kpetnews Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

A terrific finale to the series

[10/10 · 4 July 2023]

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" combines the action you're used to in an Indiana Jones picture with an additional character depth that you're not used to seeing.

The elephant in the room for many people is Harrison Ford's age. How can this have any of the dashing flair of the first three films with Harrison Ford being eighty? The answer: it doesn't. It has its own flair. Indiana Jones is painted as a character in the twilight of his life who has suffered the losses and disappointments a career like his will naturally produce. He is retiring as a professor and has virtually nothing to look forward to.

And then a roguish character from his past emerges and stirs up his anticipation of the thrill of the chase, the reverence of the prize, and the excitement of knowledge. This is about Indiana Jones rediscovering who he once was, while painfully aware of the reality of who he currently is.

It's no less exciting and adventurous than any other Indiana Jones film. There are double-crosses, chases, huge doses of swashbuckling two-fisted action, and massive puzzles to be solved. But what if, instead of the final prize being ephemeral... it could last forever? Even if there were possible negative consequences to the rest of the world... what if Indiana Jones could achieve what he's always wanted in his life...?

As such I found this film to be entertaining and thoughtful. Does it match "Raiders" or "Doom" or "Crusade?" No, and it couldn't. We live in a different time now. But it's a perfect period on the end of the Indiana Jones saga, and as such I'm glad I saw it and would be glad to see it again.

Little Mother (1929)

Semi-heartwarming short with strange ending

[7/10 · 13 March 2017]

Mary Ann, Wheezer and "Beezer" (a short-lived in-universe brother of Wheezer's who didn't make it to the talkies) have lost their mother to the great beyond. As a result, Mary Ann has to take care of her two little brothers, and many slapstick events ensue. In the meantime, Father has to comfort the kids, who desperately want their Mama back.

It's a sweet enough setup, but it gets short shrift for an inexplicably inserted gag about Wheezer and Beezer turning on a fire hydrant hose and spraying random citizens in the usual Hal Roach slapstick setup. This has nothing to do with anything and feels like it was added to pad time. Finally, the kids' aunt arrives -- it turns out Mama has a twin sister. The Aunt looks so much like Mama that she suggests to Dad that they deceive the kids into thinking Mama has come back!

I can't help thinking how weird an idea that is, and how it would never play today. I can't even imagine it playing THEN. Up until this point, Wheezer and Beezer have managed to convince you that they miss their Mama even when their stomachs bloat out to balloon-like proportions. For that, I recommend it, but I wish it hadn't fallen apart with the fire hydrant gag.

Cat, Dog & Co. (1929)

Imaginative and fun short

[8/10 · 13 March 2017]

The Gang, having turned their dogs into car engines that chase cats up trees, gets a talking-to from the head of the Be Kind to Animals Society (played by future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper!). She seems to have the magic touch, for Harry, Joe and Farina immediately decide to become animal rights activists to the extreme. Joe even castigates Mary and Jean for trying to kill a flea!

Wheezer, meanwhile, is abusing animals right and left until Joe asks him how he'd like it if he were small and the tortured chickens were huge. This leads Wheezer to dream of his being on trial, where animals are the judges. The prosecuting attorney monkey leads the jury through Wheezer's transgressions, and the ultimate verdict is for him to be devoured by the jury! When he wakes up, he immediately shares the gang's activist fervor and starts releasing animals left and right, leading to the usual silent film shenanigans.

A fun short, the dream sequence alone is worth the price of admission, though the use of real (and rather disinterested-looking) animals hampers the effect a bit, though the scene where the chickens try to "devour" Wheezer is rather visceral for a silent comedy! Two other problems: the kids seem to rely on goofy double-takes a little too often, and the bit where the cartoon flea "adopts" Joe wears out its welcome over the course of the short. (I've seen enough of Joe Cobb's left knee to last a lifetime.). But the wackiness of the animals running riot over the city is an appropriate climax to the short.

