it's an overall enjoyable film.