IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

The boutique video label ClassicFlix has undertaken an ambitious multi-volume project to scan and restore all of the sound-era Our Gang comedies produced at Hal Roach Studios between 1929 and 1938. For most kids who grew up in the Sixties and Seventies, these theatrical short subjects are better remembered as The Little Rascals (the name that they were packaged under on television). I previously reviewed the first two volumes in this chronological series, each of which contained eleven talkies, covering 1929-1931 (Review links: Volume 1, Volume 2). Those Blu-rays were highly recommended for their historical importance and for the excellence of the restoration work performed on the decomposing surviving elements. However, because the films were made right after the advent of sound, with cast and crew that was much more comfortable working silently (on the prior 88 silent Our Gang shorts), the comedies in Volume 1 were rather creaky. The quality of the films and the acting of the kids improved tremendously in Volume 2. Below is my review of Volume 3, which was released on October 19th.

With Volume 3, we are moving into short subjects that are going to be much more familiar to audiences that watched The Little Rascals in the television syndication package than those included in the first two volumes. In 1932, an intriguing toddler named George ‘Spanky’ McFarland joined the gang and soon took the central role in the films. Spanky makes his debut in the second of eleven shorts chronologically included in Volume 3.

Before we dip into the content of the new Blu-ray collection, I think I should state (as I did in my previous reviews) that even as a kid, I was never much of a fan of The Little Rascals. While classic comedy of the 1930s and 40s has always been my cinema sweet spot, I much prefer stage-tested talents, such as W.C. Fields, Abbott & Costello, The Marx Brothers, and The Three Stooges, to the Our Gang kids. Seeing little kids trying to tell jokes and perform physical slapstick is undeniably cute, but I also find it a little painful to watch. It smacks too much of amateur theatricals for my taste.

At the same time, I had a really good time revisiting these films of my youth, and I think that this is an essential Blu-ray set for collectors of classic film comedy. I am thrilled that these fragile films are being lovingly restored. ClassicFlix has done a miraculous job of preservation, clean-up, and digital mastering. The shorts look crisp, clean, and better than ever presented on television and previous video releases. You can find more thoughts on the video quality in the “Video” section below.

Here are capsule reviews of the eleven shorts included in Volume 3:

Readin’ and Writin’ (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker)

Kendall ‘Breezy Brisbane’ McComas takes the lead in his debut short with the gang. Summer vacation is over, and while Miss Crabtree gets the classroom ready for the kids’ return, Brisbaine is dreading the thought of readin’ and writin’. His mother (and even the local blacksmith) insist that Brisbaine will never be President if he doesn’t go to school, but he doesn’t care. He just wants to be a streetcar conductor. This film is funny and has heart, without being saccharine. It is one of the best shorts presented yet in any of the volumes.

Free Eats (1932, Dir: Raymond McCarey/Wr: H.M. Walker)

Here comes Spanky! Apparently, the Hal Roach staff realized how photogenic the 3-year-old “new hire” came across on film, because they completely stop the action of this short to give Spanky an opportunity to jibber-jabber for no good reason. Still, this is a pretty good comedy. The premise is that a group of crooks, including a couple of little people dressed as babies, attend a party hosted by a wealthy woman in honor of the local kids. The crooks don’t get far in trying to rob the estate, because Stymie has their number. He catches the “babies” talking and realizes that they are actually “fidgets.”

Spanky (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker & Hal Roach)

“I’m bug huntin’!” While Spanky made his debut in the previous short, some footage from his screen test was actually incorporated into this film. There’s cuteness overload as Spanky chases a bug with a hammer and throws gobs of money out of an upstairs window. Even if you haven’t seen this film before, you’ll probably recognize the GIF of Spanky throwing the money from “Take my money!” internet memes. Sensitive viewers should be warned that while Spanky is getting up to mischief, the rest of the kids are putting on an amateur production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, including a brief blackface scene. It’s less disturbing than it sounds, especially when taken in context of the time it was made.

Choo-Choo! (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker & Hal Roach)

Some runaway orphans switch clothes with Spanky, Stymie, Brisbaine, and the rest of the gang. As a result, they are mistaken for the runaways and packed aboard a “choo-choo” headed for an orphanage in Chicago. A railroad employee (Dell Henderson) who dislikes children is forced to look after the kids on the railroad trip, and he suffers various indignities, including having his toupee pulled off and receiving multiple socks to the puss from Spanky. While it is all rather predictable, it is enjoyable throughout.