Fast Freight (1929)

Despite the title, a haunted house comedy

[6/10 · 8 March 2017]

Farina and Pete are riding a freight train to California, the former hoping for fame and fortune, the latter just trying to survive riding thousands of miles on a poorly tied hammock. They stop at "Sara Cuse," and meet the gang. Farina puts on an impromptu one-man-band show, which impresses the Gang. He tells him of his plan to go where the streets are paved with gold, and the Gang decide to tag along.

Riding the freight train (this time without hammocks) the Gang are attacked by bees in a very convoluted way. They fall off the freight train, and a storm sends them into a nearby ramshackle house. The rest of the short is just a series of haunted house gags, most of which fly pretty fast in an attempt to make you forget how illogical they are. (Why is there a phonograph with "The Ravings of John McCollough" on it? Why does Pete start it up? Who's providing the electricity to make it work in the first place?)

The kids are pretty talented, but it can't hide the fact that the short is just two half-thought-out ideas slammed together without any concerns for story. I wish they'd just kept up with Farina's quest for California glory... maybe they could have found California wasn't the dream land they expected. It would have at least made more sense. Still, the gags are fairly well-executed if completely insane, though they pull the "character has sheet fall on him and other character thinks he's a ghost" idea a little too often.

Tricky Dicks (1953)

One set, three Stooges.

[8/10 · 7 February 2016]

Perhaps if Columbia and Jules White had used this form of cost-cutting instead of using old footage all the time (though this short does have a small amount of reused footage) the Stooges might have aged gracefully instead of doing embarrassing remakes of previous shorts.

The whole short takes place on one set, a police station. While the slapping and physical gags remain, there's a new emphasis on verbal humor that makes it funnier. Moe's conversation with the mayor, Larry's complaint that a female co-worker "forgot something," and the questioning of Phil Arnold add to a steady stream of gags. On top of it is a running gag about the phone sounding inexplicably like a fire alarm and driving Moe into further stages of madness. It's never remarked upon but it escalates the humor value of the short.

There are some slow spots. Shemp's battle with a monkey is sluggish and adds nothing. And the short ends in a ridiculous shootout with Murray Alper shooting a gun with approximately 90 rounds, making the finale rote and repetitive. But the rest of the short is a clever way to exploit Columbia's shrinking budgets. When you can't get production values, up the writing game.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Tapestry (1993) Season 6, Episode 15

The message is, act like a moron in youth and you'll go far

[3/10 · 3 December 2013]

I've never been so annoyed with an episode in my life. So as long as Captain Picard gets stabbed in a stupid, pointless fight and supports his shallow friends, he'll become a Captain instead of a lowly lieutenant. Because that incident CLEARLY defines who he is as a person, and he'll never do anything bold and ambitious after that.

You know, Back to the Future had George McFly's entire future success predicated on whether he punched a guy or not, and at least that movie was funny. This episode never posits that there might have been better ways to go about the incident that DIDN'T cause you to lose a vital organ in the process. That there might have been a smart way to avoid a fight. It's all black and white, like the dreaded Star Trek V movie that says that every man's personality is based on his singular "pain."

This strikes me as an episode that screams "Picard is TOO like Kirk! Look! He's reckless and wild and stuff and that made him great!" No, it's JUDGMENT that makes the character, and perhaps exercising skilled judgment at an early age might have made him an even better captain. But this episode (and Q's sanctimonious attitude only makes it worse) states that lacking good judgment equals having the ability to take chances. Why would you take a chance on that fight if it was essentially meaningless from the start? Is Captain Picard about taking risks on trivial matters just to show that he's a bold adventurer?

This is a facile episode that's unworthy of the series as a whole. It adds to the Hollywood trend of glamorizing youthful recklessness as a rite of passage. Congratulations if you're among that minority to survive recklessness into a massively successful adulthood. The rest of you… well you may be incapacitated, miserable or dead, but at least you're not MEDIOCRE, are you?

