46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Gang's all-time lamest films, February 8, 2010
First off-the-bat, these are all 52 remaining Our Gang films, from 1938-1944, NOT 1942 as the description above reads. These 10-minute short films are the worst in Our Gang's history but I'm giving this collection five stars...and I'll tell you why. During the last few shorts during the Hal Roach period, Our Gang films began their downslide, as Spanky & Alfalfa were older and getting hammier in their acting. Once Roach sold the rights to MGM, the series took a nosedive - but they still had some good moments. The best actor from 1938-1940 was Tommy Bond (Butch) who is a more polished, natural actor; also, Sid Kibrick (Woim) is great as Butch's sidekick, even though his dialogue is limited to lines like, "yeah, Butch." But Spanky and Alfalfa became the worst "Our Gang" actors the older they got; Darla has moments of lameness too, but not to the extreme of Spank & Alf. Buckwheat was OK but was worse in the Gang's final years, 1942-1944. Porky left early, followed by Butch, Alfalfa, Darla (who was just starting to beautifully blossom) and finally, Spanky. They were eventually replaced by Mickey, Froggy & Janet; these last years (1941-1944) are referred to as "The Froggy Years" as one would complain about the awfulness of the films - but it's unfair to Billy "Froggy" Laughlin, as he was actually the series' saving grace. His acting was not as bad as we all thought - he actually pulls off some very funny moments, but we have to suffer through the awful, preachy plotlines to get to 'em....you also get to hear Froggy's REAL voice in a few of these films.
What else made these lame? Little things.
1) No Pete The Pup...the remainder of dogs were these little yappy dogs that always get under your feet with names like "Whiskers" and "Rover" - not big, lovable lugs like all the Petes during the Roach years.
2) New, lesser "Gang" members with names like "Fatty" (no fatter than Spanky) and "Happy" (who has one of the biggest sourpuss faces and is anything BUT happy).
3) Waayyyyy too many episodes had the gang putting on a show for one reason or another. Yawn. (Runnin' outta ideas?)
4) The opening/closing theme - a medley of "London Bridge Is Falling Down/Farmer In The Dell." If they had kept the original theme it really, really woulda helped.
5) Too many episodes where we, the audience, are supposed to learn a lesson. At certain points, some adult - a judge or equivalent of - looks right into the camera and addresses the audience with lines like "if each parent would take more time to teach their kids, blah-blah-blah." Also, too many "moral" episodes where the kids themselves get too preachy, especially Spanky; he becomes the "goody-goody" of the gang, which makes my heart sink. Mickey (Robert Blake) comes a close second. The worst of the bunch? "Time Out For Lessons," where Alfalfa learns that he should balance time between his football playing and schoolwork; after telling the gang "we're not gonna practice until we've done our homework" and his dad tells him to balance play with work, Alfalfa leaves to play football with the rest of the gang and utters, "FROM NOW ON, WE TAKE TIME OUT FOR LESSONS!!!" In real life, he'd probably be kicked off the team.
6) Terrible special effects. Scenes when gang members go flying through the air look amateurish with wires clearly visible.
So, why do I give this collection 5 stars?
1) This is the first, and possibly only time you'll have the chance to get this complete collection of the rest of the gang films.
2) It's also important that you watch and learn how NOT to treat a beloved series; either step up the quality or bow out entirely. Filmmakers should watch the "Our Gang" films beginning with the Hal Roach sound films (1929-1937) and then observe how the series deteriorated with these MGM episodes. A great, great filmmaking lesson is to be learned here.
3) For collectors of comedy films of this period, it's a vital collection.
4) The quality - video & audio - is top-notch.
5) It's very family-friendly - probably even more so than then the original Hal Roach films (still contain some racial humor but less than the Roach films).
So, yes, even with all it's flaws - AND THERE ARE MANY - it's still important for serious collectors. Five stars? Most definitely.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Whole Exceeds the Sum of the Parts, March 14, 2010
This five-disc set presents, with superb sound and visual quality, the final six years of the Our Gang series. Hal Roach started the Our Gang comedies back in 1922 and produced seven years of silent comedy shorts followed by another nine years of talking episodes, the latter of which are well-known to baby boomers from their television syndication as "The Little Rascals." In 1938 Roach sold the production rights for the Gang to MGM, which had already been distributing the Roach films to theaters since the late 1920's. The post-Roach shorts have always been presented as starring "Our Gang," and are the ones featured in this set. They too have been shown on syndicated television and various VHS/DVD compilations over the years, and have shown up occasionally on Turner Classic Movies, but this is the first complete set of what Our Gang experts call "The MGM's" or "The Final 52."
The films in this package are presented chronologically, which means that the first disc is by far the best, and the fifth disc is hands down the worst. When MGM first took over the series, the shorts had many of the elements that made the late-30's Hal Roach Rascals films classics: the likeable leader "Spanky" McFarland, the determined singer "Alfalfa" Switzer and his fickle girlfriend Darla Hood, who by the way is the real musical talent of the Gang, the lovable younger tagalongs "Buckwheat" Thomas and "Porky" Lee, and the convincing villains Tommy "Butch" Bond and Sidney "The Woim" Kibrick. Many of the episodes focused on Alfalfa's efforts to steal Darla's heart away from tough Butch or nerdy "Waldo," or sometimes both! These episodes are very well-made and enjoyable.