The Pooch (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker & Hal Roach)

Matthew ‘Stymie’ Beard and George ‘Spanky’ McFarland were arguably the two most charismatic children ever employed by Hal Roach. This short wisely pairs them as co-leads. As a result, it is probably my favorite in film in Volume 3. Stymie is on the outs with the gang, but he sees an opportunity to get back in their good graces by saving their dogs from the local dogcatcher. The dogcatcher plans to take his revenge on Stymie by gassing his dog, Petey, if Stymie can’t come up with five bucks for a license. However, when Stymie enlists the rest of the gang’s help, the dogcatcher doesn’t have a chance. It should also be noted that this short represents the last time a descendent of the original Petey (the bull terrier with a circle around his eye) appeared in an Our Gang comedy. Hal Roach didn’t renew the trainer’s contract, so he used imposter Peteys in later shorts.

Hook and Ladder (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker, Hal Roach, & Robert F. McGowan)

Dickie Moore makes his first appearance in the series, and as often the case, the new kid is thrown into the lead role. Dickie has organized the kids into a volunteer fire brigade, with vehicles and facilities that no group of children, no matter how precocious, could have built themselves. When the alarm sounds for a real fire, the kids spring into action, with occasional breaks to give Spanky his worm medicine. This was the third Our Gang short that depicted the kids as volunteer firefighters, and many of the best gags in Hook and Ladder are borrowed from the previous silent comedies. Still, the short is both funny and thrilling, due to stunt work and flames that look particularly dangerous.

Free Wheeling (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: H.M. Walker & Hal Roach)

This is a more middling entry, but it still has its moments. Dickie is laid up in bed with a stiff neck. While the doctor thinks it would be best for Dickie to take off his back brace and get out of the house, Dickie’s overprotective mother won’t allow it. Stymie sneaks Dickie out, and they go on a breakneck taxi ride with Spanky in tow. There’s never much of a sense of danger in this short, as most of the driving scenes simply consist of the kids play acting to back projection.

Birthday Blues (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: No Credit Listed)

Dickie wants to get his mom a swell birthday gift, but he lacks the funds. To earn the dough, Stymie suggests that they use the same fundraiser that worked at his church. Dickie and Stymie will bake a cake with prizes inside and sell pieces to the gang. However, once Spanky starts adding to the cake, the prizes include such items as a hairbrush, suspenders, and a mousetrap. Three Stooges-style gags mix with sentiment in one of the best shorts in the collection

A Lad an’ a Lamp (1932, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: No Credit Listed)

There are no truly bad shorts in Volume 3, but this is my least favorite in the set. Having just read the story of Aladdin, the kids start rubbing every lamp they can lay their hands on. When some explosions go off coincidentally nearby, the gang thinks they have found a genuine “genie” lamp. Spanky wishes that Stymie’s baby brother Cotton was a monkey, and when a Chimp gets loose from a vaudeville theater, the expected confusion ensues. While there is funny business in this short, some of the content is borderline racist (Stymie wishing for a watermelon and the kids equating a black child with a monkey), which somehow bothered me a more than the blackface scene in Spanky.

Fish Hooky (1933, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: No Credit Listed)

This is an important Our Gang short for film historians, as several alums of the silent Our Gang comedies return in more adult roles. Older boys, Joe and Farina (alums Joe Cobb and Allen Hoskins) talk Dickie, Stymie, Wheezer, and a kid named Uh-Huh into skipping school. What they don’t know is that their teacher, Miss Kornman (alum Mary Kornman) has arranged for the class to go to a seaside amusement park that day. The new truant officer (alum Mickey Daniels) decides to put a scare into the truant boys. This is one of the lesser shorts in the set, but it is interesting for the reunion of the older gang members, as well as for the location footage taken at a real amusement park on Santa Monica Pier.