Wedding Worries (1941)

Fear of a stepmother with no lines

[6/10 · 23 February 2013]

Apart from the unlikely setup of 13-year-old Spanky believing Froggy's story of an actual Big Bad Wolf, this is one of the funnier MGM shorts. Spanky, Mickey et al set to sabotage Darla's father's remarriage, because it will result in a stepmother and we all know what they're like from fairy tales. The final scene involving adults and "laughing gas" makes the short, in addition to the ultimate payoff. We can be glad that MGM forewent the usual preachy moral lesson this time.

As stated, this is Darla's last appearance in the Our Gang series. She'd outgrown the role about five shorts ago (but then again, so had Spanky) and towered over everyone else. Without Alfalfa, Butch or Waldo, no one knew what to do with her anyway, leading to her inexplicable presence in "Robot Wrecks". At least here she sets the plot in motion.

Baby Blues (1941)

Every fourth child born is hopefully not Mickey

[4/10 · 23 February 2013]

With Mickey, Janet and a bland older sister as part of the family, you'd think Mickey's parents would invent birth control early, but it's not the case: a fourth child is due, and thanks to an almanac, Mickey learns that "every fourth child is born Chinese." Fearful of such a circumstance, Mickey stops being an irritating little brat and asks the Gang to help him to stop it.

After talking to a nurse and a stork, Spanky decides to introduce Mickey to Lee Wong, a friend of his whose dad runs a laundry (did Chinese people do anything else?) Surprisingly, the rest of the short is a pretty good plea for tolerance for the time period. Lee turns out to be a swell guy, whose family makes all-American meals, so Mickey is satisfied. Unfortunately, his next sibling is neither Chinese nor male nor singular, so Mickey decides to do the family a big favor and run away.

Clumsy in the MGM way, but it can't be faulted for its ultimate message, even if it's still grounded in stereotypes. (Every fourth word in the last half of the film is "Confucius.") One weird shot, though, is even after the Gang has clearly established that they're not getting "bird's nests" for lunch, Mickey is still making worried faces until he sees his OWN plate. Maybe he thought he alone would be poisoned. Who could blame him?

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957–1960)

Limping along on a formula

[5/10 · 26 March 2011]

These shows have their moments, but all in all, it's true; they're mostly stale and uninspired. Guest stars and "exotic" locales try to give the proceedings a shot in the arm, but most of the time the guest stars look pained and uncomfortable (you're almost embarrassed for Maurice Chevalier getting caught up in Ricky and Lucy's increasingly realistic and unpleasant fighting). Episode by episode:

Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana: A novelty in that it "flashes back" to Lucy and Ricky's first meeting, it's also not terribly funny and often quite dull. Lucy and Ann Sothern have some good chemistry but the material isn't there. It also contradicts some of the "canon" of the "I Love Lucy" series, but that's not really all that new. Worth watching once for curiosity value; just don't expect a lot of laughs.

The Celebrity Next Door: Easily the best of the lot, and coincidentally, the last in which Lucy would wear her trademark hairdo. Thus, it still FEELS like a Lucy episode. Tallulah Bankhead gives as good as she gets and practically steals the episode. The final "play" is amusing as well. And remember, folks, "When Miss Bankhead is bored, Miss Bankhead will let you know."

Lucy Hunts Uranium: A bit predictable, but the location shooting and the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" hijinks at the end are good for some smiles. Fred MacMurray is fairly likable in his star turn, though Lucy and Ricky (the characters) are starting to get a little too cavalier with how they treat celebrities! Would you leave Fred MacMurray in the desert to die?

Lucy Wins a Race Horse: Not a terrible episode, this still predicts the more tired humor of "The Lucy Show". Lucy and Ethel pushing a horse upstairs is worth a few laughs. Ricky, however, is just starting to look hollow-eyed, gray and tired.

Lucy Goes to Sun Valley: The tension between Lucy and Desi is becoming palpable, but not quite pronounced. There's not really much interesting in this episode; its major set piece seems to be each character interrupting Fernando Lamas as he's taking a shower.

