tomneiman

1938-"Men in Fright" 1939-"Cousin Wilbur"-had it not been for the acting credits, I would have thought this Scotty Beckett playing Alfalfa's Cousin Wilbur and in the mid 30's playing Spanky's witty sidekick were two different people. 1940-"Kiddie Kure"-Alfalfa's swan song. He more than compensates for his deliberate, underachieved acting in most of the other MGM shorts. 1941-"Come Back Miss Pipps" 1942-"Going to Press" 1943-"Election Daze"-the kid who taunts Froggy in his election speech is cute. Janet Burstyn is at her best. In this short, the Gang shows they have fully recovered from the loss of Spanky. 1944-"Tale of a Dog"-last of the Our Gang shorts to be produced. Director Cyril Enfield, after a poor start in "Radio Bugs", and mediocre effort in "Dancing Romeo" now shows himself as a director of Our Gang shorts.

1929 "Moan and Groan, Inc." Thanks to Edgar Kennedy and Max Davidson 1930 "Pups is Pups" The quintessential of all Little Rascals flicks. 1931 "Little Daddy" Farina knows how to cry without stirring the audiences to sob or self- pity. Compare that with "Dogs is Dogs", "Fly My Kite", and "Big Ears". 1932 "Free Wheelin' " 1933 "The Kid From Borneo" 1934 "Mama's Little Pirate" Spanky, not quiet 6 years old, makes his debut as the leader to whom all the other members of the rascals' troupe rally around. 1935 "Beginner's Luck" Alfalfa's debut. Rascals at their best, making shamble of the schemes of pretentious adults. 1936 "Divot Diggers" McGowan returns to produce one of his best Rascals short. One Reelers 1936 "Two Too Young" 1937 "Rushin' Ballet" Rascals again show they are at their best in shambling adult snobbishness and pretentiousness. 1938 "Hide and Shriek". Kids too bratty and obnoxious in "Feed 'em and Weep"; much too much mushiness in "Then Came the Brawn", and "Three Men in a Tub"; "Bear Facts" An adult prank at kids' expense.

Contrary to the defamatory statements made by so-called Our Gang critics Hal Erickson and Leonard Maltin, I found this to be an amusing film. I especially enjoyed the scenes of Buckwheat, Big Shot, and Smallpox the dog, the phone booth, Buckwheat covered with ice, and the talking animation of the dog at the end. I found this film to be funnier than so-called Little Rascals' classics such as "Dogs is Dogs" which I did not find to be funny at all. Give these MGM episodes a break. Release them together with of all of the other 88 Hal Roach talking episodes in packets of DVDs. While I'm at it, maybe somebody will find all of the missing films of the silent Our Gang episodes. That way, all 221 of them will be ready for packaged release on DVD. What a collection!