4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rascals, Kids and more, August 12, 2007
This review is from: Classic Troublemakers - 21 Features on 3 DVDs (DVD)
LUM AND ABNER were owners of the Jot 'em Down Store, in the fictional rural town of Pine Ridge, Arkansas. In its heyday, this popular radio show (which aired from 1932 to '54) received 1.5 million pieces of fan mail a week-- more than any other sit-com. L & A were also stars of seven movies in the 1940s, four of which are here.
THE EAST SIDE KIDS began as the Dead End Kids, a name derived from the stage play, "Dead End." In 1937, Samuel Goldwyn turned "Dead End" into a movie starring the original Broadway performers. After seven Goldwyn films (and a few at UNIVERSAL as the "Little Tough Guys"), the Dead Enders moved to MONOGRAM PICTURES under the name EAST SIDE KIDS. The titles in this collection are from those early MONOGRAM days. Later the ensemble would be known as THE BOWERY BOYS. Altogether, this successful series lasted 20 years, ending when the "boys" were all approaching middle-age.
OUR GANG had the longest theatrical run of any "juvenile" series, spanning the silent era (1922) into the 1950s. As the kids grew up, they were replaced with younger actors. Several Our Gang alumni went on to film careers as teens and adults. The majority of "Gang" shorts in this set were directed by Robert McGowan, for HAL ROACH STUDIOS. In 1938, Roach sold the franchise to MGM. The original 80 shorts made prior to this changeover were eventually syndicated to television under the name LITTLE RASCALS.
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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
DISC 1: OUR GANG
(George 'Spanky' McFarland, Jackie Cooper, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, Ernie 'Sunshine Sammy' Morrison, Darla Hood, Allen 'Farina' Hoskins, Mickey Daniels, Matthew 'Stymie' Beard, Wally Albright, Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Bobby 'Wheezer' Hutchins, Norman 'Chubby' Chaney, Mary Ann Jackson, Eugene 'Porky' Lee, Dickie Jones, Billie 'Buckwheat' Thomas, Billy 'Froggy' Laughlin, Robert Blake, Darwood Kaye)
(6.2) Dogs of War (silent-1923) - Harold Lloyd/William Gillespie/Lincoln Stedman
(7.0) Derby Day (silent-1923) - Richard Daniels/Charles A. Bachman/Wallace Howe
(8.1) Hi, Neighbor! (1934) - Harry Bernard/Charlie Hall/Tiny Sandford/Tiny Ward
(6.6) The Sun Down Limited (silent-1924)
(7.7) The Pooch (1932) - Harry Bernard/Baldwin Cooke/Budd Fine
(7.5) Mary, Queen of Tots (silent-1925) - James Finlayson/May Beatty
(7.3) The Fourth Alarm (silent-1926) - Ed Brandenburg/George B. French
(7.5) Fly My Kite (1931) - Mae Busch/Chic Sales Jr./Jim Mason
(7.0) School's Out (1930) - June Marlowe/Creighton Hale
(5.3) Bear Shooters (1930) - Fay Holderness/Bob Kortman/Charlie Hall
(6.8) Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937) - Doodles Weaver/Wilma Cox/Henry Brandon
(6.6) Waldo's Last Stand (1940)
DISC 2: THE EAST SIDE KIDS
(Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Ernest 'Sunshine' Sammy Morrison, Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, David Gorcey, William 'Billy' Benedict, Donald Haines)
(6.2) Boys of the City (1940) - Forrest Taylor/Minerva Urecal/Dave O'Brien
(6.2) Let's Get Tough (1942) - Robert Armstrong/Florence Rice/Tom Brown
(6.9) Million Dollar Kid (1944) - Noah Beery/Patsy Moran/Louise Curie
(5.1) Ghosts on the Loose (1943) - Bela Lugosi/Ava Gardner
(6.3) Pride of the Bowery (1941) - Mary Ainslee/Kenneth Harlan/Nick Stuart
DISC 3: LUM AND ABNER
(Chester Lauck - Columbus 'Lum' Edwards, Norris Goff - Abner Peabody)
(6.0) Two Weeks to Live (1943) - Franklin Pangborn/Kay Linaker
(5.5) So This is Washington (1943) - Alan Mowbray/Mildred Coles
(6.0) Dreaming Out Loud (1940) - Frances Langford/Phil Harris
(5.6) The Bashful Bachelor (1942) - Zasu Pitts/Grady Sutton/Benny Rubin
BONUS FEATURES:
DISC 1: The "Our Gang" Story
DISC 2: Bios: Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey
DISC 3: Lum and Abner radio show broadcast
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Quality, December 2, 2008
This review is from: Classic Troublemakers - 21 Features on 3 DVDs (DVD)
This is a good quality set of DVD's.
The contents have already been described. Our Gang is classic comedy that almost everyone has seen. The East Side Kids are lesser known, but the stories had well-defined plots. As for Lum and Abner, if you try to find the four movies in any other collection, you will spend a lot more money than you will here.
The video images are black and white, but they are in very good shape for Lum and Abner and the East Side Kids. Some of the Our Gang shorts are of poorer quality, especially the older ones, but some of these shorts I have not seen in any other Our Gang collections.
For the price and the quality, you can't go wrong with this set.
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