Lucy Goes to Mexico: A truly irritating episode; Lucy and Ricky's aforementioned bickering now seems to have a nasty edge to it. The hijinks just seem strained here whereas they were effortless in the European ILL episodes. However, Lucy's turn as a toreador at the end is kind of amusing, albeit very "Lucy Show" in the writing.

Lucy Makes Room for Danny: I never really liked Danny Thomas much; the kids almost save this episode by generally being more likable than the main characters. Gale Gordon does have a funny role at the end as the judge who calls Fred "a miserable tightwad." All in all, though, the original ILL "Courtroom" show is funnier.

Lucy Goes to Alaska: Red Skelton DOES come off well in this episode, charming and guileless. I'm not that fond of his routine with Lucy in the middle, as it goes on too long. But the sleeping scene is okay, and the final scene with Red flying the airplane has a little suspense to it.

Lucy Wants a Career: Simply put, this is an hour long "Lucy Show" with special guest star Desi Arnaz. Lucy is a dim bulb through most of it, doing stale slapstick and irritating the hell out of Paul Douglas (whoever he is, he's not exactly a charmer). The original "I Love Lucy" charm is just about gone.

Lucy's Summer Vacation: A dull episode whose idea of a comedic set piece is Lucy and Ida Lupino plugging up holes in a boat with chewing gum. Almost instantly forgettable.

Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos: My God, Desi looks horrible in this episode. Hollow-eyed, listless, gray and tense, until the moment when Ricky becomes inexplicably psychotic and punches out Milton Berle, thinking Uncle Miltie is Lucy's paramour. Then there's the final scenes on the crane, with Lucy's stunt double painfully obvious, as she looks nothing like Lucy. Perhaps the worst of all the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours...

The Ricardos Go To Japan: ...to be followed by one of the best. Sure, it may be as authentic to Japan as an American-made sushi roll, but Bob Cummings is fairly funny, and Lucy and Viv recapture their original chemistry all over again. A fun episode, worth rewatching.

Lucy Meets the Moustache: However, in this last episode, Lucy and Desi are back to their usual distance and it shows. Ernie Kovacs is not a natural to this kind of comedy, though Edie Adams does all right. This isn't grade A but it's not a total waste of time, either. Even though it's all been done, at least you can see it being done with the original cast one last time, and that's not so bad.

Overall: Worth seeing once. Not going to stand alongside the original half hour. "The Celebrity Next Door" is a keeper, with "The Ricardos Go To Japan" being a runner-up. Everything else... see it for the historic value, then let it alone.

Kiddie Kure (1940)

Alfalfa goes out on a high note (without singing)

[7/10 · 20 March 2011]

Thurston Hall plays a hypochondriac who becomes annoyed when his doctor suggests to his wife adopting children. To discourage such an idea, he invites Our Gang to lunch while his wife is out. It's then when the craziness breaks out, culminating in Alfalfa's twin brothers swallowing the candy "pills" the doctor had been prescribing for him.

The adults carry the short, stiff as they are in the MGM fashion, and the kids do pretty well. Alfalfa's age and Mickey's bad acting aren't noticeable in the farcical shenanigans, as the actors spend most of their time running back and forth. Froggy also gets a proper introduction as one of the gang just as Alfalfa is leaving.

All in all, it's ten minutes of fun and ranks as one of the better MGM shorts. Not a bad way for Alfalfa to bow out.

Practical Jokers (1938)

Nothing-ish short

[5/10 · 1 March 2011]

I don't think this is as bad as later MGM shorts. The kids still have their personality and seem very natural. The problem with this short is there doesn't seem to be anything IN it. Alfalfa and Spanky have revenge on practical-joking Butch by putting an explosive candle in his cake (which doesn't make THAT much of an explosion). That's it. A plot like this could take two minutes, but this takes ten, and pads out its running time by having Alfalfa (again) warble off-key for two minutes.

I did find some amusement in Tommy Bond's Durante impression, and Buckwheat's prank. So the short is not bad, not good, just not... anything. A basic time-killer.

