Bear Shooters

An OUR GANG Comedy Short.

Wanting to become BEAR SHOOTERS, the Gang goes camping. Unfortunately, they settle on a spot occupied by a criminal hideout...

A very funny little film. Highlights: the `gorilla'; Chubby's limburger cheese. How would you like to grease Wheezer?

Typical Little Rascals short that relies on the cuteness of its stars to disguise the weakness of its humour. This time they find themselves terrorised by a poacher disguised as a gorilla when they go hunting. Dire stuff.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Bear Shooters, is the ninety-eighth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series and the tenth talkie. In this one, Spud can't go on a hunting trip with Jackie, Farina, and Chubby because he has to watch little brother Wheezer who has coughing jags. He tries to palm him off to sister Mary Ann who only agrees if she's allowed to go on the trip. So off they all go into the woods...I liked the gag of Wheezer accidentally getting Limburger cheese spread on him by Chubby and some of the reaction shots that entailed but otherwise, I thought this was one of the more underwhelming shorts in the series. The climax involving what happens at the end wasn't as hilarious as I had hoped so on that note, Bear Shooters is worth a look at least once.

"Bear Shooters," an "Our Gang" film from early 1930, contains many tried and true comedy elements from the series. The film is also notable for featuring a one-shot character, never to be seen again.

The Gang endeavor to go on a bear hunt. The have guns and weapons of various sizes, shapes, and accuracy! They go in their wagon of questionable stability to a creek. They stumble across a bootlegger's territory; the bootleggers decide to put a scare into the kids. Will the bootleggers be successful, or will the Gang have the last word?

"Bear Shooters" is a middling early talkie in the "Our Gang" series. The film contains enough laughs to see it through, but the plodding of early talkies such as this makes the film somewhat difficult to watch. Fortunately, with the previous release of "When the Wind Blows," the Hal Roach studio began to use background music in the films, which helped to move the films along. Before long, the background music became almost as famous as the films (particularly in this series, and in Roach's "Laurel and Hardy" films). Music is present here, and it does help.

Curiously, Leon Janney is added to the Gang as "Spud," and takes the lead in this film. This is Janney's only appearance in the series; he's good, but his character certainly doesn't add much, and the fact that Janney was thirteen when he made this film also added to his one-shot appearance.

"Bear Shooters" is a pleasant but unimportant entry in the series. 6 out of 10.

The Our Gang and friends go bear shooting but run into gorilla and criminals on the run. These short films were often showed before a film presentation. Jackie Cooper is adorable. As somebody who grew up watching the Little Rascals in syndication. The kid actors here and in others always seemed to have more fun and adventure. For the Our Gang, Hollywood came of age even during the Great Depression. The Little Rascals traveled a little bit before the overdevelopment of the soon to be metropolis of Los Angeles. Hollywood was still a small town during the Our Gang days. These short films with Little Rascals are always memorable. The kids in these shorts always try to act like adults.