Napoleon, Jr.

In the mid-late 1920s, the success of Hal Roach's "Our Gang" series led to many imitators, such as the very successful Mickey McGuire series (starring a very young Mickey Rooney) and many other shorts starring kids in various adventures. In the case of "Napoleon Jr.", it's the adventures of one kid, Jerry (Jerry Madden). And, like the other kids' series, Jerry has a car...this time powered by his dog.

The scene opens in court and Jerry is in trouble because of his dog. But the judge is a nice sort and dismisses the case. Immediately after, a mother and father are fighting over custody of their little girl....and while they bicker, the girl goes off with Jerry to have some adventures...including running amok on a cruise ship with a lot of wild animals which had escaped.

This is a pleasant silent short with a few nice gags. Nothing is great or earth-shattering...just cute and enjoyable and worth your time.

I've seen all the Our Gang comedies, Shirley Temple's Baby Burlesks films, this is the first Jerry Madden film I have seen and the kid is really a good little actor.

In this film we see Jerry befriend a little girl, her parents are divorcing and the court decides parental rights go to the mother. The father heads for Europe and the mother can't find her little girl, as she has gone for a drive with Jerry in his dog powered car. They all eventually end up on the ship heading for Europe, along with a menagerie of zoo animals, after all the chaos, the parents re-unite and Jerry lovingly puts his arm over the shoulder of his girlfriend.

The little girl in this film is named Flora Mae Moore, but the opening credits list her as Irene Adams, I cannot find any information about her, other than she appeared in four films between 1924-1927, she is a good little actress and a good pairing with Jerry Madden, As simple as this film is, it brought a smile to my face and that shows it still brings enjoyment.

With the success of Hal Roach's Our Gang, a lot of producers tried to get into the act, with the Mickey Maguire series starring Mickey Rooney, the Century Kids, and several others. Among them was Fox Films' series starring Jerry Madden and whatever child actress could be inserted into his most unchildlike behavior.

In this one, while Dora Dean and Bill Elliott are fighting over custody of Flora Mae Moore, she escapes with the aid of Jerry Madden and his dog Pal. Soon, all five of them are on a boat bound for Europe, while a menagerie intended for a zoo escapes and frightens animal custodian Frank Coleman.

This one tends more towards being cute than actually being funny, with the children behaving with a weird mix of childlike acceptance and adult behavior. Still, the presence of animal performers like Pal, Anna May the Elephant, and John Brown the Bear, make this one watchable.