You could do worse with your time, and you could do better.

Captain Spanky's Show Boat (1939)

Passable "show" picture

[5/10 · 24 September 2010]

The gang puts on a "meller drammer" which Butch tries to crash. That's about all there is to the "plot." This one still looks like it's in the spirit of the Hal Roach "musical shorts." The insane MGM gloss hadn't totally taken over yet. You have to admire the cleverness in how the gang sets up a "horse race" on stage. But there's nothing in the way of humor until the very end, and even that's staged incompetently, even if Tommy Bond does do a great reaction.

Also, Porky is missed. His place is basically taken by Leonard, for some reason. Mickey is still something of a cipher, standing on his mark and saying "Yep!" That would change with the next film.

Dad for a Day (1939)

And now... they make Mickey act.

[3/10 · 24 September 2010]

After only three films, Mickey is suddenly put in the position where he has to emote. For a long time.

The gang is staging a father-and-son picnic, but Mickey has no father. In fact, Mickey tells us this quite eloquently: "yaaa yaaa yaaaaa no yaaaaa! Yaa no yaaaa!" Fortunately, for the next few minutes, Mickey's off screen, and the gang goes and searches for a father. They find one in a gas station attendant who just happens to have a crush on Mickey's mother. And... then it just gets sentimental, dull and predictable.

I will give this one marks for the cast: Tom Herbert as a "hoo-hooing" gas station patron (he was the brother of noted hoo-hooer Hugh Herbert), Milton Parsons as an expectant father (notable for selling Lucy baldness cures on "I Love Lucy") and Arthur Q. Bryan, also the voice of Elmer Fudd. Also, there's a sincerity to Louis Heydt's performance as Mickey's new dad that's admirable. If it weren't for Mickey... it might just have been a bland bit of MGM hometown geewhizziness.

Time Out for Lessons (1939)

Tedious time-wasting morality play.

[3/10 · 24 September 2010]

There IS a gag -- at the very beginning. Then Alfalfa's humorless dad comes in and starts lecturing the poor freckled dope about how he can't give up his studies. We go to a college fantasy done completely straight and without an ounce of humor in it. Alfalfa's about to be the hero of the big football game when Waldo arbitrarily marches in and, um, tells him that he can't. And that's the only reason why you shouldn't neglect your studies, because the college you go to won't let you win their football games unless your grades are good. Sure.

Of course, Alfalfa believes what his father tells him, does an about face and does some more stilted lecturing to his friends. Wow. I'm inspired.

Pretty much the solid example of how MGM was driving this thing into the ground. Fortunately the next two entries would provide more in the way of entertainment.

Alfalfa's Double (1940)

Entertaining short, though not great

[6/10 · 24 September 2010]

Alfalfa comes face to face with a lookalike boy named Cornelius, who lives on a rich estate. They decide to switch places, but discover there's no place like home, and then a flying saucer takes them both. Okay, I made that last bit up.

Okay, sure, it's trite, but it's kind of fun for all that. Alfalfa actually looks like he's enjoying his role for once. But it's still a bit stiff in that MGM fashion. MGM relies on undercranked cameras and weird ethnic caricatures to provide a lot of the humor. Alfalfa's "dance" is somewhat amusing but nothing remarkable.

And really, why do they keep referring to "Our Gang" as if it's a social club? It's not as bad as it got later when they began saying "The Our Gang" but it just shows how detached from the original concept this was becoming.

Still, better than "Time Out for Lessons," and in general, not a failure. The kids are still talented, even if those talents are becoming increasingly wasted.

Ye Olde Minstrels (1941)

Supposing you have three talented child actors...

[13 September 2010]

...what would you do with them? Well, if you said put them on a stage with about a hundred other children so they could completely get lost in a crowd and do syncopated tambourine playing, you should have been writing for MGM in the forties! Back in the thirties, Hal Roach would make FUN of people who put kids up and made them perform like little shiny automatons. Now MGM's doing it as a matter of course. The concept behind this is a Red Cross benefit being orchestrated by some guy named Walter Wills, who's a household name even now, ha ha. The show culminates in a choreographed tap dance routine where the dancers suddenly sprout blackface as if by magic. And despite that the whole thing's still as memorable as a dog puddle in the middle of the street.