As the MGM years rolled on, the stories became more and more moralistic. Time Out for Lessons, a 1939 title on Disc 2, is a good description of the direction in which MGM was steering the series: Rewards are the good work, not the glory. Education is more important than play. Don't envy children who have more wealth than you. Cross the street safely. Don't Lie! Support your Uncle Sam during wartime. With the shorts continuing production until 1944, wartime life and lesson-teaching became the main themes of these so-called "comedies." This reviewer gives the first disc four stars out of five, the next two, three stars, the fourth one, only two stars, and just a single star for the last. But, the whole is indeed greater than the sum of the parts. For its good reproduction quality and completeness, I give four stars to the set as a whole, and would give five if not for the lack of DVD extras and any accompanying booklet.
Children age and change quickly and cast turnover was an ongoing problem for Our Gang. Adorable Porky Lee, Buckwheat's little true-blue pal, suddenly grew into a very tall child: taller than Spanky who was five years older. MGM gave Porky a pink slip and his film career was finished. Several of the other kids stayed well past their prime: Spanky stayed until age 14, Alfalfa, Butch, and Buckwheat each remained until 13, and Darla departed as a very mature-for-her-age 10-year-old. Unfortunately, the new cast members were some of the least appealing characters in the history of The Little Rascals/Our Gang.
As an adult, Robert Blake (star of In Cold Blood, Baretta, and countless "entertainment" tabloid criminal court features) was embarrassed by his performances as "Mickey" of Our Gang. Who wouldn't be? Mickey Gubitosi (his real name, which was given to his character) started out as a simpering, shrugging, blubbering little brat with a thick Jersey accent who couldn't act his way out of a teardrop. The studio worked on him, changed his name to Bobby Blake and his character's to Mickey Blake, and while at least his line readings improved, his role as the smiling goody-good boy kept him just as annoying on the screen. No Gang of any kind would want this kid in it.
After Spanky left, the lead actor in Our Gang was Billy "Froggy" Laughlin who had some acting skill and a unique persona with his platinum blond hair, Harry Truman specs and croaky speaking voice. The trick voice gimmick grew stale, though, after the first few films, and worse, Froggy was rarely given funny things to say, and when he was, bad direction made even those jokes unfunny. Froggy was born too late (to have worked in the better stories and gags in the Hal Roach films) and died much too soon (at 16, in a motor scooter/truck collision, only 4 years after the last Our Gang comedy.)
Perhaps no child generates as much disdain from Our Gang fans as Janet Burston, who replaced Darla in 1942. It was obvious that Janet was trying to be another Miss Temple, with her golden hair in Shirleycurls, but the talent wasn't enough and the personality was wrong. Janet's mugging and overacting make Mickey Gubitosi/Blake seem like Alec Guinness. She managed to make the annoying stories and jokes of the last two years of Our Gang twice as annoying as they already were. This reviewer shares her first name and belongs to an Our Gang online group where she is always quick to remind the fellow members that she is NOT the Janet who was actually in the Gang!
So, who should buy this set?
* Die-hard fans of the Rascals who have enough interest in the series to want to watch and own it all. (Casual fans should buy the Hal Roach Little Rascals set instead.)
* Those interested in WWII era film history
* Those old enough to have been youngsters at the time these films were made. They will enjoy the nostalgia of seeing the clothes, automobiles, and décor of their youth.
* Historians of Black film actors. Buckwheat's one of the best-loved film characters of all time, and although there are too many elements of racism (for instance, in several episodes he's all excited about watermelon) he is treated more like just another kid in the Gang in these films than in those made by Roach. The evolution from Farina through Stymie, and finally Buckwheat, cannot be accurately examined without these later shorts. Listen to Buckwheat speak about Lincoln in Election Daze. Such a speech would have made him President of Our Gang's All-For-One Club in a just society. Thankfully, we indeed are closer to that kind of justice today. But throughout these films, Buckwheat is the type of person anyone should like to have for a friend.
* MGM history buffs.
* Fans of character actors of the 30's and 40's. Many familiar faces turn up here and there: Ava Gardner as a cinema ticketseller, Andy Hardy's "Aunt" Sara Haden as a beloved teacher, Leave it to Beaver's Hugh Beaumont as a court assistant, Mickey Rooney's father as a dental patient, and many more.
The box bears a warning on the back: "The Our Gang Collection is Intended for the Adult Collector and is Not Suitable for Children." It would be more accurate to say that the content includes racist material that was common for its time and left in, though offensive, for historical purposes. Children of today might enjoy some of these films, but may be quite bored by some of the topical situations like war bonds, not to mention the lesson-teaching plots. There is slapstick, music, fun, and of course, many kids doing real-kid things like playing, fighting, trying to earn money, and just being with their pals. Adult collectors should buy this set to watch alone, or with their kids, along with conversations about the culture and humor of these times gone by.
Must-have additions:
The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection
The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang
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