Playin' Hookey

Hal Roach's Rascals create havoc in a movie studio when Joe Cobb's mutt is hired to replace a dog whose "tied up for the next four years on a Stroheim picture.' This kind of stuff was probably great fun for little kids back in the '20s, but the endless chases and pratfalls become repetitive long before the final iris out.

This Hal Roach comedy short, Playin' Hookey, is the sixty-fifth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series. Pansy-played by Pete the Pup-is chasing chickens and tearing furniture to the consternation of Joe's mother and father. So the dad decides to shoot Pansy but Joe tells him to play dead beforehand. He then overhears a shooting by cops in one car chasing bad guys in another. Turns out a movie is being shot and they need a dog. Joe convinces the director to cast Pansy. The rest of the gang tag along as they wreck havoc at the All-American Studios...Directed by Anthony Mack, nephew of usual regular Gang director Bob McGowan, there are quite some funny scenes involving people in animal costumes and one actor in particular getting trampled by the kids. Another player, Charlie Hall, plays a comic with a prop mustache who gets involved in a pie fight, similar to one done on Laurel & Hardy's The Battle of the Century which filmed on the same Hal Roach Studios lot and which Hall also appeared in. Another notable appearance is of one Charley Oelze-prop man at Roach-who shows Hall here how to handle prop gun powder. Oh, and as you have probably figured out, the title seems to have nothing to do with this short's plot since no one mentions skipping school here...P.S. The black woman in maid's uniform was Edith Fortier, aunt of Allen "Farina" Hoskins.

When the kids spot a cops-and-robbers chase being filmed on the street, they go to take a look and overhear that the trained dog the director wanted is in a von Stroheim picture for the next four years. Joe Cobb immediately offers Pete the Pup for the job, and Our Gang goes along to the studio. Pete is a wash-out, but when they are ordered off the set, Pete goes into action and everyone runs wild throughout the open sets.

Everyone who loves Hal Roach's Rascals has a favorite, and Pete is mine: the finest dog ever on the movie screen, and he gets to unleash all of his tricks in this episode of the long-running series that has the kids being kids -- and also, makes fun of the movie-making industry of the era. It also has a lot more adults than most of the shorts in the series, as Roach regulars like Sam Lufkin, Charlie Hall and Tiny Sandford take a break from the Laurel & Hardy and Charley Chase units to play studio personnel. See if you can spot the all the supporting comics, and watch out for the pantomime rhinoceros!

"Playin' Hookey" is an enjoyable Our Gang comedy that starts out horrifically. Wheezer is, as usual, being a destructive little jerk. He's also encouraged Pansty the dog (why Pete is called Pansy, I have no idea) to destroy everything in the house. As a result of this and an attack on mom, mom orders dad to shoot the dog!!! Yes, a kids' short film where the dog is gonna be shot!!

Fortunately, Joe manages to save the dog and soon they come upon some movie makers who are upset because they cannot get the dog they wanted for a film. Joe insists Pansy can do it....and after the pair enter the studio, the rest of the gang sneak inside and create nothing but havoc. This part of the film is enjoyable and NOT horrifying like the initial portion!

Overall, not a bad film despite an awful beginning. Worth seeing and cute.

By the way, in the short you hear one of the filmmakers say 'he's tied up for 4 years with the von stroheim picture'. This is a reference to the debacle of "Greed"...a full-length film that originally ran 42 reels!!!!