Poor Spanky. Poor Darla. And especially, poor Buckwheat.

Aladdin's Lantern (1938)

Putting on a show

[6/10 · 9 September 2010]

The last of Gordon Douglas's two shorts for MGM, alas.

MGM would soon populate every fourth short with a musical extravaganza, but at this stage things still looked creaky and homemade, even if it's unlikely that Spanky could have coaxed all those talented child dancers to come and do an elaborate number for an iffy Arabian Nights play. Meanwhile, Porky and Buckwheat are continually stealing the show (literally and meta-literally) doing their version of "While Strolling Through The Park One Day." Though why is Buckwheat shirtless? It's a little odd.

So it's a fairly fun short, though the laugh factor of Alfalfa's off-key warbling is debatable. And the Gang Member in drag bit was done better in "Pay As You Exit." Recommended, though, just because Porky and Buckwheat are an adorable team.

The Little Ranger (1938)

Very good transition

[7/10 · 9 September 2010]

Except for the bigger MGM production values (the film within the film) this plays very much like a typical "Little Rascals" film of Roach's. Alfalfa falls asleep in the movie theater and dreams he's a cowboy hero defending Darla's honor against Butch. Porky and Buckwheat have a funny scene as sheriffs who have a unique way of conquering the bad guys. Shirley Coates is also amusing as "Muggsy", the lovesick girl after Alfalfa's affections. She wasn't used nearly enough in these shorts.

Very amusing and charming; it's a shame they couldn't keep this up for too much longer. The kids, however, would grow up, and that would be that.

Men in Fright (1938)

Alfalfa at his craziest

[6/10 · 27 July 2007]

If there was ever a film that proved what an amazing young comedian Carl Switzer was, this was it.

While in the hospital visiting Darla, Alfalfa gets mistaken for tonsillectomy patient and is dragged off to surgery. However, before anything can happen, little Gary Jasgar unleashes some laughing gas in the elevator and Alfalfa goes nuts! His is a tour de force of wildness, as he does a Tarzan imitation on a gurney, impersonates a newborn baby, complains that the floor is full of holes, and swings on a chandelier.

The other kids are still very natural in their acting (with the possible exception of the too-cute Darla and Porky shouting out his name at the top of his lungs). You can tell MGM's gloss is creeping in, as the kids seem to work extra hard in hitting the proper marks, and dialogue is looped in whenever the kids can't say it themselves. However, this can be forgiven, as this short has more laughs than several of the Hal Roach shorts. In addition, we're treated to a bonus bit of Hanna Barbera animation. Definitely worth watching once even for the non-Our Gang fan.

Clown Princes (1939)

Cute little film

[6/10 · 27 July 2007]

The gang stages a circus in order to raise money for Porky's rent.

There are a few hints of the MGM films to come. First, we open on a crying Gang member, which became a popular MGM Our Gang motif. In this instance, Porky doesn't pull it off terribly convincingly, but we can be thankful it isn't the whiny Mickey who we're supposed to root for. Second, Darla's gone overboard into overacting land with her lion tamer routine, sounding like she's shouting her lines off a cue card. Finally, the circus itself is a little too elaborate; there sure were a lot of kids willing to donate their services! However, it's still good fun. The main four kids are still charming, as well as Shirley "Muggsy" Coates. Spanky and Leonard are funny as the "swell acrobats" and it's always amusing to see Clarence Wilson do his crotchety mean old man routine. It could probably rate pretty well against a Roach short, so that can't be too bad.

1-2-3-Go! (1941)

1-2-3 Stop for crying out loud.

[1/10 · 21 June 2007]

There are maybe two "gags" in this short. And to spare you from having to watch it, the "best" one is when Froggy drinks a sedative meant for the laid-up Mickey.