Forgotten Babies (1933, Dir: Robert F. McGowan/Wr: No Credit Listed)

“Remarkable.” The set ends strongly with one the funniest Our Gang outings, which once again shines the spotlight on Spanky McFarland. The gang wants to go swimming, but they are stuck babysitting their infant siblings. Dickie suggests that they dupe Spanky into taking care of all of the babies, so the rest of them can do as they please. Spanky nixes the idea, but he eventually agrees when the boys threaten to tell the cops who broke Mr. Murphy’s window. Spanky tries to entertain the infants by telling them the story of Tarzan, but the kids crawl off and start wrecking the place. It’s hard for Spanky to reason with the babies when only one of them can talk (and all that kid can say is “Remarkable!”).

The talkie Our Gang shorts really hit their stride in The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 3. There isn’t a bum short in this collection, and Stymie and Spanky enliven even the least of the films included. While, I’m not the prime audience for this collection, I found it a lot more enjoyable than I was expecting, and Rascals fans should be even more enthused with the Blu-ray. This is an incredibly important restoration project, and the Volume 3 Blu-ray maintains the high bar set by the earlier volumes. This collection is very highly recommended.

USA/B&W-210m./Dir: Various (see above)/Wr: Various (see above)/Cast: George ‘Spanky’ McFarland, Dickie Moore, Bobby ‘Wheezer’ Hutchins, Matthew ‘Stymie’ Beard, Kendall ‘Breezy Brisbane’ McComas, Sherwood Bailey, Donald Haines, Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman, Dorothy DeBorba, Joe Cobb, June Marlowe, Billy Gilbert, Allen ‘Farina’ Hoskins

For Fans of: If you grew up with the familiar Little Rascals TV airings, you already know if you’ll like these short comedies. If you’re new to Our Gang, Volume 3 is actually a better place to start than Volume 1, as it features a stronger cast lineup and better produced films.

Video: The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations Volume 3 was released as a single Blu-ray from ClassicFlix on October 19th. Each of the eleven shorts included on the disc were newly scanned and restored from original 35mm film elements. Here’s how the restoration process is described at the beginning of the restoration comparison supplement:

Original nitrate film elements for the iconic Hal Roach “Our Gang” film series, later to be known as “The Little Rascals”, have languished in studio vaults for decades without any urgency or desire to preserve, restore and release these beloved short subjects with presentations worthy of their status in popular culture.

ClassicFlix has endeavored to right this wrong by seeking out and finding the best available film elements for each short in this collection.

The video quality is excellent throughout, and the shorts have never looked better. Some shorts display more authentic film grain than others, but considering the age of the films and the variability of the elements, it is to be expected that some films will look a tad sharper than others. One should also keep in mind that these were low-budget outings in the first place, and there is an occasional out-of-focus shot that simply represents how the short was originally filmed.

The audio on the early Hal Roach shorts was not great when the films were originally released, but you will notice an improvement in recording techniques in comparison to the shorts in Volume One. Also, the Our Gang kids were not trained actors, so they didn’t always enunciate clearly. These vagaries in sound quality is intrinsic to the original release, and it is in no way a fault of the restoration. The shorts sound as good or better than when they were originally released. You may want to use the optional English subtitles if you have trouble understanding any of the kids’ line readings.

The true value of this disc is in the quality of the restoration work, which could not have been inexpensive to perform. There are very few extras on the disc. The full bonus features are:

• Restoration Comparison – A five minute side by side comparison of selected scenes prior to and after restoration
• A trailer for The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 1
• Two trailers for The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 2: “Lovesick” and “Stymie Shines”
• A trailer for the Oliver Hardy film Zenobia
• Optional English subtitles

Streaming: Some of the early Our Gang shorts are available for digital purchase via Amazon and other streaming services, but you will not get these new restorations.

More to Explore: A fourth volume of The Little Rascals: The ClassicFlix Restorations is due in January, featuring the next group of eleven shorts from 1933-1934. ClassicFlix and The Sprocket Vault have also released several talkie comedies from other stars of the Hal Roach Studios, including Laurel & Hardy, Thelma Todd, Charley Chase, and Harry Landgon. Many of those Blu-ray or DVD sets are linked below.

Trivia: Legend has it that George McFarland received his nickname, because he was constantly getting into things, causing his mother to scold, “Mustn’t touch! Spanky, spanky!”

For More Info: Leonard Maltin and Richard W. Bann coauthored The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang, which is an excellent guide on the shorts and the kids who starred in them.