But the important thing is that "the Our Gang" has created a safety society where horrid little children say "1 2 3 Go" before crossing the street. Soon the stuffy, unlikable adults are doing it too. At the end, there is even a "Nationwide Broadcast To Honor Our Gang Originators Of The "1-2-3 Go" Safety Society." I'm sure all of America tuned into to listen to THAT.

It's really sad to see Spanky, now far too old for this, speechifying and reciting dialogue that no one outside of MGM-land would ever say. It makes me want to run into the street WITHOUT counting to avoid it.

Party Fever (1938)

Cute MGM short

[8/10 · 21 June 2007]

Alfalfa and Butch, in order to win Darla's heart, decide to participate in a "Boy's Week Mayor for a Day" race. Butch has a gigantic marshmallow roast, and Alfalfa tries to do skywriting with a homemade balloon rig.

The second of MGM's shorts, it's just as fun and charming as a Hal Roach short. There's not much in the way of belly laughs, but some of the Roach shorts were also that way. It carries itself on a group of kids who still seem believable (with the exception of a pair of twins which MGM ill-advisedly added to the cast). Tommy Bond has some funny scenes as Butch, and is somehow extra funny being bashful in front of Darla, in contrast to his usual tough-guy persona.

The punchline is also funny and somehow telling about society. Definitely worthwhile and a fun way to spend ten minutes.

Alfalfa's Aunt (1939)

Truly the best of the MGM Our Gang shorts

[9/10 · 12 June 2007]

Funny from start to finish. Alfalfa believes a page from his aunt's mystery novel is actually a letter stating that his aunt will murder him.

Everyone is spot on in this short. Marie Blake is hilarious as the Margaret Hamilton-esquire aunt. The actor playing Alfalfa's father is funny too, especially in a scene where he barely tolerates her reading from her manuscript.

Other funny scenes include Spanky reading the "letter," whereupon Porky reaches out his hand and says, "Goodbye, Alfie." Even minor things like little Gary Jasgar attempting the "All for One" hand sign are amusing. Altogether it's enjoyable, and ranks right up there with the Hal Roach shorts.

All About Hash (1940)

All about not letting Mickey be the center of attention

[3/10 · 9 June 2007]

Mickey "whine what's on the cue cards" Gubitosi is having problems with his parents, the same ones he had in "Dad for a Day." However, the marriage has seriously gone south, because Dad whines and complains about Mother serving hash from Sunday's roast beef. This is such an unbelievably minor irritation, you'd think. However, it's enough to get his parents arguing and for Mickey to cry out lines like "I got a headache down here" while pointing at his heart.

There's one mildly funny bit, handled all wrong, when Darla asks Alfalfa to remind her to remind Spanky to remind Alfalfa about dinner. However, the gang later uses a radio contest to dramatize Mickey's situation, whereupon... oh God... Mickey weeps and whines for a full minute while his ghostly image is superimposed onto a radio. For this kid they got rid of Porky?

And... oh boy, this one introduces the unbelievable Janet Burston to the Our Gang shorts. Here we go.

Dancing Romeo (1944)

Froggy's a cute kid when he doesn't talk

[4/10 · 10 April 2007]

Apart from the MGM staginess, this is kind of a fun little short, especially at the end when Froggy does his wire-assisted dance. There's one part where he "runs" (or tries to) across the back curtain that actually got a chuckle out of me.

But, man, these kids can't act. Buckwheat barely gets by. Mickey doesn't say much, and when he does, he says it adequately if shrilly. Janet's really horrible. She's given a "comic" line of "You're not going to (STAGE GASP) shoot yourself, are you?" that comes out like she's reading a cue card. Valerie "Marilyn" Lee, Froggy's love interest, is actually the best actress of the lot, and Maltin rightly says her thespian skills are less than inspiring.

If you must watch, you can get some humor out of Froggy's dancing sequence, so it's not a waste of time for Our Gang aficionados.